Kick + Snare (Where's the balance?)

It depends on each beat.
Certain beats and drums sound right when the snare is way louder than the kick.....and other beats sound right when the kick is louder.

The balance between kick and snare doesn't just affect the sound either, it affects the groove.

eq and compress

...like was said above, don't use a visual reference to adjust your mix. That is not accurate. The reason is that digital sources respond much different than analog. An analog source will put a natural squash on things that makes the kick and snare APPEAR to hit at the same level. However, the digital interpretation of the same mix will show different results. I did a 2-track premix for a homie since we didn't want to hassle with tracking out and all that. Well, on my Mackie board the kick and snare were hitting in the same spot. But when I ran it out to my Apogee Rosetta, the snare was hitting waaaay above the kick. The low-end didn't make the digital converter hit like the snare. Nevertheless, I left that shit alone because based on what I was HEARING I knew for a fact my kick and low-end were hittin enough and boosting the kick would ruin my mix.

Firstly u need to know the calibration of the meters that u r using as specified by bob katz. That would explain a lot to a lot of people about why one unit reads this and another reads that when playing the same material. u should always be shooting sine waves through any board before u use it to make sure the frequency and calibration is what it says it is, and the same goes for monitors.
Secondly u r only using meters as a base. What i am saying is that u can mix a track starting with a kick at -12db. will it sound bad? no but when u put it against a commercial release then is will sound weak. if people only mixed with their ears we wouldn't need or have vu's. It is a combination of both and the ear always wins if there is doubt.

kick it like that Beat God!!

Tomb you must remember that your mackie actually has digital meters, a chain of like 10 LEDs, not analog VU meters, so they really give you a rough reading compares to a swinging needle OR the higher resolution of the Computer meters.

Beat God do you have a link to a good step by step on hw to calibrate your system without a bunch of external gear? Parts of it still perplex me and I'm sure many on the forums would benefit from reading a good article on it.

Thanks for all the help guys, your resposes have been very usefull. By the way I use both my ears and eyes to mix. By the way, I take so long to reply cos im from South Africa. (Your day is my night)
Peace

itchyvinyl wrote:It depends on each beat.
Certain beats and drums sound right when the snare is way louder than the kick.....and other beats sound right when the kick is louder.

The balance between kick and snare doesn't just affect the sound either, it affects the groove.

thats the realest most straightforward advice that no one looks for on the net. hahaha. overlooked.

screw the db. just listen.

yup listen to itchy

greg

i will try to get some info but it does get rather technical

As so many have said, let your ears be the judge...metering seens to be most helpful to keep from peaking or to make sure your L/R balance is ok. Sit a little too far to the left when setting up a mix and you're right heavy. As far as individual instruments and thier relationship to the mix, metering is about worthless. Once you are happy with what your ears are telling you, listen at extremely low listening levels. If you can still hear all the elements of your mix, you are on track. Next listen at loud levels to make sure it's not too bright or boomy in the mids. Then run a check through headphones..if you are heavy on the reverb or effects you will catch it in the phones. Finally, try several different sets of speakers...put it in your car, etc...if it sounds good - it's good. Actual snare vs bass levels is purely subjective... Oh, It helps if you have a reference CD handy to compare too. You know, the best produced CD you've ever heard. Play your music next to that...if your mix sux, you'll be able to tell pretty quick.