Module 5 of 6: Art of Mixing

Summary

The Art of Mixing reveals how to mix audio from start to finish. A good mix can lift your music to the next level - whatever style you are into. Whether you want to get your track signed to a label or to ensure that it's in every DJ's record box, a solid mix is essential. Our professional sound engineers break the process down and explain exactly what is required to make your music sound bright, punchy and professional. Skill Level: Advanced

Content

Monitoring

Choosing and installing monitors

Types of monitor: Active and passive, ported and unported

Room shape and monitor placement

Acoustic treatments and how they work

Getting Started on Your Mix

Referencing and A>B comparison

Subgrouping tracks

Panning: when and how to use panning controls

EQ types and their uses: boosting, cutting and notching

Complete Guide to Compression

Compression theory. Why use compression?

Attack, Release, Threshold and Ratio explained

Compressor types and their sound

Guide to quality compression plug-ins

Noise Gates & Reverbs

Why use noise gates? Professional "tricks" revealed

Types of reverb: spring, plate, digital, convolution

Reverb parameters and how to use them

Damping, density, pre-delay and gated reverb explained

Echo and delay

Delay parameters: delay time, feedback, hi-cut (damping)

How to patch delays

Multi-tap, ping pong delay and other common delay types

Chorus, pitch shifting, phasing and flanging

Creative Audio processing

Vocoding: history and application of vocoders

Filter types: low pass, high pass, band, comb and notch

Ring modulation and frequency shifting

Reversing, distortion and tape emulation tricks

Working with Samples

Recap on sampling law

How to get sample clearance

Cleaning samples: removing hum and hiss

Mixing Vocals

Mic modelling and pitch correction software

How to EQ lead vocals. How to use de-essers

Vocal treatments: reverb, delay, auto double tracking

Backing Vocals: creating submixes

EQ'ing, compressing and aligning background vocals

Mastering

What is mastering? How to optimise your master mix

Separation mastering and home mastering techniques

Buss compression techniques

Multi-band dynamics processors, Equalisers and Limiters

The final step. What is dithering and why is it important?