3 Advanced Mixing Tips

1) If You have a Offensive Frequency You Want to Cut, Do Not Notch Out this Exact Frequency / Center

• e.g. if that Offensive Frequency Centers at 127Hz then Cut at an Offset (Surrounding) Frequency of 5% to 10%, i.e. 10% of 127Hz Would be an Offset of 12.7% so Either Notch 139Hz (or Notch 115Hz)

• Usually You Go Up, i.e. in Above Example Notch at 139Hz and Not 115Hz to Preserve the Body

• if You Go for a Wider Cut, Think About an Offset of 20%, e.g. Offensive Frequency Centers at 215Hz then Cut at Around 250Hz

– the Reason is that Often Resonances are also Characteristics of a Sound and if You Cut Them then You Cut the Character, but if You Cut a Surrounding Part then You Give Space to Others Wile Preserving the Character

2) Check What Different Listening / Monitor Levels are Telling You

• i.e. Mixing at 50dB vs Mixing at 65dB vs Mixing at 85dB

85dB

• e.g. at 85dB You Learn About the Sharpness of a Mix, Kind What Happens Exactly from 1800Hz to 4400Hz, 1800Hz / 2800Hz / 3500Hz / 4000Hz can be Very Sharp and You Get that Info at 85dB, also at 85dB You Learn About the Mud in a Mix, Kind What Happens Exactly from 180Hz to 380Hz

• the Thing is if a Mix is Very Sharp it can also be Muddy but You Get Away with it Because They are Contrasting Frequencies and the Sharpness Covers the Muddiness or Viceversa 

• a Good Tip is to Listen at 85dB and if it Almost Hurts then it is Mostly OK, if it Does Not Hurt it will be Flat, if it Really Hurts it will be Too Sharp, i.e. if You Feel Like You Could Turn Up the Volume while Listening at 8tdB the Mix is Probably Not Filling the Room and thus Not Ready Yet (it Should be Right into Your Face)

– also Transient Information of Very Lows and Very Highs are Good Detectable, i.e. a Mix May also Hurt Because of Harsh Transients at 3500Hz and Not Necessarily Too Much Level at 3500Hz (i.e. Faster Attack / Dynamic EQ / Transient Designer)

50dB

• Good to Detect the True Balance of a Mix

• Good to Detect the Current 3 Loudest Elements in a Mix, if the Vocal is Not 1 of the 3 Loudest Elements You Should Crank it Up (e.g. Vocal and Snare Often Belong to the 3 Loudest Plus a Solid Low End)

• Good to Detect the Power of the Lowest Elements, i.e. in Order to Hear the Low End Clear at that Low 50dB Listening Volume The Low End Must be Mixed Clear with a Clear and Loud Midrange

– 250Hz / 500Hz / 1kHz are Important to Fix the Low End with Midrange, e.g. You May Compress the Kick for More Click or Distort the Bass with 2nd Harmonics, or to Compensate a Bass at 60Hz that is Hardly Heard / Felt at a Listening Volume of 50dB You can Add 2nd  Harmonics to 120Hz to Support 60Hz

3) Brain Fatigue

• if You Listen at Low Volume Elements that are Not Clear / Present can Cause Brain Fatigue (Not Ear Fatigue) Because You Constantly Reach for the Sound of those Elements

• i.e. Especially if the Image is Too Smooth and there are Phase Issues, You Reach Out with the Brain for Too Long

– the Solution is to Bypass the Phase Issue Thing and / or Elements that Cause Brain Fatigue