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It's in the playlist.
I was wondering if you lot do this for a living, because the production standards are next level from wot I’ve heard in previous competitions.
anyway, struggling to come up any inspiration on the kazoo, so I’m switching tact and starting with the guitar.
I'll try to sort out a picture later.
EQ and reverb - still trying to get better in this area. Clarky has taught me a lot, through the non guitar centric thread which we started years ago. He knows his stuff technically and musically and is a font of knowledge. There are lots of knowledgeable types in here, so I just try to suck it all up. I love it.
My daughter is doing music a level - I'd love to do that too, just so interesting. Maybe that's one for retirement!
First I get the tone I like on the instrument, say guitar or bass. Then I record it and whatever else.
For anything apart from bass, drums I put a high pass eq filter on it. I usually have a high pass buss with one EQ on it that knocks off anything below about 60hz. I'll put quite a few things into that. Depending on the instrument, you can cut low freqs at an even higher threshold, I just see what sounds good in the mix.
For individual instruments I then put an EQ on it that allows me to narrow the Q right down to a fine notch. I then move the freq dial through the whole range to isolate irritating frequencies, which I will knock right off by dropping the level on that narrow freq band. An example of what I'd call an irritating freq is the tinny whistling noise you can get on some higher gain guitar tones. That noise is taking up headroom in the mix, so I knock it out. Usually around 2k or maybe higher.
You can do the opposite with bass - knock out the top end freqs completely, but you might want a little boost on the mids if you like the click or snap as you hit the string.
If you think of your freq range across all your instruments as a jigsaw - if you take freqs off one track, you leave a space for another track in that freq range. If you have too many things going on in one freq area, then you can get a mushy sound. That's fine, if you want that, but not, if you don't!
Freqs the ear can't hear will still eat into your headroom, and will affect the overall final volume and dynamics you can get out of your mix. So, I will cut out anything above about 15-20kHz and below 40Hz regardless of anything else. Just in case.
Just have to watch that you don't affect any reverbs you might want to keep, by cutting the freq at too high a level.
There are plenty of diagrams/infographics online that show what sort of sounds sit where in terms of freq. I find that useful.
Lot of learning, but simple adjustments make real differences. I used to just mix using volume, and then whack an eq on the master. As a result, anything with more than a couple of tracks sounded crap.
I enjoy trying to get better at mixing, seems a never ending process. Mastering is whole other level of mystery though. On my master buss I usually have an EQ and a compressor limiter, that is usually using the same settings for whatever track I do. I will mix with the mastering chain on and off, just to see what it sounds like. The final mix can sound a bit different once you master it, and often the mastering process shows up some rogue parts of the mix that are either too loud or quiet.
One of the frustrations I've always had with recording has been capturing a nice sound and then doing good sounding mixes. Everything always ends up sounding dull.
I've got a track that I put together quite a few years ago, that I'll submit. Might try a bit of a remix first though.........
Added to playlist. That makes 3 entries.
Which reminds me - I need to do a picture.