Another well written mix note is discusses that involves the depth and space of a sound being fed into a reverb, and how changing the amount of send to that reverb affects the volume of both dry and wet signals.
- [Instructor] Here in this volume chapter I want to address another subject that's a rather difficult one, and I chose this because I thought the note was very well written. It's written by the same producer that wrote the very good note in the EQ section about snare body, and how specific he was. And it's a good lesson for anyone writing notes to mix engineers to be as specific as possible. So, we're in a different song now. It's the group, Waterparks. The producer's Courtney Ballard, and the song is called It Follows.
And he writes "the background vocals "should just accentuate the lead, "and not be the focus. "Turn down the post chorus vocals and harmonies. "Also, in the quiet parts in the post chorus, "you need to add more reverb". So, all very specific. Not necessarily in amounts. He gives me my freedom to discover the right amount of change, but he's very specific about the changes he'd like to have made.
So let me take the second verse, and all the way through the second half of the repeat of that chorus, just to give us some room. ("It Follows" by Waterparks) So there's obviously the lead vocals. So it's a lead and two doubles. ("It Follows" by Waterparks) There are the background vocals. ("It Follows" by Waterparks) That yell, by the way, is part of the lead vocal.
So now let's look at those level changes he's asked for. ("It Follows" by Waterparks) This is where I ended up. Moving both the dry and wet together. Let's go down two D, two and a half dB. Two and two and a half dB. ("It Follows" by Waterparks) To me, that sounds like the vocal's too all by itself. That's where I settled on it. That's good, if I go up from there... Let's wait for it to cycle around.
("It Follows" by Waterparks) Let's go up a little. ("It Follows" by Waterparks) So he probably thought that, that's probably where I had it. Courtney felt that there was too much focus on the backgrounds. But what I really want you to notice is how changing the level of the background vocals affects the apparent volume, or apparent loudness of the lead vocal. We talked about this earlier. And these relationships is what mixing is all about.
The relationship of one element of a mix to another. Changing one thing, in effect, changes everything. So here's again where we settled. ("It Follows" by Waterparks) And where we ended up afforded just the right amount of focus on the lead and background vocals together. ("It Follows" by Waterparks) What a lot of people making notes on mixes don't realize is how much one thing changes another, and they become blind to the overall effect of a move because they're too focused on something specific that they're looking for.
Author
Released
3/30/2017Join multiplatinum producer, engineer, and mixer Brian Malouf as he covers the many terms that musicians and non-musicians use to describe music. Brian explains the meaning behind the comments and also demonstrates techniques that can be applied to a mix in response to the notes. He covers lo-fi mix techniques, EQ techniques, changes to levels, adapting the ambience, making vibe and energy adjustments, working with compression options, and revising the placement location of elements in the sonic sphere.
- Lo-fi glossary
- Volume glossary
- Ambience glossary
- Location glossary
- Attitude adjustment glossary
- Compression glossary
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
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Introduction
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Welcome1m 8s
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1. Lo-Fi Mix Techniques
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Lo-fi glossary1m 7s
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Make it lo-fi6m 42s
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Make it distorted4m 29s
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Add some grit5m 15s
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Add more saturation2m 55s
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Overdrive it7m 20s
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Drum destruction2m 19s
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2. EQ Mix Techniques
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EQ glossary6m 6s
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Brightening something6m 18s
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Add more presence5m 40s
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Darken the bass guitar5m 40s
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Make it warmer4m 23s
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Make it more edgy3m 54s
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The vocal is too harsh4m 10s
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Add body to the snare drum3m 46s
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3. Volume/Level Mix Techniques
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Volume glossary1m 58s
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Faders and pan pots3m 55s
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Specific frequency EQ boost2m 55s
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4. Ambience Mix Techniques
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Make it wider11m 36s
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Give it more space4m 26s
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5. Location Mix Techniques
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Location glossary1m 49s
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6. Vibe/Attitude/Energy Adjustment Mix Techniques
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Make the vocal crunchier3m 33s
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Augmenting the production3m 50s
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7. Compression Mix Techniques
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Compression glossary5m 55s
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8. Other General Mix Requests
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Relating to transients5m 38s
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Other terms you should know9m 37s
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Conclusion
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Next steps37s
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Video: Balancing lead and background vocals