Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Peter Kowalczyk]

Learning to mix is even more difficult simply because there is no material online that you can mix. You can read about how to do it all day, but you can only mix media that you have running through your mixer.

There actually ARE enormous quantities of raw multitracks available for online for mixing practice.  Here's a good site:

http://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-mtk.htm

Taylor - you don't say what console you're using.  Many modern digital consoles (e.g. X32) can function as multichannel interfaces to a computer.  It's a fun exercise to download a set of tracks from a site like this, plop them into DAW software like Reaper, and configure it to play back through the individual channels of your mixer.  Set up like this, you can mix around to your heart's content without a live band on the stage or an audience to satisfy.  (This assumes you can access the system some time aside from show-time, or can set up a console and speakers somewhere else where you can practice).  If your mixer doesn't work as an interface, an external sound card with lots of outputs and some patch cables could do the same thing.

... of course, this is a 'modern' rather than 'old school' approach to becoming a sound engineer.  If you were plucked out of your radio internship and put in front of a monitor desk at a venue with little training (per your other posts), you're either lucky to be granted both opportunity and responsibility, or you're screwed. 

Your mentor's point that mixing is the 'icing on the cake' is well put; you're smart to take his advice and study up on everything that happens before we get to the knob-twisting stage.  In addition to everyone else's great advice, I'd suggest you study some basic electronics.  One who understands Ohms Law, for example, will deduce that it's unwise to use a light-gauge 1/4" instrument cable to connect an amp to a speaker, even if he was never explicitly told not to...

[John L Nobile]

Our town has a theater that relies on volunteers to run local productions and touring acts. I've seen a few kids who learned a lot about sound, lights etc. One of them is now paid occasionally.
Good way to learn and hopefully see and learn to interact with performers. They're a different breed.

[Luke Geis]

There actually ARE enormous quantities of raw multitracks available for online for mixing practice.  Here's a good site:

http://www.cambridge-mt.com/ms-mtk.htm

Taylor - you don't say what console you're using.  Many modern digital consoles (e.g. X32) can function as multichannel interfaces to a computer.  It's a fun exercise to download a set of tracks from a site like this, plop them into DAW software like Reaper, and configure it to play back through the individual channels of your mixer.  Set up like this, you can mix around to your heart's content without a live band on the stage or an audience to satisfy.  (This assumes you can access the system some time aside from show-time, or can set up a console and speakers somewhere else where you can practice).  If your mixer doesn't work as an interface, an external sound card with lots of outputs and some patch cables could do the same thing.

... of course, this is a 'modern' rather than 'old school' approach to becoming a sound engineer.  If you were plucked out of your radio internship and put in front of a monitor desk at a venue with little training (per your other posts), you're either lucky to be granted both opportunity and responsibility, or you're screwed. 

Your mentor's point that mixing is the 'icing on the cake' is well put; you're smart to take his advice and study up on everything that happens before we get to the knob-twisting stage.  In addition to everyone else's great advice, I'd suggest you study some basic electronics.  One who understands Ohms Law, for example, will deduce that it's unwise to use a light-gauge 1/4" instrument cable to connect an amp to a speaker, even if he was never explicitly told not to...

Cool find! This is more of a studio application. It addresses one issue with learning to mix, but not many of the others. Still can't mix that through a real mixer in a live environment. But if the OP has a DAW program he could at least start the process of mixing.

[Stephen Kirby]

The multi-stem mix files will at least get someone familiar with the concept of subtractive eq.  Along with what I call subtractive mixing.  Everything which is not bass, drums or lead line (vocals or soloing instrument) comes WAY down.  Bunches of times I've been somewhere that has a wall of sound going on and be asked for help.  Drop all the comping instruments and suddenly it sounds like a song.  People expecting to learn exotic sidechain compression techniques are amazed at what happens when you don't try to make everything heard clearly.  The term is "mix".  When you listen to a commercial recording the comping instruments are blended together in to one sound.  The way a symphonic composer or big band arranger gets a tonality by blending various instrumental timbres and voicings.  In a great many bands, most of the people are playing the whole song on their instrument as if they were playing it by themselves.  Subtractive eq can create some differentiation, but for the most part just turn all this down.  Or pick one that seems to be doing things that contribute to the song and turn the others down.

[Luke Geis]

Again the application is more studio based. Creating a mix on a DAW or even running it through a system as more of a virtual sound check doesn't get you from point A to B. Mic setup, dealing with feedback and monitor levels, multiple mixes ( monitors, side fils, front fills and more ) as well as room acoustics, system design and implementation are all left out. It bypasses the most important part of being a sound engineer. Dealing with the problems. It lends people to believe that they can simply walk in and create a platinum mix. Perhaps they can? Can that same person get to that same conclusion on their own though? It will get the ball rolling, but the underlying issue is still there, you can only mix what goes through your mixer in the environment in which your mixing. This includes the band, presenter or whatever media your supposed to support.

A prime example is the fact that a large percentage of the mix you hear in a room when supporting a band comes from the band itself and the stage monitors. This completely changes the mix dynamic. This is why studio engineers usually have a difficult time transitioning to live sound initially. I know a rather famous recording engineer that does live shows on occasion. It's just painful to watch and listen to. He does things so slowly incorporating studio tricks and audiophile judgement and is also so particular that by the time he is happy with the mix, the show is over........

[Bill McIntosh]

... The term is "mix".  When you listen to a commercial recording the comping instruments are blended together in to one sound.  The way a symphonic composer or big band arranger gets a tonality by blending various instrumental timbres and voicings.  In a great many bands, most of the people are playing the whole song on their instrument as if they were playing it by themselves.  ...

My version is that the audience should hear the music, not the instruments.  Many years of choral singing taught me the whole is a LOT more than the parts.

[Stephen Kirby]

Thus the difference between sound "reinforcement" and "producing".  Again another reason not to have all faders up, especially on small gigs.  Agreed that you have to learn the art of "tactical" mixing.  Get the vocals up.  If the venue is large enough to need it, kick and bass.  Then start seeing what else needs what sort of help.

And learning how to deal with "more-mes".  Also involving turning things down rather than trying to maximize the level of everything.  Some folks may recognize this story from years back and my old username.  I got a freelance gig from the rental department of a local MI store that knew me.  These guys had rented some stuff for a presentation they were promoting of "Andalusian classical music".  This was in one of the halls at the local fairgounds.  They were bringing in some violinist who was famous in their homeland for their regional Andalusian community.  The rental shop understood classical violinist as being fairly low level.  As did I when I took the gig.  They rented these folks some 15" Peavey 2 ways, a pair of 12" wedges one Crown Microtech to run both pairs, some SM58s and I was bringing my own FOH stuff and some condenser mics that I thought would be needed.  At the gig, the violinist had a crystal contact mic he wanted to use.  The rest of the folks were a lute, nylon guitars, a flat top bass like Mariachi bands use, some sort of recorder thing and some percussion.  Well, it turns out that Analusian classical music is like Zorba the Greek on steroids.  In short order the stage was like 110dB and near that out front as people got up and started dancing.  No matter how hard these guys flailed at them, a lute or nylon guitar only puts out so much sound.  So very quickly it became a succession of each of these big Moorish guys wagging their bushy eyebrows and daggers out their eyes at me gesturing for more, more, more.  Imagine 7 of the Soup Nazi's all glaring at you at the same time demanding that you turn them up.  This went on for an hour and a half with me turning everyone down a hair until the next guy looked ready to pop a vein and giving him the bump.  At the end of it I expected daggers to come out and wondered if I'd get out of there alive much less with my gear or getting paid.  Then they all got down, slapped me on the back and thanked me for a wonderful job, as did the folks promoting the thing.  Whew!  You never know what's going to happen.  I actually got a bonus.

[ProSoundWeb Community]