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I LOVE to Mix [Mixing Resources]

Joe Gilder — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 20:23:25 +0000

I love mixing. I really do.

That’s not to say I don’t love all the other aspects of creating music – writing, arranging, performing, recording, editing, mastering, etc. But I particularly love to mix.

Whenever I’m recording someone (either myself or someone else), a little part of me is always in a hurry to get finished recording so I can move on to mixing. This, of course, can lead to a “Fix it in the mix” mentality, which is not a good thing at all. But alas, I’m guilty of it sometimes.

What I love about mixing is that it’s a challenge. Every time I start a new mix, it’s like sitting in front of a puzzle (except much cooler). Regardless of how well the tracks were recorded, they won’t blend together very well without the help of a mix engineer.

There’s so much give and take with mixing. If you turn up one instrument, chances are you need to turn another one down. If you pan one track to the left, you probably need to balance that by panning another track to the right. If you remove all the low end on a guitar track, you’ll need to make sure the kick drum and bass have plenty of low end to make up for it.

There are thousands of tiny decisions to be made, and there are a thousand different ways you could mix a song. I find it all exhilarating.

To me mixing is like taming a wild horse. It takes a lot of work…and there are times when you just want to shoot the horse. But it’s so satisfying once you’ve finished a mix, having beaten those tracks into submission.

Mixing Resources for You

I’ve written a lot about mixing here on HSC, and I thought I’d compile a list of them all right here. These are all completely FREE resources for you.

If, after reading through all of these articles, you’re itching for more, and you’d like to dive in-depth into mixing, you should join us over at MixWithUs.com. As much as I love mixing, I also love teaching others how to mix, helping them improve their mixes, and what better way to do it than by mixing songs together?

Before you head off and read the articles below, leave a comment. Let me know if you’re going to join Mix With Us. I’ll need 10 comments at LEAST.

Even if you decide not to join MWU, you should still check out these articles. Enjoy!

[Photo by join the dots]

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A Few “Pre-Mixing” Tips from Audio Geek Zine

Joe Gilder — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:22:03 +0000

I’ve been thinking more and more about mixing lately. In a few weeks we’ll start talking about mixing in the HSC Production Club, and it’s just been on my brain lately as I prepare.

I wrote an article last week (Close Your Eyes) where I encouraged you to remove yourself from the gear and the software and let your ears do the work.

It’s like Jon over at AudioGeekZine.com knew I was thinking about mixing, because he wrote a 2-part series on getting ready to mix. He makes some fantastic suggestions. I’ll definitely use most (if not all) of these for my next mixing session.

Several of the suggestions are not what you would expect, but they make a LOT of sense.

Here are the links:

Getting Ready to Mix
Getting Ready to Mix Part 2

Go ahead…read ‘em.

[Photo Credit - Tracy Hunter]

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Getting Things Done in Your Home Studio

Joe Gilder — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:16:57 +0000

Raise your hand if you are a procrastinator. Go ahead…raise it on up.

Do you struggle to finish a recording? Have you been planning an album for years, only to keep continually pushing back the date? What obstacles are you facing? What’s getting in the way of getting things done?

Take me, for example. I have an album in the works. I had hoped to finish it this fall, but a lot of things got in the way. Many of these obstacles were legitimate — moving, a new job, several engineering jobs, launching the HSC Production Club — but I probably could have still finished it by now if I had made it a priority.

Am I beating myself up about this? Nope, but I am re-thinking things, and I’m re-aligning my priorities for the next month or two to hopefully finish things off.

This is something I struggle with constantly. I am very good at coming up with and starting projects, but I am easily distracted, and I have a tendency to leave things unfinished. Does that ring a bell with you?

Since I’m in the “alright-Joe-you-need-to-figure-out-what-you-need-to-do-to-finish-this-album” phase, I thought it would be good to compile several articles I’ve written over the last year that deal with this topic. If you’re in the same boat as me, let’s take a few minutes to read through these, and let’s make some changes!

Productivity Series – I wrote a series of posts earlier this year on productivity in the home studio. Check ‘em out:

The One-Hour Challenge – This is probably one of my favorite articles. I had been thinking about all the time I waste in my studio, so I decided to record an entire song in one hour. It was definitely eye-opening.

Do You Set Deadlines? – Well, do you?

The Many Hats of a Home Studio Owner – Great guest post that dives into the various roles we play as home studio owners and how they can either hinder or help us be more productive.

Don’t blame it on the gear. I’ve got plenty of excuses for why I struggle to put out album after album. The one excuse that holds no weight is that I don’t have the right gear for the job. Here are some articles where I expand on this a bit:

I hope this helps you and I both to get more things done and make more music!

[Photo Credit - ikoka]

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Home Recording Show Podcast, featuring Home Studio Corner

Joe Gilder — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:58:16 +0000

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of joining Jon Tidey and Ryan Canestro on the awesome Home Recording Show Podcast.

If you haven’t checked out the Home Recording Show, you should. I’m not one to sign up to all sorts of podcasts, but these guys are an exception.

They cover all sorts of topics for home studio owners in both a fun and informative way. Every Home Studio Corner reader should subscribe to this podcast.

Jon invited me onto the show to discuss Home Studio Corner and the HSC Production Club. You can listen to the podcast here:

Show 55 – Joe Gilder of Home Studio Corner & Field Recording

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Weekend Links – 8/9/09

Joe Gilder — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:03:14 +0000

Having a good weekend? I hope so. I’m down in Tennessee visiting family, BUT here are some cool links from around the web. I found these over the last few weeks. I posted them to my Twitter account. but I post them here on the blog, too, for those of you who aren’t on Twitter. Enjoy!

Noise Trade – A GREAT place to find and sell music. You can pay what you want for an album, or get it for free by emailing five friends.
Speaking of NoiseTrade, here’s a new EP released by a friend’s band: Wash Away EP by Book Club.
Spend less time on music for more creative output, courtesy of The Music Software Training Blog
The Best FREE Mac Apps & Utilities by Jon over at Audio Geek Zine
ProductionAdvice.co.uk – cool website for getting production advice on your tracks
Freedom of Limitation by Aaron Cheney of Serve the Song
Sculpting your sound by PublicSpacesLab
Why everyone uses the Shure SM57/58 by Sean at Key of Grey
Pro Tools Rules of Thumb – Great resource for common Pro Tools problems and questions by the guys over at The Studio Files
And lastly, I released a live EP last week. You can download it for free. Here’s the link.Thanks for reading. If you like what you read at the above links, please be sure to let the author know by leaving a comment on their blog/site. Have a great rest of the weekend.

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Weekend Links

Joe Gilder — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 15:31:51 +0000

Photo by Ella’s Dad

Here are some more links I came across over the last two weeks. I posted them to my Twitter account, but if you missed a few or if you don’t follow me on Twitter, here’s a recap.

There are quite a few of them, so you may want to bookmark this and come back, but check them out sometime over the weekend. There’s a lot of good stuff down there.

Have a great weekend!

Pro Tools Stuff

Pro Tools Quickstart Guide – Chris over at ShowMeProTools.com has put out a fantastic, exhaustive guide to Pro Tools. And it’s free. Just give him your email address, and you’re in.

Mixing in the Box – One of the writers over at TapeOp briefly tells his story of doing mixing his first song “in the box.”

I’ve got two from Jon at Audio Geek Zine:

The Best (and Worst) Pro Tools Tutorial Videos (Thanks for the shout-out, Jon!)
Techniques for Dealing with Phase – A really good article on what phase is and how to deal with it, including lots of audio examples.

Pro Tools Shortcut – Half Speed! – Nifty little trick from Discrete Music

Mastering

Abbey Road online mastering – You may have heard about this, but the world famous Abbey Road Studios now offers online mastering. So cool. (From Sound on Sound.)

CD Baby Podcast – Interview with Carl Saff: Mastering Your Album – Really interesting interview.

Tips for Preparing Your Music for Mastering by the folks over at Musformation – Some practical steps to consider when preparing for the all-important mastering phase.

Studio Stuff

Electronic Drums: Adding Life to Your Rhythm Tracks – This article from AudioTuts makes me want to go out and buy some drum sticks and an electronic drum pad.

Portable Voiceover Studio Foam Box Test – Matthew over at Recording Hacks shows his nice DIY iso box.

Two articles from Serve the Song – If you’re a songwriter, you need to subscribe to this blog. Lots of good, inspiring stuff.

News

Chris Anderson gives away his new book “FREE” for free – I’m about half-way through this book. It’s really interesting. It investigates the whole economy of “free.” It’s very applicable to anyone trying to make money in the music industry, where free downloads seem to be the norm.

The 10 Weirdest Ways to Distribute Music – From Wired.com, pretty fun stuff

Native Instruments Announces Departure from Tradeshows: The Right Direction? – With the NAMM show going on this weekend, this is an interesting look at why a company would choose NOT to attend a trade show. (From Pro Tooler Blog.)

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Free Music: Jamie Randolph & the Darkhorse

Joe Gilder — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:00:44 +0000

In case you missed it, I posted a video last weekend about how musicians can give away their music and still be successful.

After watching that video, I immediately thought of a band down in Memphis, Tennessee, Jamie Randolph & the Darkhorse. I went to school with the drummer, and I’ve met the band a few times, but I’ve never had the chance to see them live.

Then a few weeks ago they released a live album, and they’re giving it away for free! The unique thing here is that it’s not your typical live album recorded in some noisy bar. They actually recorded it live at Ardent Studios in Memphis. They invited a handful of friends and family to come be the “audience,” and they set up a recording session with a small PA in the tracking room and played a show.

These guys are great players, great songs, and the recording sounds fantastic. If you’re looking for a comparison, think The Wallflowers’ Bringing Down the Horse.

Jamie Randolph & the Darkhorse. Great guys. Great music. Please do me and yourself a favor and follow this link to download the live album.

A few other ways to find out more about the band:

Website: jamierandolph.com
On Twitter: @jamierandolph

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Some Weekend Reading

Joe Gilder — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 18:17:21 +0000

Here are some links from around the web that I’ve come across over the last couple of weeks. I posted them all to my Twitter account, but I thought I’d post them again here in case you missed them. You can follow me on Twitter here - @joegilder.

Tools of the Trade – The Notebook – For all you songwriters, this is a great look at what is likely your most important songwriting tool. Brought to you by ServeTheSong.net. You can follow them on Twitter here – @ServeTheSong
Mixing on Headphones – I mention in my article on studio monitors that it’s a good idea to do your mixes on studio monitors. However, this article gives some great tips on how headphones can become an invaluable part of your mixing process. Brought to you by Sound on Sound magazine.
Pandora – This video is a nice behind-the-scenes look at Pandora, the wonderful internet radio company. Very interesting. Brought to you by Derek Sivers of Sivers.org. (You can also Pandora on Twitter here – @pandora_radio.)
How I Mix – Great article from Key of Grey.com on how he goes about mixing a song. You can follow Key of Grey on Twitter here – @KeyOfGrey.
Don’t Pass Go Before It Is Right With One Standard Mic – Nice brief article from Musformation.com on microphone technique. Follow Musformation on Twitter here – @musformation.
Who Killed Amanda Palmer – You may or may not be familiar with Amanda Palmer, but I randomly discovered her. What caught my eye is that her latest album was produced by Ben Folds. I’m a big fan of Ben, so I was intrigued. This website is basically a journal she kept, documenting the entire process of creating the album (complete with pictures and videos). It’s a longer read, but I found it to be fascinating and inspiring. You can follow Amanda on Twitter here – @amandapalmer.

Enjoy!

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A Few Weekend Links

Joe Gilder — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:29:58 +0000

Here are several links I came across this week. I shared them on my Twitter account, but I thought it would be nice to post them all here as well. Enjoy!

Pro Tools QuickStart Guide – brought to you by Chris Bryant of showmeprotools.com
The Definitive List of Free RTAS Plug-Ins – brought to you by musformation.com (follow them on Twitter)
Track View Modifiers Tutorial – also from musformation.com
In search of the click track – by Paul Lamere of musicmachinery.com
Mixing Strategies aka “How do you start a mix?” – by Jon of audiogeekzine.com

If you like what you find, be sure to leave a comment on their site!