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RiffWorks mixing page 3

148 not-exactly-easy steps to a great mix

· Mixing — Finally! You didn’t just skip to this part, did you? Good. It’s important to wear one hat at a time. There’s an awful lot to keep track of in each step, let alone be thinking about what comes next. Unfortunately mixing is not one of RiffWorks strong suits, because of the riff structure. Imagine your song bar has 8 riffs in it. Each layer in each riff is recorded separately, which might leave about 50 places to not get the mix levels or panning quite right, or the effects right. On that old 4 track, there were 4! So we have a challenge.

First, it’s a great idea to record your parts across all the riffs at the same time. For example, record your rhythm guitars one riff after another. This will keep them consistent sounding throughout the song. Things like string wear, or forgetting exactly what pickup, volume or tone settings will affect the end sound! Same with bass, leads, etc.

Now that you have things recorded (and hopefully boringly dry!), let’s set some levels. I start with my drummer set at 0 with no ambience to begin. Oh yeah, I almost forgot…

One very important point about drums!

USE THE SAME INSTANT DRUMMER SESSION THROUGHOUT THE SONG!

· Each ID session is recorded in a specific studio, with a specific drummer, and a specific kit. Each ID session has different studios, mic’s, drummers, kits etc. and they all sound very very different from each other! If you can’t find that “fill” you think makes the song, live without it or try another drummer. Changing the backbone of the song within the song is, well, not a good idea and terribly hard to make sound consistent.

Okay now that we have that straight, let’s set some levels. Pick a riff that’s in the front of the song. With the drums at 0db, turn all the layers down so you can’t hear them. Start with the bass, bring that up in the center to where it sounds good along with the drums. Now bring up the rhythm to where it fits okay. Have more rhythms or a bouncy lead? Bring those up as well to where they sound okay.

Make sure you don't lose the drums when you do this, if you do back off and start again. The trick at this stage is to get things reasonably close. What we have now is basically a mono mix.

Let's do some panning. In a stereo mix we want to find a place for everything and not let instruments pile up on each other. We want each instrument to be distinct, even if some parts are to be less loud (i.e. the rhythm track). Close your eyes and picture the "band" in front of you on the stage, and put each person in a little bit different spot. Some good places to start:

· Bass right up the center

· Rhythm panned off to the left around 9 o'clock

· 2nd Rhythm or complimenting lead to the right around 3 o'clock

· Main lead near the center, maybe a little off to the right

· Vocals right up the center

On to Page 4

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