Mixing basics for the home musician

Hey everyone! So today, I’m going to go over some mixing basics for the home musician. 

Let’s get started. 

EQ 

EQ or Equalization is the process of cutting or boosting frequencies within the desired track in order to emphasize or minimize the amount of the certain frequency that you are targeting. 

So like let’s give any given noise that you’ll hear out on the street. 

That tip tap against the cup or that bass drum hit or whatever you want to call it has noise all throughout the frequency spectrum.

If you know anything about sound, you know that sound is measured in hertz and kilohertz. 

So this means that Every sound will occupy somewhere within the audible spectrum. 

Usually humans can only hear between 20 Hertz to 20 kilohertz. 

And it’s within this spectrum that we mixing engineers cut and boost frequencies. 

Now those two words, cutting and boosting. 

Cutting means that you reduce the amount of that frequency, and boosting means that you amplify it. 

Now the way that you’re supposed to use the EQ is by creating space within the frequency spectrum for the song that you’re making. 

So say for example if you have a guitar and voice cover. 

Guitars and voices occupy roughly the same space, which is around 1kilohert to 1.5 kilohertz, but you have to decide which one you want to occupy the most space. 

In most cases you want the voice to occupy the most space while the guitar is in the background. 

When you’re doing guitar solos it’s something different, but if you want just a regular rhythm guitar and a voice backing track, then the voice will need to be boost roughly around in the 1 kilohert to 1.5 kilohertz range. 

Now here’s a pro mixing tip.

When we’re using EQ, it’s important to think in small boosts and cuts to really enhance our music. 

However, different microphones and different setups will allow for more changes. 

You decide and remember to use your critical listening skills to determine what needs what. 

Compression

Compression is the act of squishing your track’s volume together. 

So here is some music knowledge that you need to know when microphoning anything. 

When you’re recording on a microphone, the singer can sometimes get away from the microphone. 

And even small variations in space can cause a big difference. 

So what happens is that, it sounds like the volume is getting quiter and louder in different parts of the song when in reality, it’s not a good song. 

This is where compression comes in.

Compression squishes the volume together so that the soft parts sound loud and the loud parts sound softer. 

This creates a steady sound that can be heard on an album. 

But be careful when using compression because sometimes you want the dynamics of the voice to really shape the song and if you’re squishing everything then it just won’t sound like how it was intended.

Reverb

A good reverb can do so much for a song. 

So for one, sometimes a part in the song sounds like it’s off. 

It sounds like it’s off beat. 

And if it’s off beat, you can fix it with reverb. 

But it’s not going to fix a song that’s completely off. 

When I say it sounds offbeat, I mean it’s rushing slightly or it’s just barely off. 

You can actually fix that with reverb. 

What happens is that, that’s the human aspect of a song. 

The fact that it’s off is actually kind of good and can actually sound a little good, just as long as it’s not completely off. 

Sounding too robotic is bad.

So if you’re hitting all the chords directly on the beat, it’s going to sound synthesized and robotic, and you don’t want that. 

So you fix that with reverb. 

Now reverb actually serves 2 functions. 

It fixes timing issues as described above and it also makes the instrument imitate the room that you want it to imitate. 

So a lot of reverb will imitate a stadium or large venue, while a soft reverb will imitate a small venue or room. 

And either or will work for you, you just decide which one you want to use. 

For some songs I use little reverb and some songs I use a lot of reverb. 

Some parts I use a lot of reverb some I use more. 

Delay

Imagine the Echo that you hear after shouting out your name at the Grand Canyon.

You hear your name being shouted back at you right? 

That’s echo.

Echo and reverb are similar but they are different. 

The shouting your name back at you the exact same way you shouted it is Delay. 

Now imagine a room that hasn’t been filled with furniture or has nothing in it.

And imagine that you shouted something in that room, it would sound like a large noise and then dies down right? 

That’s reverb. 

Delay is meant to give a certain artistic vision to the song. 

It can really bring out the instruments and support the song in unbelievable ways. 

Broadcast

I sure hope that I have been an inspiration and a hope to you all. Please remember to pray, read your bible, go to church, and love God above all else. Like, comment, share, subscribe, and I will see you all next time.

If you want to go to heaven, then believe in Jesus and you will go to heaven. (John 3:16)

Thank you all for listening in on this blog post. 

German Gonzalez, signing out!