The modern music industry creates masterpieces by defining a specific balance between major music and other secondary music segments. Sound mixing is nothing but balancing among all the sounds received from multi-track recording in levels, timing, and intensity. A Mixing Engineer creates a balance among the voices in terms of panning and placing the sound in the stereo field. Sound mixing also involves frequency balancing, lightening some sounds as well as darkening some, removing some unwanted frequencies, and using depth to give a sense of closeness or distance of sound to all the listeners.
History of Sound Mixing:
When traced, the history of Sound Mixing goes back a century ago. The musicians used to play instruments and sing as loud as they could from a specific distance to create effects in the mixing. Technology evolved with time and goes like this- From physical distance to cylinder to disk record to tape. Then came mono & stereo and now we are in the era of multi-track.
Sound Mixing Techniques:
Below are some of the mixing techniques that modern Digital Audio Workstations use in producing some of the best pieces.
1. Level Adjustment:
Level adjustment is one of the very first things of modern audio creation. This process balances the level of loudness of different music. It includes
– What instrument or music should be placed at a specific time?
– Does the complete mixing result in fabulous music?
Note that several music genres have some common music patterns followed in all their songs.
2. Panning:
Panning is the method of placing the sound pieces in a stereo field or surround field. These places are generally left, right, and anywhere between or centre. It is a must to have a multichannel reproduction system for panning. There are two types of panning. 1. Surround 2. Stereo.
A. Surround:
For a standard listening experience with the audience, surround and establish the voices coming from the front & back of the listeners. The standard has raised its bar to an extremely advanced level nowadays. Modern 5.1 has six channels grouped like this. 1. Left 2. Right 3. Centre 4. Surround-L 5. Surround-R 6. A special channel called LFE.
B. Stereo:
Stereo reproduces the songs from left & right only. Balancing the sound intensity through headphones, speakers, or ear-pods, creates an illusion of sound coming from anywhere in the space.
Muting Technique:
Not only adding but the removal of unwanted noise is also important. The muting technique is all about the removal of unwanted noise and faulty pieces. It could lead you to make creative decisions of choosing some specific instruments for the whole portion of the song or in some cases only at specific places of the song.
1. Noise:
There is no rule for keeping the sound of strings or leakage when the guitar is mute in between. Sometimes leaving the breathing or natural noises from the singer is enough to make listeners in awe.
2. Arrangements in Song:
Making all instruments play at once can be boring and over the top. The arrangement of different instruments at different verses makes a song interesting.
3. Breaking Down the moment of the Song:
The breakdown comes when you create a breakdown in between the song instead of gradually unmuting the song as the song progresses. The sudden cut builds up the path for what’s going to come.
Building a Mix:
There are two following ways of building a mix.
A. Bottom-Up Mix B. Top-Down Mix:
A. Bottom-Up Mix:
The bottom-Mix approach settles the basic tracks at first such as low-end instruments then move to a higher frequency and then the final vocal or melody.
B. Top-Down Mix:
Top-Down mix approaches in the exact opposite way. First the lead vocal or melody and then the additional vocals or instruments.
Conclusion:
This blog aims to describe Sound Mixing and its methods. Sound Mixing has a 100-year-old history and gradually has evolved with time. It is currently working on 5.1 multitrack and other mixing techniques mentioned as above.
Soul Asylum Studios is a full-service recording facility, that provides state-of-the-art equipment and experienced engineers to help artists and producers achieve their creative vision. We specialize in all genres of music, from pop and rock to hip-hop and EDM.
Our main goal is to give our clients the best possible sound, whether it’s a single song or a full-length album. We offer a wide range of services to help make your music sound its best, including mixing, mastering, and vocal production. We also have an in-house mastering suite for those who need a professional mastering job done. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, Soul Asylum Studios has the tools and staff to help you make your music the best it can be.