Adequacy During your Mixing Process

During the mixing audio process we repeatedly listen to the same material over and over again. Do you want to know how to mix and master? It takes from four to eight hours and our brain (and especially the hearing) becomes dulled. After four hours of work we cease to understand anything. A lot of bass or a little? And what about the vocals and the guitars? Here are four simple tips how to maintain the adequacy of perception during your mixing audio process. How to control your hearing, how to mix and master?

1. Every 15 minutes, change the volume to make it less comfortable for you. The fact is that the ear gets used to one level and becomes unresponsive. Instinctively, in this situation, we are going to increase the level of the volume. But decrease works just as well, sometimes even better. The main thing is to make the hearing tense and adapt to a new level.

2. A good mix from zero dB comes out simultaneously, it means that all instruments appear at the minimum volume simultaneously. At the quietest level, you should hear all the instruments. An exception may be the bass. It may not be audible. If some instrument appeared earlier, that means you should decrease its level in the mix. The second exception is vocals in pop tracks. The vocal can appear first in this genre of music.

3. At a level of 120db, the mix should sound just as comfortable as on the quiet and middle levels. I do not advise you to do mixing on this volume (it’s harmful for your ears), but between 10-15 seconds your hearing will survive without any damage. The fact is that the songs which were mixed on quiet levels, as a rule, do not sound good on high volumes, in the clubs or concerts. Therefore, you should always check the mix at an extremely high volume.

4. How to mix and master the frequency ranges? All of the frequency ranges must be balanced properly. Instruments which are in the same frequency ranges should be in the same loudness balance. For example, Hat and “Ess” of the vocalist, Kick and Bass, etc. I suggest, if you have lost the kick drum, try to reduce the bass. If the vocals are muddy, do not rush to increase the top frequencies on it and to lower all the HF percussion. The instruments mask each other in all frequency bands. Normally recorded vocals will only be muddy, if something is playing loudly in the same frequencies.

If you have any questions about this matter – feel free to ask our engineers. We are always at your disposal.