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Mixing Resources
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<blockquote data-quote="Eric Cagle" data-source="post: 99168" data-attributes="member: 277"><p>Re: Mixing Resources</p><p></p><p>I reread Phil's first post. I think pretty much everybody really really sucks at live band mixing starting out. It is almost a right of passage that the first time you throw up the faders for a full band you end up with a loud horrible mess where you can't hear anything but loud. If you had a little guidance hopefully it gets better as you tweak. If you don't have a little guidance it usually gets worse. </p><p></p><p>There are a couple of things I usually see beginning engineers do wrong right off the bat. First is what I call "fader creep" where they keep turning things up. I need more vocals. Now I need more guitar. Now I need more snare drum. Now I need more vocals. You get the idea. More more more and the faders go up up and up until there is no more headroom. What you actually need is BALANCE. This balance needs to be achieved within the headroom of the system with hopefully a good margin left over for the peaks and then some. If you need more vocals and they are already close to unity and gained in correctly then the approach is to listen to what is "stepping on them" and lower the offenders with either a fader move or an EQ scoop. I find the faders of most seasoned engineers to almost all be in nearly a straight line a few dB below unity. If the input gain and EQ are correct it just seems to end up that way.</p><p></p><p>The next thing I see most novice engineers (and some of you control freak seasoned engineers) do is being "glued" to the console constantly tweaking. Dial it in and let the band do their thing. Make the occasional tweak, but if everything is set up well from the get go then really most of your work is done. We are "capturing" sound. The musicians are creating it. We have to clean it up and make it pretty, but they create it. Yes we have a few more duties like muting the effects between songs when the singer is talking and adjusting delay times as it is called for on different tempo songs and other FX stuff, but constantly adjusting channel EQ and things like that the whole set reek of "novice". If you can easily walk around and listen to the mix in various audience positions by all means take a minute or two every now and then and do it. Your awareness of what it is sounding like to the audience is a part of being professional. The better you get the quicker the mix happens and the less you have to adjust it. I used to tell my soundmen in training, "If it sounds right LEAVE IT ALONE."</p><p></p><p>And by the way I have heard Phil mix and I can assure you he does not suck anymore.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Eric Cagle, post: 99168, member: 277"] Re: Mixing Resources I reread Phil's first post. I think pretty much everybody really really sucks at live band mixing starting out. It is almost a right of passage that the first time you throw up the faders for a full band you end up with a loud horrible mess where you can't hear anything but loud. If you had a little guidance hopefully it gets better as you tweak. If you don't have a little guidance it usually gets worse. There are a couple of things I usually see beginning engineers do wrong right off the bat. First is what I call "fader creep" where they keep turning things up. I need more vocals. Now I need more guitar. Now I need more snare drum. Now I need more vocals. You get the idea. More more more and the faders go up up and up until there is no more headroom. What you actually need is BALANCE. This balance needs to be achieved within the headroom of the system with hopefully a good margin left over for the peaks and then some. If you need more vocals and they are already close to unity and gained in correctly then the approach is to listen to what is "stepping on them" and lower the offenders with either a fader move or an EQ scoop. I find the faders of most seasoned engineers to almost all be in nearly a straight line a few dB below unity. If the input gain and EQ are correct it just seems to end up that way. The next thing I see most novice engineers (and some of you control freak seasoned engineers) do is being "glued" to the console constantly tweaking. Dial it in and let the band do their thing. Make the occasional tweak, but if everything is set up well from the get go then really most of your work is done. We are "capturing" sound. The musicians are creating it. We have to clean it up and make it pretty, but they create it. Yes we have a few more duties like muting the effects between songs when the singer is talking and adjusting delay times as it is called for on different tempo songs and other FX stuff, but constantly adjusting channel EQ and things like that the whole set reek of "novice". If you can easily walk around and listen to the mix in various audience positions by all means take a minute or two every now and then and do it. Your awareness of what it is sounding like to the audience is a part of being professional. The better you get the quicker the mix happens and the less you have to adjust it. I used to tell my soundmen in training, "If it sounds right LEAVE IT ALONE." And by the way I have heard Phil mix and I can assure you he does not suck anymore. [/QUOTE]
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