ok, here's another question (as I am a complete beginner!) can't you make the whole track in Reason?? why do you need to export it to Logic?
am I a bit thick, or what??? Matt -----Original Message----- From: Josh Steiner [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2003 10:24 PM To: Drum & Bass Arena Discussion List Subject: [dnb-prod] RE: Mixing down trust, you are the f*cking man :) -josh -- ____________________________________________________ independent u.s. drum'n'bass -- http://vitriolix.com Trust wrote: >Whew... > >Ok, not sure where to start on this one. You've been getting a fair bit of >misinformation along way, but at least you're asking the right questions. > >1. Mono vs. Stereo => > >Beginners get hung up on this one a lot, but it's really fairly simple. The >best advice is use your eyes and ears. Take a look at the waveforms and >listen carefully. If the sound source (drums, pads, whatever) is exactly >the same right and left then you might as well convert the file to mono and >save space. IF, however the right side has different content then the left >side, AND this is something you want to keep...then keep the file stereo. > >Once you bring the file into Logic you have to consider the same question >again for each track. For every audio track in logic you have to designate >it as a Stereo track or a mono track. If you put a stereo wav file onto a >mono audio track then the output is still going to be mono. If you put a >stereo wav onto a stereo track then, the output will replicate the L/R >balance of the original wav. If you put a mono file onto a stereo track >then the output will be stero, but there is really no point (since the left >side and right side are the same) UNLESS you are going to add stereo effects >on top (such as stereo delays, phasers, etc). In such case, the final >output of the track will indeed have stereo qualities. > >Rule of thumb-wise, drums are almost always mono. Vocals, pads are often >stereo -> there is usually some L/R differences in vocal recordings that >will add some spaciousness and depth to the sound. For anything that is >going to end up on vinyl, all bass parts should be mono. This includes >basslines, kick drums, subs, etc. This is because of the well documented >fact that any panning of the bass will often cause cutting needles and >record needles to skip. This shouldnt bother you too much because i doubt >you really want your kick drums galloping back and forth across the stereo >field. > > > > >>Question 2: How can I lower the volume of these peaks without losing >>dynamics? >> >> > >By definition, you cant. The definition of "dynamics" is the difference >between the loudest parts and the quietest parts. If you lower the volume >of the peaks, then you have reduced the dynamics. Period. That said, you >probably *do* need to lower the volume of those peaks and compression is >usually a good tool for this. Quite often however i will go in and lower >peaks by hand in my audio editor (soundforge, etc.) > >Re: Dithering > >You dont need to manually dither any of you working files. At all. All >dithering does is reduce to file to a specified bit rate. In fact, Reason >dithers each of your files when you export to wav. That's why it gives you >a choice of 16bit output, 24 bit, etc. What it is doing is *dithering* your >file to 16bits, or 24bits, etc. Some limiting tools, such as Waves L1 >Ultramaxizer applying dithering. If you are using the L1 as the final step >in mastering then this However, the effects for dithering are generally >unnoticeable. You dont really need to worry much about this for now. > > > >>Question 3: Once I have all my master .wav files laid out and ready to mix, >>would I need to apply any Equalization *during* the mix? The only parts of >>the track I've applied any EQing to are drums and vocals. I've heard that >>for soft synths you don't need to apply any EQing per se, but I am >>skeptical. I'd just like to make sure that I don't do something unnecessary >>if it can be avoided. >> >> > >Oh boy...feel free to shoot your friends. EQ is a completely subjective >thing. This is where you decide how you want everything to sound. Applying >EQ is like adding (or subtracting) flavor. To say that soft synths dont >need EQ is like someone telling you that potatoes dont need any salt. How >the hell do they know??? > >EQ is what you use to shape each sound. It definately more art then science >and depends a lot of subjective decision of how you want everything to >sound. However, your goals should definately be to create a fairly balanced >mix of high/mid/lo frequencies so you have to pay careful attention to how >each sound effects that balance. > > > >>Question 4 (possibly a subset of question 3): Do I need to separate the >>different components into discrete frequency ranges using EQing / >> >> >filtering? > >Expanding on the above, this is sort of the general idea. Pick out a freq. >range of where each sound is doing it's bizness then accentuate those >frequencies and strip away the rest. Go too far however and you quickly >lose the naturalness and depth to your sounds. It's always a balancing act. >Like i said: more art then science, but that's the general idea. > >The best thing you can do is jump in with both feet. You'll learn the most >by doing and each mix is likely to be better than the last. Grab some >professional tracks that you feel are good comparison material and see how >close you can get your mix to sound, soncially. If any of your friends are >fluent in Logic then see if you can get them to take a stab a mixdown as >well as doing your own. You can learn alot just by seeing what someone >else's take on your mix. > >hope this helps, >trust > > > > > >--- >Drum&Bass Arena Producers Discussion List http://www.breakbeat.co.uk >You are currently subscribed to dnb-prod as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > --- Drum&Bass Arena Producers Discussion List http://www.breakbeat.co.uk You are currently subscribed to dnb-prod as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- Drum&Bass Arena Producers Discussion List http://www.breakbeat.co.uk You are currently subscribed to dnb-prod as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
