Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange
Musical Practice and Performance Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [mixing]

Fine tuning the relationship between different tracks in a recorded song; including effects, equalization, and volume levels.

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Why is 'additive' EQ more difficult to use than 'subtractive'?

I've read in some articles that 'additive' equalization (EQ) (where you boost a particular frequency range) is more difficult to use than 'subtractive' (where you are reducing the gain in certain ranges). Is this true and, if so, why is that? The…
Time4Tea
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What is harmonic mixing / mix in key?

I'm currently learning how to become a DJ. One of the concepts that caught my attention was "harmonic mixing". I know some very basic music theory, and I'm having some trouble understanding it. What is harmonic mixing? How can I use it on my DJ…
user8841
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When is it a remix, and when is it a cover?

This question might not be fit for this stack, but I didn't find any other. My apologies to music students out there :) When is a song a remix, and when is it a cover? Lets take Corona - The Rhythm of the Night as an example. The cover by Bastille…
Christian Wattengård
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How can I get the vocals to stand out better in the mix when recording?

I am helping a friend (very talented aspiring singer songwriter in the folk music genre’) by making some free demo recordings of her music to promote her talent. She has a nice voice but it’s on the higher end of the spectrum. When instruments…
Rockin Cowboy
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How to configure Traktor to analyse non-analyzed tracks only

Upon importing a folder to my collection in Traktor, Traktor analyze all tracks, even tracks that the same version of Traktor had already analyzed. How can I configure Traktor so that only non-analyzed tracks get analysed? My settings:
Franck Dernoncourt
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Confused by overtones when transcribing music

I noticed that sometimes when I'm transcribing a song in which the recording quality/mixing makes things hard to hear, I can sometimes be confused by the timbre of a musical part. For example, if the guitars sound very trebelly, I might get the…
user47955
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How to give more depth to vocals when mixing?

I'm recording vocals with a SM58 mic through a USB audio interface and getting clean audio with no ambient noise. At this point it sounds pretty flat (no reverb or echo from the room). So in my DAW I've been experimenting with different effects to…
JM Gustafson
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How can I remove all the tracks contained in a folder and its subfolders from my collection with Traktor 2?

I imported all the tracks contained a folder and its subfolders into my collection. I now want to remove them from my collection: how can I remove all the tracks contained in a folder and its subfolders from my collection with Traktor 2? Right now…
Franck Dernoncourt
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How do I use an equalizer?

So mixing... (audio engineering). When using an equalizer on trackouts/instrument tracks, the general approach is cut out the "bad frequencies" and increase the "good frequencies" to accentuate the instrument track. What exactly are the bad…
Seery
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Difference between mixing and mastering

I am a musician, and I have amateurish-ly recorded my own musical inspiration. I am curious to learn, though, and one of the most confusing things is - as so often - in terminology. I am looking for tutorials to get a better, warmer sound after…
Bram Vanroy
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TS vs TRS cables to connect mixer to audio interface

I understand that TS cables are mono and TRS cables are capable of delivering a stereo signal. However, if a jack supports TRS, could I still run a TS cable to it (and if so, what happens), and if a jack supports TS and I run a TRS cable to it, what…
tarun
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Making all elements clearly audible in the mix

I often struggle with mixing a song when I have all my recordings ready to use and I get closer to the "whole song". My approach is often to take a single track and add effects such as EQs, compressors, distortions etc... Then I listen to all tracks…
muffin
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How dry does a rock/metal vocal have to be during recording?

Is dryer (= less room ambience including room modes and short first reflection times) always better for the final mixing result, or is there a threshold below which it simply doesn't matter, and the optimization of other dimensions, such as tonal…
Fid Rewe
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What is the purpose of phase invert?

Can anyone explain why when I record are jam sessions that after a certain amount of time the recording starts sounding like there is effects being added and the guitar starts to sound like it's off in the background with a twang effect. I am…
SovereignSun
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How can I set balanced volume levels prior to mixing?

I make demos on Ableton, but I am new to the world of mixing. I've never been good at balancing volume levels. I do my best to dial in my levels--whichever knob I reach for first, typically--but the result is always frustrating and never…
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