10s
Veteran
Since we are here to swap & share ideas I wanted to bring up the importance of the listening environment we use for mixing.
Headphones are fine but of limited use. They can't be used for actual mix down. You will have great difficulty getting the sound you hear in your phones to materialize in a room. Mixing needs to be done with speakers.
Special Speakers: yes, that's part of the equation. Currently there are many inexpensive monitors that work well ( not super great) for our mixing needs. Around $300 - 500, Guitar Center has them available....no I don't work there...
The Room: This is the neglected area & is really one of the most important factors for mixing. Why is it that those studio engineers spend enormous sums of cash for strange looking rooms? Because they sound good, for producing sound and listening back to it. By simply hanging up thick moving type blankets and other sound absorbing material we can start to stop sound reflections that alter the true nature of our recordings. There is much to this craft of shaping an audio environment, but blankets can help. Play around & see what difference it makes.
Speaker Placement: Setting monitors at ear level and arranging them so that the distance between the speakers and you the mixer, are of equal distance will put you into the "Sweet Spot". Move a foot to the left, right, back, forward, and you'lll be out of the zone....and you can easily detect it. This is where the sound from your speakers start to become phase aligned. Simply this means the sound waves from a single recorded source that is spilt into a stereo arrangement are hitting your ears at the exact same time. This makes the sound more thick, rich and enjoyable.
Any other ideas for increasing the integrity of our listening environment?
Oh yeah....those damn computers...shut em up...somehow.
Headphones are fine but of limited use. They can't be used for actual mix down. You will have great difficulty getting the sound you hear in your phones to materialize in a room. Mixing needs to be done with speakers.
Special Speakers: yes, that's part of the equation. Currently there are many inexpensive monitors that work well ( not super great) for our mixing needs. Around $300 - 500, Guitar Center has them available....no I don't work there...
The Room: This is the neglected area & is really one of the most important factors for mixing. Why is it that those studio engineers spend enormous sums of cash for strange looking rooms? Because they sound good, for producing sound and listening back to it. By simply hanging up thick moving type blankets and other sound absorbing material we can start to stop sound reflections that alter the true nature of our recordings. There is much to this craft of shaping an audio environment, but blankets can help. Play around & see what difference it makes.
Speaker Placement: Setting monitors at ear level and arranging them so that the distance between the speakers and you the mixer, are of equal distance will put you into the "Sweet Spot". Move a foot to the left, right, back, forward, and you'lll be out of the zone....and you can easily detect it. This is where the sound from your speakers start to become phase aligned. Simply this means the sound waves from a single recorded source that is spilt into a stereo arrangement are hitting your ears at the exact same time. This makes the sound more thick, rich and enjoyable.
Any other ideas for increasing the integrity of our listening environment?
Oh yeah....those damn computers...shut em up...somehow.
