Organize the mixing session

This point may seem you not very relevant, but we can guarantee you that it is a fundamental pillar for the process. Once we receive all the files from our client, we to set up a clean session within our DAW (Cubase 10 PRO). This will improve the workflow within the mix. Believe it or not, mixing an album can be a chaotic process with hundreds of tracks, thousands of files, buses, fx etc. Maintaining good order keeps the things running smoothly. Imagine a client ask you to change something from the mix and you have to go back to a 120 tracks session after a month. Everything would be a mess. A professional online mixing service keeps track of all their sessions and projects properly organized.

Basic Panning and Balance. Understanding your music

This step is provisional. After the session is properly set up with busses, colours and folders we realize a quick basic mix. A basic volume and panorama balance. After this, we can hear your song in context and understand its needs. Before anything else, we need to analyze our starting point and contrast what we have with what our client wants to get. We listen to all the references you send to us and read all your directions. Professionals who offer a good online mixing service don’t start the process without having a good idea about what the songs needs and an acting plan.

Filtering and Editing

We go through all the tracks in the session and ‘clean’ them. This means we remove any kind of undesirable noise (all the usual clicks, pops and different artefacts from the recording). Then, we get rid of all the frequency content that we don’t want in the mix. For this purpose, we use high al low pass filters. We also take care of the Fade In and Outs (when it is required) so everything runs smoothly.

An indispensable part of the process if we want to avoid masking and give every instrument its own space within the mix.  The more tracks we have in our project the more important filtering becomes since we will have more undesired frequencies in our high and low end.

In this step, we could ask you to resend some files which have not been properly exported or recorded. In Gomixing we try to achieve the greatest result, and therefore, small details count.

Pitch Correction

We can deal manually with any kind of undesired out of tune element. Here comes the importance of understanding the genre and the musical concept you are working with. Some songs just require really subtle adjustments that nobody can notice. However, others could need a completely different approach.

In GoMixing we count with the two top pitch correction software within the industry; Melodyne 4 and Autotune. Each one of these fits different purposes and therefore, must be applied attending to the necessities of each song.

Timing correction

In music timing is everything. There is no worse feeling than being listening to a song and feel something is off or uncoordinated. These days, time inside a recording studio flies and it is really hard to reach perfection when you are working against the clock. Finding minor timing problems within a production may be normal in these type of situations.

Most of the times, drastic changes are not good for the song. An excessive timing correction could make your song sound robotic and unappealing. That’s why all of our engineers are experienced professionals who know how to apply these tweaks with good criteria.

Equalization

Equalization basically means to alter the frequency content in an audio signal. We boost or cut frequencies to make sure all the tracks come together properly. A mix could have too many ‘high’ or ‘low’ elements so its tonal balance is uneven. A song with too much energy in the low-frequency range could sound dull and blurry. On the other hand, too much energy in the high frequencies causes ear fatigue and an unpleasant sensation.

We also use equalizers to deal with any kind of resonances which makes our instruments or samples sound so irritating. To summarize, equalizing is the weapon audio engineers use to solve (or at least improve) frequency-related problems.

Compression

During the compression stage, our engineers apply dynamic processors to different channels. Controlling this factor will boost the quieter parts of the signal and attenuate the louder ones. This results in a more balanced performance. A certain degree of dynamic range is always a good thing. However, if it is out of control can result in an unpleasing and distracting listening. Using dynamic processor properly, we shall have not only a more consistent mix but also a song with a controlled groove, a nice presence and full of nuances.

FXS (Reverb, Delay, Saturation)

The world of the audio effects is incredibly large. Designing the size of your mix is a crucial factor in the final result. It will depend to a large extent on the use of reverbs and delays. These processors will allow us to shape the sense of space you want to translate with your music.

There are tons of effects apart from reverb and delays which can come into play when we are mixing. For instance, we have saturation that can add some pleasant harmonics to the sound, or it could waste your mix if it is overused. We have flangers, chorus, distortion, and so on. We will take into consideration your vision and your guidelines to use the right effects in an adequate manner.

Stereo Imaging Processing

This is the part of the process where a mixing engineer decides how to place an instrument within the stereo field and how ‘broad’ or ‘narrow’ it sounds. This is just a really simple definition that can help to give an overall idea. Thanks to technology and hundreds of new creative plugins, we can play around and create all kind of effects within the stereo field. We can take one single thin lead guitar and make it sound like 5 guitarists playing at the same time from different positions. Despite the fact that there is no limit to the possibilities, a good mixing engineer must know it is enough for each song. As always, what fits in one specific song or one genre can be disastrous for others.

Automation brings live to your mix

A big difference between an ordinary song and a hit can be the lack of contrast. Nowadays, we are in an oversaturated music market which makes difficult that somebody listens to a full song. Great music tries to catch the attention of the listener during the whole song. Think about automation as the cherry on the top of the cake, as the finest details which will really make your song stand out.

Automation allows mixing engineers to change any parameter along with the song. This makes things interesting. Automation can reinforce the concept that your music is trying to achieve and also keep the listener’s attention.

Room Modes and Acoustic Problems

Every single room out there has something called room modes or standing waves. These are the resonances that occur in a room when a sound or music is played. This means that the frequency response of our room is not flat and crystalline, but it is plagued with unevenness, and therefore, it affects how we perceive the sound we are playing. Typically, the smaller the room and the harder the surfaces, the bigger our problems with room modes will be.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop there and making a good acoustic environment is not an easy task. There are several problems you can find, for instance, your reverb time could be too ‘short’ and you would have an excessively ‘dry’ room for mixing.

The Mix won’t translate well to other places…

It is that simple. If what you listening to while you are mixing is altered by the room modes, you are going to make wrong decisions. You are going to tend to compensate your room’s acoustic problems and you may end up when an okay mix. However, what do you think will happen when you play that mix in a car, in a club, in any other studio?. It will sound completely different!. Why? Because these places don’t have the same room modes than your room, and therefore, they have a completely different frequency response.

Solution? Acoustic Treatment!

How can we fix this problem and make our music sound good everywhere?. Making a room with a proper frequency response and reverberation time. In order to achieve this, you need to measure, change the acoustics elements and repeat until you achieve the desired result. This is a difficult and expensive process, but it really makes a difference and separates amateurs from professionals.

In GoMixing we measure and treat acoustically all our rooms where we mix because we know music is made to be played everywhere around the world. We want that you can be proud of your music no matter where you play it.