The EM Poll

Electronic Euphoria

Feb 1, 1999 12:00 AM, By Jeff Casey

           

Building a powerhouse mix with electronic instruments.

A Little Mastering

Once you’re reasonably happy with what you hear, you’ll want to establish the mix’s overall frequency parameters. How much high end do you want? How much low end? True, the mastering engineer usually takes care of these things, but most professional mix engineers will use a parametric or graphic EQ across the stereo bus before printing the mix to 2-track. This allows them to set high and low boundaries for the mix—a particularly smart move when working with electronic instruments, where the frequency responses of the tracks can run the gamut. (It will also help you EQ and set the levels of the extremely high- and low-frequency instruments.)

Again, find a CD with similar content and audio quality to the project you’re working on. Listen to the overall volume of the upper and lower frequencies. Then compare that CD with the mix you have going, and make minor adjustments to the stereo EQ where needed. A graphic EQ—I prefer the dbx 2231—is an excellent tool for this application.

A lot of hip-hop, dance, and R&B music has extremely heavy low-end content. This contributes to these genres’ distinctive sounds, but loud low end doesn’t equal good low end. In other words, don’t boost 9 dB at 120 Hz during mastering to get the kick drum to stand out more; go back and fix it in the mix. A good mix should require very little tweaking at the stereo bus.

Finally, a little compression (-3 dB, 1.5:1 ratio) across the stereo bus can compensate for subtle level changes that you may not have caught in the mix. Alternatively, as I mentioned earlier, limiting may be in order. (Be sure to set your threshold just below the peaks you want to eliminate.)

Boogie Down

The most important thing you can do for any mix is put it to rest once you’re done. Let it sit for a few days, allow your head to clear, and then listen to it with fresh ears. At that point, you’ll probably want to make a few thousand adjustments, but that’s fine. What’s essential is that you take a break from the project.

When all is said and done, a mix of electronic instruments employs many of the same techniques as a mix of acoustic instruments. In fact, an electronic mix actually allows you to be more creative. If you keep in mind the basic principles I’ve outlined here, you should be able to construct a solid, three-dimensional mix that jumps right out of the speakers.

EM Associate Editor Jeff Casey recently turned a hip-hop song into a country tune with a 4-band parametric EQ.

SIDEBARS

BUILDING A MIX IN TEN STEPS

Many methods can work for organizing the mixing process. This straightforward ten-step process works well for me. Obviously, there can be much more to building a mix, but sometimes it pays to keep things simple.

1. Set pan positions.

2. Set levels to build a rough mix.

3. EQ each track in context with the others, soloing tracks to isolate problems.

4. Bring all the faders down.

5. Bring your most important track up to 80 percent volume.

6. If needed, process this same track with multi-effects.

7. Bring in supporting instruments, adding effects as needed.

8. Patch dynamics processors across tracks that require them.

9. Make EQ tweaks and check the mix in mono.

10. Adjust the levels of the effects returns.

THE DADDY OF DANCE

For the most part, dance music is created with electronic instruments; break beats, loops, sequences, and samples often constitute close to 90 percent of a dance track. So who would know more about mixing electronic instruments than a dance-music mix engineer? Chris Rivera has been involved in the New York dance-music scene for almost ten years. He recently finished mixing a single for the German dance band Electrik Kloud that will be released in the United States this summer. I caught up with Rivera while he was on vacation and picked his brain on mixing.

How does a dance-music mix differ from, say, a rock mix?
There are a lot more rules for people doing rock production. When I’m mixing, I don’t have to worry about things like making sure the piano sounds full. I can pretty much do whatever I want within reason—of course, the mix still needs to sound good. In general, though, I have a lot more creative liberty with dance music.

What element do you usually build a dance mix around?
Definitely the beat. When you’re on the dance floor, you need to feel the pumping of the kick. Once your beat is rocking, you can start bringing in supporting tracks, like synth pads. If there are any vocals, they’re usually the last tracks I bring in. I know that goes against conventional techniques, but it’s how we do it. Vocals just aren’t all that important with dance music.

What factors contribute to poor electronic-instrument mixes?
Poor placement of instruments within the mix. I’ve heard a lot of mixes from guys just getting started in this business—their transient samples come in right on top of the synth pads. All of a sudden, the pad disappears, and you’re focused on this sample. Then, once the sample has passed, the whole mix sounds empty. You need to have a place for everything in the mix.

How much multi-effects processing do you use?
Actually, very little. If I’ve been involved with a project from the beginning, I try to choose sounds and mold them so that they won’t need a lot of effects processing in the mix. Sometimes I’ll use an autopanner on a pad or a tap delay in certain places for effect, but generally I keep the mix fairly dry.

What’s the best advice you can impart about mixing dance music?
Hook up with someone who owns or works at a club. Print a DAT of your mix and bring it down to the club so you can check it out in the most important listening environment. Sure, your mix has to sound good on the radio, too, but you’re really mixing for the people at the club. So go down there, crank up the system, and see how it sounds.