How To Visualize Your Mix

As many of you know, my new Audio Mixing Bootcamp book was recently released. The book is different from The Mixing Engineer's Handbook in that it's aimed at the novice who's just starting to mix, or someone who can't seem to get their arms around the process. It's also completely different from other mixing books in that it's full of concise exercises to get your ears up to speed on what sounds good and what doesn't.

Here's an excerpt from Chapter 4: Balance that gives you some tips on how to visualize your mix even before you've moved the first fader. By the way, there's also a video version of the course that can be found at Lynda.com.
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"Most mixers can hear some version of the final product in their heads before they get too far into the mix. This is because they’ve heard rough mixes of the song many times before during production, but even if a mixer is brought in just for the mix, they listen to all the elements several times before they really get down to mixing.

If you’re just starting out mixing, you might think, “How can I hear the final product before I’ve even begin?” That’s a fair enough question. Until you have a certain amount of experience, you need a few questions to help mold your vision a bit, and the way to do that is to go back to the six mix elements and ask yourself:

How do I hear the final balance?

How do I hear the instruments EQed”

How do I hear everything panned?

How do I hear everything compressed?

How do I hear the ambience in the track?

What do I hear as the most interesting thing in the track?

If you can answer these questions, you may still not have a full picture of your final mix, but you’ll have at least a general idea, which is the first step to a great mix.

Keep in mind that the producer and musicians have a say in the mix as well, and your version of the mix can suddenly take a wide left turn with their input. That’s okay, because after you’ve gotten everything to the point where you hear it in your head (or even beyond), a left turn should be easy.

Exercise Pod: Visualize Your Mix

E4.1: Either listen to a rough mix of the song you’re working on, or quickly just push up all the faders for a rough balance to the song you’re about to mix. Let’s think about the balance.

A) How loud do you hear the drums in the final mix? The bass?

B) Do you hear the vocals out in front, or back in the track?

C) How loud do you hear the primary musical elements that carry the song?

D) How loud do you hear the secondary elements like percussion and background vocals?

E4.2: Now let’s think about the frequency response of the various instruments.

A) Is there an instrument or two that sounds particularly dull?

B) Is there an instrument or two that sounds overly bright?

C) Is there an instrument that has too much bottom end?

D) Is there an instrument that has no bottom end at all?

E4.3: Now let’s think about the panning.

A) How do you hear the drums panned? Wide or narrow?

B) How do you hear the panning of any instruments that were recorded in stereo?

C) Do you hear any instruments panned extreme wide left and right?

D) What instruments do you hear panned up the middle?

E4.4: Now let’s go to compression.

A) Is there an instrument or vocal that has wild dynamic shifts that needs compression?

B) Is there an instrument or vocal that you’d like to change the sound by using compression?

C) Is there an instrument or vocal that needs to sound a little more punchy?

E4.5: Let’s think about the ambience.

A) What instruments were recorded with room ambience or reverb?

B) Do you hear ambience on the drums or snare?

C) What instruments do you hear rather dry and in your face?

D) What instruments do you hear further away from you?

E4.6: Lastly, it’s time to think about the interest.

A) What’s the most important element in the mix?

B) If there isn’t one yet, how can I create one?

C) What’s the next most important element in the mix?

D) What’s the next most important element in the mix?

These aren’t all the questions that you can ask yourself about a mix, but you get the idea. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. It’s as you visualize it in your head."

To read additional excerpts from The Audio Mixing Bootcamp or my other books, go to the excerpt section at bobbyowsinski.com.

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New Music Gear Monday: Brian Eno's "Scape"

Not only one of the coolest iPad apps, but one of the coolest sound generation tools that I've seen in a long time is Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers' Scape. What makes it unique is that not only how it allows a user to easily connect different software sound generators and modifiers, but how they interact with one another as well. This interaction means that each time a composition is played, it's unique, but has the same general personality as the original composition.

While Scape seems like the perfect compositional tool for atmospheric/ambient music like Eno's Music For Airports, Discreet Music or his new album Lux, I can see it being used as a pad element for other types of music as well. Regardless of the type of music you create, it's an exciting new way to compose, taking the visual element that table-top software synths have had for a while and elevating the idea to a new level.

Scape is available for $5.99 from the iTunes App Store. You can read more about Scape and other apps from Eno and Chilvers at generativemusic.com.

Here's a great introduction video to how Scape works.

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Are There Really 41% Fewer Musicians?

According to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, 41% fewer people now describe themselves as musicians than in 1999. That doesn't refer to musician hobbyists, but musicians that get paid, although they may not make their living directly from music. Depressing, right?

There's been a lot of contradiction about those stats by various parties (check out this great article on Ars Technica), but the fact is that even the best estimate places the number at 8% less than 1999. Regardless of which figure you use, the fact of the matter is that as the recorded music sales drops, so does the job opportunities for musicians.

Surprised? You shouldn't be. It's hard out there on the streets of Music Land, and it's been so for a long time. Here's what musicians face these days:

• Paying gigs are harder to find because there are fewer venues.

• Many of the existing venues have instituted a pay-to-play format.

• Fewer record deals are available because there are fewer record labels and way fewer A&R talent scouts.

• The existing record labels only want to take a chance on a sure thing.

• The recording budgets are minuscule as compared to 10 years ago.

• The farm team system and student/mentor relationship of the pre-2000 days barely exists anymore in the music business.

And I'm sure you can probably add a number of items that I haven't thought of here.

This sounds like I'm down on the business and lamenting those "good old days" (that probably weren't all that good in retrospect), but I'm not. I happen to think that this is an exciting time in music. Here's why:

• The power to realize your creation is literally at your fingertips these days , and it's powerful and economical in an unprecedented way.

• The information on musicianship, recording and production abounds. From books and videos (like those from yours truly), websites, online forums and newsletters, you can find the answer to just about any question in almost a blink of an eye.

• The ability to release a product and get it into widespread distribution is cheaper and easier than ever before.

• The ability to promote yourself is cheaper and easier than ever before.

Okay, I know you can poke a hole in each of the above arguments and in various posts here and on my Music 3.0 blog I'm sure that I have, but I'm still optimistic for the future.

The fact is that we're in the middle of a revolution and just about no one can predict the outcome. Even though the recorded music segment of the business has shrunk by 55% since 1999, the global income from all facets of music is at al all-time high And you can bet that somewhere in the near future a new technology will be created that will help musicians more easily monetize their abilities. These things go in cycles, and we happen to be in a trough at the moment.

So hang tough, musos. Study and learn your craft and more about your branding and marketing, because better days are ahead.

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8 Tips For Mixing For Mastering

While so many engineers now attempt to master their own mixes with mixed results (pardon the pun), just about every major label and large indie still sends their mixes to a pro mastering facility. Regardless of if you decide to master yourself or use a mastering engineer, here are some tips from The Mixing Engineer's Handbook to help you get the most out of your mastering session.

1. Don't over-EQ when mixing. In general, mastering engineers can do a better job for you if your mix is on the dull side rather than too bright. Likewise, better to be light on the bottom end than have too much.

2. Don’t over-compress when mixing. You might as well not even master if you’ve squashed it too much already. Hypercompression deprives the mastering engineer of one of his major abilities to help your project. Squash it for your friends and squash it for your clients, but leave some dynamics for your mastering engineer.

3. Come prepared. Make sure all documentation and sequencing is complete before you get there. You’ll make it easier on yourself and your mastering person if everything is well documented, and you’ll save yourself some money too. Be sure to include shipping instructions and record company identification numbers, and if your songs reside on hard disc as files, make sure that each file is properly ID'd for easy identification (especially if you’re not there during the session).

4. Check your phase when mixing. It can be a real shock when you get to the mastering studio and the engineer begins to check for mono compatibility and the lead singer disappears from the mix because something is out-of-phase. Even though this was more of a problem in the days of vinyl and AM radio, it’s still an important point since many so-called stereo sources such as television are either pseudo-stereo or only stereo some of the time. Check it and fix it if necessary before you get there.

5. Go to the mastering session if possible. Most engineers and producers will go to the first few sessions when checking out a new mastering engineer to see if he has the same musical and technical sensibilities. After that, a bond of trust develops and they will simply send the mix master with any instructions. That being said, you should go to all of the mastering sessions if possible because it will always sound a bit different (and hopefully better) than what it sounded like during mix-down. Attending the session also allows for some final creative decisions that only you can make ("The kick is a little loud, see if you can de-emphasize it a bit," or "Let's squash the whole mix a little more to make this tune punchier").

6. If you’re making a vinyl record or CD, known the song sequence. Sequencing (the order that the tunes appear on the CD or vinyl record) is especially important and making this list beforehand will save you money in mastering time. Many engineer/producers have the mistaken impression that once the final mix is finished, it's off to the mastering studio. There needs to be one additional session, known as the "sequencing session," where you do any editing that’s required (it’s cheaper to do in your own DAW than during mastering) and listen to the various sequence possibilities. This is really important if you’ll be releasing in multiple formats such as CD and vinyl or different countries or territories, since they may require a different song order due to the two sides of the record.

7. Have your songs timed out. If your project is going to be released on CD or vinyl, you want to make sure that your project can fit. Most CD's have a total time of just under 80 minutes (78:33 to be exact) although it’s possible to get an extended time CD (be careful, you may have replication problems). Obviously the available time decreases if you choose to include additional files on the ROM section of the disc. Cumulative time is important when mastering for vinyl because the mastering engineer must know the total time per side before he starts cutting due to the physical limitations of the disc. This is about 25 minutes per side if you want the record to be nice and loud.

8. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you’re unsure of the amount of compression or EQ that you’re applying while you’re mixing, send the mastering engineer a mix of a song and ask for his opinion. He can guide you on what you got right and what you got wrong so that when you finally deliver the master to him, the mixes sound their best. Believe it or not, mastering engineers love to do this because it makes their job a lot easier in the long run.

For additional tips and tricks or to read other excerpts, check out the excerpt section on bobbyowsinski.com.

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A Look Back At Philadelphia's Sigma Sound

Last week I posted a song analysis of "For The Love Of Money" by The O'Jays, which was done at Philadelphia's famed Sigma Sound. Sigma was at the heart of the Philly Soul sound of the 70s and is often overlooked in the annals of pro audio.

The fact of the matter was that Sigma was always on the forefront of studio innovation. It was the second studio in the US to offer 24 track recording, one of the first to use a DI to record bass, and the first to have console automation! All of these features are so mundane today, but way back then they were a big deal.

Here's a great video of Sigma owner and engineer Joe Tarsia describing what Sigma was like back then.

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The Science Behind Bad Singing

Why are some singers naturally gifted and others tone deaf? That's what researchers in Montreal and Warsaw wanted to find out. In a new study published in the Journal of The Acoustical Society of America called Singing Proficiency in the General Population, Isabelle Peretz, Jean-Francois Giguere and Simone Dala Bella tested the singing abilities of 62 non-musicians in Quebec.

They asked random individuals to sing a verse from a song called "Gens du Pays," which is a common French birthday song. The verse of the song was chosen because it has 32 notes, a vocal range of less than an octave and a stable tonal center, according to the researchers.

What they tested for in each performance was:

• pitch stability
• the number of pitch interval errors
• pitch deviation
• timing errors
• tempo consistency

What they found was that most of the untrained singers were actually pretty good at carrying a tune. Their timing was good, but their pitch wasn't as accurate as professional singers. The interesting thing was that when asked slow down, the untrained singers pitch improved greatly, almost to the point of being as good as a pro.

But there were a small minority of really bad singers, who claimed that they were "tone deaf." It turns out that they were anything but. When tested, they were actually remarkable good at hearing pitch deviations, they just were bad at executing them.

Probably the biggest problem with recording a vocal is pitch. If this study holds true, the simple act of slowing the vocalist down to go over the part might be a quick and easy way to improve a performance.

Anybody care to try this and report back?

If interested, you can check out another similar study here.

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New Music Gear Monday: Reftone Monitors

Any of you "classic" engineers reading have probably used Auratone 5Cs at some time during your career, but since they haven't been made for some time, most of today's engineers have not yet had the pleasure.

The Auratone (or "Horribletone" or "Horrortone" as many called it in the day) was a 3 1/2 inch speaker in a very small un-ported square cabinet. Unlike virtually all other speakers, it was never meant to sound good, only an average of the typical consumer playback system of the time. It fact, it sounded mediocre at best and that's why studio rats liked it way back when. If your mix sounded great the Auratones, then you could be pretty sure that it sounded great anywhere.

The fact is that the Auratone 5C was the first more or less "standard" reference speakers for the studio, way before the Yamaha NS-10C held that distinction. But just like the NS-10, the Auratones haven't been manufactured for some time. As a result, you now see them on Ebay for $500 a pair or even more. As with all things vintage, many engineers who discarded their 5Cs years ago now wish they had them back.

And now they are, brought back to life as the Reftone, a new representation of something that so many found so useful in the past. The brainchild of engineer Dave Hampton, who had previously built custom versions for Prince and Herbie Hancock, the monitor is updated with a new heavy-duty shielded driver and made from birch instead of MDF. Plus they have a slightly smaller footprint than the original Auratone 5C. That said, the word is that they still sound very close to the old Auratones.

Reftones retail at $299 a pair and are available in a variety of different colors and wood enclosures. By the way, these speakers are passive, so you have to supply your own amp. The amp/speaker combination is critical so there's a list of amp suggestions of the Reftone site.

You're not going to get big thumping bass out of these things, but that's not the point. It's the midrange that so important to definition in a mix, and that's what these are best at. Here's a short video from producer Randy Emata regarding the monitors.

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O'Jays "For The Love Of Money" Song Analysis

Reader Phil LoCascio requested a song analysis of a mid-70's r&b hit by The O'Jays called "For The Love Of Money" from their Ship Ahoy album. The song represented some great Philly Soul and is another iconic production by producers and writers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff for Philadelphia International Records, an r&b powerhouse in the 70's. The song peaked at #3 on the Billboard R&B chart and #9 on the Pop chart. It's title comes from the well-known bible verse "For the love of money is the root of all evil."

Like with all song analysis, we'll look at the song form, the arrangement, the sound and the production.

The Song
The album version of the "For The Love Of Money" is over 7 minutes long, but we'll look at the single edited version here, since that was one that garnered most airplay (although the full album version did get played a lot as well). The form looks like this:

Intro, verse, interlude, chorus, interlude, verse, bridge, chorus, outro

There's not really a lot of sections to the song, yet it seems a lot longer than it actually is. That doesn't mean that you loose interest though. The fact of the matter is that the song continues to evolve as it goes along.

The Arrangement
"For The Love Of Money" is really a mini-masterpiece when you really begin to analyze it. It's built around a simple yet powerful bass riff that continues through most of the song, yet there's always something going on around it that keeps your attention.

The song begins with the bass riff by itself, which is then joined by the drums and percussion after two passages of the riff. A trumpet line is added, which has a harmony added on the second time around.

During the verses, the horns, piano and organ play the chord pattern while a wah guitar pushes the rhythm along with the congas. The lead vocals are traded back and forth between the members of the band. The choruses follow the same chord pattern as the verse, but the background vocals restate the song title. It's only in the bridge that the bass and drums really play anything resembling a typical rhythm section pattern, while the organ plays a pad.

Finally, the outro is basically a chorus with the vocals turned around, with the backgrounds taking the melody and the lead vocals ad libing. The arrangement elements look like this:

  * The Foundation: bass and drums

  * The Rhythm: congas and wah guitar

  * The Pad: organ in the bridge

  *The Lead: lead and background vocals

  * The Fills: lead and background vocals, horns in the outro

The Sound
The sound of "For The Love Of Money," recorded at Philadelphia's legendary Sigma Sound by its owner Joe Tarsia, is classically 70's clean. A little known fact is that Sigma was the second studio in the US to offer 24 track recording, one of the first to use a DI to record bass, and the first to have console automation!

Perhaps the most compelling part of the song is bassist Anthony Jackson's signature bass line. Take notice that it crosses back and forth between being bathed in reverb and being dry, while also being slightly phased. This is one of the rare times in music where the bass actually benefits from reverb, since it's used as an effect to draw the listeners attention during a section where the bass is playing by itself.

The song also features phasing on the drums and backwards reverb vocals on the background vocal parts. Also take notice that the panning is very wide, with the horns only on the right side (and their echo on the left) along with the B-3 and wah guitar, and the congas only on the left side along with the occasional piano.

Just about everything in the mix has some sort of excellent sounding reverb on it, which really gives it a rich, yet not too distant sound.

The Production
Gamble and Huff were the heart of the Philly Soul era, and their productions have always been sophisticated way beyond what they've been given credit for. The fact that they could take a pretty simple riff and turn it into a top 10 single is a testament to their songwriting and production abilities.

From the backwards phasing on the vocals, the phasing on the drums in the intro, the reverb on the bass, the extreme panning of instruments - any one which might be dubious in most songs, yet all used here - the song is total ear candy. Yet those tricks aren't done just because they're cool, but because they all contribute to the song as they blend in seamlessly to the track.

But the real trick is how they weave instruments together. Listen to how the horns, organ and piano all meld together to become one instrument during the verses and chorus. Listen to the unusual drum beat that compliments the bass line perfectly.

The 3 minute singles version is embedded below, but if you really want a treat, check out the full 7 minute album version as well.

Send me your song requests.

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Rare Video: "Let's Buy A Record"

Here's a gem that shows a piece of recording history. It's a 1951 promotional film by Capitol Records called "Want to Buy a Record?" It features the legendary Mel Blanc trying to sell a record to passer-by Billy May. Skip to 10:40 for a look at a session in the old Capitol Studios on Melrose Blvd a few years before the renowned Capitol Tower was built.

The film also shows lacquer cutting, a brief meeting with Les Paul and Mary Ford, and then a rare clip of Dean Martin recording. It finishes up with a tour of a record pressing plant. It's the whole Capitol family in a time gone by.

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6 Common Songwriting Problems

Whenever I listen to songs from a young songwriter there seems to be a number of common problems that pop up, so here's a checklist that you can use before you deem your song finished. Regardless of how long you've been writing songs, these items can be useful, especially if you intend for your songs to be as commercial as possible.

1. Are the sections too long? Sections of a song that are too long cause the listener to rapidly loose interest.

2. Is there a clear distinction between sections? For instance, can you tell the difference between the verse and the chorus? Once again, listener interest wanes if a song goes too long without something new happening.

3. Does the song have a bridge? A bridge adds tension and release, keeping the interest high and enabling the song to build to a peak.

4. Does the song have a hook or identifiable riff? A strong hook or riff develops listener interest.

5. Does the song have dynamics? Dynamics (places in the song that are more and less intense) develops listener interest.

6. Does the song have a tight arrangement? See my previous post on arrangements.

There's a lot more information in chapter 9 of my band improvement book How To Make Your Band Sound Great.

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A Drum Recording Checklist

Like the foundation of a house, the drums are the foundation of a recording. With a strong foundation, you can build almost anything on it that you or your clients can imagine. A little effort and time spent miking the drums and getting the sound just right can result in a recording that sounds great. Here’s a list of things to check if things just don’t sound right taken from my book The Drum Recording Handbook (written with engineer Dennis Moody).

Remember that each situation is different and ultimately the sound depends upon the drums, the drummer, the song, the arrangement, and even the other players. Sometimes things are just out of your control. Also, these are not hard and fast rules, just a starting place. If you try something that’s different from what you’ll read below and it sounds good, it is good!

1. Do the drums sound great acoustically? Make sure that you start with a great acoustic drum sound with the drums well tuned and minimum of sympathetic vibrations.

2. Are the mics acoustically in phase? Make sure that tom mics and room mics are parallel to each other. Make sure that any underneath mics are at a 45° angle to the top mics.

3. Are the mics electronically in phase? Make sure that any bottom mics have the phase reversed. Make sure that all the mic cables are wired the same by doing a phase check.

4. Are the mics at the correct distance from the drum? If they’re too far away they’ll pick up too much of the other drums. If they’re too close the sound will be unbalanced with too much attack or ring.

5. Are the drum mics pointing at the center of the head? Pointing at the center of the drum will give you the best balance of attack and fullness.

6. Are the cymbal mics pointed at the bell. If the mic is pointed at the edge of the cymbal, you might hear more air “swishing” than cymbal tone.

7. Is the high-hat mic pointed at the middle of the hat? Too much towards the bell will make the sound thicker and duller. Too much towards the edge will make the sound thinner and pick up more air noise.

8. Are the room mics parallel? If you’re using two room mics instead of a stereo mic to mic the room, make sure that the mics are on the same plane and are exactly parallel to each other. Also make sure that they’re on the very edge of the kit looking at the outside edge of the cymbals.

9. Does the balance of the mix sound the same as when you’re standing in front of the drums?This is your reference point and what you should be trying to match. You can embellish the sound after you’ve achieved this.

10. Are the drums placed in the best sounding part of the room? Even if you've followed everything else up to this point, if the drums are placed too close to a window or in a part of the room where the reflections "boing," chances are your drum sounds aren't going to sound as good as you want them to sound. Move them to the biggest part of the room that has the smoothest sounding reflections.

If you follow these simple tips, you'll be surprised how great your drum sound can be.

To read additional book excerpts, go to bobbyowsinski.com.

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New Music Gear Monday: Neil Young's Pono Music Service

Many of you might not have heard that music icon Neil Young gave a sneak peak of something that might turn out to be really cool last week on David Letterman's show (see the video below). Neil has railed for years against the poor quality of MP3s, the iTunes Store and streaming music, and has now put his money where his mouth was with the new Pono music service.

We don't know all that much about Pono, but here's what we do know:

• All the files in the service are at 192kHz/24 bit.

• There's a new player that goes with it, similar to an iPod, but with much higher quality digital to audio convertors (see the graphic on the left).

• The Pono player has two headphone jacks, presumably for sharing.

• Dolby and Meridian are involved, presumably to license the Meridian Lossless Packing (MLP) codec to Pono to decrease those big 192k files to about half their size.

The major labels are already on board (with Warner Music licensing their 8,000 album catalog to Pono) and the release is scheduled for sometime in 2013.

It appears that this is a download service, but a major question is how consumers will deal with the long download times of such a huge hi-res audio file. Even if MLP encoding is used, we're still talking about a file much more than twice as large as a regular CD file at 44.1kHz/16bit. According to one account, when asked the question Young replied, "That's what overnight is for." That may be so, but in this new Music 3.0 world of instant gratification, I don't think that will cut it for most of the potential audience.

That said, you have to love that we may be getting a new hi-res audio format that may actually have a shot at catching on. For more on the industry implications of Pono, check out today's post on my Music 3.0 blog.

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