This is about basslines, not (necessarily) the frequency range. The bassline is the harmonic foundation of a track. A solid mix often needs a solid bassline. So how do you get there? How do you stop your basslines from sounding weak or flabby? Here are some techniques to consider: EQ. This is the big one. [...]
Five secrets to making your mix louder
by Kim Lajoie on February 22, 2010
Don’t dismiss this post yet! Even if you’re in the ‘more dynamics’ brigade, these tips will give you clearer mixes that suffer less in mastering. That means better-preserved dynamics and higher fidelity! For those of you who really do want your mixs SUPER LOUD, this tips will let you push more volume without your sound [...]
What is saturation?
by Kim Lajoie on July 27, 2009
Saturation used to be something that happened in the analogue world. Typically, this is when a gain stage is overloaded – the signal level exceeds the available headroom. When this happens, the signal is saturated. Basically, the sound gets distorted because you turned it up too high. The result of this is that the parts of [...]
Limiting vs Clipping
by Kim Lajoie on July 7, 2009
Limiting is an extreme approach to compression. Where compression reduces the degree by which sounds can go louder than the threshold, limiting is designed to stop sounds from being any louder than the threshold at all. Limiters usually have simpler controls to compressors, but are functionally similar to compressors with high ratio and fast attack. [...]
Vocal processing
by Kim Lajoie on May 1, 2009
My usual vocal processing chain consists of several stages: Gate, EQ, Compression, De-Essing, and reverb (as a send). Gate This is first in the chain so the gate has the full dynamic range of the original audio. The more natural the dynamic range available to the gate, but easier it is to set the threshold [...]
Processing Bass: Saturation
by Kim Lajoie on April 21, 2009
So, we’ve addressed two important processing tools available to a mix engineer – EQ and compression. Next up is one of my favourites – saturation. How can saturation be useful for bass? Saturation can do a number of things simultaneously – it can reduce the headroom requirements of the track, it can make the bass [...]
Saturation, compression and reverb
by Kim Lajoie on March 11, 2009
Following on from the previous post, here are some tools I use: Saturation Voxengo Voxformer – Great for adding “hair” to a sound. It’s a very dry scratchy sound, so too much can sometimes make a sound pretty gross, but just a little bit often is enough to add some life and colour to a [...]