Yamaha AW4416 Manuale Utente

 

Tutorial—Mixdown

 

Although the term “mixdown” seems to imply a single action, it is really a pro-
cess that can involve many interrelated steps. As you become more experienced, 
the individual steps will sort of blend into one larger operation. This is important 
because at all times you’ll need to consider how each small action will affect the 
overall sound. A small change in equalization on one instrument, for example, 
can affect the way the others sound. The ability to anticipate cause-and-effect 
relationships like this can only come through experience. The more you mix, the 
better you’ll get!

 

One of the most important steps in any mix is to make at least a mental plan 
before even starting the actual mix. Here are a few points to consider:

• First and foremost think about the music! What is the song saying? What kind 

of mood is the piece attempting to convey? How can you approach the mix in 
a way that will enhance the music itself?

• Does the piece depend mostly on the lyrics? The singer’s voice? The rhythm? A 

particular instrument or sound? You’ll probably want to emphasize whichever 
element(s) of the piece you determine to be the most important. If the lyrics 
are critical, for example, you won’t want the vocal track buried in the back-
ground or rendered unintelligible by an excessive wash of reverb.

• How do you want to place the instruments in the stereo soundstage? Are you 

trying to create a realistic “live performance” image, or just shooting for an 
overall effect?

• What kind of “space” do you want to place the music in? Open and dry? 

Large and reverberant? Small and tight? Distant? Intimate?

• What instruments are in similar frequency ranges and are likely to get in each 

other’s way? Distorted electric guitar and organ are perfect examples of instru-
ments that do this. You’ll need to think about panning such instruments to dif-
ferent areas of the soundstage and/or using equalization to give them separate 
“identities”.

• Will you need to make any mood or scene changes during the mix that might 

involve major changes in levels, EQ or effects? Here’s where automation 
might make the job a lot easier.

• Remember that the points given here are only a guide, and that every piece of 

music is different. In fact, planning the mix is probably the most creative part 
of the entire production process.

 

❒

 

OK, the tracks are loaded, now let’s go ahead and listen to the raw tracks.

 

Make sure that AUTOMIX is disabled before proceeding! You can do this by pressing the 
AUTOMATION [AUTOMIX] key, moving the cursor to the AUTOMIX “ENABLE” parame-
ter, and pressing [ENTER] to switch this to “DISABLE”.