Outboard Mixing

I have chosen to re-mix the hip hop logic project. In the project the audio have not been mixed down properly. The way I went about mixing down the project I listened to the whole track and I knew what needed improving. I first soloed the kick drum and it was as punchy and strong as a kick drum should be. So what I did was I added and EQ and I adjusted the lo ends because the kick drum is a lo end instrument. When I listened to kick again it sounded much more strong, punchy and aggressive. I then decided to bypass the EQ so that I can hear the difference between what the kick sounds like with and without EQ. I then repeated this same method for the other instruments and vocals.

I did all of this because I wanted all the instruments to sound clear and not flat in the mix. When mixing it is always important that everything is balanced and clear. You don't want any of the instruments to be behind the or in front of the expected mixing limit. It always important for a producer/engineer to mix and master his/her tracks because when a track is mixed and mastered the track will sound so much cleaner, it won't distort and it will be cleaner. It won't sound dull or flat. Mixing and mastering back in the early days wasn't that up to standard. This is understandable because the equipment that was used for mixing and mastering tracks wasn't that efficient enough. For instance, when an engineer was trying to EQ an audio recorded guitar, the EQ was not good enough for this because no matter how hard the engineer tried to get the hi ends to a good standard the EQ was not good enough for it. As of today digital technology has made mixing and mastering so much easier especially EQ'ing. When the digital EQ was invented it has made instruments and vocals sound much cleaner, brighter and not dull or flat.

During the vocal mixing I inserted some bus sends so that I could add reverb and delay. I did this because bus sends allow me to control how much of something I want. So when I was using the bus to control how much reverb and delay I want I first decided to play around with the bus until I got something that satisfied me and fitted in well. The vocals were dry and I wanted to improve the vocals by adding reverb and delay because this made the vocals more wetter and it also gave the vocals a little bit of ambience.

Mixing a track is an essential thing to do. When a track is unmixed it doesn't sound like a professional track. When a track has been perfectly mixed down it sounds clear and hearable. Mixing down tracks is a long process but it's a process worth getting your tracks sounding to high quality. This shows that not only do you want your tracks to sound musically but sonically as well. In my opinion it is important for every producer to get his/her mixed down properly coz this shows that a producer wants his/her tracks to sound as good as possible. This is sort of thing I  would do in every track I make because it shows that I want my tracks to sound clear and not dull. It shows that I can do more to my tracks sonically rather than musically.

Listening Skills

The song I'm going to be talking about is Calvin Harris' new single titled 'Summer'. What I like about this song sounds used in the song. I like the strings in the first verse of the because they sound very real even though they are not. It also gives the first verse a smooth and subtle feel. The vocals is another thing I like about this song. The vocals sound very clear and sharp. The mic that was used to record Calvin' vocals is very likely to be a condenser mic because condenser mics are the best mics for audio sound. I like how the melody changes at 0:33 and how the lo pass filter gives the song that ready for the drop feel. When the melody changes it makes the song become more interesting and not boring, most songs are repetitive because the melody is catchy or the melody has a nice harmonic sound. This song has a nice harmonic sound but instead of keeping the same melody it was changed to something much more harmonic. The lo pass filter is filtering the main melody that will soon drop after the break. This creates a little bit of ambience for the music and also shows what is about to happen next.

Another good thing about this song is the mixing and mastering. I like how everything is not too loud or too quiet, everything is balanced out perfectly. This is what every song should sound like because is the mixing and mastering is a poor quality then the doing will sound distorted and not very pleasant to listen to. So in every song the song should be mixed and mastered to a high standard. This makes the sonic components sound clean, bright and easily heard.

Business Plan

The project that I will focus on doing is releasing an E.P. My target audience will be everyone of all ages and I can keep people updated via social networks e.g. twitter and facebook. I can also upload short previews on music sharing websites like soundcloud to show people of what is yet to come. Before I start making an E.P I can let people know that I am working on new material for a new product, then this way people will know that I am going to create new music that people will want to hear.

The styles of music that will be on my E.P are Soul, RnB, Ambient, Hip Hop and Rap. I will probably involve some instrumentalists on some of my tracks because they can provide good instrumental playing and I want to include some live instruments in some of my tracks because the music will sound more real. I want to involve mainly guitarists because they can provided very good instrumental playing for genres like Soul and RnB. For the other styles I can use midi instruments on daws such as logic, fl studio, etc. For artwork, I can look at some official websites of graphic designers and if I like their work I can contact them an see if they would be interested in making cover art for me. I can also discuss a reasonable price for it. This shows that I am serious about making a good E.P and it shows that I want to be recognised by loads of people. It also shows me being a serious musician that doesn't waste time when it comes to music.

If I have a good idea for a track that goes well with my E.P I can upload a short demo of it onto soundcloud and from there I can share onto facebook and twitter to so I can find out people's opinions on it. If I get positive feedback I can continue to compose the whole track and once it's finished I can mix and master it and then I can ask someone in or out of college to sing or rap on it. This is a great way for me tow network with musicians and advertise what I am currently making. If I didn't do this then not many people would know about my music. So it is always important for a musician to advertise his/her work. If my track involves recording live instruments I can ask a instrumentalist to play the chords or notes on the instrument. For example if I wanted a live guitar recorded I can ask a guiatrist I know to play the chord sequence or the melody and if I like the sound of the guitar I can record it onto logic. The tracks I will make for my E.P will not always have audio tracks, they might be tracks with midi instruments only. It's good to use a variety a combination of audio and midi when making tracks because it shows that the track a producer is making wants to make the track sound as good as possible. In my opinion live instruments make music sound more realistic and it gives the track good imagination. An E.P is meant to have 4-5 tracks.

The next thing I will need to think about is a release date and someone to create my artwork. E.P do take some time to make. If a producer wants his E.P to be a brilliant success he will need to spend good quality time on composing ideas that sound good to him. Producing a good track takes quality time to make because a good track is made using imagination and thought. Also, once a track is fully structured an complete it will need to be mixed and mastered. I have learned how mixing and mastering works so it won't be a problem for me to do it by myself. So in theory it would take about 2-3 months to make produce and engineer a full E.P. This is more than enough time to make an E.P brilliant. For artwork, I can look at some offical websites of graphic designers and if I like his/her work I can contact him/her to make an E.P cover for me. If payment is involved I can disuss a reasonable price.

If I do everything that is required I will be able to make my E.P successful not only for me but for the people that are listening to it. This shows that I am serious about making good quality material for people to listen to and it also shows that I am putting a lot of thought and effort in making a track sound brilliant.

Understanding Technology

Q1) Equalisation (EQ) can come as software or hardware and it's role is to make instruments sound more clearer in the mix and for taking out frequencies you don't want or need while mixing. EQ is very good for instruments, live instruments, sounds and vocals. EQ can make so much difference to what you are mixing down. EQ is the most important thing to use while you are mixing because it can really improve your song and to ensure that nothing sounds quiet or flat in the background. For example if a kick drum doesn't sound strong and punchy you can add an EQ and adjust the lo end frequencies until you get a strong and aggressive hit from the kick. You can also use the EQ to take out some of the air if you can hear it in the mix.

In the early days digital equipment wasn't invented. Mixing and mastering was used with analog equipment. The equipment used in the early days wasn't good quality. This meant that the records that were mixed and mastered were not mixed and mastered to a high quality standard. The EQ that was used in the early days wasn't efficient enough to make the instruments sound as clear, bright and clean as possible. Maybe the reason why the EQ wasn't efficient enough is because the frequency limit wasn't high or there wasn't many band frequencies. This meant that no matter how hard the engineer tried to make the instruments sound as good as they should, The EQ wasn't efficient enough for the instruments he/she was mixing down. In today's world digital EQ has become very popular in sound engineering. Digital EQ is much more efficient for mixing anything whether it's audio or midi, digital EQ will give you the right sound that you are listening for. There are three types of EQ and they are filter, shelf and parametric.

Q2) The polar patterns on the U47 are cardioid and omni directional and the polar pattern on the RCA 44 ribbon is a figure of 8. The U47 mic helps the vocals sound clear, mostly in high end frequencies and it doesn't let the vocals become dull in after recording. The U47 mic is now a frequently used mic in today's world and is industry standard for recording mainly vocals. The figure of 8 polar pattern picks up sound and ambiance from opposite sides, so this didn't make recording vocals easy whereas the U47 was and still is perfect for recording vocals because it the when the vocals were recorded using this mic, the engineers were satisfied with how the vocals sounded. The hi ends of the vocals were clean and bright and they do not sound dull in the actual mix. This microphone was used for recording Frank Sinatra's vocals.

Q3) A software mixer is a mixer that contains effects, mixing plugins, faders and master output and a hardware mixer is a mixer that contains faders, headphone buses, auxiliary buses, pan knobs, phantom power and daw switches, etc. On a hardware mixer you can only use it for recording live instruments and vocals and listening back to what has been recorded. On a software mixer you can use it for a numerous amount of things such as EQ'ing, compressing, limiting, automating, adding effects, etc. Software mixers are good for mixing and mastering any track to a high standard whereas on a hardware mixer you can't mix and master properly unless the studio contains a high standard of hardware mixing equipment. So in theory software mixers are best for EQ'ing, mixing and mastering and hardware mixers are best for recording live instruments and vocals. On a hardware mixer there a limited amount of channels you can use to mix down and you would need to rig up hardware plugins if the studio has any whereas on a software mixer you can mix unlimited channels and you can instantly select which plugin you want to use. However on a hardware mixer you can control headphone gain and turn phantom power on whereas on a software mixer you can't do any of those things.

Q4) I would choose a software mixer because when I have finished recording audio or midi data I can listen back to the recording and I can think about what sounds good and what can be improved. With the software mixer I can instantly choose what plugin and I can play around with it until I can hear a change that sounds perfect. For instance I can play around with the EQ on a kick drum until the kick sounds strong and punchy in the mix, finally I can use a compressor to squash the kick drum down so that it doesn't clip or become more dominant in the mixing process.

Q5) The good thing about DI boxes is that you can hear the sound of an instrument directly rather than a mic being put near the amp. When you listen back to a recorded guitar it does sound dull and and flat but you can instantly EQ it make the guitar sound more like a bright and clean. DI boxes are perfect not only for recording guitar but are good for record bass and synth keyboard. If a producer is recording one of these instruments and doesn't want to put a mic near the amp, he/she can instantly grab a DI box, jack - jack and XLR cables and set it up straight away. It doesn't take long to set up a DI unless you know how it's set up. If I was recording guitar, bass or keyboard I would definitely use a DI box because I know what they are used for and I don't find it difficult to set up. To set up a DI box you would need to grab a jack to jack cable and plug one end into the whichever instrument you are recording and you would need to plug in the other end into the DI box's input. Then you will need to grab an XLR cable and plug one end into the DI box and the other end into the box that leads into the main mixer. Finally you will need to turn the phantom power on because a DI box is a condenser piece of equipment. DI boxes pick up unbalanced audio from the input section of the DI box and balanced audio comes out of the XLR output and goes into the main mixer.

Q6)