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[Ben F]

I'd say for recording the acoustic enviroment, mic choice, mic position, and mic preamp are the most important. Then it's up to the performers/engineer to get the best take, bit of a team effort. The performers have to be relaxed, and the engineer has to think of them by not doing punch in after punch in, which is more common with digital recording. There is no reason to do this. I usually record full takes and copy/paste the best parts together. Playlists in Pro Tools is great for this. Also, take a 'hold no prisoner' approach, don't save any bad takes because it will make mixing difficult. Most importantly, take notes, or name audio files as you go, so the mixer has some idea of what to use. Make sure the session is easy to understand.

For mixing, I find these are the common problems:

Level too hot- distortion
Balance the instrument levels before reaching for plug-ins
Panning should have a proper left/right balance, and not be too distracting
Poor EQ technique
Over compression
Plug in distortion- poor gain structure
Too much low end- boomy kick/bass
Too much low end in other instruments- guitars, drum overheads, etc...they will never cut through the mix
Not enough instrument separtion
Over use of reverb, usually 2 or 3 different reverbs should be used, and high quality ones such as Altiverb. Should give a sense of space/depth without being too obvious. Also the timbre should compliment the voice, generally a darker reverb suits a bright voice. Cheap plug-in reverbs sound terrible!
Too much low end in the reverb- clouds the mix. Use a HPF on the returns. Use a de-esser on the returns as well.
Delays are great for movement and left-right balancing
Automate levels! This is really common. In a real performance, instruments levels come up into focus at various parts, and then dissapear. Automation should be used extensively in order to bring various parts of the mix in and out of focus. Vocals should always be clear and above the mix- especially in the chorus, they are often lost once the guitars come in.
Listen to the mix on various playback systems and compare it to similar recordings.

That's about all I can think of....

[masterhse]

Thanks for the feedback Ben!

Your comment on EQ technique is interesting. Could you elaborate?

I'm assuming that you are talkng about things like complimentary EQ, removing parts of the frequency range of a track in order to help it's "focus" in the overall mix, corrective EQ, and using EQ to help simulate depth. What other techniques did you have in mind?

[Ben F]

Yes, those are good tips for using EQ.

When I used to lecture audio, I made up a chart with the frequency range from 20Hz-20kHz and where the fundumental frequency of various instruments are, similar to the one Bob Katz has in his mastering book.

Then above and below each range, a description of a negative or positive boost. For example- 6kHz boost, clarity, sweetning vocals, sibilence, or cut for warmth...conversly, you could boost 200Hz for warmth but this could make the sound muddy and conjested. Going for the upper harmonics rather than the fundumental can make a boost or cut less obvious. I used a graphic EQ on a single sound and went up the scale at octave intervals to demonstrate. Each instrument has common 'sweet spots' as you would already know, many less obvious than people think, so it's good to demonstrate how even a 12kHz boost will effect the kick drum.

The most common EQ misconception I found was in the low end, and this will effect the entire frequency spectrum, clouding the midrange. Many students used to boost the low end for more punch, then have to add midrange EQ for clarity as it was swamped with the upper harmonics of the low end. But if you get the low end right, by giving either the kick or the bass some punch and making then sit together, then notching out the upper harmonics, the top end will almost take care of itself and only require slight amounts of corrective EQ. So being a ME is excellent for these types of demonstrations because we do it every day with an entire track. Mixing is so much more flexible!

A good starting point for EQ practice is start at the low end, then just use HP/LP filters to bandpass other instruments into their own spectrum. Then choose only a couple of sounds to 'poke through' the mix, such as vocals and say acoustic guitar, making them the focus. I find this works with begineers because they are often confused as to why EQ is used...it doesn't help that at many audio schools the trainers have never really mixed a commercial song, so they rely on technical descriptions rather than hands on demonstrations. It's only through ear training that the students will go 'right, I get it'.

I'd suggest going to a bookshop as there are some excellent explanations and diagrams in 'Modern Recording Techniques', and also go to the SOS website and do a search for articles, it's a godsend for ideas when preparing lessons.