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[j.hall]

JP posted this in B-rad's forum

i wanted to add it down here in the hopes to help some people.

his technique is by far not a "trick", but something a lot of mixers overlook.

here is his post:


I'm no mastering engineer either, but as a mixer, i lowpass a LOT of tracks on a given mix. Many instruments, especially heavy guitars, can get nasty up above 10k or so. Aggressive vocals can sound better with the extreme top rolled off as well. Leaves room for other tracks that need extended top, such as airy vocals or drum OH's. That way, if so desired, the mastering engineer can boost a top shelf above 10k without worrying about bringing up nasty artifacts. Ditto on the low end as well, highpass anything that doesn't need to be down there with the kick and bass. It's all useless energy to me.

[j.hall]

JP, this might be a LAME piece of gear for any mixer trying to achieve a "good looking" rack of gear.

but the rocktron "hush" is a piece designed for guitar players.

i took one from a buddy that was literally throwing it away.

it's a noise reduction units.....basically a soft gate, but the catch is, it's frequency dependent on the high end.

when program dips below it's threshold it will drop the highs to whatever roll off point you set the LPF to.

i use it all the time on noisey tracks that need to "stay noisy" while playing, but i need the noise to tapper off naturally.  hard to do with fader automation or straight mutes.

[Rivers]

Hmmm,
Thats interesting.
I use HPF all the time but have always been shy on using the LPF to that extreme.
I will have to try it on some mixes.

[JPRisus]

Hey guys... thanks for copying that post J., it may have been overlooked over on B-rad's forum. Glad you found it interesting!

You don't have to be afraid of being too drastic with HPFs or LPFs... i mean, i never really feel the need for heavy guitars to exist below say 150hz or above 9-10k.. there's just nothing important happening in those ranges IMHO. Plus it leaves room for the tracks that need those areas to breathe properly. You gotta think of it in context... what freq. range of the guitars will be omnipresent in the grand scheme of things? that's where the focus should be, and trim away all the extra fat around the meat of it.

another thing regarding drastic EQ... if you're listening to a solo'd track, extreme EQ can sound funny, but in context, the really extreme stuff might fit perfectly. Don't let solo fool you... mix for the song, not for a track. Took me a while to learn this. It's a lot easier to solo something and make it sound good than to focus on 20+ tracks and try to pick out your frequencies on one instrument, but once you get used to it, you'll never go back to solo. Solo is fine for solving problems though.

Just my thoughts... i'm sure everyones mileage will vary!

[j.hall]

oh yeah man....solo is for spot fixing things

i've worked like that for about 4 years now

you solo a bass guitar in a dense rock track, you instantly have the bass player screaming at you, "that's the worst bass tone ever, it's all brittle and blah blah blah

you drop it back in the track untouched and he'll thank you for "changing" it.hahahahahah

NEVER, EVER solo a vocal when the vocalist, or person who performed the vocal, is in the room

that's the quickest way to shake the confidence of a singer......especially if the band is there......that's bad form IMHO.

if i have to hear the vocal.......i'll make sure to solo it with effects and maybe a guitar or keyboard or something

you can also pipe it through a buss send into your headphones.

[JPRisus]

j.hall wrote on Tue, 24 August 2004 15:28

you can also pipe it through a buss send into your headphones.

gotta remember that and plan for it... great idea.

speaking of headphones, i've been debating the benefit of setting up a quality headphone amp and pair of Grados or something. I know of a few well-respected AEs who carry their own system with them, might be a nice reference.

[j.hall]

the amp doesn't seem worth it to me.

a pair of good cans that you trust is simply invaluable

byer dt 770's are my first choice.....

[xonlocust]

j.hall wrote on Tue, 24 August 2004 14:28

NEVER, EVER solo a vocal when the vocalist, or person who performed the vocal, is in the room

that's really good advice. i had never really thought about it and always have had problems with singers freaking out while i was checking something else detail oriented while soloing.  after they've heard it they just won't let it go. it's like no matter what you do they can't accept that it SHOULDN'T be perfect, or at least, that's my taste...  that's like the most useful tip i've learned online in some time, thanks.  

[j.hall]

xonlocust wrote on Mon, 30 August 2004 17:24

after they've heard it they just won't let it go.

the other problem that really sucks is when the other band members hear it and just rail the poor chap.  espescially if the guy only sings......man it can get brutal.

Quote:

that's like the most useful tip i've learned online in some time, thanks.

glad to pass it on.

[trexrox]

Getting back to the topic...

I use LPF sometimes when there is absolutely no important energy up there (like a bass guitar), but I don't always like what a LPF does to the audible range of the sound.  It can create a sublte difference in the "positional cues" of a sound in a mix.  Too much of this, and the mix starts sounding dark.  I find it better to fix the "problem frequency" on that track without affecting too many other frequencies around it... YMMV

I do, however use HPF more often, but I find the same thing happening in the lower frequencies... so it's back to fixing the "problem frequency" instead of just lopping everything below 100 off.

[JPRisus]

I see where you're coming from shangrila... it's all subjective to the mixer's approach after all. My whole thing is to focus on the important elements, emphasize them and de-emphasize everything else. Kinda goes back to the Andy Wallace "characature" style, where you're kinda over-emphasizing certain things but varying it so much that it never gets stale... very tough to get a grasp on, that's for damn sure. I still feel like i'm doggy-paddling in the deep end when i get heavily involved with this kinda stuff, but man what a huge difference in the outcome. Just finished a project where i finally feel like i nailed it on the mixes, and speak of the devil, had to go back and change the LPF khz on the guitars after listening in the car all weekend, a little too dull just like you said.