Having trouble with the mix?
It’s something we’re all familiar with. Those late nights that run into early mornings going down rabbit holes…
Whilst being down some of those said rabbit holes, I’ve worked out that there are some key areas which are often
trouble spots. Here’s what I’ve discovered and the skills I’ve honed in order to address the problems.
Frequency Ranges – by committing the following seven frequencies bands to memory for quick recall we can all
become better mix engineers and make the mix down process more enjoyable and definitely less stressful.
Before we get into the main issues, a little tip: try using a gentle notch filter and sweep across the frequency
bands to see if your opens up. Ultimately, it should result in a more
balanced mix. You could also try boost the band to accentuate the problem before cutting to eliminate it.
So, by clicking below you’ll see the frequency bands which reveal a description regarding excessive frequency
content in that area.
EQ Trouble Spots
40-100Hz
Weight
I find this crucial for Drum & Bass. This is where the weight of the track is - the area in your track
that unsettles your stomach when played on a loud system like the Valve Sound System from back in the
day. It’s also one of the problem areas if your room is not optimised. Too much can cause your mix to
sound lob sided and unclear.
Affected Instruments:
Weight
I find this crucial for Drum & Bass. This is where the weight of the track is - the area in your track
that unsettles your stomach when played on a loud system like the Valve Sound System from back in the
day. It’s also one of the problem areas if your room is not optimised. Too much can cause your mix to
sound lob sided and unclear.
Affected Instruments:
Muddy Spot
For D&B, 200Hz on a snare gives a track the necessary power to punch through a mix. However, too
much
200Hz can cause the track or the mix to sound muddy and close it down. A good tip to get this area right
is to temporarily insert a low pass filter on the master to really hone into the upper bass frequencies.
Affected Instruments:
- Snare Drum
- Upper end of Kick Drum
- Upper Bass
Boxy Zone
Too much of a build up in this range can often make your mix sound boxy and close. With D&B, and many
other genres, we tend to gently cut this area in order to allow the mix to breathe. Too little in this
area, though can contribute to a thin track.
Affected Instruments:
- Vocals
- Pads
- Acoustic Instruments
- Horns
Grot Box Area
This area is accentuated on poorer quality speakers like those integrated in laptops and TVs. Too much
in this area can cheapen the mix. I use Triple P Pyramid Speakers to check this area ensuring that the
mix sounds balanced on range restricted speakers.
Affected Instruments:
- Vocals
- Pads
- Acoustic Instruments
- Horns
Qu'y
Too much of this band can cause the listener to perceive that the track has little bass and presence. We
at the Hexmark camp call this the Qu'y area, where resonant frequencies in this area are painful to the
listener. If you cut too much of this frequency, however, instruments will lose definition. As with
anything, professional level subtlety is key.
Affected Instruments:
- Vocals
- Snare Drum
- Strings
- Acoustic Instruments
- Horns
Harsh Zone
This is an area which I find most troublesome. Too much of a build up in this area can cause listener
fatigue and sibilance. Too little can leave your track sound dull, lacking in definition. I use BX
Refinement (a UAD2 plugin by Brainworx) to tame these frequencies whilst preserving the definition of
the track. Alternatively you can use a De-essers to dynamically tame this area, but I can't stress
enough that care is required when doing this.
Affected Instruments:
- Vocals
- Hats
- Strings
- Top end of Snare Drum
Air Band
The final area where too much of this frequency can destroy your mix. A gentle boost in this area can give
your track a sheen and polish. I tend to do this using the Bax EQ, both UAD and hardware. I tend to use the
hardware EQ on my drum bus as my drum processing is largely done in the analogue world. Boosting with the
Baxandall outside of the human audible spectrum applies a gentle lift to the lower audible frequencies. Too
much can cause ear fatigue. To avoid boosting too much, ensure you take regular short breaks. And that’s
always a good excuse to grab your next caffeine fix!
Affected Instruments:
- Vocals
- Hats
- Strings
- Top end of Snare Drum - more on electronic snares
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