Advice please

ORIGINAL: Pitty

Hi All.

I have just recorded my band and am having problems with a certain mixing aspect that I would like advice or help with please.

The song I have the issue with starts out with just a muted guitar and a vocal. I have no problems with levels or eq etc. However, when the drums and bass come in it seems as if the vocals and guitar(s) drop in volume.

I have read as much as I could find about this and I suspect I need to look at applying 'complimentry eq' but wanted to be sure.

I have tried to isolate the what it is doing this by only having guitar and drums for instance, or guitar and bass but can't quite figure it out. Any Suggestions?

P.s. I am using Sonar 5 Producer Edition.

Sounds like the drums and bass are swamping the mix. You may have to eq and drop the very low end of the bass and drums to get things to blend. Also, check the low end of the vocal and guitar, if they sound "good" with only two tracks going there is little chance they will fit in a dense mix without adding to the low end overload.

Also, try panning the guitar off center. Use an envelope to smoothly sweep it to one side after the rest of the band comes in.

ohhey is spot on. you might also experiment with some panning. the kick and bass do not have to be dead center (generally though they are) and neither does the vocal. however with that said, if you can't get your instruments together in mono then you've got definite eq work to do.

Here is a tip for dealing with that situation.

But first there should be no processing or very little compression on the master buss. You should be aware of the gain structure so that even when all hell breaks loose you are well below any clipping levels and you are monitoring louder so you can hear everything very well clearly!

When doing a mix I tend to start in the area of the arrangement where everything is sort of happening at once. Not necessarily right from the beginning. That way you are doing the hardest part of the mix first and getting it out of the way. ie all instruments in, vocals etc. Then get your balances right at that point. Now you have your loudest parts right and levels are all set etc.. Then it is easier to see what is going on with less than everything in.

Anything less than everything in is actually easier to mix. You might need a bit of automation here and there to bring quieter parts up like soft intros etc. Also in the mastering stage it is possible to automate quieter sections up too so don't worry too much about it in the mixing stage.