The Art of Mixing by Dave Gibson - 2hr 39mins - a fantastic video

This is a really fantastic two and a half hour video on mixing by Dave Gibson. It's very dated looking and a bit weird, but there is some very helpful stuff in here for anyone thinking of taking a video mixing course. The dated visuals are pretty amusing 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEjOdqZFvhY

He's onto phasing effects now. This is quite clearly a man with an excellent pot dealer.

Very entertaining indeed! Thanks, sharke.
 
It appears to be an animated version of Gibson's book, which I browsed one day at the bookstore and put back onto the shelf because it just seemed like an impossible task to explain the images a mixer (or musician) sees in his head. The concept's good, though. Everybody's got a touch of synesthesia. Everybody "sees" music in their mind's eye. Unfortunately, everybody sees something a little different.

Recently somebody posted a query looking for resources for beginners. I hope that poster sees this thread because I can't think of a better place for a beginner to begin than with this video.

bitflipper
Recently somebody posted a query looking for resources for beginners. I hope that poster sees this thread because I can't think of a better place for a beginner to begin than with this video.

And continuing on the "dated looking but useful resource for beginners" theme, here's another gem, this time a two part into to synthesis. It's worth watching for the awesome intro music alone.
http://youtu.be/atvtBE6t48M

I like it too, great visual representations of mixes.  I am going to watch the whole thing tonight.
 
Did not know Doug Henning was a mix engineer.  (Awesome Mullet)
 
JR

Really great bands and artists are just simply so easy to mix it is ridiculous.

Who says there's no magic bullet? That's it right there! 

this is great. I too am not sure what to get out of it, but I know one thing: if want something up front - turn it up.alright!

Mixing is still an audio experience not visual. I must be one of the exceptions. I never try to visualise anything during a mix. All the great albums of the past were mixed without computers and with ears alone.
 
How many of you cover your computer monitor or turn it off during a mix? Get back to using your ears and your ears alone. It will serve you the best overall. This is where a control surface comes into its own I think.
 
And yes I agree about distortion Dave. That one is a bit ellusive I think. Back when he was doing that visual thing distortion was perhaps not so common but now it is much more so. I am not sure watching those videos of a mix that he has created is actually going to help you that much. And they are so fast at times you cannot even see what is going on. But then why should we be looking in the first place.
 
It probably all stems from my previous experiences with analog tape machines and mixers etc. I produced a ton of stuff before computers were even common place with audio production so it still flows on for me a bit I think that way. I am always closing my eyes during a mix and it is very interesting how things can appear to sound a bit different the moment you do.

    I found this kind of bizarre.  I mean, I suppose if you really need to "visualize" the mix this 3D type layout is a good way of going about it..?   I guess I do think about sound in terms of the space you are creating and where you choose to put things in it, but I have never tried to visualize it in such a literal way, it's more of a feeling than an actual picture.  For me, your tools are: Tones(frequency), volume, panning, transients, and spacial effects (verbs/delays etc.)  I use them to move items around within that space.  Your basic confines are somewhere around 60db of dynamic range (volume), 20hz-20khz freq, 100% L & R, verbs and spacial effects can help put items further back and/or add depth to a mix but that's about it.  
    
  About  15 years back I was a moderate rhythm guitarist, almost NO lead experience, good bass player, Ok singer, half assed drummer.  I was playing bass in a cover doing 90's covers (current rock at the time).  We lost one of the 2 guitarists and somebody knew another good bass player, so I agreed to slide back over to the guitar so we could bring in this bass player to solve the problem & keep going.  We did.  Then the other guitarist hands me a list of a bunch of the songs we played and I asked what is this?  He said "that's the songs you play lead on", to which I replied "dude, I don't play lead"  he said " well ya do now cause we play fifty some odd songs, 40 or so have leads, and those are the ones Joe (the old guitarist) played and I am not learning them!  You wanted the guitar spot.... you got it."   I was seriously intimidated, these guys were all older and more experienced than I was.  This was talent wise the best band I had been in at the time  I could hang as a bassist but I was outclassed as a guitarist in this group and I thought....  I just got myself kicked out..  Awesome move.
   I decided to try to learn the leads,  they were intricate leads!  Metallica, Candlebox, Alice in chains, etc...  and I started to figure out that while yeah... I took me some time to find the spots & learn them by ear... once I did, and practiced to get them up to speed & fast enough, I could do it!   These guys might be "guitar gods"  but they, like me, only have 6 strings & ten fingers.  That's their limitations and I can do ANYTHING they can do just the same!!  I was stoked.. Totally blown away.   I had been petrified of leads up until that point but realizing that even the great ones have limits that allow me to catch up made it attainable.
                                                   (now that I rambled on for 2 paragraphs to make this point)...
   It may take me time but: every mix, every sound we (humans) can perceive is within those limits.  So that monster kick that you figured you can't get with your gear...  or the bass tone off of that record you really love...  is not SOOO far out of reach.  You just have to create a close sounding source tone and then find the combination of these parameters that gets it there in your mix.   Taking the lesson I learned about lead guitar and applying it to audio helped remove my intimidation and opened the door for me.  I just have to find the tone and place in the mix.  But, it IS there.

As I said I am pretty close to the whole sound engineering training sector and yes we know about it and we have got the books and the videos but no one uses it though. Ever wondered why that is.
 
Visualisation is a great technique but instead of trying to visualise a mix what you should be visualising is yourself achieving a fantastic mix and imagine the feeling of having done it too. Do this at night before you go to sleep. Feed that into your subconscious mind. Then in the real world you will just automatically do what is necessary to make it come to pass.
 
If you are having problems with a mix ask your subconscious mind just before sleep what the solutions are and it will give it to you. Maybe not immediately but eventually you will get the answers you need.

Thanks Sharke