making beats
Out of context: Reply #2599
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@mg33's post above (just seeing it now):
1. Master channel: Personally I leave my master channel empty. I've read about people who have success mixing into a light compressor / saturation plugin on the master channel, but I've never actually attempted it.
However, when I get a track to "beta" phase, I'll bounce the whole thing down, and run it through Ozone to bring up the levels for a listen in the car / some other environment than my studio. This is close as I'll get to attempting to master my own tunes. The setting in Ozone is usually a preset (chosen somewhat randomly) where I remove the EQ and use the compressor + maximizer. Ozone is pretty pricey though. The only reason I use it is because it was heavily discounted when I picked it up.
2. Monitoring: I run a 2.1 setup with 5" monitors (Adam T5V) and a 10" sub (KRK). Previous to this, I ran 8" monitors (Samson R8a). The move to a 2.1 setup improved my mixes so much, I wish I would have changed my setup years ago.
Without going too deep about the reasons why this works better, a two driver setup (one tweeter and one woofer) is basically impossible to get an accurate representation of your mix with. At least in regards to an accurate representation of the full frequency spectrum. Especially with monitors that are in the more affordable price range.
If you look at the flagship offerings from Adam, Genelec, Focal, etc., they all have three driver setups. A tweeter, a woofer for mids, and a woofer for lows. Otherwise, they have to design compromises into the speakers as an attempt to cover the entire audio spectrum. In the case of my old 8" monitors, the low/mids were way too prominent. So, I ended up mixing kick drums (and other sounds around that range) too low. Not to mention, anything under 50hz wasn't pronounced enough, so I mixed sub-bass 5-8 db too high! Which is a shit load in that frequency range.
As mentioned, two 5" monitors and a 10" sub improved everything. Dramatically. Now, the 5" woofer acts as a mid-range speaker down to the 80hz crossover (I tested a few settings, and this worked best for my room), and the sub handles everything below that. When frequencies dip past 50hz or so (possibly higher), it's less about generating a tone, and more about moving air. Which is where a dedicated sub really shines. Especially in setups that are lower wattage (ie. not obscenely priced options). As an aside, don't bother with an 8" sub. 10" or higher. Even home theater subs will work. Again, it's about moving air, and 8" aren't going to do the job (I'm paraphrasing based on what I've read).
There are some caveats / considerations when adding a sub. First and foremost is the room. Bass build up has the potential to be massive, and could negate every potential benefit. My sub is 3' from the wall, but it could honestly use another foot or so. My room is approx 12'x16' with loads of furniture and other crap to absorb sound. A hard-as-nails 8'x8' could be a problem.
I don't have any issues from my seating position, but the bass is seriously overpowering in other parts of the room. Especially the back-right corner. But, that's not a big deal for me. The other part to be mindful of is: you'll have to spend some time dialing in the level. There's tools to do this, but I basically just listened to lots of music on it, and made small tweaks as I went.
3. Bonus round: Just some thoughts on how I approach mixes these days: First, my track template isn't too complex. I just have a bunch of channels (multiple drum tracks, outboard synth track(s), 2 channels of modular, guitar, drum bus) of things I regularly use. I suspect this is pretty typical.
In terms of mixing, I mostly "mix as I go". I'll add EQ's, reverbs, etc. where they make sense. I don't add anything arbitrarily. One relatively consistent thing I'll do (especially after adding the sub) is EQ the low end (usually a 12db low-shelf) out of tracks. Even if they don't target that area. Any guitars or anything you record with a mic, especially. There's always some random low end rumbles that sneak in.
While I do add saturation to the drum bus and other channels, I don't try and get that correct (or even add it) while I'm writing / arranging a track. I usually wait until a song is in the aforementioned "beta" phase to do a proper mix session. And, I find it best to let the track sit on the shelf for a while before attempting said mix. Then I'll try and dial in all the levels, EQ, saturation, and any other mix related tracks.
As a final thought, FabFilter Saturn is sooo nice for the sort of gentle saturation that one usually wants on a drum bus; or any other element that needs more body in a mix. I've used a bunch of distortion / saturation plugins over the years. All the Logic stuff (bitcrusher's drive with everything else at full fidelity is actually really good for this), all the Ableton plugins, Izotope Trash 2, SoundToys plugins, and on and on. Saturn is my go-to for that task these days.