Copyright © 2009 Bobby Owsinski
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Forward
Preface
Meet The Mixers
PART 1 - Mixing in Stereo
Some Background
The Evolution of Mixing
Mixing Styles - LA vs. New York vs. London
Other Styles
The Mechanics of Mixing
Hearing the Final Product
The Overall Approach
Tall, Deep and Wide
The Signs Of An Amateur Mix
The 6 Elements of a Mix
Element 1 - Balance - The Mixing Part of Mixing
The Arrangement - Where It All Begins
Arrangement Elements
Rules for Arrangements
Where to Build the Mix From
Level Setting Methods
Element 2 - Panorama-Placing the Sound in the Soundfield 32
Phantom Center
The Big 3
Big Mono
Panning Outside The Speakers
Tricks and Tips
Element 3 - Frequency Range - Equalizing
What Are You Trying To Do?
Magic Frequencies
EQ Methods
Easy To Remember Golden Rules of EQ
The Bass And Drums Relationship
Tricks and Tips
Element 4 - Dimension - Adding Effects
Dimension Guidelines
EQing Reverbs
Sonic Layering of Effects
Calculating the Delay Time
Reamping
True Tape Flanging
Tricks and Tips
Element 5 - Dynamics - Compression and Gates
Dynamics Controllers
Compression
Limiting
De-essing
Gating
Why Add Compression?
Controlling Dynamics
Compression As An Effect
The New York Compression Trick
Compression on Individual Instruments
Compression on the Mix Buss
The SSL Mix Buss Compressor
Setting the Compressor
Tricks and Tips
Element 6 - Interest - The Key To Great Mixes
The Direction of the Song
The Groove
Emphasize The Most Important Element
Monitoring
Basic Monitor Setup
How Loud (Or Soft) Should It Be
Listening In Mono
Monitors - Which One?
Listening Tricks and Tips
The Master Mix
Competitive Level
Hypercompression
Tips For Hot Levels
Mastering
Considerations Before Mastering
Mixdown Formats
Analog
Tape
Digital
Sample Rates and Word Length
Standard Audio File Formats
LPCM
AIFF
WAVE
Broadcast Wave
SD 2
Data Compression
Lossy Codecs
MP3
AAC
MPG-4
Windows Media Audio (WMA)
Ogg Vorbis
µ-law
Dolby Digital
DTS
Dolby-EX and DTS-ES
Dolby Digital Plus
Lossless Codecs
FLAC
MLP
DTS-HD
Dolby TrueHD
Apple Lossless
Mixing Internet Distribution
MP3 Encoding
Tips For MP3 Encoding
Streaming Audio
Alternative Mixes
Stems
Mixing In The Box
Driving The Desk or Gain Staging
Headroom
Rules For Gain Staging
Interview With Gannon Kashiwa Of Digidesign
DAW Controllers
PART 2 - Mixing In Surround
A Bit Of History
Types of Surround Sound
The LFE Channel
Bass Management
Other Types of Surround
Why is Surround Better Than Stereo
Surround Mixing
Surround Mixing Schools of Thought
What Do I Send To The Center Channel?
What Do I Send To The LFE (Sub-Woofer) Channel?
Do I Need To Use A Bass Manager?
Surround To Stereo Compatibility
Surround Master Recorders
Master Tape Track Assignments
Data Compression Used In Surround
SRS
SDDS
Surround Encoders
Dolby Digital (AC-3)
Surround Master Media Prep
PART 3 - Interviews
Joe Chiccarelli
Lee DeCarlo
Jimmy Douglass
Benny Faconne
Jerry Finn
Jon Gass
Don Hahn
Ken Hahn
Andy Johns
Kevin Killen
Bernie Kirsh
Nathanial Kunkel
George Massenburg
Greg Penny
David Pensado
Elliot Scheiner
Ed Seay
Allen Sides
Don Smith
Ed Stasium
Bruce Swedien
John X. Volaitis
GLOSSARY
DELAY TIME CHART
INDEX
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Ed Cherney
Award-winning, multi-platinum engineer and mixer
Author - Producer
Music and Technology Advisor
