Building a Mix

By: Jon Mills

In this article we are going to cover some tips on building a mix, but first we have to cover a few dos and don’ts.

Its always better to try a different mic or mic placement before reaching for the eq. For example, If your electric guitar sounds dull don’t reach for the hi-eq on your console, instead move the mic more toward the center of the cone and/or have the guitar player ad some highs on his amp. Any time we change an eq knob we introduce phase-shifts, which are beyond the scope of this article… but just know this - phase-shifts are bad… and we want to keep them to a minimum.

All that to say, if you find yourself really digging in on a certain eq you may want to consider changing something else. But as much as that is good advice, it is not always practical. Often it is desirable to take a major chunk out of an instrument. I find that with drums it is usually good to take a big chunk out at around 500Hz, which isn’t possible to do to the drum itself or with mic placement.

One more note on eq addition or subtraction; as a general rule of thumb you should always try to subtract. Subtraction creates less of the phase problems and generally sounds better. I’m sure you are saying, John what if their voice sounds dull or boomy. Instead of adding highs try to take away the offending frequencies. Most likely cutting somewhere around 200Hz will do the trick. This will effectively do the same thing as adding highs and it will sound more natural.


Ok now on to building a mix.

Many engineers differ on how they build a mix or where they start building the mix. I do much more of the concert side of mixing. Which means that I generally am afforded the luxury of actually putting the drums in the mix. Most church engineers are usually plagued with the “Can you turn down the drums, they are SOOOOO loud" comments from the folks who would probably rather there weren’t any drums on the platform anyway. That’s another article, but either way the end result is the same. You are trying to achieve clarity and definition to the sound in the service. Depending on your style of service and music you’ll have to discern what the congregation needs to hear more or less of.

Remember, we are here to lead people into a time of worship with Christ, not to influence them with OUR musical tastes or volume levels. We are causing a distraction by running it too loud.

When I am running sound for a concert I tend to use concert levels, but honestly I try to keep in mind the demographics of the audience. If the average age is 20 somethings then I push up near 105 to 108dbA. If the average age is 50 somethings then I probably would stay more near 90 to 95dbA and would most likely have a whole lot less drums.

The biggest thing to keep in mind is: “Does it sound natural?” What I mean is does it sound like cds you’ve heard, or more specifically does it sound the same coming through the system as it does if you were sitting in front of it.

When mixing I keep this in mind through the whole service. I constantly glance down the channels and think about each input. Kick, does the kick sound right? Snare, does the snare sound right? Bass, does the bass sound right? Lead vocal, does the lead vocal sound right? I think you get the picture. There are many factors that come into effect as to when and why something changes how it sounds. The whole system will sound different from sound check (with an empty room) to service (with a full room of people.) Maybe a mic gets moved away from the spot you placed it on the instrument. Maybe a keyboardist changes sounds on their synth. Maybe the guitar player switched guitars. I always tell new engineers to never be satisfied that it sounds good. Always be looking for something. That doesn’t mean always be turning a knob, but always be attentive to the mix and what’s going on inside it.

When building a mix we need to think of the song as a flat line. Each instrument makes up part of that line. If we have too many instruments or frequencies trying to take up the same space, our line gets bumpy or more specifically our mix gets muddy.

What you want to do is listen to each instrument and think of a space for it on the line. Keep other instruments eq away from it and you’ll have an easier time hearing that instrument. You wouldn’t want to have a really bassy sounding electric guitar because it would be taking up a lot of the space for the bass guitar. Basically try to keep each instrument in its place.

Take a look at the frequency chart to the right. This is a fundamental frequency chart. These aren’t the only frequencies that this instrument makes, rather the fundamental or dominant frequency. The ones that make up the meat of its sound. For instance, if you hear a lot of 200Hz from your alto singer you might want to cut this out to make room for your tenor to fill that space more naturally.

If you find yourself saying “I can’t hear the guitar as well as earlier.” Don’t just reach for the fader and turn it up. Ask yourself why you don’t hear it as well. Maybe another instrument just got in the way. Possibly the bass player turned up or changed some settings on his bass. This probably is the reason behind your perceived lack of electric guitar in the mix, since the bass just clogged up the low section of the electric. Try taking some low mids out of the bass to make room for the guitar.

Now here are a few thoughts on what frequencies to go after when eq-ing.

20Hz to 60Hz: This is your sense of power in a mix. It’s the stuff you feel more than hear. The kick drum and bass guitar are down here in this range.

60Hz to 250Hz: Area where everything comes together. This is where a lot of things go wrong when it sounds sloppy or loose.

250Hz to 2k: Most of your fundamental harmonics are in this range. These are some of the most critical frequencies to building a solid mix. Learn what instruments are most dominant in these frequencies and clean up around them.

2k to 4k: Here you will find the clarity to almost everything. But be careful, too much of a good thing can start to sound harsh.

4k to 7k: Mostly sibilance and “s” sounds. Much of the consonants are defined in this range.

7k to 20k: Brilliance is the word here… the top end of cymbals and such.

The real trick is not in the numbers.

I find that the best way to learn and improve your ear at the same time is to take the frequency gain (red arrow, figure2a) and bump it up about 6 db. Then sweep the freq (green arrow, figure 2b) around till you hear the sound you don't like in that instrument. Once you find that frequency you then proceed to turn down the gain and remove the offensive frequency. It is always better to subtract eq than to boost it. Our ears and brain seem to like cutting more than adding. And if you can often achieve a better sound with less eq using this approach.

Quick Tips on where to start:

What about tricks on certain instruments… I’m glad you asked. Here is what I usually do. Keep in mind these are just guidelines.

Kick Drum and Toms: Cut 500Hz to get rid of the cardboard box sound. Add 3-5k to make them cut through the mix.

Hi Hat: I generally cut all the lows and a good chunk of low mids. There isn’t anything down there anyway.

Snare: Generally I take out a little around 600Hz and add a little around 4k, but that really depends on the drum.

Electric Bass Guitar: So many players and basses are so very different. Usually if it’s muddy sounding I cut 200Hz and possibly add a little 700Hz to 1kHz.

Synths: I usually run them flat.

Piano: This is a beast and could probably use a whole article. It depends mostly on how it’s mic-ed. If it’s boomy then I’d say cut 200Hz to 315Hz. If it’s kind of barking then maybe more up near 400Hz to 500Hz.

Horns: You can make them fuller by adding 120Hz to 240Hz. If they are too shrill or piercing then take out 2.5kHz to 4kHz.

Voice: Too bassy? Take out 160Hz. Boomy try cutting 240Hz. Need them to cut? Add a little 2.5kHz.

F inally, I would rather you went with the thought process of sweeping the eq to find the most offensive thing. Then cut it out. That way you are really teaching your ear what to clean up and not memorizing some numbers I gave you.