Summary . Checklist

Getting Set Up

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The Essential Gear, Software, & Setup, for Getting Pro Mixes

Getting Set UpThe one question that plagued me for YEARS was… “Is it even POSSIBLE for me to get commercial quality mixes using the gear that I have?”. I can now confidently tell you that you DON’T need the best gear to make amazing sounding music. The biggest factor in getting great sounding tracks is no longer gear, it’s knowledge & skill - which is exactly what you’re getting in this program. That said, there are just a couple of essentials…

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What you need • Firstly, we need a complete multitracked song – don’t mix until the track is finished

• There are 3 essential types of gear we need in order to produce great mixes:

1. Mixer – DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) / Mixing console

2. Tools – Plugins / Outboard gear

3. Monitors – Reference monitors, Headphones, Small boombox

1. Mixer • The role of the mixer is simply to combine the various audio tracks

• These days MOST people are using some type of DAW

• The basic functions of a mixer allow us to adjust level, pan, routing, grouping

• Most mixers only have basic tools such as level, pan, and a simple EQ

• For more control over the sound we need to use external gear or plugins

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2. Tools • Ultimately, every action links up to a “tool” used to manipulate the sound

• “Tools” are anything that we use to ALTER or ADD TO the sound in some way

• Examples: Fader, Pan, EQ, Compressor, Reverb, etc.

• Every tool should be used INTENTIONALLY

• Just because you have 87 different plugins, doesn’t mean you need to use them all ;)

The “Big 4” • Apart from the basic mixer functions of level and pan, there are 4 MAIN tools used in mixing

• The 4 essentials (in order of importance)

1. EQ

2. Compression

3. Reverb

4. Delay

• Other tools include: De-esser, Autotune, Analog emulation, Limiter, Gate, Amp modelers, Modulation, Distortion, Pitch shifter, Harmonizer, Exciter, etc.

• Although a lot of these other tools are nice to have, a professional sounding mix can often be achieved with nothing more than the “Big 4” – Which are available in essentially every DAW these days

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3. Monitors • Reference monitors are designed to help you hear what’s going on in your mix

• They are more accurate and less hyped than typical consumer speakers

• It’s not about having the best monitors, it’s about LEARNING your monitors

• Headphones allow you to better hear subtle details and stereo image (without the influence of room acoustics)

• A small boombox gives you an idea of how the AVERAGE listener will hear the song - If you can make the mix sound good on a cheap boombox, it should sound amazing on most other systems

The “Room Factor” • ALL sound is affected by the acoustics of the room you’re in

• The louder you play something, the more the room comes into affect

• NO room is perfect

• The biggest acoustic challenge is usually standing waves

• Ideally, we want a room that’s not too reverberant and not too dead

• Reference tracks that you know well are one of the best ways to assess a room