There is a word “mix” that is often used in music production. Mixing is a process that is always performed during the production process, but many people may not be aware of the specific work involved.
Therefore, this time we will introduce an overview of mix and its importance in music production. Knowing the process of mixing may be useful when requesting music production.
Combining multiple sound sources into one song = mix
Mixing work is also called “mixing,” “mixdown,” or “trackdown.” Specifically, it is the process of adjusting the volume balance and timbre of each recorded track (sound) .
For example, when you play a song recorded on a CD, you can hear various sounds such as vocals, chorus, guitar, bass, drums, synthesizer, etc. all at the same time, and you will notice that they form the song.
Each of the sounds is recorded separately, but they are combined so that they can be heard at the same time, and after detailed adjustments are made, a single song is created. Mixing refers to this adjustment process.
The other name trackdown'' came from the perspective ofmixing = the process of reducing the number of tracks that were previously available.”
What is the importance of mixing work?
Mixing can greatly change a song, for better or for worse.
How to improve the completeness of a song depends not only on the performers in charge of each track, but also on the skill of the mixer.
Simply mixing tracks together will not create the kind of music you would normally listen to on a CD. It is precisely because we perform careful and delicate work in the mix
, such as adjusting the volume and presentation of each track (balance, placement and movement of sound sources, etc.) and the pitch of the vocals , that the songs are worth listening to and move people’s hearts. It is safe to say that this will be completed .
In fact, there are many people around the world who specialize in “mixing engineers” who specialize in mixing work.
There are even some big-name artists who have a relationship of trust with a specific mixing engineer and only entrust the sound sources they create to them.
How do you go about mixing?
Mixing work is primarily done on a computer using dedicated mix software called a DAW. A variety of DAW software are released by each manufacturer, and each has its own areas of expertise and features.
Broadly speaking, the specific steps for mixing work are as follows.
[1] Adjust the volume of each track appropriately
[2] Adjust the tone of each track
[3] Adjust the balance of each track and adjust the stereo position
For the second type of tone adjustment, it is now common to use various plug-in apps that can be added to DAW software to add reverberation and distortion to the sound, or perform pitch correction.
When setting up multiple mixed sound sources to be played back in succession, the process of adjusting the playback volume and sound quality of each song in a well-balanced manner is called “mastering.”
Many people say they don’t really understand the difference between mixing and mastering, but it’s common to think that mixing is the process of completing one song,'' andmastering is the process of adjusting multiple songs to make them easier to listen to.” However, now it is sometimes used to refer to “final work such as sound pressure adjustment” that is done after mixing.
in conclusion
This time, we introduced an overview of “mixing,” which is an essential task in music production, its importance, and specific work procedures.
There are a lot of technical terms in topics related to music production, and it can be difficult to understand without some prior knowledge, but even if you just have a rough understanding of the content and process of mixing, the way you listen to music will change. Is not it.
At G-Angle, we listen to production concepts for a wide variety of content, including games, anime, movies, and commercials, and our experienced sound directors will be in charge of the production concept.
We will help you with various problems related to music production according to your plans and intentions, so even if it is your first time, please feel free to leave it to us.
