#Best live sound mixing training how to#
#Best live sound mixing training pro#
#Best live sound mixing training professional#
#Best live sound mixing training tv#

Let's start with one just about everyone knows. Sun King' (from Abbey Road) by The Beatles.Here's a helpful exercise that our Canadian friend Mark uses with his students. This is the most beneficial method for achieving better results with your own music.'

#Best live sound mixing training how to#

Audio ear training involves learning how to listen to a music production and w hat to listen for. According to Michael White, 'Most people do this naturally by listening to loads of music, but fail to study as deep as what is necessary. Try This at Home: An Exercise in Critical ListeningĮveryone agrees that training your ears by studying music production and engineering is an important part of becoming a better engineer, producer or artist. Good quality headphones like Shure SRH440 retail at about $100.

#Best live sound mixing training tv#

If a TV show had long gaps of just background between dialogue and action everyone would get bored and change the channel. If the characters leave the stage, other characters must enter right away to keep the viewer's interest. The second, and less thought-about consideration is this: What pulls the listener through the song? When the lead instrument stops playing, what takes over as the focus of the song? The analogy I like to use is a TV show or play. First is the hook - is there something memorable about the mix? This could be a melodic hook, or a memorable tonality (think Cher's 'Do You Believe' or Smashmouth's 'Walking On The Sun'). There are two important sides to interest. Again this should be a conscious decision.)ĭo some instruments sound closer or farther away than others? Is there a sense of movement in the mix?ĭoes the song change over its duration? Most often in recording we use the term dynamics to refer to changes in volume, but we need to consider other dynamic changes such as tempo, time signature, key, or major/minor tonality. When teaching mixing, Mark likes to use a variation on the elements Bobby Owsinski outlined in The Mixing Engineer's Handbook.ĭo all instruments feel like they have appropriate weight in the mix? Are any instruments lost in the mix because they're overpowered? Are some instruments more prominent then others? (The answer may often be 'yes' to the last one, but that should be a deliberate decision and not an accident.)ĭo instruments sit at various points in stereo field (left to right speakers)? Does the point of interest shift within this field?Īre all frequencies represented somewhat equally? Is there something happening in all frequency ranges? (There are times when we deliberately have little happening in a specific frequency range – a violin concerto would sound ridiculous with pounding bass. For this, we've turned to Canadian neighbor, writer and recording whiz Mark Garrison who starts us off by deconstructing the elements of a mix and challenges you to tackle a critical listening exercise.īefore we start, though, let's look at the components that make a great mix. We'll trust your heart to decode the meaning of the music and concentrate, for now, on a few fundamentals and exercises that will help you boost your critical listening confidence. It's important to understand that the emotional intention of a musical performance is reflected in the sound.' ' Analytical listening is all about feeling and meaning.

#Best live sound mixing training professional#

Now, let's contrast that with analytical thinking, also a factor in creating a professional mix: You're listening to the physical details of the music – frequency response, dynamic range, tone, imaging, and how instruments are blended together.' ' Critical listening primarily comes from the engineer's point of view. Let's start with a simple definition, courtesy of recording engineer/producer and instructor Michael White, whose credits include everything from redesigning Whitney Houston's studio (he was also her chief engineer for 15 years) to 'behind the glass' mixing for David Byrne, The Rolling Stones and dozens of others:

#Best live sound mixing training pro#

Hearing and listening is not the same thing, as any parent of teenagers will tell you.Ĭan you detect the difference between a Telecaster and a Les Paul? A Vox Continental and a Nord Electro? Tremolo versus vibrato? Fact is whether you're a seasoned pro or a beginner, there's a wide range of resources available to help you develop and fine-tune your critical listening skills. But if you're going to rely on your ears to hear and identify the essential features of a well-balanced and professional sounding mix, you may need to train them first. 'Trust your ears.' 'It's what sounds right to you.' These are popular refrains that you've read in just about every article (many of them right here) about choosing microphones, positioning them and mixing sound. Contributors: Recording Engineers Mark Garrison, Michael White