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Old 09-15-2021, 11:51 AM   #1
DeathByGuitar
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Default What kind of editing do you guys do before a mix?

Like the title says. Just curious.

I'm in the middle of recording bass for an alt-metal kind of album and I'm starting to think about what the next steps will be after vocals get tracked. Obviously vocal comps/editing is super duper important as well as making sure I've got the best comps/takes from all other performances. I know that sometimes people will ride automation for vocals and bass before they hit the compressors. What kinds of stuff do you guys usually do before it's time to mix?

This is of course all super dependent on the project, caliber of musicians, genre, ect. I just wanna get some other perspectives. Thanks!
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Old 09-15-2021, 08:21 PM   #2
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Depends on what on the tracks needs improving.
The first step is to listen to each track soloed with the metronome and identify where pitch, clarity, tone/timbre, level or timing problems exist.

The problem points to the solution.
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Old 09-16-2021, 07:39 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Philbo King View Post
Depends on what on the tracks needs improving.
The first step is to listen to each track soloed with the metronome and identify where pitch, clarity, tone/timbre, level or timing problems exist.

The problem points to the solution.

Well put
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Old 09-17-2021, 10:31 PM   #4
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Yeah what Philbo said

My drummist is often happy with his first take, but I ask him to listen back very carefully and only if he is happy to hear this version for ever and ever do we stop.

same applies to my basslines,I have to be satisfied that I played it to the best of my ability.
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Old 09-18-2021, 07:58 AM   #5
serr
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Editing covers a lot of territory.
Someone might need to edit a bum note. Someone else might be altering the whole song arrangement with an edit. Someone else might be constructing a "beat" and literally everything they do is editing based! Someone out there is even editing MIDI data...

Hey, is there anything stupid going on in music mixes in any circles where someone always edits the same sample into a mix like the Wilhelm scream for movies? I suppose there sort of is in that we have all these robot voice bands that sound the same from autotune.
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Old 09-18-2021, 08:09 AM   #6
The Kid
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Sometimes when the mix is taking shape you realize than more editing is needed, now that you hear stuff better.
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Old 09-18-2021, 08:24 AM   #7
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And then sometimes the mastering guy decides to make a couple edits at the end. (Or back in the '70s a radio DJ with no editing skills would make a "radio edit" to remove a guitar solo. The edit would sound like a record skip or dropped beat.)
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Old 09-18-2021, 01:32 PM   #8
vanceen
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There's some basic tasks that are almost always needed.

Vocals almost always need some leveling out before attempting compression. I most often do that not with an envelope, but by splitting the audio track and raising or lowering the level of the syllable in question.

I try to get the timing as tight as possible, especially for drums and bass. In my situation, I'm playing bass and I have a good drummer who tracks with me. I've found that both he and I will have a few measures here and there where we're either ahead of the beat or behind it. If possible, I try to correct these by grabbing the whole section and moving it closer to the beat. This preserves the "feel" better than putting everything right on the click. Philbo's advice about listening to everything with the click is very good.

Then you've got to look for frequency masking, instruments / vocals that are fighting each other for the same frequency range. Often this comes down to what function you want that instrument to have in the song; if it's dominant, cut the other ore. There are tools out there that help with this task. The one pair that almost always needs some treatment is bass guitar and kick drum; I nearly always send a side-chain signal from the kick drum to the bass and "duck" the bass slightly with a compressor. If it's done right, you don't really notice the bass ducking but the kick pops out better.

And finally, I try to get the overall EQ balance right. I don't think it's a good idea to leave that to mastering. There's tools that help you use reference tracks (recordings you like the tonal balance on) to enable you to get a similar feel on your own track. I have nothing to do with Ozone, but I find that their Tonal Balance Control is very useful for this. EQ is very hard to do just by ear, your ears can compensate for an EQ that is way, way out of balance and you'll think it sounds normal. This is where visual tools really come in handy.

As I said, I don't like to leave too much to mastering. If the final mix doesn't sound like you want it to, you won't like it after mastering either.
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Old 09-20-2021, 07:24 PM   #9
DThompson55
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SonicScoop last week posted about the importance of editing before you start to mix - https://youtu.be/30rc7LVVHL0
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Old 09-22-2021, 02:00 PM   #10
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Thanks everyone for your input. And yeah, I saw that Sonic Scoop video soon after I posted this. Funny how that works.
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