Music Production Midterm 2 (October 18, 2023) PDF

Noah Vincelette MUSC-6333 October 18, 2023 Chapter 2: Monitoring Reading Assignment 1\. What is a good rule of thumb when placing your monitor speakers? How should your monitors be set up in relation to your listening position? The distance between the monitors and the listener should be an eq...

Noah Vincelette MUSC-6333 October 18, 2023 Chapter 2: Monitoring Reading Assignment 1\. What is a good rule of thumb when placing your monitor speakers? How should your monitors be set up in relation to your listening position? The distance between the monitors and the listener should be an equilateral triangle. Monitors should be set so that the speakers are at the same height as the listener's ears when seated in the mix position. Lastly, the angle of the monitors should be checked to avoid "smearing" of the stereo field. This includes monitor orientation. 2\. What happens if your monitor speakers are too close together? What happens when your monitor speakers are too far apart? If monitors are placed too close, the stereo field could be narrow (no spacial definition). The center image could be weaker if the monitors are placed too far apart as the "sweet spot" may be behind the listening position. 3\. Why is it important to decouple the monitors from whatever they're sitting on?\ \ Decoupling monitors helps reduce resonance. Reducing this energy helps give a more accurate bass response when mixing. 4\. What are two ways to decouple a monitor? Removing monitors from a desk and placing them on stands, adding rubberized feet/pads, and filling stands with sand or gravel are all ways that can help decouple a monitor. 5\. Why is it not recommended to mix at high volume levels (4 reasons)? 1. Ear fatigue 2. Ear damage 3. False perception of the mix/frequencies causing poor translation 4. Skewed stereo image/balance issues. 6\. What are some reasons why mixing is done at low levels, or quietly? Mixing at low volume allows an individual to work for longer periods, protect their hearing, judge a stereo image and frequency balance more accurately, and hear smaller details more clearly. Mixing at lower volumes helps mixes better translate across different listening environments. 7\. What are some reasons why you would want to listen to a mix in mono? Listening to a mix in mono can help identify phase, balance, and panning issues. Checking a mix in mono is a good way to detect if monitors may be wired out of phase, makes it easier to make judgments with regard to balance, and with the advent of mobile devices many listeners consume music in mono (iPhone, etc.). 8\. What is a reason you would want to listen to a mix on more than one speaker system? Mixes can sound different in different environments, such as on a television, car, or portable music player. Checking a mix on a different monitoring system, as well as in mono, can give a better picture of how a mix will translate and help identify any issues that may not be evident on the mixer's main monitoring system. 9\. What are some things you can do to overcome potential acoustic problems in your listening environment? To overcome potential acoustic problems, reflective surfaces should be identified, speakers should be placed properly, and room modes calculated to ensure that the 'sweet spot' is placed in an area as free of build-up and reflections as is possible. Room treatments such as diffusers and bass traps can also treat problem areas. 10\. Why should you avoid placing monitor speakers directly against a wall? Placing monitors directly against a wall can lead to the listener hearing bass buildup and not the speakers. This can lead to an inaccurate perception of bass in a mix and cause poor mix translation. 11\. Why is it not a good idea to work on the original session file? What's the first thing you should do? It is good practice to always work on a copy of an original session file. The first thing one should do when receiving an original session file is to back it up in three separate locations, for example, on a system drive, a removable drive, and a cloud. Next, a working copy with the session date should be made before any work is undertaken on the file.\ \ Doing this ensures (1) the original session file will always be available -- even if an unforeseen act such as a power failure, theft, data corruption, or natural disaster were to happen and (2) the session can always be restored to its original state. 2\. What should you trim regardless of whether it was recorded during basics or overdubs? The heads and tails of takes should be trimmed regardless of when they were recorded. 3\. What happens to edits if they don't contain any crossfades? Why is it a "good practice" to have crossfades on every edit? If crossfades are missing from edits clicks and pops can occur. 4\. Once all your edits, comping and tuning is complete, what is it a good idea to do? All clips should be consolidated to make session organization and navigation easier. 5\. Why is it important to clearly label each track? Labeling tracks is essential to a well-organized session. As a project progresses, it can be hard to remember which tracks are final or were considered good takes. Also, if collaboration happens across the project being able to find 'acoustic\_guitar-left.wav' is more intuitive than looking for a random name that a DAW may have generated. Logical names that follow naming conventions are important to organization, collaboration, and archival purposes. 6\. What are major timesavers in any DAW and essential to an efficient mix? What do most veteran mixers do with these? Memory locations and window configurations make mixing much more efficient. Marking important elements of a mix and adding pre-roll to sections are things that veteran mixers tend to do. 7\. Why are subgroups useful to a mix? How do subgroups work best? Subgroups are helpful because they allow for sections of a mix to be adjusted together. Effects like EQ and compression can also be applied across the group if needed. Setting up subgroups before mixing can save time. For example, certain elements may want to be brought up slightly during a chorus to add energy. 8\. Usually, there are certain tracks that will use a particular effect. What should you do with those channels? These channels should have routing (aux send) applied and the particular effect(s) instantiated on the aux inputs. If all tracks are using the same eq/compression setting they should be assigned to a subgroup where the effect can be applied globally. 9\. Why do the kick, snare, bass, and vocal usually need a compressor during the mix? To control the dynamics of these sources. 10\. What are some things you should do to calibrate your hearing when preparing to mix? To calibrate your hearing, spend time away from loud noise before mixing, eat a proper diet, relax your jaw, identify the loudest and softest sounds you're hearing, and turn the monitor level down. 11\. What happens if you close your eyes while mixing? Three-dimensional visualization of sound can be improved when closing eyes while mixing. Removing visual stimuli can improve auditory awareness. 12\. Why should you have a pen and a pad of paper ready to write on? When mixing, you may hear something or have an idea and forget where/what it was. Having a pad and pencil allows for notes to be taken quickly, settings to be notated, etc.. 1\. What do many engineers do to begin a mix? How do they do this? What does Ed Seay always try to have when he's mixing? Ed Seay says he starts with the kick drum at -7 or -7 and tries to get the bass level equal so that one is peaking and the other is sustaining. 2\. How do the vast majority of mixers prefer to start a mix? Working alone. Listening to the song/arrangement, and gaining an understanding of the song's message and most important elements. 3\. What are the 3 steps to use when approaching a mix? Which step is the most important to creating an outstanding mix? 1. Determine the song's direction. 2. identify the most important element. 3. emphasize it, and develop the groove. 4\. What three dimensions do great mixers mix in? What does this mean? Tall -- frequencies are well-balanced. Wide -- Panning in the sound field to create a wide and exciting soundscape where instruments are clearly heard. Deep -- use of ambiance, time-based effects, leakage, room mics, etc., to create a sense of depth in a mix. 5\. How do you achieve a "deep" dimension in your mix? The deep component of a mix can be accomplished with effects such as ambiance or time-based effects (chorus, flange, etc.). Leakage and room mics can also add to a mix's depth. 6\. What are some of the signs of an amateur mix? Name 3 -- 4. - The mix has no contrast. - The mix lacks clarity/punch. - The mix is noisy. - The mix has inconsistent levels. 7\. What are the six elements of a great mix? Define them. - Balance -- volume level relationship between musical elements - Frequency Range -- Having all needed audible frequencies properly represented. - Panorama -- Placing musical aspects in the sound field. - Dimension -- Adding ambiance to a musical element. - Dynamics -- controlling the volume envelope of a track or mix. - Interest -- Making the mix unique. 8\. What is usually the \#1 non-audio problem in a mix? The arrangement is usually the biggest non-audio problem in a mix. 9\. Why was a shaky performance on a song pretty much accepted in the 50's, 60's, and 70's? Before recording technology evolved artists generally had fewer takes. Many records were recorded live or done with fewer overdubs and tools to 'fix' issues were less common. 10\. What should be done to a song that doesn't have a point of interest? Finding the most important mix element (vocal, groove, etc.) and building the mix around it. 11\. What should you do to make a great mix sound bigger than real life? The passion and emotion must be on a level where the listener is forced to listen. 12\. What examples does the book give about the most important element of a song? What does this element compel you to do? Rolling Stones -- Satisfaction (opening guitar riff) Coldplay -- Clock's (opening guitar riff) Ed Sheeran -- Shape of You (keyboard riff) These elements are so compelling they force the listener to listen to the song. 5\. What are the two rules for arrangements and how can you prevent instruments from fighting? The two rules for arrangement are to limit the number of elements playing at the same time and place everything within its own frequency rang. Some ways to resolve conflicts with instruments are to change the octave of a part or change the sound of an instrument (patch, etc.). 6\. The text mentions quotes from various mixing engineers about where they start on their mixes. Name two or three of these starting points. Snare drum constantly hitting on the backbeat at about five and building around it -- Lee DeCarlo Start with kick and bass at -7VU and build everything around it to end up at +3 -- Don Smith 7\. Where is the obvious starting point when mixing dance music? From the kick drum. 8\. Why should you keep watching your master bus meters when mixing? To avoid overloads and clipping. 9\. What is one way to make sure that your mix stays on track when your mixing? To import a reference track and a/b as your mix progresses. 10\. Why is it a good idea to use a comparison plugin like SampleMagic's Magic AB? Hearing a mix against reference tracks lets you know where your mix is when compared to similar songs in terms of height, width, depth, and volume/punch.