Monitoring Your Mixes

In the perfect world we would all have the ultimate studio set up. This would include a proper space to record and produce your music. The room would have the right dimensions and would be tuned and treated for sound properly. Of course this world is far from perfect and for most of us out there, the space we use to do our thing musically is usually a spare room or basement where sound was the last consideration. A lot of musicians simply do with what they have and hope for the best. The problem is that your monitoring system is one of the most important parts of the recording chain. With a less than optimum system you can never be sure of exactly what it is you’re tweaking or listening to. Problems not only include the room that we’re mixing in but also the gear we’re using to monitor the sounds. So if you’re like most people out there and have a less than optimum monitoring situation what do you do? Obviously the best situation would be to get the best monitors you can buy and acoustically treat the room. If you’re not able to do that, or it’s something that you plan on doing in the future but would like to get some work done in the meantime, what are some things that you can do to optimize your monitoring situation?



The Importance of Monitoring

Aside from the front end of your recording system (pre-amps, mics, etc), the monitoring system is one of the most important parts of your recording studio. This is the system that you’re using to gauge everything that you are listening to and recording. If it isn’t set up properly, then it isn’t representing the audio accurately and you can never be sure of what you’re listening to. It’s the equivalent of doing graphics on a crappy computer monitor with improper color settings. You may spend a ton of time getting the colors just right only to find that on different computers the colors look way different. Likewise, you may spend a ton of time getting the mix tweaked perfectly only to listen to it at your friend’s house and have it sound like crap. One of the things I hear musicians say all the time is that the tune sounded amazing in the studio but sounded horrible when they played it on their car stereo. There are a couple of reasons for this. First and foremost, not all studios, even some ‘commercial ones’ are treated properly. I use the word ‘commercial’ because these days the lines between pro and amateur can sometimes get skewed. Some places look great from a visual perspective; unfortunately, acoustics don’t care how great it looks. The other reason why your mix sounds so different is because you lose your sense of reference. What happens when you spend enough time in any space, your ears become accustomed to the space and it becomes harder to discern between was sounds good and what doesn’t. In essence, your ears start to play tricks on you.

Your Space

So you don’t have an acoustically treated or space or the best monitoring system but you want to get some tracks done anyway. The best way to start out is to get used to your room and see if you can make the room sound better without spending any money. There are systems out there that you can use to test your space and see if there are any problems. These can get pricey and there is a bit of a learning curve involved, but can be useful for all the DIYers out there. There are also some basic things that you can do such as making sure that you cover big open walls with some sound dampening material. If your room is perfectly square it’s also a good idea to put up some furniture or move some things around so it’s an irregular shape. Keep speakers away from corners and walls if you can. There are a ton of articles out there about treating your room with some basic acoustic treatments too. Familiarize yourself with basic acoustic theory just so you know what’s happening. Thanks to the internet there’s a ton of info out there about this stuff that’s readily available and most of it doesn’t cost a thing.

The Ubiquitous Reference Track

The best way to start off is to listen to some tracks that you’re familiar with and have heard many times. By playing CD’s that you’re familiar with, you may hear some problems immediately or at least know what sort of problems you may be dealing with. For example you know that the mix sounds great but in your space the bass is a bit boomy. Sometimes it may sound better in your studio than in other rooms but you have to be careful with this too. Some frequencies may be boosted artificially and even though it sounds good with extra bass (for example), it’s not giving you’re an accurate representation of what’s going on in the mix. In this example you may think that there’s more bass there than there actually is only to find that on other systems your mix sounds thin.

Take your time with this step and try to see if there are some small things that you can do that will make a big difference. Where you put your speakers and sub may have a huge effect on the sound: not to mention where you sit. Don’t worry as much about the aesthetics for now and just try to get a good sound. There’s a lot of grey area here since we’re simply using our ears and not being very scientific about it. The thing is that you may notice a lot of difference if you take the time to really pay attention to the room you’re in. Sometimes in our eagerness to make music, we may skip some small steps or simply not take the time to really get things set up properly. Listen to different tracks in different genres. Listen at different levels. Try listening from different parts of the room. I’m often surprised at how different a mix can sound in different places within the same room. Although it may make sense as far as space and design goes, try not to box yourself in a corner or up against a wall. Look at pictures at high end studios and see how things are arranged. Notice how the small monitors are positioned. Notice how the mixer is usually sitting in the middle of the room. Notice how the room and the ceiling are irregularly shaped. Notice the position of the mixer relative to the position of the speakers. There are always exceptions but you will find a lot of similarities between studios.

Multiple Monitors

Once you’ve tested your space and made the necessary adjustments, you’ll have a basic idea of what you’re dealing with in your studio. If you’re not sure about your space and/or don’t have the resources to fix it all just yet, what can you do about making music in the meantime? The best solution for getting something that you know will translate on many other systems is to simply check it on other systems. This involves a couple of things. First of all you need to have a couple of different sets of monitors in the studio. You will obviously want to get the best nearfield monitors that you can get. Beyond that you need a couple of other monitors. Besides my main monitors, I have a set of cheap computer speakers set up on the desk in front of me; just like you would with your own computer monitors. The important thing here is they’re cheap. I have better computer speakers that I use on my multimedia machine but the ones in my studio are old and cheap. This helps me in two ways. First of all it gives me a good idea of what the track will sound like on cheap music systems and TV. Keep in mind that even though we have HD TV and all of that, a huge portion of the population still watches TV through the cheap mono speaker on the set.

Make sure you always check your tracks in mono. Some of those great huge mixes end up sounding not so great when listened to in mono. If you don’t think that mono is that important, think again. Not only do a lot of people listen to TV and watch videos in mono, a lot of other places (like restaurants and pubs) pipe their music through their space in mono speakers. A lot of the time when music is piped through PA systems, it comes through in mono.

Other Systems

I also have a couple of sets of headphones that I use to check the mix too. Headphones are great for checking the stereo separation and making sure things aren’t out of kilter with your panning or balance. Beyond that I’ve found that as many different types of headphones there are, each as a personality of its own. I have three sets that I use on a regular basis. One set is really bright, one has huge bass (accentuated) and one set are just really good (expensive). Here again is another example where the most expensive aren’t always the best. Yes, I like the most expensive ones the best and they are the ones that I use for vocalists, but the others are just as useful to me.

If you have a regular stereo in another room in the house check your mixes on that too. The most important part of this system is that it’s in another room. It’s always good to check your mix in another room before making any final decisions. To take this principle a step further, sometimes when I’m working on a mix, I’ll go and listen to the mix from another room. I’ll turn it up a bit, leave the studio door open and listen to it from the next room. You’ll be amazed sometimes how different the mix can sound from a different perspective. Some professional mixers will also move around the studio when mixing to get the same effect.

Another system I check my mixes on are my mp3 player. It’s a fact of life now that this is the way your music is probably going to be heard. I convert the mix to a 128kps mp3 file, put on my not so great ear buds and go for a walk and listen to the mixes. I listen to a couple of my favorite tracks before and then I’ll stick my mix in the middle of the playlist. This is usually the best indicator of how my mix translates. Any problems with the mix usually jump right out at me after listening to a couple of commercial tracks in a row. Its great having a sub cranked when listening to your music but if I can hear the bass and kick clearly on my little mp3 player, I know that I got it right. This also lets me know if I got those troubling mids right too.

Once I had gotten the mix to where I liked it, I had one more system to check it on; a professional system at a club that I DJ’d at. This was my last check and it was something that I did only after I was absolutely sure that it was ready to go. This was usually the best test of all. If it sounded great on a loud, professional system I knew that it was ready. If you produce dance or hip hop I would suggest that you do this if at all possible. If you aren’t a DJ, go down to your local club and see if you can get it played there. Chat the DJ up and let him/her know who you are. Offer a drink or something if it helps. This is one of the best ways to see how well your mixes translate because it allows you to see not only how your mixes sound on a professional system but also if the energy and feel of the song translates to the people at the club.

I know a lot of people who spend a lot of time in their car and have a good system in there. For these people, how the mix sounds in their car stereo is usually the best check for them. You may have your own place or system that you use to listen to most of your music. The most important thing is to have a couple of different systems in different spaces so you can make sure that your mix translates well.

A lot of Work

You may be reading this post and thinking ‘wow, that’s a lot of work’. Well, yes and no. Yes, it would be great if I could just sit in front of my monitors in my studio and know that what I was listening to was an accurate representation of what was actually going on but we’re talking about working in less than optimal conditions; a problem that a lot of musicians face. But, by checking your mixes on multiple systems in multiple environments you’re assured that it will translate well on most systems out there. You will have to make that extra effort to ensure that it sounds great. In the meantime, your mixing skills will most likely improve and you may find yourself getting better at identifying problems before even leaving the studio. After all, even with all of the great gear that’s out there, it still comes down to your ears and imagination!

A Tale of Two Computers

Image via WikipediaThe Set Up

When I was growing up in the 80's the thought of having your own recording studio was something that was beyond all but the people with the biggest pockets. This was back in the day when the project studio was just starting out and the most you could ask for was a simple set up and 8 tracks, if you were lucky. I remember getting my first four track recorder in the early 90's and having marveled at the fact that I could overdub more than one guitar track. Times have changed and it's not uncommon today for a musician to have a studio set up on their computer that exceeds the horsepower of a million dollar facility in the 80's. For a relatively small sum of money you can have almost unlimited tracks of audio and MIDI, not to mention a good assortment of effects processors and instruments, all living within your computer. Today the commercial studios now employ the best of the newest technology along with choice vintage gear to give modern recordings that old world warmth and depth. Every musician seems to have pieces of gear that they've picked up along the way that they cherish. Yet with all of the different pieces of gear and tastes there are a couple of studio set ups that most musicians seem to favor. Of course the tried and true is the cockpit version where the musicians position themselves behind a mixer or desk and have their computer monitors sitting a few feet in front of themselves. On either side of the computer monitors are their studio monitors and either on the desk or close to the right or left is their MIDI keyboard of instrument of choice. Usually any and all effects and outboard gear is kept close at hand usually on the desk or in a rack close to it.

This is usually a great solution for mixing but I found that for all of the things that I wanted to do in my studio, there were other alternatives that proved to be better in promoting creativity and getting things done.

Some Alternatives

When I first set up my studio this is the way that I had it set up and would pretty much do all of my music from the same general spot. Whether it was mixing, recording, or writing, the position was the same. Since I had my computer set up this way, it was pretty much my only choice if I wanted to get anything done on the computer. While this set up was great for mixing and mastering, it wasn't the best for other activities and I found myself spending more and more time away from the studio because it started to become tiresome sitting in the same spot day in, day out. If you do spend most of your time mixing, the set up is generally the same but you still may want to move around and get a different perspective on the mix. I find that most musicians use their studio for more than one thing and having different set ups for different situations may provide you with the best results. It may help you be more creative or at the very least it'll give you a different view once in a while. For a lot of musicians, most of the time you may be working on your own stuff and be involved in every thing from the initial writing to the final master. To help separate some of the processes and to help get the creative juices flowing, I would try doing some of the different things in different areas of the studio. For example, when I'm writing a song I usually find that I like to keep it relatively simple to begin with. I like to focus on the melody and lyrics and by eliminating all of the other distractions in the studio it's easier for me to keep focused on the task at hand. I used to sit in front of the small mixing deck I had and write songs on the computer. While this worked sometimes, once in a while I would find that either I would get stuck or end up tinkering with other things in the studio and not end up getting much writing done. Sometimes when writing with all of the toys right in front of you, it becomes too easy to end up doing too much editing and tweaking and not enough writing. I also found that staring at the computer screen for too long, I would start to go into 'edit' mode and get out of 'writing' mode. I wanted to focus on getting a great lyric or a great chord progression or a great melody and instead I would spend the time adjusting the drum sounds or eqing things.

So I decided that I wanted to try a different set up for writing. I also wanted to have a different set up for doing the business side of things and I wanted to have a different set up for other business activities.

My Set Up

What I ended up doing might not be the perfect situation for most but it may give you some ideas about how you may want to try different set ups when it comes to your studio. I really wanted to have a couple of different set ups; one for mixing and recording, one for writing and one for business and internet. I really didn't relish the thought of doing all of my surfing on the same computer that I was doing all of my intensive and very important studio work. I actually wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Generally, the less you install on your computer, the more stable it'll be. I've had a lot of computer troubles and crashes over the years and I find that the more I keep the one computer focused on audio only, the better and more reliable it is. So I ended up getting a laptop and designated the laptop as my writing and business tools and kept the desktop as my main studio computer. This kept the things on my studio computer down to the minimum because I didn't have anything on there that wasn't directly related to recording and/or mixing. I use the laptop for all of my business and internet needs and use it as a portable studio for writing and recording. It also allows me to take my studio 'on the road' in case I need to do some writing in another area or with another writer. I try to keep the stuff on the laptop to the minimum also, using a few choice tools to do all of my work. Not only does this keep down on the maintenance of the computer, it makes it easy to backup and keep updated. I have a whole system of things that I use for business that keeps things organized and running smoothly. I also have a basic recording set up on the same computer. It's nothing major since it's used mostly for writing and anything over the top would take away from its main purpose anyway.

The basic set up is this: I bought a small but well built external firewire audio unit for my laptop recording. Not only is it very small but it sounds great and is rock solid. It has 4 inputs, 6 outputs and MIDI in and out. I installed the basic software that came with the unit that covers all of my needs and more. It also integrates well with my studio set up since it comes from the same company. It's missing some features since it's the 'LE' version but nothing that I really miss. It also comes with a ton of plug-ins and instruments so I'm covered there as well. I didn't want to install too many extras as far as instruments and plug-ins because I wanted to keep the system streamlined so I could focus on writing and basic recording. I also use the hard drive on the laptop since I'm only recording one or two tracks at a time and rarely have many tracks to deal with. The software also came with a simple serial number so there are no dongles or anything hanging off of my laptop to worry about. Best of all, it really makes me focus on the most important parts of the songwriting process, right when I need to be focusing on that. It allows me to stay in 'writing' mode and keeps me out of 'editing' or 'mixing' mode. Generally I find that I do a lot of mixing along the way when I'm working on my own stuff but this keeps that to a minimum while I finish the writing. I do find too that when I'm staring at the computer screen I tend to 'hear with my eyes' and when working on a smaller laptop, I focus more on the sound and less on the computer screen.

The other things that I have on the laptop all have to do with business and keeping organized and in touch. Since I have a minimal recording set up and this is a secondary computer, I don't mind using it for all of my online activities. This frees up my main computer to do audio only and it also allows me to keep all of my business and networking separate and portable. I can do my surfing, emailing and correspondence from anywhere and I don't have to be nailed to the same spot in the studio all day. It allows me to leave the studio every once in a while and get a different perspective. I don't get tired of being in the same place all day and it keeps the studio a creative space. If I'm waiting for an important email and I have to do some studio work, I can have the laptop sitting beside me while I safely work on the studio computer.

If You Can...

For most people, having an expensive computer devoted to one task might be a bit beyond their budget but if you're serious about keeping your music safe and on a reliable system, the two computer system is the way to go. If you can't afford to get a laptop, you might want to look into getting a cheap desktop to use for your internet and business needs. There is an absolute need to be online and have a big online presence. It's simply part of the program for anyone who's serious about getting their music out there. Most computers today can handle all of your business and internet needs short of doing any intensive video editing so there's no need to go out and spend a ton of money on this. If you don't want to spend any money see if there are any people that you know who have an old computer that they don't use anymore and take it off their hands. One note of caution here though. Don't get an old computer and then start putting a lot of money into upgrades and extra computer parts. Unless you know what you're really doing, most of the time this is a costly and unproductive way to go.

One more note: I know some guys who have gone in the opposite direction and are happy with the results. That is, they use their laptop for their music and their desktop for their online stuff. Some musicians like the portability of the laptop and use it for gigs and DJing. Sometimes you may have no choice to connect the audio computer to the internet. I'm just suggesting that you keep it to a minimum to keep the viruses away. Without being constantly online, there is no reason to be running a lot of programs on your computer like firewalls, virus scanners and all things internet related.

Some musicians have successfully integrated both on the same computer but this always comes at a price and can result in crashes and a lot of lost work. It also makes it a lot harder to keep everything backed up and running smoothly. Most of all, if you're like me you'll find yourself getting more done and being more productive overall. I don't know about you but I think that the extra investment in time and money is well worth it.