If the characters leave the stage, other characters must enter right away to keep the viewer’s interest. The second, and less thought about, side of interest 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 that of 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”). Interest: There are two important sides to interest. Panorama: Do instruments sit at various points in stereo field (left to right speakers)? Does the point of interest shift within this field?įrequency Range: Are all frequencies represented somewhat equally? Is there something happening in all frequency ranges? (There are times when we deliberately have little happening in a frequency range – a violin concerto would sound silly with pounding bass – but again this should be a conscious decision.)ĭimension: Do some instruments sound closer or farther away that others? Is there a sense of movement in the mix?ĭynamics: Does 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. My definitions vary a little from Owsinski’s, as I feel these definitions add some important factors that were missing from his definitions.īalance: Do all instruments feel like they have appropriate weight in the mix? Are any instruments being lost in the mix because they are being 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, not an accident.) Below I’ll outline what these elements mean. In his book The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook, Bobby Owsinski suggested that there are six elements of a great mix: Balance, Panorama, Frequency Range, Dimension, Dynamic and Interest. Thumbnail image courtesy of rudolf_schuba. He has worked in the recording industry for 10 years and has taught recording for 5 years. Mark is a recording engineer, multi-instrumentalist and graphic designer.
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February 2023
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