The way you use effects and processors can make or break a mix.

Paul White offer

s 20 useful
tips to help you get it right first time.
Recording can be fun, but for me, the most rewarding part of any project is doin
g the final mix. It's at this stage
of the proceedings that effects and signal processors can be used to turn a simp
le recording into a major
production -- but it's also easy to overdo things and spoil the end results. Thi
s month I've put together 20
easy-to-remember tips that will allow you to control your effects units rather t
han vice versa. And so, without
further ado and in no particular order of importance:
1. Reverb creates the illusion of space, but in doing so it also 'smears' the st
ereo localisation of the
original sound source, just as it does in real life. If you want to maintain a s
pecific stereo placement
for one or more sounds in a mix, consider using a mono reverb effect and panning
the reverb to the
same position as the original dry sound.
2. Reverb is very useful for making vocals sound more musical and for making the
m sit with the rest
of the mix, but adding too much will have the effect of pushing the vocals back,
rather than allowing
them to take front position. Experiment with pre-delay values of 60-100mS to hel
p counter this, and
also try using a reverb patch that has a lot of early reflections, as these help
reinforce the dry sound.
You can learn a lot from listening carefully to records you like to see how much
and what type of
reverb is used. Often it's rather less than you think.

3. Bright reverbs can flatter vocals, but may exaggerate sibilance. As an altern
ative to de-essing the
vocals, try instead de-essing the feed to the reverb unit, so that sibilance is
removed before the
reverb is applied.
4. Reverb is probably the most important effect in the studio, so don't compromi
se by using a
low-quality software reverb plug-in just because you're short of processing powe
r. Use a good
external hardware reverb unit if you have one, otherwise choose a more powerful
software plug-in to
treat the vocal track in non-real time. This may involve off-line processing or
doing a real-time
'bounce to disk' of the vocal track in isolation, via the plug-in.
5. Vocals almost always require compression, but rather than doing all the compr
essing at the
recording stage, apply a little less compression than you think you might ultima
tely need, then add
further compression when you come to mix. This dual-stage process ensures you do
n't record an
overcompressed sound, whilst still allowing you to even out the level of the rec
orded signal.
6. Compressors bring up low-level noise just as effectively as they do low-level
signals, so try to gate
the signal prior to compression when you're mixing. Also, use no more compressio
n than you need,
or the signal-to-noise ratio may be compromised unnecessarily. However, it's usu
ally unwise to gate
the compressor input during recording for the reasons explained in the next tip.
7. Avoid gating during recording if at all possible, as a badly set gate can com
pletely ruin an
otherwise good take by chopping out low-level sections of the wanted audio. Inst
ead, gate during
mixing, when you have the chance to reset the parameters and try again if it doe
sn't work out first
time. A further benefit of this approach is that any noise, crosstalk or spill a
ccumulated during
recording will also be gated out.
8. Always gate signals prior to adding reverb if you can -- gates can easily cho
p off the tail end of a
long reverb. Furthermore, if you add reverb or echo after gating, any minor gati
ng artifacts may be
completely hidden by the natural decay of the reverb or echo. Any noise added to
the mix by the
reverb unit should be negligible providing you've paid
attention to gain structure and level setting when adjusting
the effects.
9. Don't always set your gate to fully attenuate the signal
when the gate is closed. In some situations, it may sound
more natural if a low level of background sound is still
audible between wanted sounds, and when working with
drums, you'll find the gate opens faster if the range control is
set to around 12dB rather than to maximum.
10. Single-ended noise-reduction units (the type that work by applying level-dep
endent top-cut) can
be very useful in reducing the perceived level of hiss during material where the
re are no silences that
would allow a gate or expander to operate. However, make constant A/B comparison
s to ensure that
there's no obvious top-end loss when the unit is switched in. If there is, lower
the threshold slightly
until you get an acceptable compromise between high-end loss during low-level pa
ssages, and
audible hiss. As with gates, applying reverb after dynamic filtering may help di
sguise any side-effects
as well as safeguarding the reverb tails from being truncated.
11. Don't add long reverb to bass sounds unless you have an artistic reason to d
o so, as this tends
to muddy the low end of the mix. If you need to add space to a kick drum, try a
short ambience
program or a gated reverb as an alternative. If you are in a position where you
need to apply reverb to
an entire drum mix, roll off the low end feeding the reverb for a cleaner sound.
12. Chorus is a useful effect for creating the illusion of space and movement, b
ut it also tends to
push sounds back in the mix, rather as reverb does. If you need a sound treated
with chorus to stand
out in a mix, try either panning a dry version of the sound to one side and a ch
orused version to the
other, or ensure that the song's arrangement leaves plenty of room for the choru
sed sound.
14. Equalisation is often used as an alternative to getting a sound right at sou
rce, but the result is
seldom as satisfactory as doing things properly. Nevertheless, on occasions wher
e equalisation is
necessary, applying cut to the over-emphasised frequencies rather than boost to
weaker ones
generally results in a more natural sound, especially with vocals and acoustic i
nstruments. This is
especially true of in-desk equalisers or budget parametrics, as they often sound
nasal or phasey
when used to boost mid-range sounds.
15. Sounds can often be made to sit better in a mix by 'bracketing' them with hi
gh- and low-pass
filters so as to restrict their spectral content. Many console EQs don't have th
e sharp filters
necessary to do this, but the side-chain filters fitted to many gates are often
ideal for the job. Simply
set the gate to its side-chain listen mode, then use the filters to shave away u
nwanted high and low
frequencies. Acoustic guitars often work better in a mix if the low end is rolle
d off in this way, though
the high end can usually be left alone.
16. When setting up a mix, try to get the mix sounding close to right before you
add any effects or
signal processing. Once you've got this right, add further vocal compression if
needed and also
apply just enough reverb to make the vocals sit comfortably with the backing tra
ck. When you're
happy with the overall timbre and balance, adding effects for 'effect' should be
easier. Remember
that, in most cases, effects are there just to add the final gloss -- they won't
compensate for a poor
balance or bad basic sounds.
17. Still on the subject of effects in the mix, don't be tempted to hide poor pl
aying by heaping on
more effects, it never works -- take it from someone who's tried everything at o
ne time or another!
However, thanks to the wonders of modern technology, slightly imperfect vocal pi
tching can be
tightened up almost magically using pitch-correction processors, such as Antares
' Autotune
software or ATR1 hardware.
18. Go easy when using enhancers to treat complex signals such as a whole mix as
it's very
tempting to go too far. Make frequent use of the bypass button to remind yoursel
f just how radically
the sound has changed, and if you're adding more than a little high-end enhancem
ent, check the
bottom end to see if that needs bringing up to keep the overall mix in balance.
19. Often it's better to enhance just some elements of
a mix so as to make them stand out from the rest. The
best way to do this is to connect the enhancer to a
pair of group insert points, then send all the sounds
that need enhancing to that group. Listen carefully to enhanced vocals as the pr
ocess can often
exaggerate sibilance problems.
20. Treatments designed to increase the stereo width of a mix (other than the si
mple
mixing-antiphase-signals-into-the-opposite-channel trick) can have detrimental e
ffects on mono
compatibility. Use your console's mono button to check that your mix doesn't los
e too much when
it's played in mono, as this is important when material is played over mono radi
os or TVs. Listen to
see if the subjective balance or timbre changes by an unacceptable degree. If it
does, either use less
overall width expansion or leave the main mix elements untreated and only proces
s secondary
sounds, such as incidental percussion, sound effects, effects returns and so on.