Mixing like this...

[benjadaninja]

This song (skip to :27) is mixed and mastered amazingly. Proper sounding for sure. Does anyone know (by ear) what type of EQing and compression techniques (& other effects) were used on the beat and vocals? It just sounds so amazing loud, clear and crisp. I don't expect to accomplish the same thing with my minimalist setup, but I'd like to learn some of the techniques in the song if possible to improve my mixing. I understand equipment, environment and milking are usually the most important things when it comes to vocals, but i am sure there's something I am missing!

Thanks d00ds.

[EagleGuard]

I personally think that is a horrible mix. The highs are too harsh, and the lows are too boomy. Also, you don't need loads of complicated tools to get a good mix. A decent EQ can work miracles alone. Every mix is unique, but if you want some general tips, there are loads of guides available on the web.

[Syztm]

Really, there's not that much going on in the track, and the mix isn't that great as well. Either way, each mix is different and requires a different approach. A good knowledge of EQ'ing will get you very far. Personally, I think a general rule of thumb is to cut frequencies rather than boost them, but I'm sure people will have different opinions on that.

[MetalRenard]

Yep... I agree. Not a great mix, I think the person who did it didn't take enough breaks and had ear fatigue.

[Syztm]

At 2/16/13 04:24 PM, MetalRenard wrote: Yep... I agree. Not a great mix, I think the person who did it didn't take enough breaks and had ear fatigue.

I think Diplo does the production for Four Loko (at least he did for We Are Farmers), and he usually delivers when it comes to mixing. Don't know what happened here, though.

[benjadaninja]

At 2/16/13 04:42 PM, Syztm wrote:

At 2/16/13 04:24 PM, MetalRenard wrote: Yep... I agree. Not a great mix, I think the person who did it didn't take enough breaks and had ear fatigue.

I think Diplo does the production for Four Loko (at least he did for We Are Farmers), and he usually delivers when it comes to mixing. Don't know what happened here, though.

it's not bad at all. I think it's perfectly mixed for hip-hop. Beat bangs loud and clear as fuck and vocals are loud, clear and crisp over top it. IMO this is almost as good as kanye's and jay-z's production. (whom i hate as artists but they arguably have the best mixed/mastered songs in the game.) You can hate if ya want. lol but it sounds absolutely flawless on my krk 8's.

[benjadaninja]

Someone shoe me what they think is a well mixed hip-hop song then? I am confused here. lol.

[MetalRenard]

Dude the highs are PIERCING, they hurt my ears like hell. The high hats especially, just painful.

[The-iMortal]

At 2/16/13 05:04 PM, benjadaninja wrote: but it sounds absolutely flawless on my krk 8's.

KRK's don't have a lot of high-end from my experience. I use to own a pair of KRK Rokit 4's, and when I upgraded to Yamaha MSP5's, the difference in high-end was incredible. There was so much I couldn't hear with the Rokits.

That being said, this mix isn't too bad. It's nothing amazing though. I'd say the mixing engineer has cut the low-end of the vocals, and boosted certain mid-high frequencies, and cut other frequencies which needed to be cut. It's hard to detect exactly what he's done when we can't hear the vocals pre-production.

And there's no real guide to vocals, as everybody's voice is unique.

[DJDela]

Even though this isn't quite good mixing, I got to disagree with some guys.
The highs are loud compared to the mids but they aren't too loud.
I'm using Shure SRH-440 which are known to be flat, btw.
The real reason this mix sounds good to you is because there is a lot of reverb on the vocals and everything is stereo panned, so honestly this is nothing spectacular.

[SourJovis]

ordinary

[jpbear]

the high end is nice and vibrant, definitely not overbearing.

[SkyeWintrest]

Aside from being painfully loud.

[jpbear]

At 2/16/13 08:49 PM, SkyeWintrest wrote: Aside from being painfully loud.

its standardly loud for a hip hop track.

[SkyeWintrest]

That explains why hip hop gives me a headache. Guess it's in the mixing and not just in the "composition".

[StaticBlu]

It comes off to me as an obnoxious effort to be cool. There's not much going on in the music itself. As for the vocals(beside from the lyrics), are just meh to the point that it's not worth paying attention to. I'm not enjoying, I'm enduring.

[jpbear]

OP posts about getting a mixdown similair to something.

People badger his tastes.

Get over yourselves.

[StaticBlu]

It sounds like some of the mid ranges are moved up more to give the vocals more room to work. Also a lot of reverb going on in the vocals. It's kind of hard to tell what the artist did with your average song with vocal incorporated into the music. Look up some tips on how to equalize your work. It can make all the difference.