A Mix Engineer's Glossary of Techniques

Course details

Mix engineers know what it's like to put a lot of work into a mix, anticipate a review, and then receive feedback filled with descriptive notes from industry execs. Inside the remarks is an intent that needs to be deciphered so that the right adjustments can be made to achieve the intended sound. Likewise, industry execs—managers, agents, or interested parties—also want to make sure the comments conveyed to the mix engineer use the lingo commonly used across studios in industry. This course helps both: mix engineers can learn how to interpret the meaning of comments and then modify a mix accordingly, and executives can learn how to provide constructive notes using industry-standard terminology, resulting in simpatico communication that ultimately elevates the quality of music being mixed.

Join multiplatinum producer, engineer, and mixer Brian Malouf as he covers the many terms that musicians and non-musicians use to describe music. Brian explains the meaning behind the comments and also demonstrates techniques that can be applied to a mix in response to the notes. He covers lo-fi mix techniques, EQ techniques, changes to levels, adapting the ambience, making vibe and energy adjustments, working with compression options, and revising the placement location of elements in the sonic sphere.

Learning objectives
Lo-fi glossary
Volume glossary
Ambience glossary
Location glossary
Attitude adjustment glossary
Compression glossary

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome
02 - What are mix notes
03 - What you should know

1. Lo-Fi Mix Techniques

04 - Lo-fi glossary
05 - Make it lo-fi
06 - Make it distorted
07 - Add some grit
08 - Add more saturation
09 - Overdrive it
10 - Drum destruction

2. EQ Mix Techniques

11 - EQ glossary
12 - Brightening something
13 - Add more presence
14 - Darken the bass guitar
15 - Make it warmer
16 - Make it more edgy
17 - The vocal is too harsh
18 - Adjusting muddy, tubby, or woofy mid-range bass tones
19 - EQ and dynamics for acoustic guitars
20 - Add body to the snare drum

3. Volume Level Mix Techniques

21 - Volume glossary
22 - Faders and pan pots
23 - Specific frequency EQ boost
24 - Balancing conflicting requests
25 - Balancing lead and background vocals
26 - Blending male and female vocals
27 - Inner balance of the drum kit
28 - Manipulating the levels of drum samples

4. Ambience Mix Techniques

29 - Make it more roomy or make it less roomy
30 - Make it wider
31 - Give it more space
32 - Using ambience to position the drums
33 - Give it more sauce and other specific examples

5. Location Mix Techniques

34 - Location glossary
35 - Applying spatial modifications to vocals
36 - Affecting location in a stereo blend
37 - Designing frequency specific location
38 - Altering the spatial location of drums

6. Vibe Attitude Energy Adjustment Mix Techniques

39 - Attitude adjustment glossary
40 - Make the vocal crunchier
41 - Getting a good feel with timing and EQ
42 - Setting the chorus up for success
43 - Augmenting the production
44 - Other techniques for attitude

7. Compression Mix Techniques

45 - Compression glossary
46 - Basic principles of compression
47 - Basic principles of peak limiting
48 - Combining two processors for the perfect sound
49 - Special processing - Multiband compression
50 - Special processing - Transient design
51 - Avoiding overdoing dynamics devices

8. Other General Mix Requests

52 - Glossary terms that don't fall into a particular category
53 - Unusual terms for basic mix moves
54 - Understanding the aesthetic
55 - Relating to transients
56 - Other terms you should know

Conclusion

57 - Next steps