Recording - 2 - mixing

When you've got 3 or 4 tracks to mix, things get a little more complex. Here's a basic scenario to work with:

You have vocal, guitar, second guitar, harmonica. The second guitar (call it guitar2) is a transposed version of guitar1 (your first track). The harmonica only plays in the instrumental section. Now we need to consider stereo position as well as EQ etc as before. This is usually called 'panning', and the function will probably be on the mixer section of your software. Essentially, you are moving the track left and right in the stereo spectrum so that is at its loudest at that point as you listen to it, giving it it's own space.

The actual numbers used for pan L and pan R can vary. It may be 0-100 left or right, or sometimes 0-64 left or right. For this reason I'll give an approximate percentage left or right here.

Try something like this:

vocal - centre

guitar1 - pan right 30%

guitar2 - pan left 30%

harmonica - pan right 10%

Now listen to the two guitars together, muting the other two tracks. Are the levels right? Do they sound right together - are there any points where they clash, or seem to cancel each other out? Try moving them left and right and see if they sound different - perhaps one relatively further left than the other is right, for example.

Add the vocal back in - is it loud enough? Can you hear it distinctly? Try a little EQ (taking out the bottom end as before) - remember, it is not always a case of sheer volume that gets things heard. Clarity comes from distinct and appropriate sounds.

Add the harmonica in - you could keep that central, but placing it a little left or right will make it easier to hear without too much extra messing about. I often find it helps to think of a harmonica like another voice (and the same principles do seem to work for harmonising vocals). Take out the low bass end of the EQ range if it sounds muddy - if not, leave it!

EQ on guitars is also something you might want to consider. This can help to make them distinct (especially if you are only using one guitar), and sweeten the sound a little. Add a little 12k presence to one, and perhaps presence and bass range to the other. If it doesn't make it better, however, don't do it for the sake of it! Just try stuff out until you're happy.

Listen to the whole thing together. Then leave it for a while. Let your ears recover, and your brain forget what you've heard. Believe me, taking a half-hour break will do wonders for your ability to hear what you've actually just done.

I shall cover reverbs and effects next - and them some general mixdown principles.