Behind The Mixer

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Stop the lies

Stop believing the lies!
Photo by renaissancechambara

There are times when you didn’t learn the right way to mix a vocal or an instrument or a band.  That’s ok.  You learned.  You moved on.  But then there are the lies you tell yourself over and over.  You don’t learn.  You can’t move on.  Your work suffers.  WAKE UP!*

*Any judgment on my part is because I’ve believed some myself.  I don’t live in a glass house…at least not any more.

#1: I can always boost the volume.

The singer is moving the microphone from their lips to their stomach and then somewhere in between.  Poor microphone usage techniques cannot be overcome by boosting the volume and accompanying massive fader riding.  You must talk with the singer or go through the worship leader so they can be trained in proper microphone usage.  And you know you can only boost a volume so much until their volume either feeds back or their mic is just too far away from their mouth.  Spend the time, all of two minutes, and show them how to hold the microphone.

#2: I can cover up the problem with reverb.

Reverb isn’t for masking audio problems…not entirely.  Before you bring in any type of audio effect such as reverb or delay, fix the frequency problems with some EQ work.  Otherwise, you are only “reverbing”  those bad frequencies.

#3: This is the way I’ve always done it.

This is the lie that because you learned to do something one way that it can’t be improved.  This can go for microphone positioning, the use of effects, how you mix, etc.  Believing this lie holds you back from improving your mix, improving your relationships with the crew and congregation, and ultimately holds you back from being the best you can be.

#4: I know what’s best.

Similar to #3, you believe your knowledge and experience trumps everyone else.  Some of my best mixing techniques came from hearing the question, “do you mind if I show you a few tips on mixing this band” and giving a response of “yes.”

I’m not saying you have to accept what everyone says.  We know everyone has their opinion about mixing but you do have to be willing to listen because you will learn something.

#5: Compressors can’t do that.

Let’s ask this question, “do you know what your equipment is capable of doing?”  Are you sure about that?  I recall having a discussion with a couple of techs about a problem that had occurred when some people had “borrowed” the sanctuary for use for an event with a band.  Apparently, they had a really odd audio problem where all sorts of bad audio was coming out of the system – weird feedback, odd sounds and all.  Three of us were standing around talking about it, discussing the possible problems because we learned the gain structure was set properly, and two of us said it sounded like the compressor settings were messed up. (In fact, we learned they were).  Another guy looked at us like we were idiots and said “a compressor can’t do that.”

Don’t be close minded about what your equipment can or can’t do, especially when something is going wrong.

#6: It sounds this bad because our equipment stinks.

Ask any guitarist and I’ll bet they’ve heard a story where some old man or some rock star walks into a music store, picks up the cheapest “worst-sounding” guitar, and makes it sing like never before.  And there is something to be learned of these stories…it’s not the equipment; it’s the person playing it.

I’ve guest-mixed for churches and a few times heard the words, “wow, it’s never sounded that good.”  On an old Mackie.  On an old Peavey, on an old…you get the idea.  If you have bought into the lie that your sound can’t get any better because of the quality of your equipment then you have probably stopped trying to do your best.  Yes, some of it can be the equipment but usually it’s you.

#7: Louder is always better.

Go! Get out!  Eh, just kidding.  Louder is not always better because, taking a point from a recent conference, volume is like temperature.  Everyone has their ideal temperature.  And it’s not the same for everyone and so it is with the house volume.  If you are saying “louder is better,” then at what point is it too loud?  Oh, it’s whatever you think is too loud?  What about the people in the congregation, do they get any say in this?

#8: I can mix how I want.

“More bass!”  “I love bass!”  “More keyboards!”  “My son plays keys and he should be heard.”  Sounds a bit silly now, doesn’t it?  Remember you are mixing for a group of people so they can fully be involved in worshipping our Lord and Creator.  Mix in the style they like.  Don’t believe you can mix how you like and everyone benefits from that.  If it so happens your mix styles meets up with their mix needs, then great.  Otherwise, mix for them, not for yourself.

#9:  Only boost frequencies that would benefit the mix and don’t cut anything.

It’s not that boosting is bad, it’s that you’ll find achieving a good sound often comes by first cutting out the bad frequencies and cutting back on the energy of the frequencies that aren’t beneficial to your sound.  You don’t grow a great garden by ignoring the weeds and planting more flowers.  You grow a great garden by getting rid of the weeds so the plants can grow on their own.

#10: Finish this by adding another audio lie in the comment section below.  What have you believed or what have you seen others believe?

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  1. The lie I run into the most is that “It’s the job of the guy at the mixer to keep turning everything up, and if a musician can’t hear something it’s especially true”. From my perspective, many times, the musicians seem to think that the response from me is a lie when I say, “Perhaps the reason you cannot hear your vocals in the monitor is because you have that guitar amp next to you turned up so loud.”.

    Of course I will never reach that ideal in our little hall, the one where the monitors aren’t part of the overall mix, making things sound dramatically different in the front row than it does in the back of the room. Nor will I ever get the guitar amps turned down to where they don’t occasionally overpower the Vocals, but there really needs to be some limit to how loud things need to be and if you are dealing with hearing impaired musicians…(No, truely…I have a bass player I deal with who will go from being in the mix to being the loudest thing on stage over the course of a couple of songs. When tell him he’s too loud he informs me that he’s deaf and can’t tell, and could I give him some hand gesture to get him to be quieter..) I really don’t WANT to have to tell people that I refuse to turn up their vocals in the monitor until the turn their amp down, but I also don’t want to let the words of the songs get totally lost in the mix because…let’s face it, nobody ever got saved by hearing a screaming lead from a Fender Guitar…

    Reply

  2. Lie “If a vocalist can’t sing mute them.”

    If a vocalist consistently off key the easy thing to do is just mute them in the house mix. If all you had to worry about was sound quality then it is the perfect solution. Sadly artists tend to havve huge egos. If a voxalist or a musician does not sound right it s best to leave them on their monitor, and only lightly use them in the house mix because they will always find out if nobody could hear them. (and blame you for it)

    Reply

  3. Here’s some…
    1) Always turn your amps All THE WAY UP.
    You can, BUT….
    Do you have a good DSP limiter inline (if so, is you’re limiter an RMS limiter, or Peak ? And do you know the difference between the two?) and set properly, in order to keep the channel from clipping? Or do you have a proper level of attenuation inline BEFORE the amp, if you choose not to turn the amp’s controlls down?
    You can, and eventually will, if your rig isn’t “big enough” for your needs, run into clipping the amps. Even if you have the amp’s built-in, push-button, peak limiters on.
    2) There’s not audio below 50 Hz (or 40 Hz, or insert another number) worth reproducing. Always use your low cut-filters.
    Yes, I understand the need for sub-sonic woofer protection. What I’m getting at is filtering things above that.
    The amount of 30-60 Hz that is accuratley, and authoritivley, reproduced can make a huge difference in the sound of your mix. No, that doesn’t give you a license to push 31.5, 40, 50, and 63 Hz up by 12 dB on your graphic EQ. You have to have high quallity subs to be able to do those frequencies justice. Once you hear good bass, you don’t care to go back to “the way it was”.
    And no, high quallity doesn’t always mean high price. My particular single 18″ sub cost under $400 new, when it was being produced (now it’s a discontinued model). I know for a fact that it outrerformes the various popular, $1000 dollar-range, active subs.
    High quallity is the concern. If you’re running into clipping, re-do your gain structure. If your system can’t accuratley reproduce deep frequencies, don’t try to put them very loud in the mix.

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  4. Do not believe that “its all about the volume”. Being familiar with the source, voice or instrument, is key to a good mix. Are you are struggling with how it sits in the mix? Then listen. Walk on stage and listen, not relying on the PA. Ask yourself if that is what it sounds like through the system? Is that what it needs to sound like in relation to the other instruments/voices? If not, do I need to make EQ changes? I realize that not everyone has the luxury of mixing for a church worship band that delivers a consistent quality signal. But developing a practice of intentional listening, then evaluating and responding with needed EQ adjustments can set the foundation for an effective worship experience.

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  5. Just because it’s common sense to you someone else might not think about it. We had one of our associate Pastors speaking one week and I failed to make sure he knew how to operate the wireless body pack he was using. It didn’t get turned on which resulted in him shouting until we figured out what was wrong, not a good way to start a service.

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  6. The biggest lie I kept telling myself is that I knew how to run sound. Just because I had the most knowledge of the sound equipment in the church didn’t mean that I was qualified to run it. I have learned so much from your website that I didn’t know or had misconceptions about. I’m a musician and don’t actually get to run sound but I’m the guy they go to when it’s not working or sounding right I will be passing the information on that you have taught me. Thank you so much.

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  7. This is similar to a few items on the list but a lie I hear a lot is someone explaining the “right way” to operate any number of pieces of equipment. A lie that I myself have believed at some times. Anything from compression ratios to ideal frequency boosts/cuts for different instruments. I’ve learned that what works in one building/environment doesn’t work at all in another even if done with the exact same group of people. The last thing I always tell my volunteers at the end of their training is “but if it sounds good, you did it right”.

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  8. I once heard “if you can mix one channel, you can mix 32”. I’m convinced it is the opposite. The more inputs the harder it is to find a place in the mix / spectrum for each and the harder it is to make each instrument / voice compliment each other rather than compete.

    Reply

    • I think the mentality behind “if you can mix one channel, you can mix 32.″ Is that the physical channel strip on the console is the same. I agree with what you are saying, however for me it’s easier to mix a full contemporary worship set than it is to mix an acoustic set, only because that is what I typically mix and I have more experience with that. Anyone else feel the same way?

      Reply

      • Brendan, I agree with your idea of it being easier to mix what you are used to mixing. I remember going from mixing a single-channel electronic drum kit to an acoustic drum kit with 8 microphones. Was it harder? Yes. Now, I love it. As far as mixing style differences, this is where it helps to listen to different types of music on a personal level. You are building up a head full of different mix examples.

        Reply

  9. Audio lie: “Never Use Metering”

    For example, I caught one of my church’s audio guys adding a “little bit of compression” to each channel. If something was compressed more than his idea of a “little bit”, he would raise the threshold until it “sounded better, because it was only compressed a ‘little bit'”. Turns out, the Gain Reduction meter wasn’t even showing anything… he had completely removed the compression from the channel although the compressor was still engaged. And he still thought it was compressing just “a little”. We should always use our sometimes fooled ears, but meters should always back our decisions when available

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  10. The biggest lie I learned about the hard way: “I don’t need a mic”.

    We have a fairly large sanctuary, but small enough that a loud voice CAN fill the space… such voices are rare, though, and they certainly struggle when paired with our organ. I’d rather have a mic in front of every voice, even if I then mute it later.

    Reply

    • Oh, I so agree with that one. I’ve watched, in horror, as a church elder was handed a microphone and then put it down and said “I don’t need a mic.” Ironically, he was the elder that uses a hearing aid!

      Reply

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