Mix Preparation

After all goals are set, organization is the key to staying efficient and motivated. The first step is to design your mix environment. Whether you are using a console or a DAW, the procedure is the same.

Order and label all of the tracks in a coherent manner. For example, you may want to start with drums, then bass, guitars, other supporting tracks, and then finally vocals. You will quickly discover that abbreviations are the key to identifying tracks on the fly.

Patch or route any FX processors that you may want to use in the session. It can really put a damper on your creativity to have to patch in an effect every time you want one. Get as much of the technical chores out of the way as possible, so you’ll be able to maintain momentum.

Apply initial EQ and compression for all the tracks. For now, just worry about corrective processing rather than the final sound. In other words, use the EQ to get tracks to sound the way that they were intended to sound, and use compression to gain dynamic consistency and not necessarily as a noticeable effect.

Noise Gate

OK, I use a gate for a lot of different purposes, and I don’t really think much about it… However, I was talking to a student at BADASS (Boston Area Definitive Audio Student Summit) and realized I might need to go over the basic function of the gate before going into any advance uses…

The main function of a gate (also known as a noise gate or an expander) is to disburden of unwanted noise or bleed. It functions similar to a compressor, where it attenuates a signal. Unlike a compressor that starts attenuating when the signal reaches the threshold, a gate starts attenuating when the signal drops below the threshold. You can also think of it like this: a gate will not open until the signal reaches the threshold.

When removing unwanted noise from a signal it is important to understand that the gate will only remove the noise when the signal is not playing, and will not remove the noise when the signal is present. Although, when the signal is present, the noise will be masked and it is less likely to be heard.

Attack: This setting allows the user to set the desired time it takes for the gate to open after the signal exceeds the threshold.

Release: This setting allows the user to set the desired time that it takes the gate to close once the signal drops below the set threshold. This can be set in such a way that the gate closes slowly, which in turn sounds more natural.

Ratio: This setting allows the user to set the desired amount of bleed, even though the gate is closed. This allows for a more natural sound.

Hold: This setting allows the user to set the time between the release threshold being traversed and the gate being closed.