Sound Mixing

One of the things I am passionate about and I do regularly is sound mixing, in particular church on a Sunday although it could relate to mixing sound anywhere. Unlike concerts that have professionals doing the sound, churches will normally use volunteers who aren’t necessarily trained or knowledgeable in what to do. One thing that really annoys me is when I walk into a service and the mixing isn’t good, especially when there are certain instruments or singers that you are unable to hear clearly.

Frequencies

Before you can understand how to mix sound you have to realise that sound can be broken up into frequencies and that certain instruments (including vocals) tend to use certain frequencies but not all of them.

A simple breakdown could look like:

0-20Hz Very Low – Too low to hear

20-60Hz Sub – Sound that would come out your subwoofers. The rumble of a bass drum would fit nicely here but not a lot else

60-250Hz Bass – Bass guitar fits here, need to make sure other instruments aren’t taking it over, ie. the keyboard. However, if there is no bass guitar then the keyboard might be appropriate to add bass to the mix

250-500Hz Lo-Mids – Usually a frequency you want to scoop out a little or avoid as it can make things sound muddy or boxy

500-2kHz Mids – This is where all the other instruments compete, along with the vocalists.

2-4Khz Hi-Mids – Some instruments and vocals may get up here but you need some of it otherwise

4-20Khs Highs – Mostly too high to hear and you may want to dampen some of this on vocals to remove harsh S’s (de-ess)

Equalisation

The way you deal with particular frequencies is through equalisation. It’s just a way of adjusting the difference between each frequency, either on an individual channel or on the mix as a whole. You can boost frequencies that you want and reduce those that you don’t. This is the most powerful tool a sound person has so it’s very important to learn about. You can add other effects  and cool stuff but it will all be based on top of what you’ve done (or not done) with equalisation.

Mix with your Ears

It might seem obvious but you need to listen to what the whole mix sounds like and make adjustments from there. It’s easy to look visually at frequencies on a sound desk and make pretty shapes with the EQ but it’s meaningless if the sound is still terrible. Sometimes a good trick is to look away or position yourself somewhere else for a moment so you get a better idea of what it really sounds like.

I've taken a few selfies in Elite Dangerous, I think this is one of the best ones as my helmet is off seeing as I'm inside a space station.

I admire Flea from Red Hot Chilli Peppers as he is an unbelievable bass player, but he is also very humble and has gone through a lot in his life:

He is able to express so much through the bass guitar playing which I think is a rarity in this day and age:

I can't fly all the time with Flight Assist (FA) turned off, although it would be a great skill to learn, but turning it off just for a little while helps a lot when in combat as you can turn much faster. The idea is that with it off you can turn and face the other direction while still moving in the direction you were previously. This isn't possible with just FA on as it will correct your direction based on how you are facing.

To me, one of the most impressive things players have done in very recent times in Elite Dangerous is assist other players with hauling for colonisation. I chose a system to colonise and didn't really read everything properly. Stupidly, I picked an Orbis station as my main starport and then started to realise the amount of commodities requiring to be hauled for it is just overwhelming for a single player like myself. I also hadn't realised there would be such a small timeframe to complete it all. Fortunately, help is available which I asked for on the official forum and on a discord server. My primary port was completed with just over a week to go, which is something I definitely could not have done all on my own. I'm thankful to those who were able to assist me and hope that I can be of assistance to others in the future in building their primary ports on time as well.

Prismatic Shields (noun): A special shield that can be installed in the optional components section of your ship which can only be obtained as a Powerplay reward. It has greater shield strength than a regular shield generator of the same size but also has more mass and power. It regenerates a bit quicker, although not as quick as a bi-weave, and is a pretty green colour.

I decided to give this colonisation thing a go and I picked COL 285 SECTOR KK-B B15-5 to colonise:

I had to buy and outfit a Type 9 so I could haul a bunch of goods and hopefully build my first station.

My favourite is the bagpipe in AC/DCs "It's a long way to the Top":

Although the bagpipe is a valid instrument it's not one you'd normally associate with the rock genre.

Here's a song I wrote and performed in the last couple of days about Elite Dangerous. I've titled the song "It's Dangerous" which I think is kind of self explanatory.

Whenever I write a song I always write the chorus first. The main reason being, if the chorus is no good then song is no good and I should scrap it and start again. The chorus is the main part after all that gets sung over and over.

I played every instrument on the recording except for the drums which was a pattern I found. I tried to make everything sound as best I could with effects etc.

I used Cockos Reaper to record everything as well as mastering and creating the video, as I did it all at once:

I recently bought a personal license for it as I use that program heaps.

Lastly, I hope you enjoy the music!

The unsung hero in my home is Fibre:

With the previous 4G connection everything would slow down as soon as one of the kids started watching a single YouTube clip. Now with fibre we have streaming devices everywhere and no slowdowns whatsoever.