what is the difference between mixing and mastering? I'm confused! Must be the cynic in me, but I associate mastering with the application of EQ and dynamic compression, both evil if overdone! Is there more to mastering than this? If the masterer is working with a 2-ch mixdown then he obviously isn't going to have anywhere near as much flexibility in tweaking things that is possible at the mixing stage. Also, what is the advantage of having a different person do the mastering to the mixing? If you are able to nail mixing then would you not be able to nail mastering too?

There is Richard "Bunky" Bell (that's me)
And Richard B (not me)
Easy mistake to make as sometimes the name thingy doesn't show the complete name.
That's why I use a sig file.

On mixing:
I symapthize with you on this.
Finding a good mix that will work in all situations is tough.

I mix with a combo of system with sub
then bypass sub.
and check it all in the headphones.

Your room is important.
Not to lively or reflective, not to dead.
Bass traps in corners is a good idea if your room is small but don't overkill it.

Determine who your audience will be.
Keep in mind the majority of folks either listen in their cars or with cheap headphones on a personal audio device as they travel on a bus.
I would say it's the minority that actually sit down at a tricked out audio setup and listen critically to the entire CD anymore.
But that is the environment to shoot for.

Trial and error and be prepared for some disappointments.

That's my experience but there's been some good advice in a lot of the responses.

Bunky now hosts "Back From The Bin" a podcast of undetermined
format. Run now and SUBSCRIBE.
http://www.backfromthebin.blogspot.com

If you can find them, buy yourself a pair of Auratone 5C single driver monitors. They're out of production, but you might find some on e-Bay. I swear by these for referencing my mixes. If you can't seem to locate any, then yes, do listen to your mixes on a variety of playback systems, including your car stereo or through some crappy television speakers. I have my main mix routed through an old Toshiba television in my studio and I listen to every mix through it. Of course, you're going to hear variations on every system, so don't let that drive you nuts. And don't 'over-tweak' your mix and overreact to nuances that you hear on one playback system compared to the next. You will know when you come to a place in your mix where you feel good about it. And ALWAYS feel good about your initial mix prior to the mastering stage. Don't ever rely on the mastering stage of the project to correct issues with a mix. Too many engineers get sloppy with a mix thinking the mastering stage will 'magically' pull out subtleties in the mix that they can't achieve in the initial mix.

I believe I have rambled thoroughly. Let me know if you have any questions.

Rick

A bit off topic, sorry, but I was wondering what software/hardware you use? I'm thinking about getting back into home recording after a 6 year absence. My brother had a fab little setup: a PC-based system with Audigy 192/24 soundcard running Cakewalk Guitar Tracks. Man I loved that software, intuitively simple to use and a GUI that actually looked like a mixing deck. My computer is a G5 1.6GHz PowerMac running OS 10.3.9, so Cakewalk is ruled out unfortunately. My budget is tight, and I'd rather not need to invest in any additional hardware if I can help it. PS - I do have a laptop PC running Windows XP so I suppose I could put Cakewalk on that. Not sure if the OEM soundcard in my laptop would be up to much though. From what I gather the soundcard supplied as standard in Macs are not too bad, 48kHz/24bit is adequate for personal / non-serious use I guess...

Back to the topic, I'm no expert on audio, but as the others have rightly said, room acoustics have a massive impact, as does speaker placement (this doesn't just affect tonal balance but also imaging, e.g. place them too far apart and you'll be fooled into panning sounds too centrally, while place them too close together and you'll be fooled into panning sounds too directionally), and obviously the frequency response of the speakers themselves. Best starting place, like others have said, is to get really accustomed to the monitors you are using by playing a familiar repetoire of reference songs that you know sound good on a variety of systems.

CB

you've opened a real can of worms here.
First thing you need to do is make sure you are situated correctly in front of your speakers. Ideally there is space between the back of your speakers and the wall. I seem to remember that speakers sit about 50-50 between your ears and the wall.
Next find your sweet spot. Your head should be at the tip of an isosoles triangle at the same height as the speakers. That's the only place you will great true stereo imaging.

If the room you are in has a lot of reflective surfaces (windows, hardwood floors, wood/drywall etc) if you are not in exactly the correct spot you will get fooled by the acoustics in your room. There are a lot of companies that sell foam to help deaden the reflections. This is why "near-field" monitoring is the best way to go if you don't have a great room to work in.

Next thing to consider is bass traps. If you have a long rectangular room like I do you will find that the bass is louder towards the back of the room.

mixing itself is a much longer issue than can be expressed in one blog. However, if you take a record that sounds great wherever you play it, that you like, play that back through your recording setup and use that to compare your mixes.

It's really trial and error for the most part.

Remember, the records you buy have all been mastered so that it pops on the radio.
Unless you have a plugin mastering tool you won't be able to get your mixes to sound like a record.

And yes, it is true. Q and Bruce Swedien used Auratones and then NS10's to check their mixes with.

Good luck.

use your hifi to mix through. A lot of mixers use nearfields that are NOT flat DC to light for just that reason. Also mix at the level you intend the music to be played at. Due to the Fletcher -Munson curve, it takes a lot more bass and top end to make a quiet playback punchy, but if you eq for that and play back loud, it will boom and the highs will rip your head off. Ever notice how some rocker's albums sound like all midrange, that's 'cause they mix realy loud... Go back & forth between a few sets of speakers and use different playback levels to get the balance you want. As a mixer you have a bunch of tools to use to make your mix sound good..level,panning,EQ,reverb/delay, gain reduction devices(comps/limiters/gates & keying devices), each can bring something to the mix. Some guys overdo that stuff and it can have the same effect as too much salt or hot sauce in a recipe. Listed below is a complete discography of ALL of MY triple platinum hits: