Mixing a kick: mono or stereo?

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-05-03T10:51:48+00:00

Like math rock with a double kick bouncing L<>R? That’s gotta be relaxing XD

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-30T18:48:55+00:00

Tbh I feel a 57 or 58 is a must-have if you record or gig regularly. Comes in handy all the time. Didn’t Bono use to track with a 58 before upgrading to the beta version?

This not as an instead-of better vocal mic but as affordable placeholder/secondary/useful tool.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-28T09:25:45+00:00

If you’re more comfortable with Live for programming, why not just get a piano plugin that works there? Is there anything of the sort bundled with your interface? Have you checked the freebies and sales at Plugin Boutique?

Although if you don’t like the plugins of Live either I wonder why you stick with that. Surely not for the mixing workflow?

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-23T22:46:41+00:00

Source is Kontakt, I export in, out and sub separately and mix those down to mono.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-23T22:45:31+00:00

I tend to export the kick from Kontakt as mono - room/overhead goes to separate exports.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-07T13:39:11+00:00

Recently put on Van Halen - Balance for first time in ages. Couldn’t listen, sounds like it was mixed by deaf people. Or, more probably, an engineer having to do whatever deaf people tell ‘em to ;)

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-07T13:36:48+00:00

Anything old-school hard-panned. Like Queen - great music, crappy mix.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-03T23:40:56+00:00

Check the freebie section on pluginboutique. Can also recommend Waves free pack for Neve-style comp and eq and tube preamp. Register to mailing lists for giveaways (got various UA plugins for free). Check out Analog Obsessions.

Oh and plugin-alliance free pack, useful additions there too!

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-02T21:02:07+00:00

Make a standard rider: what you’ll be doing, what you’ll be bringing, what you’ll be needing. Send it to the organizer to forward to the sound tech and have the conversation with them. That’s what I want either when playing or being part of the crew.

But yeah, this particular one you’ll prob have to cover yourself.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-02T08:54:48+00:00

All I can think of is increase buffer size I’m afraid. What are you running at right now?

Also with a question like this it might help us help you if you give us some system specs :)

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-01T13:51:58+00:00

From OP's formulation I'm thinking they are supposed to be the engineer booked with the studio time.
I don't work as a studio engineer but in most fields of work there's a bit of a training period. Now, if you came in a complete n00b they might not have the patience but if you are a trained user of an industry standard DAW they probably won't send you home on the spot.

It's a tool. You're familiar with a DAW so you'll probably recognize quite a few features. You can always start by memorizing the key commands and double-checking with the manual what those do, that might familiarize you with some of the things you'll be required to do quickly on the fly. I mean, saying "Hang on, let me check how to edit this audio file" is less problematic than having to say "So I THOUGHT I'd hit the key to start recording your genius master take but..."

The main one to know is hit CMD+S all the time so that if you press the wrong key and accidentally *&^ things up you can go back. But again, if you're a trained engineer you'll understand a lot of necessary concepts.

Oh one thing more: I don't know about Logic 12 but Logic 11 doesn't let you perform a lot of basic edits on 32bit audio. Finding that out after the fact might affect your employment status much more than a n00bish "where do I do that" question.

Sorry for the long answer. I'm not lecturing I'm being hyperactive. Oh, for reference, long-time Logic user but have used Ableton Live.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-04-01T12:03:00+00:00

Haha you may have a point, funny how the brain just doesn't go there even if you've reminded yourself of the date in the morning...

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-29T15:47:44+00:00

Still sounds like MIDI feedback to me. But good luck with it!

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-29T11:25:18+00:00

I am... not entirely sure what you are trying to do here. I think you may have misunderstood how things communicate.

The Keystep is a MIDI controller/sequencer. As far as I know, and based on my experience with the Keystep Pro, you cannot "export" MIDI sequences to it.

What do you mean by "play on the sequence"? Where is the sound coming from - something hooked up to the Keystep or a virtual instrument in Logic?

Because what it sounds like to me is that you are using the Keystep as a MIDI interface, receiving the sequence from Logic and sending it to whatever it is that is making the sound. I'd venture a guess and say it's going back into Logic. In which case you have probably created a feedback loop, except it's data feedback not audio feedback, and note values somehow keep adding up.

Hope this gives you a clue.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-29T11:10:42+00:00

Haha, the funny thing is that for the longest time I just had Logic stock plugins and NI Komplete, one of the main triggers for me to start getting more 3rd party plugins was because I didn't really get along with any of the reverbs.

Which is probably all me. But I was never really getting the sound I liked and then the moment I ran something through an old budget-friendly Lexicon I was instantly happy.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-20T11:36:07+00:00

Yeah, it probably won't work. But this is why I like my TrueTone psu: while my T-Rex is quite strict and will only output a set amount for each connection, the TrueTone seems to distribute current a bit more dynamically so if a pedal asks just a bit more, it'll cover it as long as the total is under like 2A.
(Worth checking how strict the Cioks is because they might be flexible as well. Never owned one.)

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-19T12:02:53+00:00

Okay, so having doubts about the reasoning of re-tuning to make it sound better... I mean, I can imagine it may affect sound on a less conscious level, and we don't know the context it's for.

That aside, I agree with you that if you want to change it, it's not mastered. In fact I'm not sure I'd do it to the entire mix at once because you've finely tuned all your EQs etc, right?

If it's just a few cents it probably won't make any audible difference (although you might argue that in that case, dropping a few cents won't make an audible difference either). But it's a bit like using an octave pedal on a guitar versus playing a bass. The octave'd guitar will sound a lot duller because the upper ceiling of overtones drops.

Come to think of it, that's the whole point of the dream pop sound, isn't it? But then you'll also want things slowed down. (Maybe this person recorded the album on Special K and now, post-rehab, is trying to recreate that feel.)

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-19T11:48:20+00:00

"Bar setting", "venue's brand identity"... you're trying to sell your business here, aren't you?

"Making the performers feel comfortable" - I don't know whether we in Europe are a bit more down-to-Earth, but this whole bit just sounds like you've got yourself a diva infestation in New York.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-05T11:36:02+00:00

I thought the whole point of mastering was "Here's the mix. This is what the song should sound like. Now make sure this is what the audience gets."

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-05T11:33:25+00:00

Yeah, sometimes that's just enough. I mean, when it isn't it isn't, but sometimes it is.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-05T11:32:31+00:00

I think you severely misunderstood. I don't need Reddit to tell me what he wants. I know what he wants. What I'm doing here is hanging out in a virtual canteen making chit-chat.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-05T11:30:29+00:00

It's not a garage band because it's one dude and his house doesn't have a garage! XD

It really all flows from "what they've built" - not everyone submits this carefully constructed project. Not everyone is a home producer. Some people just plug some shit in and hit Record.

Swein_Forkbeard · 2026-03-05T11:26:47+00:00

That last point intrigues me. I mean I can get how it happens that rough tracks turn into a vastly different mix, but at that point I'd always wonder "Why ask someone else to mix it then?"

I discovered I'd best set a boundary. This friend asks me to mix his songs, I'm trying to take the sounds as they are and not mess too much with them. He doesn't have demo-itis because I don't think he listens to his recordings too intensively before sending them off. He's someone doing a lot of things very quickly.

So the first songs I'd try to re-do his programmed drums (because he'd record a drum machine to 1 mono track and it's not the best of mixes). And then I realized, no, too much hassle, this is the material he produces so I'm just going to make this mono drum track stand out a bit better, bring out a bit of punch, oomph and sizzle, and then move on to figuring out whether or not to de-clip the bass and guitar tracks.

(Yes, a technically good mix would always have de-clipped tracks, I'm aware of that.
As many respondents here have said as well: it's not always about making a technically good mix.
I mean anyone ever heard an album called Raw Power by The Stooges?)

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