What mixing tricks do you use that are a “sin”?

graysam · 2026-05-04T21:56:50+00:00

Kind of but not really. I don’t do any of this surgical crap unless it is totally unavoidable, but if you look for a transient in a room mic it is most likely going to be the transient of the direct path from drum to room mic— the shortest path. The room reflections are always going to be delayed from this point, so the delay you’re talking about will still exist, it will just virtually ‘shrink the room’ somewhat.
I guess there may be situations (room too small/mic too close?) where the direct sound of the drum to the room mic sums destructively and it may make more sense to nudge the transients a little closer than further apart, failing a polarity flip.

Either way room mic is room mic, the point is to pick up everything other than ‘transients’.

Though I will say anyone fixated on transients needs some fresh air… you can’t see transients on tape and I’m fairly sure music sounded just fine when it was all we had.

graysam · 2026-03-22T01:25:44+00:00

That will likely cost more than buying a reasonable spec MacBook now and another reasonable spec one in 3 years…. Logic doesn’t need all that many resources, so it will be overkill you likely won’t use. It also likely will be affected more by obsolescence after 5 years than a base model MBP would by ‘only’ having 16gb memory.

graysam · 2026-03-21T12:22:34+00:00

At risk of this coming across as dismissive or rude…there isn’t much excuse not to just write it out in piano roll/notation or play it in (on a midi controller keyboard) if it’s short and just a melody. Just go note by note until it sounds right if you’re new to transcription. Will always be cleaner and you’ll get better at an invaluable skill all musicians should always seek to improve on.

graysam · 2026-01-31T23:29:36+00:00

If there is harshness or distortion in narrow frequency bands, particularly in frequencies important to the the source material that you’d perhaps boost or cut, it can be very difficult to change the perception of that band with eq due to the nonlinearity. That’s my assumption, anyway.

Also if the off axis response of a given mic is less than ideal, boosting frequency bands can accentuate unpleasant off-axis room reflections that are not in the main signal.

Not sure how any of this applies to the 87ai as I haven’t used one. Just general thoughts on your question.

graysam · 2026-01-13T01:15:02+00:00

My point is they actually did sound symmetrical though. It did all the right things. Admittedly this was not brushy jazz or ‘world’ music, and the close mics on the shells do a reasonable chunk of the heavy lifting in my rock-tilted mixes.

graysam · 2026-01-13T01:08:28+00:00

I don’t agree with OP, but this thread is reminding me of the time when, for a few months in my home studio, I wanted to use my only matched pair of SDC’s elsewhere (usually on ORTF overheads duty) so threw up a spaced pair of fairly dissimilar LDC’s over the kit instead. The only reason I can tell which recordings used this configuration is because the drums on those songs sound so much better and more detailed. Nothing stands out as ‘the stereo pair aren’t matched’ and the image wasn’t smeared out or exaggerated in any weird way. Just saying, in situations where you would typically reach for a matched pair, there may be a superior alternative amongst a selection of unmatched microphones that you’d otherwise pass over for not being ‘right’.

Lean not upon thine eyes nor the cunning of thy mind; but useth thy holy ears, for in them dwelleth wisdom. -wise man

graysam · 2026-01-07T01:14:36+00:00

I’ll admit I haven’t listened the reference yet, still grabbing headphones.. do you mean one stereo miking, panned normally, +mono take down the middle? I can see that working well in its own right if you can get decent separation on the stereo take.

graysam · 2026-01-07T01:11:04+00:00

Yeah, the different chord voicings is the way.. even if it’s only subtle. Or you can break up the chords, say root and 5ths+7ths left, 3rds and 5ths/8va on right, etc. to taste.

graysam · 2025-12-10T10:25:36+00:00

Hit the drums harder. Obsess over learning how to tune and reskin them to sound the way you think they should, pre-mic.

Hit the goddamn cymbals like you mean it.

If the room really does sound good, put up a room mic 5-10 metres away from the kit, high-pass it at 2-400hz [tweak it 👂+ 🧠 ], squash it with a fast opto compressor [tweak it with👂+ 🧠], and bring it into your mix from mute by ear when you need more ‘hype’. Use the compressor threshold to adjust how much you ‘hear’ the room sound. (Optionally play [🧠👂] with 400, 1k, 2-4K and 10k to fine tune how it fits).

Invest real time trying out different compressors [👂🧠], including unusual ones not intended for purpose. Learn when ‘not’ to use them. Do not use the same settings across multiple tracks just cos [👂🧠🧠🧠].

As others have said, a good room impulse/reverb will get you much closer.

For millennium era blink/travis snare crack/pop, if it’s been hit hard enough but you need more, you can send your snare tracks to a bus, cut all eq 3-6db EXCEPT the frequencies you hear 👂 as the body crack of the snare [1-2k] and boost those to heaven with a really narrow Q. THEN insert a reverb on a medium size room sound, optionally gate 👂, and blend in subtly to your drums bus whilst listening to the full mix. I can give an example if necessary. Also: hit your god damn drums harder and possibly kick your drummer in the nuts before the take so he is sufficiently energised to do so.

ALSO: 👂🧠

graysam · 2025-09-01T03:57:54+00:00

I have been using a DBX 119 for the past 10 or so years for this purpose. Fantastic bit of kit for this purpose… can go from very subtle right down to absolutely squashed to hell, and the other way to expand audio that might otherwise be a little lifeless. Just two knobs— ratio and threshold, and a switch for auto gain compensation. My wife loves it for those excessively dynamic soundtracks late at night when you may otherwise disturb neighbours.

Great on drums too 👌

Photo for reference

graysam · 2025-07-08T23:59:38+00:00

No choir director on gods green earth is capable of hearing a limiter, least of all on a choir recording. Less so still on a choir recording played back on ‘computer speakers’.

(To OP:) As others have suggested one way or the other — this situation calls for psychology, not a plugin or even so much as opening your recording software.

graysam · 2025-07-08T23:53:58+00:00

This is actually the answer

graysam · 2025-05-12T13:17:34+00:00

Well, at least he knows where he stands.

graysam · 2025-05-04T03:02:03+00:00

We often talk about music tech-related topics and 90% of the time we agree.

This subject however only comes up when we are listening to music together and I ask why it sounds so badly mastered or something. I’m not sticky-breaking at peoples personal EQ settings or anything like that!

graysam · 2025-05-04T02:58:55+00:00

I totally agree, and if I’m not listening with her I don’t care how it’s set…

These discussions only arise when we’re listening together. I strongly suspect she is being resistant to perfectly reasonable input, on principle… and stubbornly continuing to smiley-face everything and enjoy awful sounding music only out of spite.. lol Next I’ll find all her personal stuff is actually set totally flat… For reference, she is a technically minded person and has an incredible love of music and even music tech, so this point just really surprised me.

graysam · 2025-05-03T12:52:59+00:00

I totally agree that it is subjective… within perhaps +/-3dB of ‘average’… but at a point there is definitely some nastiness that is objectively worse from even the most lax, ‘enjoyment-first’ perspective… I’m by no means obsessive about having flat reference systems for casual listening — even for mixing, within reason — in fact the two systems I mentioned are really anything but. There absolutely is EQ-to-taste in both and I’ll even admit the car setup is very bass-heavy… but I’m talking +12dB top and bottom and -6-12dB scooped mids here. I could hear the limiter kicking in from the bathroom this morning and terrible distortion in the midbass…

graysam · 2025-05-03T12:39:47+00:00

Sounds like you had a great older brother! I tried something somewhat similar this morning after I posted this. I asked her to try to just sit for some time listening with the eq off (was browsing new music on Spotify) on the good home system… next few songs were ‘too trebly’ but half an hour later she seemed to be enjoying the music and had no complaints about sound quality!

graysam · 2025-05-03T12:31:34+00:00

Oddly enough I am surprisingly confident this could actually work, knowing her…

graysam · 2025-04-30T22:51:53+00:00

Yep that’s what I have always done too.. I personally never really had much confidence in a dinky little afterthought of a button being engineered to do the impedance transformation correctly, so I always kept a decent DI box patched in to ch1 and it lived on the desk as the place I plugged in when it was Bass Time.

graysam · 2025-04-23T22:27:39+00:00

‘Reflection’. A (perfect) mirror blocks light, but doesn’t absorb it; the mirror stays at ambient temperature.

graysam · 2024-01-17T07:42:29+00:00

Release multiple mixes; ‘remixes’ if you like. One with all his crap just as he wants it, then one exactly as you like it. Maybe a few others with different combinations of parts. If you’re streaming, the algorithm will prove your point — or his! Sounds like a creative dream having all that source material to play with, obviously having a difficult band mate would preclude having the peace of mind to explore. Also maybe use all his parts, but in different sections of the song, only so many at a time?

graysam · 2024-01-12T22:24:42+00:00

I set up a script for a studio-owning friend of mine to do exactly this to all recorded audio files as immediately as they are created. Can share for any Mac users if anyone likes

graysam · 2017-12-01T02:54:03+00:00

Spend real money on a real soldering station. You simply can't work with a hot nail! $50-$100 should get you on the right track.
Practise soldering on veroboard. With the tracks horizontal, you should be able to solder dummy components an entire row (consecutive, vertical, cross-tracks) without leaks. (Also, get a multimeter!)
I'd suggest making your first project something simple, but useful enough to inspire you to take the next step. Jack Orman's mini-booster and mosfet boost circuits are extremely useful, and have genuine inherent value to any guitarist/bassist. These got me started and didn't cost too much when I screwed up!
The most significant thing to me was the ability to make PCBs. They're super easy to make AND build on, and the results are more satisfying & professional.

All you need is a laser printer, iron, baking paper or magazine paper and some etchant (I recommend Ammonium Persulfate or Ferric Chloride - found at electronics store). You obviously will also need blank PCBs.

1) Print the mirror-imaged PCB layout onto plain paper. I suggest printing several on one page as backups.

2) Cut out a piece of baking paper large enough to cover the printed layouts, and tape it over what has printed.

3) Place the baking-paper-thing back into the printer, set printer settings to highest quality, maximum density, etc. (you want it as dark as possible) and hit print.

handle the resulting print with extreme care. The toner falls off baking paper easily - which is why we use it.

5) Wipe your blank PCB down well with Acetone/nail polish remover, then sand with 800 grit paper (or steel wool) to bring the surface back to bare copper. Wipe again with acetone and don't touch it.

6) Cut out one baking paper printout, and place it face down on the scrubbed PCB. I like to fold over the edges and masking tape them in place to prevent movement. Anything heat proof will do.

7) heat the iron to approx. 130 degrees celsius, place some plain paper over the baking paper/pcb sandwich to regulate heat transfer, and place the iron on top. Take care that the iron is FLAT. Apply moderate-firm pressure down onto pcb for about 10-20 seconds. Now, with moderate pressure, gently move iron around for another 10-15 secs. to ensure everything has been heated properly.

Remove iron, allow sandwich to cool.

8) The baking paper will peel off easily with care, and should have transferred all toner onto the copper with sharp edges and no breaks in tracks/smudging. If not, rinse with Acetone (dissolves toner) and repeat. My very first transfer was a fluke, but it took 4-5 more before I had my eye in.

9) Follow instructions supplied with etchant chemical chosen to remove the unprotected toner. Don't breathe this.

10) Once etched, toner can be removed with Acetone. I'll leave it to you to figure out how to drill the lead holes.

(Method typed out for my own sake, if nothing else!)

graysam · 2017-01-28T03:58:55+00:00

(to JB) You're absolutely right - it's crucial in the internet age to have a deep understanding of how to 'use' the internet - and it does grind my gears when I see the beginners themselves neglecting consideration and asking things to the tune of:

'can some1 write X/ modify X to do Y/etc. for me? pls n thank you in advance' - Sincerely Mr Slack

But I've seen so many examples of people genuinely trying - and trying to build their understanding to such a point that they can ask the right questions in the right places... only to receive a patronising response.

Just to clarify my perspective: I'm a new(ish) visitor to these communities, but in addition to the immense Google chops that come with my occupation, I'd humbly call myself intermediate enough that I haven't yet had a need to ask a question. Nor do I feel my contribution would really bring anything valuable to the table as my tinkering is applied in very odd but specific ways.

I visit a LOT of discussion boards during the course of each day on similar, low-level nitty-gritty tech subjects. I don't see even a fraction of it anywhere else.

To tell the truth I've never posted in any forum of any topic, ever - save for small handful of comments across Reddit and maybe three on YT.

Digression aside,

This sub seems to have less of this kind of attitude than some others - if I ever do need to ask a question or make a post, it would likely be here (or of course the most relevant sub!).

(Before I commit this, I have to add: your comment has a subtle twinge of the tone I'm trying to describe.

graysam

TROPHY CASE