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A high pass filter is a type of equalizer that eliminates frequencies below a specified cutoff point. Since it is low frequencies that are removed, only high frequencies may pass (thus the name). You might also hear high pass filters (HPF) referred to as low cut filters which is a bit ambiguous. High pass filters have a few very important roles to play in the mixing process. Your home studio recordings can benefit greatly from wise use of the powerful eq techniques outlined below. Teach me about HPF »

We’ve all heard stories of the mystically powerful pro audio engineers who can listen to a mix and happily announce, “the guitars have too much 1k on them.” Or perhaps a nonchalant declaration, “the snare would really come alive with a little boost in the 3k range.” This is great if you have the golden ear or the years of experience to identify specific frequencies by sound. What about the rest of us? If you spend your days at the office and are lucky to get a few hours a week in your home studio then you might never log the hours necessary to develop this skill. Fear not, there is a solution. Sweeping an eq is the process of manipulating a frequency band as a tool to help you identify a sweet spot or problem frequency. All you need is a parametric eq and about thirty seconds of time. Show me how to sweep an eq »

Ever wanted to give a lush stereo effect to a mono track? You can resort to using a stereo imaging plugin but the effect can leave a lot to be desired. There is actually a very simple way to turn a mono track into a rich stereo sound in your home studio. You can create the effect with no plugin at all or use a simple delay. This article is going to cover several ways to achieve the sound. Pick the method that is easiest for you! Show me how to do it »

How do you think about a mix? In conversations with other musicians who don’t do much mixing I often find they think about mixes in a very linear fashion. Mixes are anything but linear in nature. This article presents a non-linear way to visualize a mix. The concept can be hard to grasp on first read but tuck it into the back of your mind as you do your mixes. Once you get a chance to match your experience with this concept you will find your mixes start to open up and become a bit more three dimensional. Please, oh please, tell me more »

The saxophone is a classic and great sounding instrument that can heat up any rock or jazz arrangement. However, sending your sax through a microphone and leaving the track untouched in a mix can really kill the mood and effectiveness. Throw on a little slapback delay and a bit of eq and that sax will jump right out of your speakers and into your room. Home studio engineers need not fear. The tools for sending your sax over the top are simple and included in nearly every DAW. Tell me more »

A great snare drum sound can really drive a mix. If you start to listen critically to a lot of dance, rock, metal, modern country, pop, funk, and other kinds of popular music you will notice the next loudest thing to the vocals is typically the snare drum. No matter how much is going on in a great mix you will always be able to identify every snare drum hit cutting through the sonic landscape. This article gives you pointers on which frequencies to boost to make that snare drum shine and suggests some common compressor settings to bring your drum to life. There is also some advice for using a dual mic arrangement on the snare drum. Show me the settings »

Mixing Audio: Concepts, Practices and Tools price check

UPDATE: This book is now available. A new book on mixing techniques is coming out in January 2008. The press release on the book makes it look like a potentially valuable resource. The book promises to cover techniques from basic to advanced and should appeal to home recording enthusiasts as well as studio professionals. The book comes with a DVD of audio examples including four full mixes to play with. The mixes are rock, hip hop, techno, and drum and bass. These mixes are used in examples and tutorials throughout the book.

Quick review:

This book covers a lot of higher level concepts without as much rubber meets the road type advice. A large portion of the book is devoted to talking about tools (as the title implies) with an entire chapter devoted to describing the function of controls found on a typical mixer. This book is absolutely recommended to beginners, but has pockets of information that can be enjoyed by more experienced mixers looking to hone their chops a bit. One of the greatest aspects of the included DVD is the library of sound clips demonstrating critical listening.

More books about mixing

There is no reason to settle for lackluster kick drum sounds on your home recording. This article explores some great mix recipes for equalizing and compressing your kick drum tracks. While every kick drum has an individual sound there are some general guidelines you can follow to get a great start in shaping your drum’s sound. Start by trying a few of these eq and compressor settings and tweak them in to suit your specific starting drum sound and desired results. All you need in your home studio is a four band eq to start shaping the kick drum sound of your dreams! Take me to the settings »

I’ve been wanting to write this one up for a while. Parallel compression is one of my favorite tricks for mixing drums. It sounds great and can really add some fat and analog oomph
to your drum tracks. Best of all, even though I use the Waves plugins, the lo-fi requirements of parallel compression (sometimes called New York compression) mean you can use your DAW’s built in compressor or one of the many free compressor plugins available around the net. I hope you enjoy my new article on Phat Drums: New York Style Parallel Compression

Even more great stuff is coming soon from Line 6. I’ve using the TonePort UX2 for a few years now. It is a great unit for quickly capturing quality tracks without fussing with a bunch of setup. Using a mixer with a conventional soundcard is a necessity to minimize setup time for recording but you still have to get everything connected to that mixer and routed properly when you are ready to lay down tracks. The TonePort series give you minimum need for setup and routing. Just plug in to the unit, select your sound source, and hit record. The UX8 is looking even cooler. The unit has eight hardware mic preamps with hardware gain controls right on the front panel and some nice routing and monitoring options. The thing that really impresses me with this unit is the inclusion of the Line 6 GearBox plugin for free! Yes, for free with the purchase of the UX8. I have long thought the GearBox plugin should be free with all Line 6 hardware. It just makes sense. Home recording and pro studio enthusiasts owe it to themselves to check out the TonePort UX8.

Line 6 TonePort UX8 price check