Mix Smart: Pro Audio Tips For Your Multitrack Mix

by Alex Case

After you've recorded the perfect song, you're only halfway there! Mixing is where the magic really happens and getting the perfect mix is a challenge. One of the most elusive arts of the recording practice, mixing can take a lifetime to master - this handbook jump-starts your skills and fast-forwards your progress! Breaking the mix down by different effects - EQ, distortion, compression, expansion, pitch shift, delay, reverb, and more - and applying them to some of the most important instruments in pop music, Mix Smart will arm you with the skills and techniques you need to tap into your musicality and express it through multitrack mixing, putting true professional quality mixing within your reach. *Future proof, ear-opening strategies will empower your inner-musician, giving you the knowledge you need to develop your mixing skills - from basic to advanced
*Breaking the mix down by different effects, with detailed strategies for the most important pop instruments showing you how to create the perfect combination
*Bonus Website, www.recordingology.com, packed with samples and example tracks, so you can practice as you learn
* Mix Smart Quick Start summaries at the end of each chapter get you to work faster
*Demystifies the technical, making the tools of the mix rig accessible - analog and digital, outboard and in the box, stereo and surround
*For everyone who mixes - studio, live, music, film, games, and broadcast The recording studio is your musical instrument, and it's time you really learned how to play. Alex Case shows you not just how to mix well, but how to Mix Smart !

Genres: Music

324 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2011

Reviews

[David Rubenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not an easy one to get through--it is extremely technical. Sometimes, while reading it, I felt that it misses the forest from the trees. Each component of a mixing engineer's arsenal of tools is described in great detail; EQ, compressors, expanders, reverb, distortion, pitch correction, and others. There are plenty of flow diagrams and even mathematical formulas scattered through the book.

I learned a lot about various mixing and tips to help produce a good-sounding finished product. (For those who don't know, I am an avid composer and music producer.) The single-most important piece of advice is repeated over and over again throughout the book: The various effects and decisions are strongly intertwined, so mixing is an iterative process.

The last chapter, titled "Future-Proof Mix Skills" is a more general description of the mixing process, as a whole. It could have been placed as the very first chapters, as it stresses the need to find a general strategy, not a set of recipes. If I had read this chapter first, my impression of the book would have been totally different. The book is very much focused on the mixing of live performances, and only occasionally touches on the mixing of MIDI-produced music. This was rather disappointing to me, as I use primarily MIDI. The last third of the book consists of appendices, some of which are very technical.

The book could have benefitted from more editing. Typos are plentiful throughout. Also, on page 189, two consecutive paragraphs are completely repeated!

In summary, I think that my time would have been better spent by an online course, one that uses audio examples with lots of A/B comparisons. Mixing is an art, and is a skill that is acquired through lots of careful listening. Unfortunately, a book does not provide this.

[Jason Fella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a musician for about 18 years, and have been getting more into the production and recording side of things the last six or seven years. I have several other music production/mixing books, and I can say that this blows them out of the water. This is very methodical and in-depth, while at the same time reminding the reader that there is no set, uniform procedure with mixing, and that there is no "right" or "wrong." It all depends on the mix in front of you at that time. He gives you a lot of guidelines and possible ways to proceed, but in the end it's up to you how you want to do it.

For me the highlights of the book, absolutely, are the chapters on compression and EQ. This isn't surprising, considering those are the two most critical and often misunderstood areas of music mixing. He really goes into detail on things and I can't imagine anyone not learning something in those sections.

I guess if I was hard-pressed to find a "negative" about this book, it would be that there is no audio material to complement the text. Music production is a listening experience, so to fully understand it you have to hear it, not just read about it. Granted, this book is incredibly good even without it, but I think that would've pushed it over the top into "perfect" if they'd added that.

If you're new to music production/mixing or if you know some but want to get more knowledgable on the subject, this book is sure to get you there. I'll actually be selling my other books because I simply don't need them anymore.
Comment

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic book. Informative, easy to understand, and packed with information.