The Importance Of Space In A Mix: Part #1
We spend a great deal of time considering individual sounds in a space. We prescribe attributes to the instruments and the players in order to organize our thoughts about the sounds and how they blend.
We may often say a singer is “mid-rangy,” a snare is “ringy,” or perhaps the acoustic guitar is “warm.” We do the same for microphones, pre-amps, compressors, and what have you.
It’s surprising how little time is spent considering the sound of rooms, reverbs, delays, and whatever other spaces are coexisting within our mix. Considering that sound is defined by air vibrations within a space one would think the room would be held in equal importance to that which is resonating in it.
But, when entering a new space, how often do we consider it’s sonic characteristics. And more frequently, when building a mix, how often do we think of space(s) as its own sonic element?
Perhaps more often than we realize. After all, why do we spend so much time rolling through reverb presets trying to find the perfect one – when we seldom know what the right one will be? And why does a plate sound good one time, but a hall sounds better next?
Something instinctive is motivating these decisions. Like all sound sources, we are on some fundamental level listening for – and striving for – tone, rhythm, and coherence.
Reverb
The purpose of having customizable reverb is to find that which perfectly compliments the sound source – or the surrounding sound sources. We can pick and choose a reverb with a certain sound that highlights the tones or rhythms in our mix. And frequently, we’ll send multiple sound sources to the same reverb for the sake of coherence.
The complication comes in when there are multiple spaces present in the mix. After all, how can one element exist in two spaces at once? Or three? Or, why is it that the choir sounds like it’s in a church while the lead vocalist sounds like she/he is in a concert hall?
Sonic Cues For The Listener
Of course, the end listener is not listening on such a discerning level. The end listener is only picking up on subtle sonic cues that either indicate the sound is coherent or disjointed. So our task is to lead the listener’s ear where we want it to go. Do we want a unified sense of space, or something surreal?
That’s our job as the artist, producer, or engineer; to orchestrate all the sounds and consider what feelings and emotions they evoke.
They key word here being “orchestrate.” A random piling of sounds will certainly sound “unmixed” or perhaps more importantly, “ineffective.” Reverb and space are no exception.
Next, let’s talk about tonal cues and how to mix the ambience…
To read the rest of this article written by Matthew Weiss, click here to zip over to The Pro Audio Files site.
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