Low is where it’s at (or it’s at least worth a frequent visit) …

[Sundown]

Hey all,

 

We’ve all probably heard of famous engineers who sat in front of Auratones at very, very low listening levels to mix a record.

 

I can’t vouch personally for the Auratones, but I can say that listening to music at very low levels provides a big picture to details and parts that might get missed otherwise. It takes some time for your ears to adjust (usually 15 to 20 minutes in my experience), but after that, you’ll generally hear some details you haven’t heard before.

 

Full transparency, you will lose the bottom end and reverb tails will be harder to hear, but you will hear a big picture of a mix that is hard to hear at “normal” levels.

 

Usually I’m listening to headphones for this experience, but in a very quiet room you could use studio monitors as well.

 

Give it a shot - 

 

Todd

 

 

[KuruPrionz]

I've been tracking and recording at low levels for a few years. Humans have a "loudness threshold" that sort of "compresses" the mix. Turning it down makes the volume differences stand out clearly. 

 

I like speakers better, headphones are a great way to check things out too. I have 3 different pairs of cans, none of them were real expensive but all of them are decent. 

 

Current favorite speakers are a pair of Yamaha MSP5, an older set of 5" 2 way. I have a pair of Mackie HR824 but they need a bigger room to really sound good. 

I like to hear the mix on the speakers in my Mac mini as well, that does provide useful information since other people will be listening on all sorts of systems including cell phones without headphones or ear buds. 

 

I've disliked loud for a long time, went to too many loud concerts. Now I won't go if it's going to be a loud show, I even left a party last week when the band started. Middle of the second song I was starting my car up and driving away. They were too loud, I had earplugs in and still too loud. It all sort of "mushes together", playing at lower levels has more detail. 

[Old No7]

Interesting post -- thanks, I'll have to try it!

 

Oh, I meant... "I'll have to try it!"  Ssshh...

 

Old No7

[Anderton]

Low pushes midrange up due to the Fletcher-Munson curve. That's where most of the action is for vocals, guitars, pianos, etc. etc. So, you can really hear how they balance without the distraction of high and low frequencies. I do a lot of final tuning on mixes at very low levels.

 

Listening at low levels can also tell whether there's enough highs and saturation on bass. If you can hear the bass at low levels, that means either there's too much bass, or you did the processing necessary to make sure it could be heard.

 

I think you might really benefit from this technique as well. It sounds crazy, but anyone who's ever actually used it thinks it's very helpful.

[KuruPrionz]

2 hours ago, Anderton said:

Listening at low levels can also tell whether there's enough highs and saturation on bass. If you can hear the bass at low levels, that means either there's too much bass, or you did the processing necessary to make sure it could be heard.

I've mentioned this recently but it's worth repeating in the context of your post above. 

I recently learned a way of mixing the bass that seems to "cover the bases (ouch!). 

First, I record the bass using a Tech 21 Q-strip and using the first quasi-parametric Mid eq to scoop out some 180hz centered low mids. This seems to clean things up considerably regarding the rest of the mix. A full bass tone that doesn't cause clutter.

Second, I drop a duplicate of that bass ftrack just below it (Waveform will do this on command), put a high pass filter on that at around 200hz and drop a distorted guitar amp plugin on it - lately I've been using Plugin Alliance Chandler or Fuchs amps. I want some grit but not over the top singing lead guitar stuff. 

Finally, I turn that second track way down. The bass still has a full, clean low end and clear highs on good speakers or headphones, and I have an independent track I can use to make it pop even when played through a cell phone speaker or the speakers in my Mac mini. Overall, the bass sounds clean, full and audible. It doesn't sound distorted, I don't use that much volume. 

 

So that's my "processing necessary to make sure it could be heard." If it doesn't work for you, just mute the track or delete it and you still have a bass track. I recommend trying it, no harm done if nobody likes it. 😇

[Sundown]

9 hours ago, Anderton said:

 

I think you might really benefit from this technique as well. It sounds crazy, but anyone who's ever actually used it thinks it's very helpful.

 

Yep, that’s a gem Craig … I think I first learned that from your Cubase SX book in the early 2000’s.

 

Todd

[Notes_Norton]

I mix my backing tracks at low volume.

 

More often than not, if they sound good at low volume, they will sound better at high volume. I don't know the science behind it, but a pal I respected recommended that decades ago.

 

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

[Anderton]

1 hour ago, Notes_Norton said:

More often than not, if they sound good at low volume, they will sound better at high volume. I don't know the science behind it, but a pal I respected recommended that decades ago.

 

At higher volume, your ears hear the high and low frequencies more prominently. So, you're getting the famous "smiley curve" at higher levels.

[timwat]

3 minutes ago, Anderton said:

 

At higher volume, your ears hear the high and low frequencies more prominently. So, you're getting the famous "smiley curve" at higher levels.

 

I never knew that. I've learned something today. Thank you.

[Sundown]

Attack transients and percussive sounds stand out a lot more, and panning becomes much more noticeable as well.