Mixing and Mastering Basics Flashcards
Which of the following EQ processing techniques did we talk about in class (or the video)?
Spectral Matching EQ - using a reference track and trying to remake the shape of it’s frequency content
Does a mastering session will give you direct access to every track in the session.
No - a mastering session is usually just a single audio file (can be stereo or multiple channels)
What is Psychoacoustics?
This field of science deals with the perception of sound and an awareness of it is vital to understanding audio production.
What is an audio visualization good for?
An audio visualization is helpful when mixing because it gives you a road map or sense of direction of where you want the mix to go.
What is the purpose of the auxiliary bus?
The bus sends tracks to auxiliary tracks where they can be further processed.
What is the purpose of mixing?
The general idea of mixing is to achieve a balance, particularly when it comes to volume.
This controls the width of a mix - it is the stereo left-to-right image of a track.
Panning
What is the working definition of gain staging?
Adjusting the level at each point of amplification to ensure an optimal signal-to-noise ratio, without (unusable) distortion.
What are the five EQ types?
Bell, Notch, Shelf, Low-pass, High-Pass
What is pre-fader metering?
It shows you the level of the signal before it gets to the fader
Why would you want to use a higher buffer size like 1024?
A higher buffer size let’s you run multiple programs more efficiently which is great for mixing because you can use a lot of plug-ins.
What are some ways that Aux Tracks can be useful?
The create a space where the sound can sit together
The help keep you organized
They allow for more efficient processing
When you are mixing vocals, what is the first thing you want to do?
Clean the audio, remove any clicks and unwanted noises, get the best performance, and correct the timing
Why would you want to use a de-esser?
A de-esser removes harsh sibilance’s that comes from S, F, X, SH, and soft Cs.
Do you want background vocals perfectly in tune?
They do not need to be perfect since they are heavily processed and in the background.
