an interesting realization in audio/mixing...

well, today I realized something rather interesting. I suppose it's something i've always known, but not really sat down and thought...OH that's WHY that's the way it is....let me explain.

So, when mixing a song there are a few rule of thumbs to go by (in theory). One of the hardest to master, but most critical is eq masking. It's basically the idea that each element in a mix should kind of have it's own "space" within the mix. It has to be just right...not too out of place from everything else, but also not too blemished in with everything else and just creating mud. Obviously, the choice of instrument, player, mic, mic pre, mic technique, gain staging, and about 20 other factors play a role in exactly how a single source will sound, but the idea is to take the end result (where the source will ultimately end up in the mix) into consideration when making all those technical decisions.

Typically, the closer you can get your source to how you want it to sound IN THE MIX from the very beginning...the better. So, this got me thinking about the quality of all the different analogue elements in the signal chain. What makes such a good mic so expensive?

Oddly, when recently mixing a tom drum I started thinking about all this. If you think about it...a tom is one of the best examples of something containing a clear and obvious spread across most of the freq spectrum. A really good tom (or any other instrument) will sound reallllllly really good when played all by itself. It will be full and bright and beefy...all at the same time. BUT...that won't necessarily matter in a mix. You aren't going to be throwing up the 50hz, or 12Khz freqs on a tom drum in a mix...even though they're there in the source recording. You'll likely be doing some sort of mud scoop, a little low end boost, and a thin q of high end for attack. You'll literally mold that thing into it's exact space in the song, but the point is....by having such a full range of tone from that tom to begin with you aren't boxed into the sound of it, at all! You can spend less time planning how to capture the tom with technique and foresight because you'll have such a good & complete sound to work with right from the get go (and i don't say that meaning it's a good thing).

This can be applied to any instrument! A great sounding acoustic will sound AMAZING all by itself, but that doesn't matter in the mix of things (assuming it's a full band of sorts)! Sadly, a $200 guitar probably sounds less than impressive by itself., but if you can envision how and where you want to use the sound of that specific guitar in a mix, and plan all the other sources accordingly...you can make a pretty damn great mix.

So, knowing all this...it gave me that AH-HA moment. You can make incredibly good recordings using especially crappy gear if you plan accordingly. In fact, by using the crappiest gear when starting out you'll be doing yourself a huge huge favor. Forcing yourself to learn the sound of an instrument, mic, mic pre, etc. Cheap instruments, mics, pres, etc typically have only one sound. Yes, some of them are just utter crap, but then there are the few that actually have the potential to sound great...when mixed in with enough other elements that were chosen to compliment each other.

Have you ever solo'd the elec guitars in a mix once everything is done? They sound far less than impressive. In fact, they often times sound thin and anything but punchy and rock. Of course they would without the low end of a bass guitar and the thumping of a kick drum to suck the compression in and out gluing the mix together. But, if every element in the mix sounded incredible when solo'd, you'd have a huge mess on your hands. Bass guitar competing with kick drum, vox competing with guitars, and don't even get me started on keys.

The point is, great gear gives you more potential to take your mixes in totally different directions...after the fact. They don't paint you into a corner (as easily) right from the start. So, for a pro audio engineer that's great, but for the kid at home...it might not be needed nearly as much as you think.

Anyway, I suppose I've always worked with these fundamentals in the back of my mind, but I've never really sat down and explained it all out to myself. It's likely I'm wrong on a few points, and obviously great gear doesn't always give you a "full range" of sound to work with. There are $3000 compressors that give you all of ONE sound....but I promise you that sound will be jaw dropping.