Is there any shape an analyzer should show to have a clean mix?

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Hi! Pretty much the title, I know the best way to mix is by ear, but after a while, ears are not always very reliable anymore, so I was wondering, is there any kind of shape you go for in the mix of your track?

(This might be a stupid question because of all the different styles everyone makes)
 
your ears are far more reliable than any spectra analyzer, just because a mix is smooth in an analyzer, doesnt mean that the sounds are nicely seperated and clear.


but, in answer to your question, a nice smooth gentle curve from sub to high is generally what you will geton a good mix without any big spikes pushing thru the mix - best way to look at it is by loading up some mastered tracks that you know have great mixdowns and see how they look - baring in mind that a mastered track will have diffrent characteristics than a mixdown (although a great mixdown will be very close)


your ears do get tired, you must take breaks if you want to get a good mixdown, also dont mix at loud volume, you dont need it loud and will get better results ie a better balanced mix. take breaks at least every couple of hours for at least 20-40minutes
 
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no, that mix would sound terrible due to the weak subs and the ear-hurting highs.

its not an acoustic spectral analysis

dugg Funnie if you dont have anything useful to add to a topic in production, then go to waffle. nonsense isn't appreciated here n i'm gettin bored of it now
 
thanks for all the (serious) replies guys :), and @psychoholicMedia, I should've asked it like this: How do your clean mixes look on an analyzer? ;)
 
i wasnt tryng to be funny or anything mate, i should have explained myself.
load pink noise and try and mirror the curve on the spectrum analyzer.
 
whats with all the waffle posts? go away

Alright especially for mr grumpy, here is a serious on topic answer.

It all the depends on what your working with, I couldnt care less about the mixdown on a random hospital records track, although thought of as a high standard, I think there should be more creative input rather another netsky'ish track. Mizdown by ear, use the spectral info as a supportive feature to see where eventual problem frequencies may exist but dont look at it too much, its about how you want your track to sound and not how netsky would have done it.

Thats my opinion on the matter. If your aim is to get signed to hospital records by all means try and recreate the mainstream sound and listen to professional mixdowns from artists that inspire you and compare the spectral analyis.
 
i wasnt tryng to be funny or anything mate, i should have explained myself.
load pink noise and try and mirror the curve on the spectrum analyzer.

my whinge wasnt aimed at u mate! i'm intrigued, not analysed pink noise before, gona have a listen later!

Alright especially for mr grumpy, here is a serious on topic answer.

It all the depends on what your working with, I couldnt care less about the mixdown on a random hospital records track, although thought of as a high standard, I think there should be more creative input rather another netsky'ish track. Mizdown by ear, use the spectral info as a supportive feature to see where eventual problem frequencies may exist but dont look at it too much, its about how you want your track to sound and not how netsky would have done it.

Thats my opinion on the matter. If your aim is to get signed to hospital records by all means try and recreate the mainstream sound and listen to professional mixdowns from artists that inspire you and compare the spectral analyis.


mixdown is about creating a balance in the spectrum, to me thats a technical aspect, that uses a creative process to achive it, doesnt matter what the style of music is from netsky to spice girls, they all have balance in the mixdown - i'm not suggesting that the mixdowns are the same, or that people should copy what other people have already done, but understand what a balanced mixdown is, and why, is important, auditioning a wide variety of musical styles is the best way to do this
 
Pink noise is white noise with a 3db/octave roll-off, if I remember correctly, so much easier on the ear. Now in Voxengo Span you can use the 'Slope' dial (under the edit tab) to accommodate this. Turn it up to 3db, and now a 3db/octave slope (eg pink noise) will appear flat in the analyser, instead of sloping off to the right. It makes it easier to see if certain frequencies are jumping out imo. But yeah, over-all, you could load some pink noise up and it would scream "great mix" at you from the analyser screen wouldn't it, so it's a helpful tool but not everything.
 
Use your ears and a spectrum if needed. No matter how good your ears are there will always be instances when a spectrum analyzer will be useful. If your monitoring/room/treatment is not right, then what you hear will not be 'right', so in that instance, you cannot solely rely on your ears.
 
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