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This video will teach you 5 ways to create contrast between the instruments in your mix.
In mixing, The combined result of every instrument is what really matters. Every piece of the mix must find its place into this sonic puzzle. That place depends on its relationship to the rest of the pieces.
Yin and Yang
Black will seem darker when surrounded by white, and sound is no different.
Regardless of whether you focus on the frequency, dynamics or spatial aspect of an instrument, you should always bear in mind that everything you are doing is a piece of a greater puzzle.
Of corse, every mix is different and each piece relies on its relationship to the rest of the pieces. That’s why the concept of contrast is so important. Your Individual instruments on their own, in isolation, aren’t what’s significant. What WE care about, THE ONLY THING the rest of us ever get to hear, is the outcome. The end product.
Here are 5 Ways to introduce Contrast between instruments in your mix
1. Performance Texture
You’ve likely come across the Production Mantra: Garbage in, Garbage out.
First and Foremost, Select the right instrument and playing technique to Get as close to your reference recording on the way in. This will make your job going forward so much easier.
Something simple and well thought out will go a lot further than something that is thrown together into a muddy mix with frequency clutter and overlap. If you want something to sit bright and forward, surround it with dull instruments that don’t produce the same overtones.
2. Stereo Width
Stereo will always sound closer to our ear. Mono sounds naturally sound further away. As a sound moves further away, there are less differences between what reaches our left and right ear. We can point to the sound as coming from a single location.
Therefore, to move a sound further back, you could narrow it’s width (if stereo) Whereas, introducing stereo information with effects will make an instrument APPEAR to be closer in the mix.
3. Frequency
Low frequencies are not absorbed well and will therefore travel farther than higher frequencies. This means that sounds that are further away from the listener would in theory contain more lower frequencies that the fragile ultra high frequencies.
A louder and brighter instrument can be perceived to be at the front of the mix. Therefore, you can use filters to create the illusion that a sound is further away than a closer, more FULL Frequency sound. The bright instrument can be contrasted with a softer, darker instrument to create a reference point of depth.
4. Wet/Dry
Contrast This contrast is used in a lot of pop music to make specific phrases or works pop out of a vocal. It’s a technique I’ve heard on a lot of Serban Ghenea’s mixes. Mute a plugin, only engage it for emphasis. Also done between sections, or even specific lines in the vocal.
5. Panning for Contrast
Instruments that contrast one another will result in a mix with more clarity, that will translate outside your studio. Separate competing instruments so they can be ‘moved around’ without disappearing in the mix. Look for a spot in the stereo field where the instrument tone is defined and doesn’t disappear in the mix.
