By Craig Anderton | Mon, 01 Feb 2010
BETTER PLUG-INS, AUTOMATIC MIXING,
COMBO CONTROL SURFACES—THE RULES
OF THE MIXING GAME ARE CHANGING
Mixing is the penultimate part of the
recording process, just before you
entrust your music to mastering. But
we’ve come a long way from huge consoles
and racks of outboard gear—now
plug-ins provide powerful processing
at a petite price, compact control surfaces
give hands-on control, and some
mixing tasks are turning robotic. So,
let’s look at ten new products that take
us into the future, while respecting the
traditions of the past (and we’ll throw
in a bunch of useful tips, too).
TIP: THE “HALFWAY RULE” FOR ADJUSTING EQ
Suppose an instrument doesn’t sound bright enough, so you boost a 3kHz high shelf by 4dB. Okay, but immediately
cut the boost in half to 2dB, and live with that for a while—it takes time for your ear to get acclimated to changes.
The “halfway” rule applies to cuts, too.