TECH News
This month we have a mix masterclass from RVS label owner and house producer Asadinho, fresh off the back of his fabulous Lana del Rey mix of ‘Summertime Sadness’. Asad knows a thing or two when it comes to getting a great mix, so we thought it would be excellent for DJ Mag readers to pick up some essential tips on how to mix and create their very own dancefl oor hits…
“I am always asked what my work-fl ow is for mixing down tracks, and I fi nd myself at a loss to return any straightforward answer. The truth is that individual tips and tricks can broaden your palette of techniques, but in the unmentionable number of years I’ve spent working in studios, I don’t think I have ever mixed two tracks exactly the same way. If you’re new to the game, the web is nowadays awash with fantastic tutorials about programming, mixing and mastering your own songs, across practically every platform and genre. However, identikit production processes simply won’t work every time. I won’t go into the tired analogue- digital debate, as in this day and age it’s possible to mix a dance track on a laptop that sounds as good as something mixed on a high-end desk, although it may take you longer. It’s all about focusing on the ‘what’, not the ‘how’.
“So in this brief masterclass, I thought it would be more useful to tackle the process using broad approaches that can be applied to analogue, digital and hybrid domains alike. Let’s take it as a given that you have good monitoring and room acoustics, which I cannot emphasise enough.”
LANGUAGE
“Every piece of music speaks with its own ‘dialect’, within the ‘mother tongue’ of the genre(s) from which it derives. We cannot expect a deep house track to satisfy the values that a dubstep listener would expect. For example, the type of snare we use will speak volumes about the attitude of the song; adding a reverb to a vocal might be the difference between ‘raw’ and ‘deep’; lots of highs on your hats can make the track sound more modern, whilst more mids might allude to a more vintage fl avour. For every sound, the listener will subconsciously have a reference point from the music they have previously heard. Those references are often the ‘ghost in the machine’ of your mixdown and play a huge part in defi ning the aesthetic of the music. The trick is to anticipate those perceptions and play with them in ways that make the mix interesting and unique.”
BODY
“Mixing down a track as a producer is about getting a good balance; one that is well-proportioned from top to bottom, but not so tidy as to be dull. Different frequency waves seem to impact us in different parts of the body. For example, the controversial 250hz frequency can be ‘heard/felt’ in the upper belly; too much of it will make your track sound heavy. However, excessive cutting in that range will make the track sound feeble and without body, so the trick is to fi ll
that area in a way that adds warmth and charm. It’s all about perception, and the same goes for other frequency spots.”
LAYERING
“Layering is a great way to add muscle to a key musical part. On my Lana del Rey remix I used eight synths to create the bassline, each performing a different role.”
REFERENCING
“It’s always good to reference other mixes when fi nishing tracks. Find the most well-produced tracks you can, and listen closely to where each sound sits in the frequency spectrum and stereo fi eld. Play close attention to how certain frequencies translate in the mix via your monitors, how they hit you physically, and how those frequencies translate in other environments such as a club system, laptop speakers or phones. This is the best way to get to know your monitors and room. Ideally you’ll want a mix that sounds great on all speakers, so check your mix on as many different set- ups as possible. You may notice things about your mix on an iPhone that you might not hear on an expensive pair of monitors. Also, by taking your song out of the space you’ve made it in, into a new room, you’ll be able to hear it more objectively. “These are but a handful of ways to approach a mix. The main point I want to make here is that the process must remain faithful to the desired effect. Modern tools are incredibly malleable, and there is no end to how we use them — but they are only tools. The only thing we need
ASADINHO
www.djmag.ca 079
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88