ABSTRACT

Recorded music There are differences between the production process of recorded music and sequenced music, and these differences affect the mixing process. Figure 4.1 illustrates the common production chain for recorded music. Producers may give input at each stage, but they are mostly concerned with the arrangement and recording stages. Each stage has an impact on the subsequent stage but each of the stages can be carried out by different people. Mixing is largely dependent on both the arrangement and recording stages. For example, an arrangement might involve only one percussion instrument, a shaker for example. If panned center in a busy mix, it is most likely to be masked by other instruments. But panning it to one side can create an imbalanced stereo image. It might be easier for the mixing engineer to have a second percussion instrument, say a tambourine, so the two can be panned left and right. A wrongly placed microphone during the recording stage can result in a lack of body for the acoustic guitar. Recreating this missing body during mixdown is a challenge. Some recording decisions are, to be sure, mixing decisions. For example, the choice of stereo-miking technique for drum overheads determines the localization and depth of the various drums in the final mix. Altering these aspects during mixdown takes effort.