LO1: Creating ‘Space’ Within My Mixes – Height

Having a variety of frequencies and dynamics in your mixes can create a lot of interest. Varying frequencies can also help make instruments distinguishable. For example, vocals might be difficult to hear if other instruments are playing within a similar frequency range to them. However, frequency can also be interpreted as height. As a result, using various frequencies within your mix could also create various ‘heights’ within your sonic space.

Some think that this could be because of the structure of most speakers, with woofers being placed below the tweeters (The Pro Audio Files, 2013). Psychoacoustics, the study of sound perception (The Power of Sound, no date), could also hold some possible answers as to why we perceive sonic frequency on a vertical scale, some being psychological and others physiological. Either way, by using a range of harmonics, I can make my mixes sound ‘tall’. To do this, I must carefully choose instruments and synthesisers that contrast with each other. If they don’t contrast enough then I can separate them via changes in EQ settings.

LO1: Creating Space Within My Mixes – Depth

Depth can be created within mixes by mirroring the ways in which depth is heard all around us. Since lower frequencies can travel further than higher frequencies, cutting off higher frequencies with an EQ plugin can help make a sound seem far. Volume can also be used to create depth as louder instruments can be perceived as being closer than quieter ones. Reverb can also be added to create echo-like effects. However, you must be very careful when using reverb as too much can cause many problems (EnvatoTuts+, 2014).

Using reverb on multiple tracks will layer the reverb effects and swamp the entire mix. It could also overwork your computers processor. Instead, it’s best to create a separate reverb track and then route your instruments into it.

References

EnvatoTuts+ (2014) How to Creatively Use Multiple Reverbs in One Mix. Available from: https://music.tutsplus.com/tutorials/how-to-creatively-use-multiple-reverbs-in-one-mix–cms-19841

The Power of Sound (no date) Psychoacoustics, defined. Available from: http://thepowerofsound.net/psychoacoustics-defined/

The Pro Audio Files (2013). How to Create Width, Height and Depth in a Mix. Available from: https://theproaudiofiles.com/width-height-depth-in-a-mix/

LO1: Creating ‘Space’ Within My Mixes – Width

Since my music is mainly electronic, and is therefore written in MIDI format, I tend to mix my music as I write it. And so, I decided to research how to create ‘space’ within my mixes as soon as I could. One website I found certainly helped me form a greater understanding on ‘sonic space’ and how to create it (The Pro Audio Files, 2013).

During the production of my last EP, I thought that panning a track into both left and right speakers would make it sound ‘wide’. This worked for certain VST instruments that produced contrasting sounds between the left and right outputs, hence why I never noticed the error in my beliefs. However, I’ve now learned that panning the same sound into both speakers will result in the “Phantom Mono” – A phenomenon in which we perceive a sound as coming from the centerpoint between two speakers.

I created an analogy to help me understand and remember this phenomenon. In order for the circle to be perceived as its 3D counterpart (a sphere), one side of it must contrast the other with added light and shadows. Without any light and shadows, it’ll be hard to see anything other than a 2D object. Similarly, you must have contrast between your two speakers in order to percieve an additional measurement (width).

In Track 1, I used the muted strumming of a guitar to create a ticking-sound for the introduction. However, I also wanted to add ‘width’ to the ticking. Remembering that the song ‘Wonderful World’ by Take That ended with the sound of a pocket watch, I decided to dissect the song in order to find out how the ticking was ‘widened’. After splitting the song into 2 mono tracks, I found that each speaker played a different ticking sound – one with the high frequencies cut off, and the other with the lower frequencies cut off. With this information, I applied a similar technique to my song. I duplicated the ticking sound on two tracks, panned them left adn right and changed the EQ settings on each track until there was noticible variation in each speaker. I also duplicated the sound of the slowly fading backwards guitar which can be heard playing simultaneously with the ticking. I used automated pitch shifting on each track but made them shift at different rates. This created noticable contrast in each speaker.

An arpeggiator I used in Track 3, which you can listen to HERE, was ‘widened’ by having two of the same synthesiser play different parts at the same time. With the contrasting parts being played simultaneously, I created the illusion of one instrument surrounding the listener.

References

The Pro Audio Files (2013). How to Create Width, Height and Depth in a Mix. Available from: https://theproaudiofiles.com/width-height-depth-in-a-mix/

‘Wonderful World‘ by Take That