Mixing advice need

[darcy]

I’ve watch all Mr. Tippings videos... think that is the gentleman’s name? They are very helpfully... I’ve been sitting on a project for months now.. and finally decided to try mixing it with the tascam 32sd... I’m aware of the difference advantages and disadavanges of bouncing and mixing.. currently I have all the track one bounced channel stereo... at this time I have not applied and effects... ie compression or eq changes to the master bounce ... I stuck with choices.. so i got to final mix down, as I know at the end there’s a normal function to fix volume issues... or hook up to external device and finish my product... I just can’t decide what to do.

 

[Phil Tipping]

Yes the name is correct - glad the videos helped
Are you saying you've already bounced all your tracks onto a stereo track?
If so, and you're happy with the balance between all the instruments, then go ahead with mixdown. You can apply overall EQ/FX/fades etc. as you mix, but obviously you won't be able to change individual tracks. Once you've created the master file, you can then move on to mastering (but only if you want to). This is where you can apply the mastering effects and use the make-up gain in the compressor to bring the final level up to where you want it, or just use the normalise function at the end of the process - it does the same 'level-shift' as the gain control but it will always set the peaks to 0dB... using the gain in the compressor allows you to back off that limit if you wish. The step-by-step guide has more details about loudness, compression & normalising.

 

[darcy]

Thank you sir for answering.... My one question is... are you still able to use external fx in mixdown mode? Mostly my RNC unit... I can’t recall if you mentioned that in your tutorials...again many thanks and thanks for making those vids.. they definitely give a hole other level to the machine. Or should I bounce to another track, with FX sends with the RNC before enter mixdown.

 

[Phil Tipping]

Yes you can use external FX. The point of the videos starting in 'simple mixer' mode was to show the signal paths through the machine. These apply whether you are recording, playing back or mixing. So you can use any of the track sends and/or any of the input sends while mixing, which means you can use the internal send effects and/or any external effects. There are no dedicated effect returns, but these are just 'inputs' anyway so just use what inputs you have spare. They can be routed (assigned) just as you would at any other time.

Understanding/visualising the signal paths through the machine opens up a huge number of possibilities.

Re. bouncing to another track, yes you can do this if you want. There are differences between bouncing and mixdown re. what controls you can use on-the-fly (see bouncing vs mixdown video). Bouncing allows you to re-process the result as it's just a regular track. You can still re-process a mixdown, but you need a computer temporarily to copy the master file back into the AudioDepot folder for importing.

 

[darcy]

I’m going to review you videos for sure... I remember a lot - but a lot of I lost... mostly the info from the early videos lol - I have a brain of a flee. I currently have my RNC going into the guitar track, and using the send that way. I even turned my pots to 1PM like you said... generally in most cases that works and I can use full volume on the sends that was an excellent tip by... before that I was adjusting my sends all over place.

 

[David Porter]

If I'm not mistaken, it seems that your RNC (compressor, right?) is a stereo unit. If you are wanting to run a final stereo mix through it - you'll need to move that stereo mix on two separate mono tracks if you haven't already. Then you can run one of those tracks out of Send 1 and the other out Send 2... through the left and right channels of your RNC.... and back in to any two unused inputs.

 

[darcy]

That is correct - up to till this - any mixing and the use the RNC.. I just connect it to the my send outs - before the signal hit my recording medium... but the next mix I’m going to do as you said.. and use both FX sends.. normally any audio that I record is usually mono (till the mix) so it’s probably okay to use just one the FX sends for the RNC right? But (again I’m a super scientist at this)... Most of my final mixes are mono, even though I’m using the Left and Right track. I haven’t gotten to the level yet to take advantage of stereo, panning sounds and such . I believe the RNC can still function as MONO if only one input is used (that’s what I”be beefing doing up to this point) /... I was just t honking of using a splitter if I needed the other fx send (if this can be done?)

UPDATE just checked my manual... left side is indeed used for mono only if you wish - and that’s what I’ve been doing... again not a scientist at this still learning... about stereo ... like I said I just mix everything mono (maybe the wrong term) but what I do is just have equal fo everything coming from the left and right speaker...

This doeesn’t sound right.. again if I do a final mix i use both the right and left on the RNC... what I meant is I used the left side only usually when I record tracks onto my tascam... again up to this point.. I have not use the FX sends... just always had the RNC either before my sound hits the tascam or after (for final mix) I apologize if I confusing anyone... lots of times I use type and not think about what others are reading into