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umaneeompressionmixin thePre-RenderingPre-RenderingRussian MonitoringHelp Out the FX EditorIn The Mix covers what happens after recordingand production – it could be straightforward mixynthqueezeynthand effects ideas, loudness and metering tips, oreditorial issues.Left And RightPrepare for ADRHumane CompressionHuman hearing is more sensitive to mid rangefrequencies (let’s say between 600 and 3kHz).So why not setup the compressor to do the same?If your compressor has a pre-filter section,choose a parametric mode in the pre-filtersection, a Q value of 0.7, a boost of between4-6dB, and a frequency between 600 and3kHz. Using some program material or a drumkit, audition the effect of first changing onlythe amount of gain (vary it between 0-6dB).Then try out different frequencies (use a gainof 6dB for maximum effect).The compressor can get a little pump in it,which may (or may not) be desirable. But notehow much of the character of the compressorhas changed just from adjusting the frequencyor gain control of the parametric EQ in thepre-filter section.You can try tighter Q values (2.0 or greater),but that can make the compressor too frequencyselective. Wide Q settings (less than0.7) reduce the frequency selectivity.Colin McDowell, DSP Engineer, McDSPTidy Tracklay,Tidy MindPrepare for ADRlp Out the FX EditorGood Gain, Good GainMaintain good gain structure throughout the mix.Good gain structure is essentially about leavingenough headroom on each individual channel sothat tracks aren’t fighting to be heard. The results arethat each individual sound has the “space” that’s soimportant and that the essential headroom formastering remains.Rebecca Woolf, Purchasing Manager,HHB Communications LtdPedal PowerIf you really think about it, there are twofactors that you have to focus on whenproducing a new song for airplay: 1) Thesong itself – is it a well written and wellstructured?, and 2) will it cause people tostop and listen? Led Zeppelin’s Immigrantsong, Jethro Tull’s Aqualung, Dire Strait’sMoney for Nothing… all had great riffs andunique exciting tones.So here we are years later… what can we doto make a recording stand out?How about integrating all of those coolguitar pedals into the production to createsome interesting new effects? Wah on thekick drum… envelope on the snare…distortion on the voice… today, there areliterally thousands of pedals out there thatrun from simple to off the wall.Try connecting them to your recordingsystem using a re-amper and a DI andhave fun! Best of all, new sounds spur oncreativity! Who knows what exciting effects,riffs or primal screams you will comeup with?Peter Janis, President, Radial Engineering LtdDialogue: Smoothly Does ItIf the noise floor on one shot is louder thanthe others, and the cross-faded transitionsare audible, you may need to lay the noisierroom tone across the whole scene to even outthe noise floor. This may seem paradoxical tocontaminate clean dialogue with noise, but asmooth noisy soundtrack is much less distractingthan one that jumps from loud to quiet.Susan Pennington, Dialogue Editor Spool Post, Audio MediaFeb 2010Russian MonitoringAs a general rule I start offmonitoring big and end up small.When I’m working on the basicEQ-ing of sounds (see below) it’sgood to hear the full frequencyrange, especially the bottom end.That’s only really possible withfairly large monitors working at arelatively high volume (preferablywith a sub) but once I’ve got myoverall sound shaping sorted outand a ‘good vibe’ going I move tonearfields to balance. I find that finetweaking the mix works best for meon small monitors at a low volumeand I’ll check it on a variety ofsystems, including a mono auratone,my car stereo, laptop speakers, andheadphones. Once the mix soundsgood on all of those I know that I’mpretty much there.Simon Gogerly, Producer/Engineer andAM Contributor18AUDIO MEDIA AUGUST 2011