Navigating the mix-space : theoretical and practical level-balancing technique in multitrack music mixtures

Wilson, AD; Fazenda, BM

Abstract

The mixing of audio signals has been at the foundation of
audio production since the advent of electrical recording in the 1920’s, yet the mathematical and psychological bases for this activity are relatively under-studied. This paper investigates how the process of mixing music is conducted. We introduce a method of transformation from a “gain-space” to a “mix-space”, using a novel representation of the individual track gains. An experiment is conducted in order to obtain time-series data of mix engineers exploration of this space as they adjust levels within a multitrack session to create their desired mixture. It is observed that, while the exploration of the space is influenced by the initial configuration of track gains, there is agreement between
individuals on the appropriate gain settings required
to create a balanced mixture. Implications for the design
of intelligent music production systems are discussed.

Citation

Wilson, A., & Fazenda, B. (2015). Navigating the mix-space : theoretical and practical level-balancing technique in multitrack music mixtures. In The 12th Sound and Music Computing Conference, Music Technology Research Group, Dept. of Computer Science, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland. Sound and Music Computing

• Start Date: Jul 26, 2001
• Publication Date: Jul 30, 2015
• Deposit Date: Nov 9, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 5, 2016
• Book Title: The 12th Sound and Music Computing Conference, Music Technology Research Group, Dept. of Computer Science, Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland
• ISBN: 9780992746629
• Keywords: Music, Mix-engineering, Subjective Audio Evaluation, Mix-space, Multitrack
• Publisher URL: http://smcnetwork.org/node/1917
• Related Public URLs: http://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/smc15/
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference