WHAT THIS BOOK IS FOR

With this manual I intend to provide help for the rapid achievement of professional results during mixing.

How to teach mixing in alignment with the quality standards of the audio production industry?

And how to do this without resorting to the excellent but expensive analogue outboards?

The relative ease of application of the book's contents will be ideal for inexperienced practitioners.

But even audio professionals with little mixing experience will be able to integrate the notions already acquired with experience, and organise them well.

A HANDBOOK FOR SEMI-PROFESSIONALS IN THE MIX

Digital technology has made it accessible to obtain good results during mixing.

As a result, numerous home studios dedicated to sound manipulation have sprung up, often run by operators as experienced as their professional colleagues.

This book is primarily aimed at them to organise their already acquired knowledge in an orderly manner and, in particular, to fill conceptual gaps.

To help them learn new concepts and procedures, thus finding inspiration for new mental and professional paths towards excellence.

BUT ALSO FOR EXPERIENCED SOUND ENGINEERS AND BEGINNERS

The manual is also aimed at experienced sound engineers, especially those who candidly confess their deficiencies in mixing.

And finally also to beginners, with the aim of providing simple and clear support so that they can correctly learn and successfully experiment with the principles and procedures of digital audio mixing.

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Digital Audio Mixing Manual

FULL HANDBOOK SUMMARY

Series “Audio Manuals for the Sound Engineer” - Volume 3

Edition 001 - 2018

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The work consists of 349 pages, structured as follows.

Cover

Index

Glossary of technical terms

Dedication

Author's biography

Preface

• What this book is for
• Who needs this manual
• What you won't find in this book
• To conclude

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01 - PLAN OF THE WORK

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02 - KNOWING SOUND

Height

Stamp

• The sounds
• Noises
• The stamp
• The waveform
• The manipulation of timbre

Intensity and dynamics

• Intensity
• Dynamics

Envelope

• ADSR
• The synthesiser

Environmental resonance

• Echo - Delay
• Reverber

Spatiality

• Direction
• Sound directivity simulation
• Presence and proximity
• Conclusion

Sustain

• Description
• Sustain via reverb
• Sound support with Reverse-Verb
• Supporting sound through compression

Critical listening criteria in the mix

• Acoustic perception
• Ideal listening volume
• Examples
• Sound Level Meter 

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03 - ANALOGUE OR DIGITAL

• Foreword
• Digital Eq Vs Analogue Eq
• Dynamics processors, digital Vs analogue
• My personal opinion on the issue
• What are the elements that determine a good mix
• To conclude

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04 - WHAT AUDIO MIXING IS FOR

• Foreword
• What to do during a mixing session

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05 - WHAT IS NEEDED

Acoustics

• Foreword
• The ideal room
• Standing waves
• How to break down standing waves
• How to minimise First Reflections
• Still, diffuse room sound
• Environmental Eq
• To conclude

Monitoring

• Foreword
• Audio speakers
• The subwoofer
• Positioning

Daw

• Digital Audio Workstation
• Which plugins are needed?
• For Pro Tools users

Know how

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06 - CREATING THE MIX SESSION

• Foreword
• What parameters to set?
• Creating a Mixing Session
• Tracks and Groups
• Deleting Plugins
• To conclude

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07 - GENERAL CRITERIA FOR THE MIX

Timbral treatment

• Foreword
• The harmonic spectrum
• Action of eq
• Equaliser types
• Shelve and peak
• HPF and LPF
• Conformation of eq plug-ins
• Enhancement - Exciter
• Enhancement - Inflator
• Phase 1 - Prior equalisation
• Phase 2 - Mix equalisation
• Purpose of equalisation

Dynamic treatment

• Foreword
• Types of dynamics processor
• How the compressor and limiter controls work
• How the expander and gate controls work
• Brickwall limiting estimate
• Dynamic levelling of tracks during mixing
• Dynamic levelling and bonding in group buses
• Dynamic bonding in mastering

Environmental treatment

• Foreword
• Echo - Delay
• Installing an echo simulator - delay
• Delay - Control parameters
• Reverber - Reverberation
• Use of reverberation
• Doppler

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08 - MIX PRELIMINARIES

Phase control in traces

• Phases, these unknowns
• How to resolve mismatches
• Conclusion

Preventive equalisation

• Foreword
• Preliminary equalisation for melodic instruments
• Preventive equalisation for drums

Brickwall limiting estimate

• Definition and utility
• Choice of Plugin
• Operations
• Brickwall limiting with multi-band compressor

Dynamic modelling

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09 - THE STAGES OF THE MIX

The essential mix

• Identification of essential traces
• preliminary levelling of volumes
• Levelling compression
• Mix equalisation
• Environmental treatment

The final mix

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10 - TREATMENT OF SOURCES

Solo voice

• Foreword
• Editing
• Solo voice processing criteria
• Additional interventions
• Interventions during the mix

Bass and double bass

• Levelling equalisation
• A bass drum jam
• Eq first or dyn?
• Dyn

Drums, congas and bongos

• Grancassa
• Snare drum
• Charleston
• Tom-Tom and Timpani
• Congas and Bongos
• Over Heads
• Long-field shooting
• Various

Percussion set

• High-pass filter
• Eq and Dyn
• Rev

Piano

• Foreword
• Let's start
• Phase Control
• Volume ratios in the stereo image
• Preventive equalisation
• Mix of piano tracks
• Sound Types and Equalisation

Guitars

Orchestral Sections

• Solo shots
• Sectional tools

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11 - CONCLUDING MIX

• Foreword
• Adding new tracks
• Managing Volumes - Part 1
• We process sounds
• Equalisation retouches
• Dynamic retouching
• Track setting
• Managing Volumes - Part 2
• Some operational tips
• Difficult cases
• The stereo horizon
• The Pan-Pot
• Automations

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12 - FINAL TESTS AND EXPORT

• Different versions of the Mix
• Some suggestions
• Export at the end of the mix
• What are the uses of the mix?
• Naming mix files
• Mastering notes
• Mix review

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13 - TO CONCLUDE

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• Copyright
• Contact

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