Mixing Strings - an introductory guide

Mixing strings - an introductory guide

Mixing strings an introductory guide

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

CONTENTS Introduction .........................................................................................................................

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Going into the mix and preparation .....................................................................

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Compression .........................................................................................................................

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EQ ...................................................................................................................................................

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Panning ....................................................................................................................................

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Reverb .......................................................................................................................................

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Buss processing ................................................................................................................

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Other effects/Tools for mixing strings ...............................................................

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Conclusion/Contact .......................................................................................................

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

INTRODUCTION Writing a guide like this is tricky. First and foremost, the art of mixing is not just a simple checklist: precise frequencies to adjust, compression and reverb to add, and voila, you have the perfect string mix.

Mixing any song, with any instruments, is a skill that takes practice. The more you can practice doing it, the better your mixes will sound. Your creativity here is key. There is no right and wrong method when it comes to mixing, just good or bad sounding mixes.

My hope with this little book is that you get a bunch of tips and techniques that you can practice; useful tools to get you headed in the ‘good mix’ direction.

Always use your ears first, and don’t rely on what I suggest as a starting point, or what the graphics are showing you on the screen. If it sounds rubbish, then it’s clearly not the answer. There are many ways to skin a cat, as the hideous saying goes.

Secondly - the way you mix will alter depending on the genre you’re mixing in, and the atmosphere and vibe of each particular song. A cinematic Rock track will require different mix techniques for the strings to an ‘Eleanor Rigby’ - type song where strings hold the foreground.

So I’ve written this guide with that in mind. I’ve tried to include mix techniques that will apply regardless of the genre of song. I’ve also written the guide in the order that I would normally apply the processing: starting with compression and ending with reverb. But as with everything else: experiment - if you find that compression works best at the end, then ace! Do it!

Right. Let’s dive in….

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

PREPARING THE MIX

Firstly - the quality of the string recording is more important than the mix processing you’re going to do afterwards. Strings are delicate instruments when it comes to timbre and it’s easy to get a sound that’s too harsh when you’re recording. If you get a great sound going in, with a balanced sound and no harshness, then the tweaking you’ll do later will be minimal, and it will be a TON easier to mix. So budget, space and players allowing, ensure that the initial recordings are as good as they can possibly be.

[We have a string recording guide on our website with great tips and techniques on the process.]

Secondly, getting into the mix template, start by creating the correct channels for the strings on your DAW - separate mono tracks for each instrument, and stereo tracks for any stereo ensemble, tree or room recordings that were made. Add the audio to each track, ensuring that the start points are correct, and the instruments are entering the music at the correct place.

Thirdly, spend a little time listening to the track with the strings in place, getting rough levels to make a comfortable listen. If you have stereo ensemble recordings and separate mono tracks, listen to them separately. You might find one or the other sounds better in the recording, in which case, mute and hide the other tracks. You can always find them again later if you need something different.

Ensure the string tracks are all placed next to each other on the virtual desk, so you can solo, mute and compare the string tracks easily. Make sure you LABEL them clearly!

TIP 1: Use the Bypass function on the plugin you’re using often. Flicking it on and off gives a useful beforeafter comparison. Your ear gets used to sound very quickly, and unless you’re comparing and contrasting to how it sounded previously, you’re going to think you’re doing an incredible job tweaking away, only to listen the next day and want to throw up

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

COMPRESSION Compression for most string mixes should be minimal, unless you’re wanting a really affected sound.

One of the beautiful elements of a string quartet is the massive dynamic range, from whisper scratchy quiet, to sharp piercing loudness - you want to capture all of this without sacrificing too much of the timbre of the instruments. When you compress hard, the tonal characteristics of the stringed instruments will change, which might not sound great.

Go to a section of the track where the strings are playing at their loudest, and put a very gentle compression with a low ratio, just to bring it into order, and maybe a soft limit right at the outer edges. This will not affect the tone too much, but just bring the odd note that jumps out in volume back into order.

Starting settings would be a ratio of 2:1, slow attack and quick release, and then lower the threshold until it’s taming the parts you want, without affecting the dynamics too much. You want to look for the compressor not really compressing more than 2-3db at the loudest points.

A good starting point for compressor settings.

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

TIP 2: RIDE THE FADER If compression is just too obvious sonically, and you just have a few errant notes volume-wise, then maybe try riding the fader, and just ducking a tiny amount for those separate notes. It might sound more natural and appealing to the ear.

If the strings are recorded well, then very little will need to be done here to make them sound sweeter.

Aim to do no more than 2 to 3 db of adjustment, to keep the sound as natural as possible.

If you boost, try to make the band wider, and if cutting, slightly narrower. General rule of thumb!

You’ll want to shelve the low end of the instruments at the right frequency range to cut out any low rumble, or player foot tapping, or distant passing buses,or hum of electricity.

These are the rough frequency bottom ranges of the stringed instruments.

Violin Viola

Cello

Double Bass

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196 Hz 131 Hz 65 Hz 41Hz

When you’re using EQ to shelve the bottom end of the signal, don’t get too close to these ranges. You’ll start losing the body of the instruments, and they’ll start to sound brittle.

At the top end of the frequency range, you have to be more careful. Played harmonics, and all the harmonics above the fundamental tone fly up into the 10-20kHz range, so altering the frequency range above the played notes will have a profound effect on the tonal quality of the instrument.

Here are some ranges that are worth looking at for stringed instruments. LIsten hard as you’re EQ’ing, and refer to the chart below to help solve some common issues. Remember, these are not definitive rules, and they will change slightly per instrument.

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

If the strings sound a bit: -

Stuffy Boxy Nasally Harsh or a bit edgy, Dull, -

dip around 300Hz dip the low mid frequencies - 500-1kHz dip a touch around 1-2kHz dip at 2-4kHz - this will soften them. look at adding air, clarity from 8kHz and up.

TIP 3: DYNAMIC EQ TO REMOVE HARSHNESS. Using (subtly!!) a dynamic EQ in the 2-4kHz region can help remove harshness. A gentle ducking of 1-2db can do the trick. Use your ears. For plugins we recommend Fabfilter ProQ3, Izotope dynamic EQ in Ozone or Neutron, or Gullfoss

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

PANNING How much you can pan will depend on what tracks you’re using. If you have a stereo pair that’s recorded the string section, then pan the solo tracks to match that stereo recording, otherwise the stereo image will suffer!

String quartets sit in various positions. Traditionally it’s (left to right in a semicircle) violin 1, violin 2, viola, cello.

Depending on where the audience is, they may swap cello and viola. So assuming you’re using separate tracks for each instrument, try and follow this seating pattern with the panning, and see how it sits in the music.

Panning, as with everything else mix processing-wise, is very song and genre dependent.

So this classical positioning might sound absolutely lovely, or it might get in the way of other instruments, and muddy the mix up.

Stereo Balance One thing to consider is to keep the bass frequencies in a mix as central as possible to stop the bass ‘leaning’, or pulling the image off-center. So maybe try having the Dbl bass/cello dead center, and the other strings arrayed in a way that balances the stereo image (violin 1 center left, violin 2 center right maybe?)

TIP 4: move the strings out of the way of other instruments. This will bring more clarity to the mix, and enable the listener to hear separation between the different sounds. One example would be listening to the position of the violin against a lead vocal. They tend to take up similar frequency ranges.

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

REVERB As with most reverb in a mix, Subtlety is king. You only want to notice the reverb when it’s not there. Consistently compare dry and wet by bypassing the plugin until you get a decent balance of reverb on the sound.

There are two kinds of software reverb: Convolution and algorithmic.

Convolution reverbs are actual recordings of the reverb in a specific space. These recordings are converted into Impulse Responses (IRs), and can then be applied to your incoming sound. So you could apply an IR from the Sydney Opera Hall to your string section, for example. The strings would then sound just like they were situated in the hall. You could equally use an Impulse Response from your favourite stairwell or bathroom, and have the strings in that space.

Convolution reverbs are excellent at placing source audio in a specific space, but because the computation tends to be complex, these reverbs can eat up the processing power on a computer.

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

The other type of reverb - Algorithmic, is much lighter on processing power, while still being very effective at creating a sense of space. Algorithm reverbs digitally create the space rather than sampling it. You can change the size and shape of the created space until it suits what you’re looking for.

TIP 5: EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT REVERB PLUGINS. The built-in plugins in DAWs are excellent, and there thousands of 3rd party plugins, from convolution to emulations of vintage hardware, such as plates, or 80’s reverb boxes, that all give off a different character. Try different plugins out, and try layering them. You may find a reverb sound that fits perfectly.

I would tend not to apply reverb to each instrument separately, as you’re trying to create a singular space for all the instruments to occupy. When you have a reverb plugin on each channel, it can get very messy sounding, and also get very expensive on your computer’s CPU. To best apply a single reverb plugin to several tracks simultaneously, I use a technique called BUSS processing.

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

BASICS OF BUSS PROCESSING Mix busses are separate channels that stand in between the channels on a mixer, and the final stereo mix buss. Also called AUX channels or SEND channels, You’ll find them on all decent hard and software mixers. Other channels can send their signal to these AUX channels, and you can have multiple channels sending their signal to one AUX channel.

This is very useful for applying the same effect (such as reverb) to multiple channels, which keeps the mix cleaner, simpler and more cohesive.

Set up a buss with your chosen reverb set to fully wet. On each string channel, find a way to send signal to the reverb buss. It’s different for each DAW, but on LogicPro for example, on the channel strip, there’s a SEND button, with a drop down list of every aux channel.

Select the channel, and adjust the send volume accordingly.

You can then adjust the fader volume of the reverb as the music is playing to adjust to taste. Again, you can try muting and unmuting the channel so you can hear the mix with and without the reverb in, to get an idea of how much is present in the mix.

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

TIP 6: add effects to the reverb! Again this is programme dependent, but if you have the reverb on a buss, you can add more effects to it to clean it up a bit. For example, you could add a channel EQ on the same channel, and shape the frequency range of the reverb. If you have a string section with a lot of bass, for example, removing the bass frequencies on the reverb by shelving the low end will remove a lot of muddiness, and create more clarity in the mix.

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

MIXING SAMPLE LIBRARIES Most string sample libraries nowadays come with most, if not all of the major mix processing tools included.

It’s worth taking your time to learn the sample libraries you use inside and out, so you know exactly what you have got to work with. For myself, I’ve spent a lot of time listening to the different mic positions that are available on the sample libraries I use. They create a massive difference in the tonal and dynamic qualities of the string samples. Very often, I lean towards the driest, closest mic position possible with the strings, as I’m looking for the most intimate, detailed string sound I can get from the library.

A spitfire Audio GUI showing the different mic positions available.

I will often remove the reverb effect from the library also, as this gives me more opportunity to send the samples to the BUSS reverb - making it more cohesive with the rest of the track. (It’s more likely to sound like the instruments are all in the same space) But you might find that the library sounds more realistic if you don’t remove the effect reverb, or go to the closest mic position. You definitely need to use your ears for this one.

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

OTHER EFFECTS + USEFUL TOOLS THere are some other plugins out there that can be very useful in shaping the sound of the strings to fit your mix. I’ll outline a few of the tools that we use, and give some examples.

SATURATION At StudioStrings, we use tape, either real or emulated, to process our strings in a mix. Tape has a very natural way of taming the harsh, scratchy sound that often pops up on string recordings - making them sound a bit smoother, without losing the air or presence on the higher strings.

UAD studer tape plugin

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

DELAY This one we use less often - but in pop genres, with rhythmic movement, a bit of subtle delay can really add some groove, and widen the mix.

Soundtoys echoboy plugin

FFT PROCESSING THis one’s getting a little advanced, but we use Oeksound’s Soothe plugin quite a bit. It’s sort of a spectral EQ compression, where you can effectively squash narrow EQ ranges without affecting the overall tone of the source audio. It’s extremely useful at getting rid of scratchiness, harshness, and even unnecessary acoustic string sounds (think of the squeak on an acoustic, as the fingers move about the fretboard).

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

Oeksound Soothe2 plugin

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StudioStrings.co

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Mixing strings - an introductory guide

CONCLUSION/CONTACT I hope you found this guide useful to get you started on mixing strings effectively into your music.

If you have any other questions about mixing strings, or other questions about string production, or production in general, we’d be happy to help. Don’t hesitate to contact us at StudioStrings for help and advice.

Cheers for now!

Andy & Jake

A LITTLE MORE ABOUT US Studiostrings specialises in the creation of incredible string sections for artists, and any kind of media. We cover the whole process, from composition to record and mix, keeping the process efficient and speedy for any producers and artists looking for strings on their music. StudioStrings.co

DOsounds is a remote studio able to assist artists all over the world in full production of their music tracks. Dosounds also has an in-person studio based in Brooklyn NY. Dosounds.com

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