via HomeTracked.com

I keep a collection of audio samples designed to help check my monitor setup. Test tones, essentially, that I use after I’ve moved my speakers or desk, to ensure the speakers still behave as they should.

I’ve included 4 of the samples below, and I hope you find them useful - and possibly enlightening. Each tests a facet of the two most common monitoring problems in home studios: Uneven bass response, and poor stereo imaging.

Sine wave sweep

Contents: A sine wave sweeping from 40Hz to 300Hz.
Use this to test for: Bass response, sympathetic vibrations.

Unless you’re outdoors, or listening on headphones, you’ll notice the volume rising and falling as the audio plays. That’s normal, although the level doesn’t actually change. (Open the MP3 in your DAW to confirm this.) Rather, you’re exposing the acoustic response of your room.

Use this test as a rough gauge of how extreme the acoustic issues are in your space. (You can flatten the response somewhat, but acoustic treatment is a topic unto itself. For some more information, check the quick backgrounder on home studio acoustics.)

Additionally, the sweep can expose low-frequency dependent rattles, buzzes, or other sympathetic vibrations happening in the area around you. With this test, I once discovered the casing on an overhead light shook at exactly 140Hz, after puzzling with a mix for 15 minutes, unable to isolate the odd rattling sound.

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I just found this helpful tutorial from The Whipping Post

And here is a basic overview of the tips:
1: Use MONO Sound Sources
2: Rest your ears
3: Keep the bass and kick panned dead center
4: Use EQ to cut, not boost
5: Fix frequency masking problems
6: EQ boosting also boosts your volume — keep this in mind when setting relative levels
7: Subtle effects are most effective — contrast is key
8: Use noise gates strategically, and before reverb
9: Cut off unnecessary frequencies, especially low rumble below 30-40hz
10: Avoid mixing with headphones

from hometracked.com

We’ve all experienced it: 3 seconds into a track you’ve never heard, you know instinctively that it was recorded and mixed in someone’s bedroom.

Amateur recordings often sound “amateur.” But what differentiates these hometracked opuses from professional recordings? It’s not just fidelity or sonic quality: Many competent engineers produce lo-fi or distorted mixes on purpose, when it suits the song. Rather, amateur recordings tend to share some key traits, telltale signs that the mixing and recording are the work of a novice.

You can learn to recognize and address these traits in your own recordings, and produce more polished, professional mixes:

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adapted from http://www.kubton.com/eq.html

I have read comments that compression is the most misunderstood audio process but I really think it is equalization. It might be the most over and under used audio processing tool at the same time. What complicates the matter is factors intrinsic to our humanity. We perceive different frequencies different ways. Some frequencies will sound louder or quieter than their actual volume. This is why some audio hardware has a “loudness” button. Most people will try to improve sounds by boosting frequencies. But EQ is a sculpting process. The best result will be attained by boosting and cutting. You can accentuate one frequency by reducing another frequency , and it not make the sound muddy. Following is a basic overview of the spectrum of audible frequencies.

20-40hz: Edge of human range of unwanted rumble often complete removed.
40-80hz: Sub-bass or “feel” of bass. Can add low end kick or over power mix. Is not produced by small speakers..
80-250hz: Bass 100-200hz can be boosted to add fullness or cut to reduce boomy sounds.
250-600hz: Fullness or some vocals and percussion. The cardboard box sound of kick drum is around 300-400hz.
600-4khz: Midrange all too easy to add mud. 800hz is where the “cheap” sound comes from. 2k-4khz is where the attack of most percussion and some other instruments reside.
4-6khz: The “presence” range that determines how far out in front of the mix vocals sound. Can easily become grating.
7khz: The nasty realm of sibilance, the unwanted “s” hiss
8-20khz: This is the range of “air” or “brilliance”, and its presence adds sparkle.
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adapted from the iZotope Ozone guide to mastering.

UPDATE: This article is merely a brief introduction. Here are a few links to check out for more detailed information:

• TweakHeadz Guide to Mastering in the Home Studio
• WikiPedia entry on Audio Mastering

Mastering most commonly means the final step in the recording process, before the music goes off to be pressed into CD or vinyl format. It is a process that involves creating consistency among all of the tracks on an album so that they fit cohesively. This process is typically carried out by skilled audio engineers who have very trained ears. All record companies employ professionals who master all material, even if the mixing is spot on.

It is important to note that mixing and mastering are worlds apart. Recording and mixing all occur within the sequencer of choice, but mastering is applied to an audio file that is already mixed down, outside of the sequencer. My personal favorite choice of mastering tools is izotope ozone, because they offer the tools you will need: equalizer, reverb, multiband compression, volume maximization, stereo imaging, and harmonic excitation.

More and more today, bedroom producers are emerging, and they are taking on many roles, including songwriters, producers, recording engineers, and they are even mastering their own material. When you are on a tight budget, it’s impossible to afford the high prices of mastering services, so many of you would like to learn to master on your own. However, mastering is best when it is done by someone other than the producer, because you as a producer are too close to your own music. You won’t notice things that another pair of ears will notice, and therefore you may improperly master your own material without realizing it. If it’s possible, always get someone else to master your music. That being said, if you’re not going to get your music professionally mastered, at least learn how to mix and apply mastering effects to get the best sound possible.

First, what’s wrong with my song?

• It’s not loud enough. It sounds wimpy next to other CDs. Turning it up or mixing down at a higher level doesn’t solve the problem. It sounds louder, but not, well LOUDER.
• It sounds dull. Other CDs have a sparkle that cuts through with excitement. You try boosting the EQ at high frequencies, but now your song just sounds harsh and noisy.
• The instruments and vocals sound thin. Commercial songs have a fullness that you know comes from some sort of compression. So you patch in a compressor and turn some controls. Now the whole mix sounds squashed. The vocal might sound fuller, but the cymbals have no dynamics.
• The bass doesn’t have punch. You boost it with some low-end EQ, but that just sounds louder and muddier. Not punchier.
• You can hear all the instruments in your mix, and they all seem to have their own “place” in the stereo image, but the overall image sounds wrong. Your other CDs have width and image that you can’t seem to get from panning the individual tracks.
• You had reverb on the individual tracks, but it just sounds like a bunch of instruments in a bunch of different spaces. Your other CDs have a sort of cohesive space that brings all the parts together. Not like rooms within a room, but a “sheen” that works across the entire mix.

Don’t worry. It’s not that you’re doing anything wrong. There are just some things you still need to do to get that “sound”. You just need the right tools and an understanding of how to use them. You won’t become Bob Ludwig overnight (or probably ever) but you can make dramatic improvements in your master recordings with a little work.

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Here’s a handy PDF chart that will show you the frequency ranges of different instruments, and how to EQ them to achieve certain sounds. Includes: Kick drum, snare, hi hats/cymbals, bass, vocals, piano, electric guitar, strings, and acoustic guitar
(from Computer Music Magazine)

Imagine each moment of your stereo track as a box with three dimensions: Panning (left and right), Amplitude (volume) & Frequency. This box represents any given moment in time. Keep in mind that each instrument has a unique sonic footprint, or is composed of certain sets of frequencies. These varying frequencies can range in how far they span across the spectrum. In order to achieve a full, loud sound like the pros, you must fill this box in each dimension. The most common thing that prevents amateurs from getting a full sound is not filling this box properly. They combine sounds that overlap each other too far, which forces them to lower the volume of the song to prevent clipping (remember, the height of this box, or the volume/amplitude, cannot exceed a certain limit. Once it does, you will get distorted sounds, this is known as clipping). In order to maximize volume, it’s necessary to designate space inside this box to each element so that they all fit nicely together.

For a more detailed tutorial on this subject, check out this tutorial by tweakheadz

After hours of listening to the same track over and over, your ears will probably get exhausted. You will begin to lose your ability to mix the track properly. Take a break from your mix if you can. Sleep on it, and come back to it a day or two later. I guarantee you will hear things or notice things you wouldn’t have before. There’s nothing that can help you mix a track quite like distancing yourself from it for a while.