Better Arrangements = Better Mixes

Excerpted from: Production Expert’s “Want To Improve Your Mixes And The Ones You Get Sent? Read This Now” - by Russ Hughes https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/

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The Arrangement

   The arrangement has several purposes, the use of it for dynamics is beneficial. Still, a more important one is to give, in the case of modern music, a much better shape.

   In storytelling and movie making we call this the narrative arc. William Wittman; "I think the biggest mistake I hear is that balances tend to be too democratic. I talk a lot about what I call the spotlight which is if you're watching the singers sing the verse you want your attention spotlight is on the singer. Then when it comes to a little pause what do I want you to turn your attention to? Do I want you to hear the little guitar break before the singer comes back, in or is it a drum fill?

   What's the thing that should be grabbing your attention and the mix should be focusing your intention purposefully on that thing at any given moment. I hear an awful lot of mixes [arrangements] where it seems to me they've decided every single element should be equally audible and in your face at the same time and it ends up just sounding like a bit of a musical mush."

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   An article on arrangement would be remiss not to include perhaps one of the finest musical arrangers of modern times, the genius who was Nelson Riddle. Famous for his work with Sinatra, Riddle was the master.

   Many of Sinatra's recordings were a full big band but technically limited by the number of tracks available on tape, which of course meant not many mics and him to capture. We could list hundreds of examples, but here's one example of his magic. Listen to [“I’ve Got The World On A String”] and how the instruments both in terms of when they play and the range they play weave around the vocal so there's always a sense of energy, but the voice is still centre stage.

What the examples also demonstrate is that these songs were figured out as a band. I was talking to a live sound engineer, and he was telling me how often he can be struggling to make a sound great, and then the next band appear on stage, and the mix sounds fantastic. The difference he said was they [the band] had figured out that all playing at the same time doesn't work.

How To Improve Your Mixes

One of the downsides of modern recording, especially self-production at home is that we don't have the benefit of having other players to work out an arrangement with, so in many cases, we throw the kitchen sink at a track, and it sounds a mess.

Ironically, what this approach requires is for one to become a producer, a term so many think is all about technology, but the best producers are the ones who can take a idea and take it from beginning to end to bring the very best out of it.

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So some quick tips:

  • If you work with a band or write in a duo figure out your parts before you get into the studio. Don’t arrive and expect the engineer to become a producer as is often the case. They want to give you the best they can but they can’t if you haven’t put in the work first!

  • If you work on your own then consider collaborating with other people who can help you with drums, bass, guitars, synths.
    Whatever your genre, having a second set of ears at the writing/arranging stage can make a huge difference.

  • If you are self-producing then avoid the temptation to over-produce, less really is more if you have a great song in the first place.

  • As a last resort if you get sent a track that suffers from a poor arrangement try and talk to the client and ask them to consider re-arranging it to make the song better. It’s a high-risk strategy but do you just want to mix and get paid or do you want to create music that sounds great?

In conclusion, if you want to improve your mixes, then - start with the arrangement!

   It's a 'prevention is better than cure' approach that avoids having to try and fix-it-in-the-mix, because in all honesty by the time you come to mix, at best it will be hard to fix and at worst impossible.

Excerpted from:
Production Expert’s “Want To Improve Your Mixes And The Ones You Get Sent? Read This Now” - by Russ Hughes

https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/