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I'm amassing a collection of tunes, getting to around album length. Started exporting all channels separately and experimenting with different stereo arrangements, mixing, etc.
Just curious if anyone has any tips/tricks they like.
Last edited by sleepytimejesse (Jun 23, 2013 4:07 pm)
editing and bumping because I'm still experimenting with this and would love some input.
So far I'm exporting all tracks separately (famitracker; sq1 sq2 tri noi dpcm) and then cutting them up and arranging different things in different places in the stereo mix.
For example, say there's a lead in sq1 but for one second it's an arp chord instrument, I switch that bit to a little stereo left or something.
I just can't find the right balances, it's easy to make things hollow. I have experience mixing but with chip it's proving delicate so far. Just hoping to get some words of wisdom from anyone who has prior experience dealing with the 8-bit.
So, shot in the dark again, anyone have any tips to make this sound more natural? I know I've heard albums that have done this successfully (danimal cannon and blitz lunar come to mind).
i have had a lot of fun splitting 1 signal to 2 channels. it seems more dynamic.
Thanks to 8-bit music's channel restrictions, if you have, say, a pulse drum interrupting some square wave arps on the same channel, those two things aren't overlapping, so you don't have to worry about panning them to different places. In fact, I've found that doing so leaves a noticeable hole in that section of panorama where the arps are. I'd leave any channel interrupts like that in the same place as the rest of that channel, to help cover those channel interrupt tricks.
I've been working on a vocal album which requires me to mix everything independently to make room. I'm panning one square full left, one square full right, and the others to taste. I'd recommend the triangle for the center to fill up that bassy element. It sounds simple, but it really cleared up a lot of space and made everything pop.
I do also use a lot of very brief panning switches to act as fill for arps or delay in the noise channel, but I'm doing that through LSDJ, and not in post.
It depends on what you will do with the mix. Sometimes it's fun to make it sound like a Beatles record (hard pan only,) sometimes it makes everything weird. There are no rules.
As there seems to be a similar thread dealing with a variation of the topic, if you leave the channels dead center and mono, I find the best ways to create illusion of sound in a space without ruining the original is a very subtle, carefully eq'd reverb (and maybe a delay.)
i usually like to significantly reduce the panning in my final mixes, sometimes drop straight down to mono... more often i'll pan each channel to just 20-30 degrees left or right of center on my mixers
Okay, thanks guys. I was trying to keep the signal dry but I'll experiment with a little reverb, maybe that's what will help conquer this. If anyone else has anything by all means, still looking for anything that's good. Especially before I officially start mixing.
@EvilWezil
I'm jealous of LSDj's panning capabilities. I might have to track down a dmg and actually try my hand at it soon. I love fami and sunvox but the smallness of lsdj deters me.
@e.s.c.
I know what you mean, I usually like to stick around the 12-30 degree mark on either side if anything at all. Sometimes mono just does it good.