Topic: Making matrixes

[shill88]

i want to make more matrixes, but i don't want to step on toes or put out shit products. would anyone that knows what theyre doing (moreso than me anyways) care to show me the ropes?

i use adobe audition 3.0 for my audio work, fwiw

also, i dont have an audio major or anything, but i know a few things, i think i have a pretty good ear & i pay good attention to details.

[shill88]

my fault, i missed the sticky literally right above my thread pertaining to matrixes.

apologies

[su6oxone]

i want to make more matrixes, but i don't want to step on toes or put out shit products.

Are you making matrices from your own tapes or using other's recordings? 

[shill88]

i want to make more matrixes, but i don't want to step on toes or put out shit products.

Are you making matrices from your own tapes or using other's recordings?

others, but permissions have been requested

[shill88]

ok, so the matrix guideline seemed to be more for actually recording a matrix mix, rather than mixing them after the fact.

my questions are basically about how much of a ratio should i use between the AUD and the SBD.  is it all preference?  are there standards?

also, what are people's thoughts on hard limiting, even when keeping clipping under 0.1%?

[SmokinJoe]

Most of my matrixes end up being about 50/50 AUD/SBD.  Sometimes a little more one way or the other depending on the flavor of the room.   If the SBD feed is just vocals and kickdrum, then 3db more AUD then SBD.  If it's a solo acoustic thing, sometimes 6db more SBD than AUD.

[batchain]

I generally start with the AUD and add just enough of the SBD to clean up the vocals. Often, in a larger the club with everything running through the SBD, I may do the reverse and add in just enough AUD to lend a wetter/livelier sound. Good points by SmokinJoe. Very close to what I end up doing most times.  It's all what sounds right to you, as tastes vary, but I personally hate dry SBD only recordings.

[su6oxone]

I generally start with the AUD and add just enough of the SBD to clean up the vocals.

Also what I do.  One thing I don't like about a lot of people's matrices are overwhelming vocals, and so I try to avoid that when I mix sources together.  I usually end up with about 60% AUD and 40% SBD. 

[gratefulphish]

As noted, the AUD to SBD ratio is going to be dependant on a lot of external factors, such as whether some/all of the instruments are miked, how good the room PA sounds in general, how hot things like the kick drum and other instruments are in the SBD, how "chatty" the room was with reference to where your mics were, and many other things.  It really comes down to what you think sounds best.  Some recordings only need a little SBD to bring up vocal clarity, and others need a lot more help, if the room sound or mic location were not optimal.

You may want to consider some compression on the SBD, particularly if the kick drum (and/or keys) are way hotter than the vocals.  Otherwise, you will be stuck with a potentially overbearing kick when you are just trying to get some vocal reinforcement.