Learning to hear tonality

Perhaps the most basic and complex topic in audio is tone. You'll often hear musicians, especially electric guitarists, talking about the pursuit of the perfect tone in their craft and equipment.

As an audio engineer, you must think as an artist and musician. Your tone is your craft. The only job you have is to capture, treasure, and deliver tones that make the message come alive. With the turn of a knob, slip of a fader, or bumb of a button you have the unique power to ruin the entire mix and message. And while many individuals mixing understand we don't want to screw it up,  many of us don't realize that delivering a subpar mix is nearly the same error.

Let's be critical and deliberate of our mixes. When you hear the vocals, what tones and color (think technicolor landscape) should it convey? Warm and smooth, airy and crisp, thick and bold? Whatever the tone is, make sure you can describe it with absolute clarity. What makes that musician's voice so unique? What makes his vocal presence energize and connect with the audience? In many ways, you will be unable to get the sound you want until you can clearly identify the characteristics of your lead vocalist's unique voice. The tone you are pursuing is everything. Once you have a clear vision for how your lead vocalist will sound you will be able to make a space for their voice to live comfortably in your mix.

There is a constant balancing of tones that occurs in mixing which can make the novice feel like a tug of war when more than 6 channels are in the mix. In order to help each element sit properly in a mix, you must clearly understand the range of tones that each instrument and vocal contributes to the mix and the the unique tones that must be accentuated. Not all tones are equal, and sometimes you will need to constrain the dynamics of some instruments so they do not overwhelm others. You can't begin this process though, until you can clearly hear and describe the tone of each element in the mix.

Bass

The bass tends to be a rich and bold flavor. You want punch, but in most worship venues you want the punch to come from mid-low frequencies, not a huge push on 100hz and lower. If you think about the tone of the bass, the shape and punch come not only in the energy of the low end, but actually mostly from the 700-1000hz range that gives the sound shape. This is why you can feel the energy of a kick drum in a well mastered mix without the use of a subwoofer.

Acoustic Guitars

Acoustic guitars often sit differently in mixes depending on how they are used in the band. Some acoustic guitars are front and center in the mix, with warm thickness and color. Other mixes may prioritize the strumming and high end of the guitar as simply a fill, while the synth, electric guitar, and keys take the lead roles. It is important to understand what the team leader(s) want for their instruments and learn how to deliver a balanced response. There will almost always be a compromise in reaching expectations.

Electric Guitars

Electric guitars and keys are very unique in the amount of dynamic control the artists on stage have over their mixes. Learning to communicate with the team about their mixes and what sounds good is a very important skill for audio engineers. You are part of the team, and developing the relationships and trust to take feedback and offer suggestions with the band is critical to achieving the tone you want. Electric guitars normally take either lead roles or rhythm roles. Lead guitarists need to be able to punch through a mix with middle-high tones without overwhelming the rest of the mix or leaving it shallow when the lead lines or solo is finished. Rhythm guitarists need to provide warmth and texture to the mix without filling it so completely that other instruments like the synth, acoustic guitar, and bass have trouble breathing. You want to shape the tone of the rhythm guitar so that it adds texture and support to the mix without overwhelming the other elements.

Backing Vocals

Backing vocals normally take a back seat to the lead vocalist. They should be mixed under the lead vocalist to support and provide shape to their voice. While the tone of a vocalist may seem preset, your EQ and even compression settings have a huge impact on their final contour. For those with processing freedom, the use of parallel compression and side-chain compression can be extremely powerful in placing and shaping your vocals. The biggest names in the audio industry use these tools along with other processors, such as excitors, to deliver punchy vocals. These tool are often used in post production, so learning to use them in a live mix takes plenty of practice and fine tuning.

Drums

Drums fill the entire audio spectrum and the tones involved are highly complex. Simply tuning a drum set is a skill and reflects the musician's preferences and taste. Because the drums can be explosive in their energy, it is mission critical to determine the tones that you want from your drum kit before you begin mixing. You will need to use mic placement, mic type, compression, and EQ to dial in the tones that you want. For the seasoned engineer, reverbs can be used to further enhance the sound of the cymbals and snare in specific sections. Providing a rich sensation of depth and texture. 

Listen, listen, listen. 

Listen to the drums in the most popular bands. Listen to a variety of mixes for drums and focus on describing the differences of the tones in detail and clarity. Remember that your ears are your greatest tool. No amount of complexity or simplicity in equipment can replace the power of well trained ears. No amount of presets can replace the dynamics and energy that a highly motivated and focused engineer can bring to a sonic message. Truly delivering the absolute best live mixes requires an attention to detail and song dynamics that most engineers only experience during post-production editing in studio work. If you are seeking an album like quality, you must approach your live mix like you would do in the studio. This does not require pure isolation of all sounds and the discarding of floor wedges, but it does require exceptional attention to detail and focus at every step of your mix. More on this in another article on live mixing...

Reverb & Delay

Reverb and delay add a warmth to a mix that your ears crave. Literally, a mix properly seasoned with reverb is a sound you just can't get enough of. Listen to the tone of reverb and delay and consider how they shape the 3D stereophonic shape of your mix. Brighter reverb that lacks a clear edge and low end will give the feel of a distant sound, while more earthy reverb will give the feeling of being outside a rock hall or close in proximity to the sound's origin. The delay and duration settings for reverb and delay can also be used to enhance the perceived depth of your mix. Apply it uniquely to different channels, and you can help separate tones in your stereo mixing. Finally, reverb must be carefully controlled in order to not muddy the mix and loose clarity as needed. See my article on reverb & delay for a detailed discussion of crafting the sound you crave.

Placement in Stereo Mixes

The balance of  your left and right channels in a stereo mix are extremely influential in creating a 3D shape. Next time you listen to music, work hard to distinguish the sounds in the left track from the right track. Vocals, bass, and kick are normally mixed to the center channel, while instruments are placed across the spectrum to add depth and separation in tones. There is a certain level of clarity that is unique in a stereo mix due to this separation of instruments. One trick is to take similar sounding instruments, or even duplicating a track, and applying slightly different EQ on the right and left channels. The slight difference in EQ delivers a perceived depth and contrast that our ears often love.

Giving an Ear to Feedback

Finally, a note on feedback. Feedback occurs at a main frequency and then resonates throughout harmonics of either 2x or 3x multiples. When you hear feedback, listen to its tone. If it is a bright sounding feedback, your mic is directly in line with a speaker. Because of the way lower tones wrap around objects, the lower the tone, the more likely it is that the mic is not directly in line with the speaker it is looping with. 

The advanced theory of frequencies, harmonics, speaker placement, and phasing will be tackled in another article. While your mix controls the tones leaving your mixer, your speakers and room setup control how your tones enter your venue.