Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 13

Frequency-Selective Dynamics

Chapters 9 and 10 demonstrated various ways to handle time-domain balance problems, and Chapters 11 and 12 focused on frequency-domain issues. Although those techniques alone may be enough to deliver you a workable balance, usually at least one instrument will remain that can’t be persuaded to maintain its proper place in the mix by these means. This is because some balance problems cannot be overcome unless you process both the time and frequency domains at once. To put it another way, not one of the processing methods we’ve discussed so far is much use against a dynamic-range problem that exists only at high frequencies—a normal dynamics processor’s gain reduction won’t target that frequency region ...