[LAD] Half-OT: Fader mapping - was - Ardour MIDI tracer

[Ralf Mardorf]

On Fri, 22 Aug 2014 09:29:30 +0200, John Rigg <ladev8 at jrigg.co.uk> wrote:
> Ralf, please stop dictating how others should work. I've been recording  
> in studios for 35 years and I like to think I know what I'm doing. Not  
> everyone who has different working methods from yours is an idiot, but  
> that seems to be what you are implying.

Hi John,

you claimed that you know how to record right in the first place, so that  
you don't need EQs for the mixing, that's why you claimed that EQs by  
default for each mixer channel could be a nuisance. You might have the  
gift to know how the frequencies will interact for the mix, already when  
doing the mix, but that is a very unusual gift. It's common for good audio  
engineering that EQs and faders are the basic tools for mixing.
I confirmed Fons' piece of information that fades are rare when mixing  
music and the fades you are doing are those rare fades, fates that btw.  
I'm doing too, at least I do similar fades.
The quality of mixes nowadays often suffer from bad engineering, because  
as Fons' pointed out, people tend to add too much effects to a channel, I  
added that one reasons is, that using EQs as a basic tool for a  
transparent mix and to control the dynamic range of a song, nowadays often  
is replaced by using dynamic effects and much usage of fader automation.
I'm not dictating anything, the nature of the interaction of audio signals  
 from several channels, when mixing them to a mono or stereo sum dictates  
us the way we most of the times should do a mix, to get a transparent  
acoustic pattern, with an acceptable dynamic range. Dynamic effects, such  
as a compressor are ok, they are needed, but to use them, EQs are needed  
too and sometimes EQs can replace usage of a compressor, at least for the  
individual channels.
You get me wrong, I'm not implying idiocy. My intention is to point out,  
that young people don't have a chance to learn by trail and error,  
regarding to the odd design of many Linux DAW mixers. Qtractor is one  
piece of software I very often use. Many young people using Linux are  
using it too. It's mixer e.g. doesn't provide post fader aux sends for  
audio, resp. for MIDI the faders are post aux sends, but if you insert an  
effect, it's also post fader and will add noise, even if you use the  
channel at a low volume, IOW the odd design of this mixer and some other  
mixers too, leads to learning how to mix in a wrong way. Learning by trail  
and error only works, when the mixer has got a sane design, as the mixers  
had, when you and I learned audio engineering > 30 years ago.

Regards,
Ralf