How to Get Rid of Harshness in a Mix?
Let me ask you a question: Have you ever mixed a song that’s almost finished, compared it to a commercial pro mix and found out there’s harshness in your mix? Your mix is not as pleasing to the ears as the pro mix you’re comparing it to. This is a common problem, as our ears are so easily adaptable when mixing. It’s not that easy to spot the harshness, unless you reference a commercial professional mix from similar genre.
In this quick video I’m going to show you what you could to do in such a situation to fix a harsh mix quickly.
Referencing is the key to notice the harshness in the first place. When you encounter such a situation, EQing with a narrow Q is a quick fix to tame those nasty frequencies. Sweep around with a boost to hear the harsh frequencies and cut them down.
You could also use wider Q, but it’s a good idea to cut only few dBs in that situation, so you’re not cutting too much. Bypass EQ, compare to the commercial professional mix and judge your EQ moves based on that. The less you cut, the better, because every EQ cut or boost will make the mix less natural. Try to keep it subtle.
Probably the best way to hear the nasty frequencies, is to use a mono speaker, like Auratone C5 or Behringer C50A. These speakers reveal the problems in the middle spectrum like nothing else, as they don’t playback any of the low or high end. If you don’t have one, have no fear, you will hear the harsh frequencies with a pair of studio speakers just fine. Just remember to reference and listen in more than one place with more than one listening system.
Hopefully you found this video helpful. If there’s anything you want me to cover in the future videos let me know. Send me an email or leave a comment below. Ask if there’s anything unclear or if I left something out. Cheers!
