Tips & Tricks

4. Tips & Tricks

The Four Essentials for Your Mix

Ensure you can clearly hear these four things:

1. Yourself: Non-negotiable. You must hear your own instrument or voice.
2. Melodic Reference: Usually the lead vocal. Keeping this fairly centered is common practice.
3. Primary Harmonic Reference: Often the keyboard. Standard stereo panning (left/right) usually works well.
4. Tempo Reference: The click track.

Using Tracks and Audience Mics

• Tracks: Often contain pads, synths, etc., that can fill out the sound.
• Audience Mics: Adding these can make your IEM mix feel more live and connected to the congregation. Position them wide in the stereo/3D field.
• Blend these elements carefully to add ambience without obscuring essential information.

General Panning Strategy

• Stereo Sources (Keys, Tracks, Audience Mics): Pan them Left/Right.
• Mono Sources (Vocals, Bass, Kick, Snare): Generally keep these centered or close to center. Pushing vocals slightly forward in the 3D space can help them cut through.
• Drums/Guitars: Use a combination of centered (Kick, Snare, Bass) and panned (Toms, Overheads, Guitars) elements.

Protect Your Hearing

• The main goal of using KLANG’s 3D space effectively is to achieve clarity at lower overall volumes. Always be mindful of your listening level.

Find What Works for You

• While these are guidelines and common practices, experiment to find the mix settings that work best for your specific needs and preferences.