Mixing
Frequency masking, the main cause of muddy mixes
Why an instrument disappears when another plays, and how to give it back its place without turning it up.
The Hearwise team · · 1 min read
Every instrument sounds great alone, but together everything turns confused: the guitar vanishes behind the piano, the bass drowns in the kick. This has a name: masking.
What happens
When two sounds occupy the same frequencies at the same time, the louder makes the quieter hard to perceive. Masking is stronger the closer the sounds are in frequency, and it spreads more upwards than downwards.
The wrong reflex
Turning the masked sound up. It reappears for a moment, then masks something else in turn, and the mix gets louder and more confused. The problem is not level, it is space.
Making room
- Slightly cut the other instrument in the shared area rather than boosting the one that is missing.
- Remove unnecessary lows from instruments that do not need them, with a high-pass filter.
- Separate sounds in space (panning) or in time (arrangement).
- For kick and bass, decide which owns the sub-bass and which owns the bass.
The right test: the masked sound gets clearer without getting louder. If you have to turn it up to hear it, the room is not made yet.