Cue Mix Setup Recording

Cue mixes provide customized monitoring for performers during recording, delivering personalized balance of instruments, vocals, click, and effects that helps them perform optimally. Proper cue mix setup significantly impacts take quality.

Understanding Cue Mixes

A cue mix is a separate mix sent to performer headphones, independent of the control room monitoring. What the engineer hears while mixing differs from what the performer hears while recording.

Different performers may need different cue mixes. A vocalist might want more reverb and less drums, while the drummer needs prominent click and bass. Multiple cue sends address these differing needs.

The cue mix’s purpose is supporting performance rather than representing the final mix. Sounds that help performers stay in tune, keep time, and feel comfortable take priority over mix accuracy.

Basic Cue Mix Elements

Essential elements include backing tracks or guide instruments that provide harmonic and rhythmic context. The performer needs to hear what they’re playing with.

Click track often appears in cue mixes for timing reference. Click level depends on performer preference and the musical context.

The performer’s own signal must be audible for them to monitor their performance. Vocalists need to hear their voice; instrumentalists need to hear their instrument.

Building the Cue Mix

Starting with backing track playback establishes the foundation. Setting basic levels of drums, bass, and harmonic instruments provides musical context.

Adding click track at an appropriate level helps performers maintain timing. Some prefer prominent click while others want just enough to reference.

Including the performer’s own input, either through direct monitoring or software path, completes the basic cue mix. This self-monitoring should be prominent enough for clear pitch and timing assessment.

Effects in Cue Mixes

Reverb in the cue mix helps vocalists feel comfortable singing. Completely dry monitoring feels unnatural and can inhibit performance. The reverb doesn’t need to record; it only needs to help the performer.

Other effects like delay or compression may help specific performers. These monitoring effects serve performance psychology rather than the recording itself.

Sends to reverb and delay buses can feed cue mixes without printing to the recording. The performer hears processed monitoring while the recording captures clean signal.

Multiple Cue Mixes

Professional sessions often require multiple different cue mixes. The vocalist, drummer, bassist, and guitarist may each want personalized monitoring.

Interface outputs and headphone amplifiers multiply available cue sends. A four-output interface could provide two stereo cue mixes or one stereo and two mono.

Creating additional cue mixes requires auxiliary sends in the DAW. Each send routes its own balance to a separate output feeding different headphones.

Personal Cue Mix Control

Performer-controlled cue mixing lets musicians adjust their own balance. Personal mixer systems like Aviom, Hear Technologies, or budget alternatives provide this capability.

Each performer receives individual control over their own mix while the engineer maintains overall session control. This approach reduces “more me” requests during sessions.

Personal mixing systems require appropriate infrastructure including network distribution or multiple direct feeds from the interface or console.

Communication During Recording

Talkback allows the engineer to speak to performers through their headphones. This communication capability is essential for directing sessions.

Talkback routing sends the control room microphone signal to the cue outputs. A footswitch or button typically controls when talkback is active.

Clear talkback at appropriate level ensures communication works. Testing talkback as part of session setup prevents communication frustration during recording.

Troubleshooting Cue Issues

Common cue problems include feedback, insufficient level, wrong balance, and technical routing issues.

Feedback usually indicates talkback routing problems or headphone bleed into live microphones. Reducing headphone level or adjusting routing resolves most feedback.

Insufficient level may require gain adjustment in the cue send path or higher headphone amplifier output. Performers shouldn’t struggle to hear their monitoring.