What is your take on using pink noise in a mix?

[bearsome]

I recently went to a lecture about musicproduction tips & tricks and the lecturer sidetracked a little bit and talked about using pink noise or even white noise in your mix to make it sound louder.

Now, i didn't fully understand this concept and i can't find anything on it on the web so i thought i'd try here.

So, What's your take on this? Have you tried it? Does it work? How do you do it? and so on..

I'm currently working on a deathmetal mix and i thought i'd try this technique here so any tips & tricks are more than welcome.

Thanks

[Jazz Noise]

It's like a DC offset on your eardrum. The eardrum is more or less always away from the 0 point, so it seems as if the music is very loud. It's also a very fatigueing experience, in my view.

[bearsome]

i can imagine that it is fatiguing for the ears but on the other hand, i have hi gain, distorted metal guitars and i'm imagening that it blends kinda well.

But, how do i implement this in my pro tools session, do i generate a pink noise and automate it up and down for loud places in the mix? what frequensies is desirable?

[enginefire]

imaging the desired sound you want to blend with the guitar and then make it (or find it and sample it and loop). really clean noise doesnt really sound like much, they use it at high frequencies to chase off rodents and other animals.

[ripple_fx1]

Using it on a deathmetal mix to fill in any cracks in the audible spectrum may indeed make the mix sound louder. A mix with dynamic range and/or subtle elements would only suffer. If only there were a volume knob....

[Radardoug]

When the music is so boring or mindnumbingly loud that you have to add pink noise to it, don't you think it's time you got out of the music business?

[enginefire]

I am just started to record some metal bands... I like their music because they can play. they dont need to overdub or track instruments one by one because of a lack of proficiency on their instruments or not knowing their songs (we will probably still overdub a lot of tracks for thickness!).

I really hope that with some thought and care I can get a record out of them that wont need this pink noise "trick" to sound loud and in the genre.

You might try doubling all the tracks and using parallel compression to increase the perceived volume, and playing with the panning to increase the output of certain sounds.

Personally, when their is a pause or break in the song, I want that quiet to be dead quiet!

when i get the tracking done and am mixing, I will give the pink noise a try just to see and to be able to judge for myself.

[GMK]

Some people listen to pink/white noise for a minute or 2 while doing a mix, It can have the effect of "resetting" the frequency response of your ear. To be honest I haven't looked into the scientific basis for this, I try it myself a bit though!

[living sounds]

I like Clearmountain's trick of pulling noise up now and then while mixing to see if anything sticks out of the mix and get it more even overall. Kinda like listening to music while driving, with a good mix you still hear all the elements despite the noise because they are balanced out well.

Other than that adding noise to percussive elements like snare drums can work in certain situations.

[NYCruiser]

C'mon…..isn't it all really noise when we get right down to it.

[CHAOS]

I like using pink or white noise for swells for transitions...it creates drama and also a palette cleanser of sorts before the next change in the song.

Pretty typical use, but if used sparingly effective.

[talon]

white/pink noise used with a noise gate triggered by a snare or other sounds can be effective too.

[stinkyfingers]

Pink sucks...
i avoid Pink's noise...
i prefer Jack White's noise...

[Boschen]

Originally Posted by talon

white/pink noise used with a noise gate triggered by a snare or other sounds can be effective too.

This is a clever technique when used well, and offers lots of options to play with....

I've also heard of folks using white or pink noise to correct or nudge cymbal and snare hits around. Maybe follow it with a transient shaper...

[Jim Williams]

With all these solutions, it's hard to believe folks went into studios decades ago and just played.

"Noise, noise?, we don't need no stinkin' NOISE!"

[NYCruiser]

I put all kinds of noise on my tracks..........