1 Step To Louder & Cleaner Mixes with Marc Daniel Nelson

[@Producelikeapro]

What do YOU do to get cleaner mixes? Share your mixing tips and tricks with me below!

[@Johnscompany]

I take many care of gain stagin, sidechain proces, high passing. Saturación is your friend. Compresion its your friend. And all the stuff that I've learned from my friend warren.

[@Johnscompany]

@@stanleyc6225 i see the same.

[@daniel.lopresti]

I recently realised how effective mid-side processing on the master bus can really clean/clear things out for vocals, snare etc. to punch through the center.

[@rudolfbaethge282]

I try to have a good phase correlation on the low end. I try..... :)

[@LightsandMotion]

dip 300khz :)

[@nicholasbohannan1673]

Marc, you’ve helped me improve my mixing by 90%.. I really sucked bad at mixing but now I just suck! What an incredible human being and a legend in my book. I hope I get the privilege of meeting you someday! Thank you so much for what you do sir! 🙏🏻

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic! Yes, Marc Rules!!

[@GoodxJ]

which course or videos of his helped you the most ?

[@violetnoise3956]

Marc = instant click!

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes!! Absolutely

[@samkenny3075]

Agreed

[@jonathanbyrdmusic]

Yep

[@carminbhe1592]

Literally me this exact moment then saw this comment 🤣

[@KarasamaBeats]

I swear to God , same with me haha

[@Bring_MeSunshine]

Where have WE been!! Where have you been, Marc? It's great to see you back, and with another great insight. For that reason, we'll forgive you. But don't let it happen again, right? Top flight, bro

[@peteranders6893]

Now I've seen it done 100 different ways. I've tried it myself 100 way, but this is the first time someone was able to explain it this well and allowed me to actually hear what is being taken out in this way. Every time Marc Daniel Nelson has a video on here, it's a complete revelation. It's unbelievable how good this guy is.

[@roomofidiots]

Also, adding a small amount of midrange saturation with something like fab filter Saturn is great for giving a bit more loudness. Genre dependent of course, but can really help elevate the track.

[@Producelikeapro]

Great tip! Agreed

[@brycebryant85]

Yes I recently started doing this and it is superb 👌

[@Producelikeapro]

@@brycebryant85 great stuff!

[@GoodxJ]

how do you go about that, just on the mixbus of whole mix ?

[@pavs8736]

Very neat! Get the loudness bump without sacrificing the details. And a very good choice of music to demonstrate it on clearly. Thanks! PS: I'd like to point out that having had a chance to go back and review multiple videos from Marc, I've observed a constant trend. Aside from all of the videos having useful information and interesting insight, they all have something else in common: be it day or night, smooth piece of instrumental or loud hard rock -- in every video, at no point are both Marc and that dog, that you always see in the background, conscious at the same time! ..Now, I'm not suggesting that only when Marc goes to sleep, does the dog wake up, or that there is any sort of inception-like X-Files activity going on here.. but you're free to draw such conclusions. I merely share an observation 🙃🤫🛸

[@Producelikeapro]

Haha the dog is very happy and very relaxed at home with Marc!

[@pavs8736]

that is indeed a very happy dog in a very comfy studio 👍

[@Producelikeapro]

@@pavs8736 haha indeed!

[@erikzobler]

I instantly like this guy. No fluff > all useful information. He even taught me, (an old dog) some new tricks. And hey, how can you hate on a guy (not that I would, but so many do...) who has a REAL Fairchild AND a TubeTech in his rack over his right shoulder.

[@MoveUpMedia]

I’m a simple man. I see Mark and I hit the like button.

[@AVDRE]

always a pleasure seeing Marc Daniel Nelson on the channel

[@joevining2603]

Great tip. I like how adding the clipper before the limiter helps keep the mix open. With just the limiter, the mix flattened out and lost the open soundstage of the unlimited mix, but the clipper allowed that to be retained.

[@michaeltablet8577]

I am so grateful for all I've learned on this channel! Thank you Marc and thanks again Warren! God bless you all!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much Michael!

[@gcarlson]

Absolute gold mine. It's not just the information, it's the presentation. One small example- having the in/out display while I've got everything running thru my monitors makes it that much easier to experience what Marc is demonstrating. Many other techniques, too. Love it Warren! This channel is a f***ing gold mine.

[@evanfoster9078]

Thank you Marc and greetings from Seattle! Grateful for you and all at Produce Like A Pro!

[@lincolndaviscomposer]

My initial thought on chopping off those transients with the clipper was that it would destroy them and make the track sound flat (like the limiter did when pushed hard) Amazing how it does the exact opposite and gave them more punch.

[@asmarosyoussef]

I always use a clipper before the limiter, it helps maintain at least 70% of the pleasant transient Sometimes i go back to mixes and add clippers to individual tracks or busses and adjust accordingly KClip by Kazrog and StandardClip are my favorite.

[@kelvinfunkner]

WOW! this was uploaded two years ago, and I'm mastering a project today where I totally needed this!!!! I've been using multistage limiting for years (where I use the first one just to lift the level but making sure there's absolutely NO reduction on the meter, and then using the second stage for the bulk of the heavy lifting, but it's never truly sounded great. NOW THIS!!!! This sounds so good! Who knew clipping could actually sound CLEANER in the end lol....such an awesome and timely video for me right now! Thanks so much!

[@antcall6779]

Yessssssss!!!!!!! Marc is back!!!!! It's been too long since a marc vid😁 great as always marc and thanks Warren 🤘

[@qlyde]

Marc has been my favorite since the UAD series he did a few years back, so pumped that Warren has him on here, it’s like a little hidden MDN channel inside Produce like a Pro 🙌🏼

[@MikeHeebz]

What UAD Series did he do & do you have a link to it?! Thanks. =)

[@qlyde]

@@MikeHeebz Road To Vinyl! With Vintage King! I think links will auto delete the comment so you’ll just have to search it

[@MikeHeebz]

@@qlyde Appreciate that. I'll check it out. Thank You! =)

[@tisbonus]

My dude, I truly appreciate and enjoy your vids. That is my motto "...just one more clean db". I find with a balanced mix (not mine, they tend to be all over the place) once you pass 10db lufs or maybe 9.5db lufs is where the mix tends to fold in. Getting below 9db lufs and retaining clarity and punch is difficult for most. Thank you for the insight!

[@mcghmusic]

Best KZbin video of the year. This solved so many problems/questions I've had for such a long time...

[@sodenmac7252]

This video surprised me. My last two plugins on master bus are exactly the same with Marc, and it's how I use the clipper as well. Great tips! Thanks for sharing these!

[@dashobradors]

Every MDN video is pure gold! Love this trick! I’m gonna use it!

[@SmartHobbies]

The “2 plug-in cocktail”. I love it. Thank you for sharing this ingenious idea.

[@liquidaudio_]

Haven't been here in a while but I have just been reminded of how much I enjoy Marc's videos! Love his explanations and his tactics, always very eye opening.

[@fakshen1973]

Such a simple yet powerful trick to have in the toolbox.

[@Producelikeapro]

Marvellous!

[@TheBrianLambert]

Wow, that made an audible difference right away. Great tip!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@charlienelson2395]

Marc is my favorite guest you have on the channel!

[@mindstuff417]

Yes...I went and tested this on a mix I finished today and this def made it fill out more and feel tighter. Great advice...thx!

[@MrZarlton]

Always dropping gems! Thank you.

[@john4157]

Really good mix. The song sounds really 3 dimensional. I like the mix without the limiter

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much John

[@matthewmcclure3181]

Really glad I saw this video. I've been using both of these tools for the past 6 months as the last two plugins on the master bus, but always with StandardCLIP as last in chain. There's a setting called "Final Maximizer - use after Limiter" which is predominantly how I've been applying this plugin. I guess after a while my brain wired to think StandardCLIP is designed to always be used after the Limiter. Complete brain fart... I know. Thanks Marc, I'm going to try applying the approach you just demonstrated.

[@MGtheVisionary3030]

Mr. Nelson...thank you so much. I dig the info, it is informative. What's even Mo'betta is that you eliminate distractions and I can both hear and follow you. I am OCD and I have Misophonia (yeah, look that one up). As a result there are MANY informative videos I cannot even attempt watch do to un-edited mouth noises in addition to annoying presenters who cannot go a sentence without using "And Ummm", "Like", and a myriad of other annoying presentation mistakes. Thank YOU! -mg!

[@n.6548]

How to not like this guy? What an inspiring person and what a genius in the Studio.

[@AdamStachelek]

Incredibly useful technique here. So many limiters have this listen feature. Great tip.

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much! Glad you liked it!

[@jacquelamontharenberg]

This is a great tip Daniel. I can definitely hear what you are doing and will give it a try... I am a smooth jazz producer. To prevent low end mud buildup, I use HP filters on instruments I know will have excessive low end (synthetic, bass, kick etc). And to brighten up I will EQ as necessary. I do not use a limiter on my master mix bus.. During the final mix,, I allow at least -6 db. min to -3 db max to give the mastering Engineer headroom to work with. When I am doing the mastering, I usually use several limiters in-line on the master channel to get my final level.... Thank you

[@jacobcarrisalez2477]

You my friend are very generous! Thank you Marc and thank you Warren.

[@Producelikeapro]

You’re very welcome

[@TerenceKearns]

DEFINITELY more snap on the front of that snare. Wow. Great tip! I need to focus in more on my limiting/clipping game.

[@NateJDrums]

Every video is so useful!! 🙏🏾 Thanks!!!

[@valik-stu]

Glad to see you again! Thank you for your advices

[@jfilbert]

Ever since I heard the Crave EQ in transparent mode I have been on a mission to save my transients. Thanks for this. Gold!

[@paulEmotionalaudio]

Good to see MDN back on the Tubes… interesting useful and snappy as always! ❤️

[@Producelikeapro]

Marvellous!

[@indyawichofficial1346]

Those are some great treasures spilled over here. Great stuff, perfect explanation, ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ advice !

[@stefanwessel6092]

Sometimes a separate Peak and RMS Compressor before limiting can help. For limiting a beast for me is the Limiter6 by Tokyo Dawn Labs. It has 5 Stages and you can do the trick Marc shows here within that plugin. There's a great explanation video by Dan Woran about it. He is THE ONE Plugin explainer of the world for me.

[@mariostresow9755]

Thanks for the calm and profound way to present this method. Greetings from Hamburg, Germany.

[@TheMirolab]

Great Tip that I will try... but as a music lover first, it makes me so sad that we have to do this. The example track clearly sounded better before the limiting, and yet we feel we have to compromise the quality of our music to satisfy the loudness monster. I am soooo tired of bands loving my mixes, only to complain that they're not loud enough. I've been enjoying my 80's CD's for 30 years and they're way quieter than what I'm mixing today.

[@jonathanbyrdmusic]

Neil Young's "Harvest." You gotta turn it up a little but then the emotional impact of the dynamic range is just pure audio magic.

[@JakeyWakey]

I cringe every time someone puts proL on the master. Instant lifelessness. Do yall not get a demo first?

[@JakeyWakey]

To be fair... the clipping trick helps a little.

[@StratsRUs]

And they keep remastering them to stay modern.With varying success.

[@elkolo2857]

Loudness is not gained at mastering or in the mixbuss. Loudness depends on the production and mixing phase. A song with a huge crest factor cannot be loud. Of course putting pro L on a highly dynamic song will not get you far lufs-wise. Saturation, clipping, limiting, compresion on single channels is your friend. But you need to know how/when to use them. And again, a well mixed loud song will always sound better than a super dynamic one. But to get there, you need experience, not just putting Pro L on the master.

[@michaeljarzy2837]

OMG! Marc is emotional! Come together! Right now! Over him!

[@oldmenwithnewguns5997]

One of the greatest tutorials I ever seen. Helped me 100%!

[@erewrw1906]

Absolutely agree. Nice seeing knowledgable person telling us how bad limiting can be. I personally would use a Preamp Distortion plugin instead a Clipper, cause clippers cause a little bit of Earfatigue. We could argue that it would sound best simply without any Limiter-clipper. But im audiophile, so i love a perfectly used Preamp-distortion, on almost anything, on single tracks, or just on the master. Or rather coloring Eqs, wich in the end is the similar thing: Distortion. So: perfection without regards to LUFS would probably been no limiting, or just a tiny bit, cause limiters can be beneficial, they can give the sound an oomph, and like said predominantly i use preampdistortion-color eqs for the same benefitial oomph. That give em sound. Clippers, i never say never. If something hasnt any power at all, i sometimes use clipper, But you get the idea, i like a breeze of limiting, a breeze of Distortion, to bring forward any part in the spectrum, to give it that oomph. PEace

[@LouisLinggandtheBombs]

Fantastic advice as always. The cleanest and most transparent clipping method that I’ve found is just to push Cubase’s channels into the red before routing it to a group track for the next stage of processing. They must have coded the program to try to avoid distortion artifacts at all costs! That method uses one less plugin too! It may well work with other DAWs too!

[@xanderpills]

I'm not a Cubase user, but in a modern DAW and the "32-bit floating point architecture", you can only clip your signal if it comes out clipped from the master output. I doubt there is any clipping happening unless Cubase has some sort of console emulation going on.

[@arshanlakdawalla]

Lovely video and process. Why are advertisements still at a higher level that I need to grab the volume bar instantly?

[@KrystleCarissa11]

He’s back:-)

[@davidtushishvili6938]

thank you Warren for this video ,always looking forward to something new from Daniel. nice trick.

[@BLACKSYNTH]

Clipping is great, I use kclip 3 from Kazrog, especially on my new song I’m working on , on drum bus, some times crunchy bass and things, very sparingly, keeping the input low and just shaving the top a little makes it stand out a little bit whilst also stopping it peaking to high, really does give my master bus limiter less work to do, I have also started making my mix a little more dynamic than I normally would, the end result being able to bring it together more forgivingly.

[@RogerWessel]

Another great tip from Marc ! Thank you !

[@3str]

This makes so much sense it hurts! Thanks for sharing.

[@nogoj5689]

I really enjoy watching watch Daniel Nelson at work is love and passion for shaping and creating a wonderful mix is something that I have as well the information he provides is priceless keep them coming

[@RoryButlerMusic]

Marc's always a great inspiration with these videos! In Reaper I believe you can do this distortion monitoring with any plugin using the Delta setting in the plugin window for those without a limiter with a monitoring option like Pro L!

[@christianbiend4458]

Marc Daniel salut from France you guy inspire me a lot this is gold gem’s

[@sskopintsev]

Make.Mine.Magic

[@G-Doggy]

What a great idea/tip! I wonder if using a multiband clipper would be even better on the way in, to get a more surgical clip. I've never used one, but see they exist. Definitely trying this. Thank you!

[@J-DUB-F1]

Really good demo of this technique. I've really been trying to understand better, the relationship between limiters and clippers. The order you use them in a mastering chain is something I'm trying to dial in....also where a compressor comes into the picture. I wish more limiters featured a solo preview 1-1 feature like the Pro L2.

I love these Marc videos! He's such a chill guy.

[@reziahamed9255]

Mark... You are always the BEST !! Never thought you'd be using standard clip being a pretty old plugin. ... Thanks a bunch to Marc & Warren for all these goodies.... !! :)

[@Joey-rp5vg]

Great video Mark. Thanks very much

[@flyoverfredusa]

just absolutely the best teacher

[@rothouse]

just as an info: Limitless, the Limiter from DMG AUdio has a very versatile built in Clipper before of the limiting stage !

[@erikkroll2154]

Thank you Marc and Warren!

[@RyanMcMusic]

Wow, this is a great demo, I face this issue all the time- definitely need to try this!

[@AlexeySolovievMusic]

Wonderful video! love all videos with Marc on this channel! Thank you so much Marc and Warren

[@cadolar]

Marc, thanks a lot. Very well explained and demonstrated. Great teaching. I learn a lot from your videos. My favorite series on the PLAP channel. P.S. Your sense of humor makes the videos even better.

[@Rgdonaire_07]

Great trick! Learned something new today! I will certainly use this in my mixes!

[@teddinardo8944]

produce like a pro, I trade for watching tv, the new lately is too depressing , I just can not do it anymore, mark you are too cool, thank you for sharing , i take your advise and get great results ,thank you

[@briankingart]

Brilliant, Dr. MDN!

[@briancase6180]

Yay! I use this technique too! I'm so happy to find validation. But, my ears aren't trained as well, so I often over-do it and need to have someone tell me that there's too much distortion. Thanks for a great video. I think some people think the clipper comes after the limiter, and that can make sense, but not usually! And I should add that I use standardclip too because it allows such high quality in its filters.

[@marcdanielnelson317]

10-15 % rule Brian. When you like it come back 10-15%

[@briancase6180]

@@marcdanielnelson317 Under control? :) I'm not there yet. :) But, yeah, I think that's the problem. Just a little green on the standardclip clip meters.... Thanks!

[@stephenbeyer]

@@marcdanielnelson317 Can you spell out this rule for me, please? Do you mean when you like a mix, leave it alone and spend a fraction of the time that you did up to that point? Thanks in advance!

[@gregormarini]

That was great! Thank you!

[@DP-hw9uq]

Great video! And Pro Tools Dark Mode forever!!! 🤟

[@bazzzzz6175]

Wow! Marc always kills it.

[@Producelikeapro]

Yes! He does!

[@prod.zainxaidi8155]

Marc have a very mysterious and great personality.

[@tinakohler5055]

Simply wonderful your videos! Thank you for your generosity!❤

[@chunke7170]

You can put a limiter on and mix into it hitting about -3 db gr with a kick drum and you will be nearly as loud as most music. I use sir a lot and I love how it cuts off the peaks, but something sometimes sounds boxy about it. using 2:1 seems to translate better to my ears.

[@ectyka]

Subtle but huge. Awesome brother Marc.

[@Producelikeapro]

He’s the man!!

[@ectyka]

@@Producelikeapro You're the man as well, thank you.

[@kenntakac5034]

I have been using this for some time, it is a great technique!

[@MoreMeRecording]

Thanks again for featuring Marc. I really listen very hard to what he says and demonstrates.

[@nedim_guitar]

That's a great track to make the example very clear! The transients are definitely not the same. This tip will solve some of my issues.

[@scottfaircloff9530]

thanks again, Marc!!

[@pinnedcomment7330]

Marc = 🐐🐐🐐

[@alasdairmacdonald23]

And the Oversampling really works well .. it can actually smooth or not so (to taste) smooth you mix and master.. CPU heavy but if you use on Bus's and Master and play a little, its amazing how uncluttered your mix can become.. 16 Oversampling is pretty darn clear without going silly.. and you can hear the Dif on the Standard Clip plugins KZbin demo vid.. Judicial Low n Hi Pass works well too..

[@MrCibrianko]

That’s a great tip. Thanks for sharing. I’m a big fan of your channel. Thanks!

[@Producelikeapro]

Thanks ever so much

[@saschakuhn2660]

aha , now I get it . Did not get it ( anything) before on youtube. Thank you !

[@jjboogie1]

What a dope lesson. Love this and love learning knew cool things I can do with plugins I use every day.

[@Producelikeapro]

Fantastic! Thanks ever so much J J! Yes, Marc Rules!!

[@Projacked1]

And we just found a new technical term....'pokey'. I like it , it fits the subject,

[@mixingmastering]

ridiculously great result

[@Urk0000]

Just one clean dB extra is exactly where I’m at. Picked up the clipper you used, which is brilliant, practiced with it including the limiter monitor check on Pro-L (didn’t know about this either) and was able to achieve what I needed. Very valuable tip, many thanks:)

[@antiHUMANDesigns]

Yes, makes a very, very nice difference. (At least on this track.)

[@UriKleinman]

It works!! amazing addition to my Masters. Thanks!

[@MikeHeebz]

Love the StandardCLIP plug in. Thanks for sharing this very insightful video & sharing your knowledge MDN! Peace, Love + Blessings. =)

[@nolenfoxx8109]

Marc, your videos are always the best man. Keep it up!

[@Shimmernut]

Best teacher and most inspiring engineer I know of! I learned so much and everytime I watch Marc's videos I want to mix mix mix mix : ) and I'm really getting better at it! Thank you! I was wondering - hope you read this - you are doing this on the 2bus, but wouldn't it work just as well or better to clip just the snare track?

[@DavidDiMuzio]

This is a truly awesome tip!