20 Years of Mixing Advice in 1hr 38mins

[@masteringcom]

Apologies for the audio clipping a little. I had to turn the gain up for a Zoom call just before and checked before filming, seemed fine but I must have moved the mic closer. Didn’t have time to refilm after so just ran with it. Another lesson to be learned… even after 20 years you can still make mistakes. There’s absolutely no need to record hot in a digital environment.

[@nunoandradebluesdrive]

not a problem. it happens!

[@Dmitrii-z1m]

PART II 10:50 Tip #1 - Hot to nail the CAR TEST 15:13 Tip #2 - Fix Your ROOM 16:05 Tip #3 - Manage you PERSPECTIVE 18:07 Tip #4 - Train your EARS 21:10 Tip #5 - END IN MIND perspective 23:09 Tip #6 - Don't use BAND-AIDS 23:30 Tip #5 - BALANCING is 80% of the mix 26:00 Tip #8 - Don't neglect VOLUME AUTOMATION 30:07 Tip #9 - Progressive REFERENCING 32:31 Tip #10 - Any WORKFLOW works 38:56 Tip #11 - Mix FAST 40:30 Tip #12 - Intent-based EQ 44:13 Tip #13 - Fearless COMPRESSION 48:07 Tip #14 - Don't neglect CLIPPING & LIMITING 51:17 Tip #15 - Close your EYES 52:31 Tip #16 - Mix in 4-DIMENSIONS 54:17 Tip #17 - Know what MATTERS 1:03:12 Tip #18 - OBJECTIVE vs SUBJECTIVE 1:04:52 Tip #19 - Learn into SUBJECTIVITY 1:09:06 Tip #20 - Master the OBJECTIVE first 1:12:00 Tip #21 - Get clear on what's HOLDING YOU BACK PART III 1:23:09 Tip #1 - Get it right at the source 1:23:51 Tip #2 - Get the balance right first 1:24:28 Tip #3 - Time is of the essence 1:24:59 Tip #4 - Focus on the key elements 1:25:26 Tip #5 - Loop the loudest section of the song 1:26:14 Tip #6 - Start with the bigger picture 1:27:02 Tip #7 - Avoid the solo button 1:27:53 Tip #8 - Have an intention behind every move 1:29:25 Tip #9 - Check your moves 1:30:02 Tip #10 - Use good reference tracks 1:30:53 Tip #11 - Mix in mono for the majority of the mix 1:32:08 Tip #12 - Listen back on multiple speakers and headphones 1:32:56 Tip #13 - Mix at a low volume 1:33:36 Tip #14 - Take regular breaks 1:34:02 Tip #15 - Assume that volume automation is needed 1:35:04 Tip #16 - You don't need expensive plugins

[@musiclover-r9m]

PIN THIS COMMENT

[@marcell7406]

THANKS A TON

[@CHIG5748]

Tracking is God. And if your room isn’t treated you’re just spinning your wheels. Since this is 99% of people, mix on headphones and when you feel the mix is right, check the low end on monitors. This video is filled with wise information 👍

[@masteringcom]

Great tips!

[@CrazzyJokerr]

Since |this is the case for| 99 percent of people

[@ThisisPrinceJ]

Give us some mid price headphone recommendations while your ad it.

[@masterbluesrockguitar4966]

I haven't seen the whole video and thank you very much for your efforts but the biggest mixing "tip" that nobody talks about is "listen to a ridiculously amount of music as a fan, bulit references in your head first, understand the culture and history of recorded music, dig deep in to the different styles and know where they come from" If you can do all this listening in your mixing room with your speakers, the better you will become. And also listen to your mixes outside of your room, use your whole house as a reference

[@itsmesandman]

Thanks for sharing 20 years of experience in just one video. Its insane how much I've learned & improved in few years with nothing but a computer, audio interface & monitor.

[@PatrickGregoryDaniels]

You have legit been the only person that makes me want to listen to anything about mixing a master. You make it so approachable and I just want to say thank you peace and blessings. See you on your next videos.

[@nebstaism]

Volume balance of instruments is the most powerful thing for a good mix .... I’ve come to that same conclusion recently after producing and mixing for 20 years as well.... less is more 💯

[@benjaminkaufman5484]

YO I NEED this video right now (after doing most of the other - admittedly - free courses) Thank you.

[@mattytwohatsmusic]

Thanks for taking the tme to do this. Super helpful and concise info.

[@phamphiletsoalo6101]

Honestly i think 20 yrs doing what you like really isn't wasted yrs. 🤝

[@TheOliveradams]

I started with Tascam 4track on cassette tape in the 80's , then to 8 - 16 and in the 90's 24track analog , mid 90's I started with pro-tools Nu-bus TDM system (48track in/out) , now i'm working with Universal Audio Apollo's and LUNA DAW , it brings me back to my old analog studio but with 10000x more power .

[@cwehden]

this is one of the best videos I've seen on this topic, many thanks.

[@masteringcom]

Great to hear - my pleasure!

[@MrAdrianloera]

My God man you nailed it, it takes some brutal honesty to get it.

[@cupidodobaile]

this channel is absolutely insane, so useful. thank you for the great work!

[@eoe08001]

Thanks you for putting this together. Much love and respect

[@olliepriddey1161]

I actually started with a PC World usb plastic £4.99 thing and Wav recorder. That was towards the end of 1999-2000. In 2004-05, I had the Blue Yeti microphone and after Rode NT-USB with a Behringer Audio interface. My equipment today is far greater: Aston Spirit Mic, Scarlet Solo Audio interface, Yamaha MG10uf and honestly Audacity is great for a full free software. My favourite thing I own is the AKG WMS 470 C5. What I do when mixing or mastering is use my headphones for the close sound, so i can hear the vocal blend. Afterwards, I use a variety of different speakers and other headsets to listen again. Obviously some things emulate the sound different. I like a lot of mid-range on my tracks vocals. The most useful.thungs to me: limiter/restricter, noise reduction and normalise and if you need it compression to push up sound. These are the things that really help the track balance. I also drop the level of both the track and vocals together, so that its not going to spike or distort when I go to master track.

[@MaxSoggiu]

Amezing and monumental video! Thank you man, thank you!

[@DbiPro]

I love and respect this channel but I no longer trust people who say they’ve been doing this for 20+ years. Except you because it using this knowledge everyday at home, in a studio and live with bands and our church. I’ve been getting a huge jump ahead in knowledge because of this channel. Thank you Also I don’t always get a great mix at church and that sucks because that’s where I spend all my time

[@3jahel7]

Yooo is that background music on 6:50 one of the tracks from Sonic 2006 ???

[@thesecretsoundlab]

As always this was 100% worth the full watch

[@CosmoBubblegum.]

the amount of free education is insane, thank you.

[@masteringcom]

🤘

[@Chaos-Dynamics]

Some great tips, awesome 😊

[@jan_07]

In part 1, about getting the source tone and shape correct is exactly what I always say too. I mean if I’m sending my recordings to mixing engineers, I want them to mix these, I didn’t tell them to mess with the tone of my snare or cymbals or worse - my guitars. That’s a recipe for them to get fired. Tonal and textural decisions should be done in the recording/production phase. If I messed up or didn’t select the best tone with the recording, then fix it there and not after the fact. Letting the mixing process just be about mixing and gel every track together and be heard clearly at the same time.

[@kresimirsokre6536]

Top mixers are mostly called for their taste, so it does not mean that your mix preferences are something that is 100% how you envision, risking and pushing the limits vs staying in the was sea of normal. Behaving like a consumer vs like an artist who finds the right engineer and spends time chasing sound is what majority of people do. I'll mix your track for 500 and follow your guides but as a creative mixer i'll do my version and send it if there is a few back and forth just to potentially give you an idea for future recordings, you got passion but i got it too. Dont spend time and money to sound like everybody else.

[@jan_07]

@@kresimirsokre6536 yeah I understand what you mean, but that’s not what professional mixers tell me most of the time. Creative mixers aren’t the pure mixers that I’m talking about here though, those mixers are actually like an assistant producer and that’s cool too. But for that to work out, the artist or producer should work side by side with the creative mixer in-person, and not via file sends or just online. The professional mixers I was talking to are ones that work in big studios in Europe and charge thousands of Euros to mix records, and they say it’s mostly “don’t touch the tone too much if you can, if there’s a production problem and you wanna apply your take on it, ask their permission. If they don’t allow you to, then ask them to give you another take with parameters you want.”. Some labels, professional producers, and artists are just control freaks and they want you to just mix. What you’re saying is going to work for producers or artists who aren’t too well versed with the production process and doesn’t know how to craft their tone. With such producers, they sometimes know what they want but just don’t know how translate it because they just don’t have the technical know-how of mixers. So they give the responsibility to the mixer instead. One example is Rick Rubin, he is brilliant but he is not a technical producer. But as I said, some technical producers who are hands on like Eric Valentine do not want you to add your creative mixing stuff without asking for permission. These types of producers can fire you. I’ve heard stories like that from one of my teachers/mentors who’s a pro composer and a mixing engineer in Berlin. He said it’s one of those “career lessons” in the industry. 🤷🏻

[@jan_07]

⁠@@kresimirsokre6536also, believe me or not, I even know some insane extreme cases where the record engineers and producers do not want the mixer to adjust the individual gain of the tracks separately and instead just let the mixers adjust the gain relative to all the tracks. So if you want to give the guitars a few DB up, then you should also adjust the others to match the original level relationships between the tracks. Yeah it’s crazy, I also questioned it and thought the producers were nuts. But my mentor just said to be safe in general, always ask them if you’re allowed to do such and such first and not dive in and do all kinds of stuff that mixing engineers are ideally taught to do before applying corrective measures, because real industry interactions are sometimes not how it says in the classroom.

[@kresimirsokre6536]

@@jan_07 I get you, very resonable, after all mixers in positions are mostly there by their actuall skill and focus, but when i'm thinking where i wanna be in the chain of "command" and weather i need to chase what is popular, it is easy to get in the area where you kinda play safe day in and day out, and i dont think creative mixers are assistants, if you look up alternate mixes of Nirvana, Smells like teen spirit you can hear creative mixing because the difference of focus is mostly done not by chasing what is on radio and the songs were sounding special, even tho S.Albini(rip) obviously had a tone. Mixing is wierd thing, because most mixers chase their first gut reactions, but i'm talking about the top dogs like Phil Tan and so on. Internet is also a wierd place and no amount of plugins will fix a bad recordings, and later is not spoken of enough but we have plugin deals in our face 24-7. If you're on the production side, i would for sure send tracks to several mixers and choose on the blind test ;) Good luck

[@frankiesunswept]

So true and helpful. I often think mix could easily be referred to as balance. Volume balance is what we do, along with shaping etc

[@JosipGruby]

Amazing advices. Thank you!

[@roberteismann1929]

20 years of experience in anything is NOT wasted time.

[@antonboiko1773]

YES! The Volume! Great video! Thanx!

[@masteringcom]

The Volume!

[@dustudios639]

great stuff

[@blakealanfoster]

This dude: It's really hard to overcompress something Me: *Looks around nervously* Also, the getting the source right is kind of.. a huge deal. I remember the first time (just a couple months ago) That I set up some actual microphones and worked on getting good recordings.. when I listened to the stems back from the take and balanced everything I was just like... oh.... okay..... Literally sounded better than mixes I had spent hours and hours on before. You CANNOT fix everything in the mix. haha

[@steveclackuk]

I can't believe i guessed the Frequency right at 20:00 !!!

[@LuckWickedYT]

Goated

[@papa-cbootykilla6950]

Your channel is amazing, thank you for this great information. Watched this whole video without a break earlier. 👍 Curious about 1:10:39 where it sounds like you say mastering is the most subjective part of the cycle. Maybe I am mishearing but the auto-generated subtitles are also hearing subjective despite the context around the statement suggesting you mean objective. Just wanted to mention because it threw me for a loop at first until I thought more about it and began watching on of your other videos "How to Master Your Music (6-Hour Course)". Thanks again for sharing such great info!

[@BUNNIKYNS]

at :37, I can't tell what the difference is when you are looking for issues. It all sounds the same to me. When listening to your reference it's not obvious to me at all. I cant tell if the snare is dull or not.

[@mayoshanebeats]

Great advice, wirh the volume tip

[@marekvoosen]

1 Tipp: referencing mixes and knowing your room through listening much music in this room and you're done.

[@CrazzyJokerr]

Thats an incredible bad advice lmao

[@Virtual-Media]

Saved me a fortune and a lifetime of pointless effort. As primarily a guitarist doing home recording and jam sessions I now realize I can get 90 % of what i need from volume faders. No plans to be an audio engineer just want to get what I need and focus on playing music rather than trying to perfect a recording..

[@ssmmuzik2908]

Where can I get one of your template from?

[@FlexXx_x_x]

That is the AKG 420 Perception!! 😂 I have it till this day!!

[@pedro.moraes]

does anyone know which song is that at 02:40? i couldn't find the name anywhere :(

[@rickyguitarman3839]

all legendary songs were recorded in the 50/60's without all this crap, musicians got in the studio, played what ever they need it to play (all live recording all together at once) and that's it, what you hear is what you get, and their music is still being played today!!!!

[@rickyguitarman3839]

@@DonnyKirkMusic Phil Spector was and still considered a genius behind the knobs, you can ask any producer/sound engineer today, Phil is THE one whom started it all.

[@masteringcom]

Would love to see lots of you at the event if you can make it - you can get a ticket for free here: courses.mastering.com/event_full/1729119923724x713020638067425300?KZbin&Event&Years Happy to answer any questions about how it works in the comments here!

[@MEMFISAKA]

*14:43** Somebody tell him about Realphones, kid is from different planet, or lockhimself down in the appartement*

[@polarbear7577]

Sounded cool to me

[@SanderVanheste]

okay i spent fifteen minutes switching between mix A and mix B from part 1. I don't hear any difference. Any tips on how to hear it?

[@SanderVanheste]

Okay spent more time listening. I think i do hear some things now: - Kick seems to be a little deeper in mix b - de esser on the vocals of mix b? - guitars seems to be wider in mix b - A little reverb on the vocals of mix b? (although this might be placebo by now 😂)

[@CrazzyJokerr]

Listen on a good system not on old phone speakers or something like that

[@daveconnor6174]

hey, this video's great, but i feel compelled to point out that mixing tip 16 (mix in 4-dimensions), you said "you wanna think in, kinda, four dimensions" ... and then you named three dimensions, you showed three dimensions on the visual aid, and you explained what the three dimensions are and how to use all three of them in a mix. it's just an odd one. i was very curious what the fourth dimension was gonna be when you got to it. i wonder if the person who wrote the talking points was a different person to the presenter.

[@papa-cbootykilla6950]

Interesting. If I had to guess, he's implying the 4th dimension is going beyond using just volume to affect depth, instead using additional effects like reverb, compression for transient shaping etc. Here at 53:00 mark.

[@daveconnor6174]

@@papa-cbootykilla6950 that's just depth. one of the 3. height = loud and soft / volume width = left and right / stereo width depth = far and close / distance dimension 4 = ?

[@TheHeterolifemates]

The 4th dimension is time. In this dimension, you change the relationship of the other dimensions over the course of a song.

[@plummetplum]

The reason most of us struggle is because our source tracks are so poor. Trying to EQ something to sound expensive is difficult. Over time ive listened to various youtube videos for example the breakdown of Everlong or Nirvana tracks. Ive imported some of these stems into my DAW and compared them to my tracks and its night and day. Its ridiculous how good they sound. Easy to mix brilliantly recorded tracks.

[@kresimirsokre6536]

True

[@lnxguit]

Thank you for this excellent guide. I would like to hear a little more vocal though

[@NARX-x9t]

50:32 how does increase gain in Limiter can catch louder peaks while limiter main function is to bring the overall volume ?? on the output he set it to 0.00 db , so how it could catch louder peaks , so confusing .. anyone please explain for me

[@jilsky]

Output 0db means that everything above 0db will be limited. If you increase the input gain, that means more of the signal will be above 0db and will be limited down

[@eoe08001]

How do you use vocal rider? do you use custom settings? I find it gets messy. And how you combine that with volume automation? do oyu use both or one? Thanks

[@kevinturvey8213]

thanks very much for sharing your valuable & hard-won knowledge. ultimately, get the arrangement and recording right and the mix should more or less take care of itself! and of the two, the arrangement is the more important. oh, and get Slate VSX.

[@PekkaImmonen]

Amazing material as always 🙏 My inner nerd wonders what is the 4th dimension as I counted only three 🙂

[@jcprugh5459]

Fix the mix?

[@pepe-hp5or]

I have a Question regarding References. For me Everything i listend to on Spotify seems to have some filter or Overall Processing on top of it. That makes it really Hard to use it as a proper referenz. Anybody feel the Same? U Guys have a Solution for that?

[@ChristRecords2O16]

That's the purpose of the reference because your work should be processed by the time you use reference trax

[@lelandbobpalmer]

Hi dude, thanks a bunch for the video!! QUESTION: I have a studio here in Sweden and would like to have a much smaller studio desk and I see yours in the background there - it has the exact form factor that I have been thinking about, including the rack spaces (in my case for Console 1). What is that table? Is it DIY? I thought about just building one...

[@masteringcom]

Zaor Solo, it's great

[@TuneCoreOfficialSite]

38:50

[@nordlyz1]

Hi Rob I am just wondering if a) the song factory is free if you're already a member, and b) if there will be replays available after each event. I am asking this because of timezone diffences (USA and CET). Great video and have a good one / Erik

[@masteringcom]

Correct, free for members and replays available both members and those who purchase a ticket.

[@cubasbeatproducer2374]

I guessed exactly 1 khz listening on my android phones speakers. I'm there 😂

[@dingbatjack1234]

What have you recorded that has been successful?

[@Dekutard]

hard to over compress things is an interesting take. why not just brickwall everything by default and then back things off to taste? what about the loudness wars

[@plummetplum]

I said 800-1000 Hz, i was pretty happy with that 😊

[@jkmusikpro]

En español por favor!🙂

[@exortor]

O más bien aprende inglés 😅

[@fernandocuevas1436]

Aprender inglés, viejo, de verdad que hay mucho contenido invaluable en inglés, no te arrepentirás si te tomas el tiempo de aprender no conozco muchos canales en español que se le acerque al contenido en Inglés, solo un par de creadores.

[@jkmusikpro]

@@fernandocuevas1436 我正在学中文，够了。

[@kierenmoore3236]

I preferred Mix A. I guess I’ll show myself out …

[@gramsey3165]

me too

[@tonim.8016]

me too, you are not alone

[@peterbondmusic]

The tracks are clearly very processed to begin with (note how much vocal compression and eq there is in the 'volume only' version). I'd say the 'volume only' one sounds better too, it's more defined and less constrained sounding.

[@wheelie_monkprabu947]

Kudos Mix A

[@mashzmash]

As soon as I heard Mix A vs. B, I knew A breathed and had great dynamics, and the rest of this video wasn't for me.

[@KoolKatBeatz]

Song Factory cost?

[@masteringcom]

$29 including replays!

[@Shalmaneser1]

Who was "first" to cut a hole in their bass drum and stick a microphone in it?

[@user-yk4gd1fl4z]

Why such HIGH track levels ? Unnecessary.

[@basseldahdouh8736]

Its crazy cuz im watching this and i literally went through it. Volume Hella plugings and understaning them Going back to volume and spacing Idk im still at that part kf the vid

[@tcoving31]

I guessed 2k-4K not too far off

[@TeddyLeppard]

Mix A sounded better to me (in your intro).

[@coyoteserranoband]

Its my wish for you to subscribe before its too late.

[@FarwaterRecords]

"after 20 years in sound engineering my voice mic clips and distorts" Your clipping is visible even on the monitor behind you.

[@goldenturtlesound]

I didn’t watch this whole video.. and while I did hear one spot where it did sound clippy.. based on the d/a/d soft-hardware he’s using he’s actually pushing the pre-amp and tad, which provides the saturation we are hearing in his voice.. but what you can see in the background is the out of his record input processing is turned down compared to how it’s hitting the pre-amp - simulating what it’s like to record through an analog board, but pre-captured digitally. Just because the audio looks like it’s hitting the ceiling of the visual doesn’t mean it’s clipping** especially in the modern setup

[@FarwaterRecords]

@@goldenturtlesound nope

[@barilochestudio]

Nice logo

[@jan_07]

He acknowledged this in the comments section. He said made a mistake and forgot to turn the gain down after a zoom call prior to filming 🤷🏻

[@jan_07]

@@goldenturtlesound yeah but the plugin meter in his screen is an SSL Native and not Universal Audio Unison. Which means it’s purely digital already and the preamp signal from his recording console is too hot coming in to the digital recorder. It’s unnecessarily high for recording digital.

[@boseyboi]

I think you understand the final output but to me. Your clipping and not adjusting volume. So from a student perspective you aren’t doing us justice. Not gain staging.

[@ageshero]

First song wasn’t even bad.

[@kaagra8090]

Had to take a second look at mixing tip 11

[@RevIsnot]

music doesn't matter anymore

[@bhxzbcx]

yeah for losers like you it surely doesnt

[@akramelmansouri6752]

just know that that's a thought brought on by your own individual brain, that was influenced by a succession of external or maybe internal other thoughts .. it can not matter to you, but it does to others. what do you even mean by "matter" btw? Music is so ingrained in our monkey brain, it evolved along with us as a species, and maybe even played a big role in our survival, it will always matter unless we lobotomize ourselves or get collectively severely depressed.