The 3 most common music production mistakes (and how to fix them!)

Sign up for my online music production class: learnmonthly.com/andrew
Subscribe → bit.ly/subAndrewHuang
Learn more about production & music theory with this playlist: bit.ly/AHMusicandProduction
Merch!
teespring.com/stores/andrewis...
Support my work on Patreon and be the first to get all my new music: / andrewhuang
★ FOLLOW ME HERE ★
TikTok vm.tiktok.com/weEbNK/
Instagram / andrewismusic
Facebook / andrewismusic
Twitter / andrewhuang
★ LISTEN TO MY MUSIC ★
Spotify spoti.fi/2pF0qRB
iTunes apple.co/2psaUmL
Google Play bit.ly/2qlhAjy
Bandcamp bit.ly/2oRWCby
★ GEAR ★
Disclosure: Most of these are affiliate links - if you buy anything through them (even if it's not the linked item) I'll receive a small percentage, which helps support my channel.
Keyboard bit.ly/2MH4xbN
Modular www.pntrac.com/t/TUJGR0tHS0JH...
Headphones - lots of hype amzn.to/2JmTmDK
Headphones - super pro omg amzn.to/2VOcmjz
Small audio interface amzn.to/2H7x4mx
Big audio interface bit.ly/33r0SER
Analog preamp/comp bit.ly/2RvrYIe
OP-1 bit.ly/3zeypjP
How I learned synthesis bit.ly/2PROCoT
Mic 1 bit.ly/3uqMrwH
Mic 2 bit.ly/3eWuBv1
Vlog mic amzn.to/2lpjHEq
Main camera amzn.to/2aHkv35
I use Distrokid to get my music on streaming platforms - get 7% off your first year here: distrokid.com/vip/huang
★ MY FAVORITE REVERBS ★
VALHALLA VINTAGEVERB, ROOM, SHIMMER, SUPERMASSIVE
valhalladsp.com
I use VintageVerb the most but they're all amazing. Supermassive is brand new and awesome and free.
UNIVERSAL AUDIO LEXICON 224, EMT140, OCEAN WAY STUDIOS
www.uaudio.com/uad-plugins.html
Lexicon 224 for lushness. EMT 140 is my favourite plate emulation. Ocean Way Studios is quite unique and places you in very real-feeling rooms.
EVENTIDE BLACKHOLE
www.eventideaudio.com/product...
When it's time to get weird.
SMARTELECTRONIX AMBIENCE
magnus.smartelectronix.com
Been around a while but still has a great tone, and it's free.
★ SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL MY TOP PATRONS ★
Ben Pevsner
Curtis Chambers
Brian Estlin
robert jornayvaz
sama
Patricio Gaudelli
Silas Reaper
Rene Seckler
Nick Simmons
Peter Vermeychuk
Ryan Mitchell
Videlik
'@pasqueque
Raverty
Russ
Valeriu111000
F L R COUCH
Marek Baszczyj
Vach Man
Dave Kincaid
Gnare
Adrian Durand
Corey Frang
{AnOnY mOuS}
Julie Bandin
cubedparadox
kris flores
Majo del carmen de bolivar
José Miguel
Oscar
Robert de Forest
rd1994
Simon Tobias
Raul perez
Abadul Sardar
Mark Yardley
G Devan Smith
Ben Lin
Harrison Gaulke
Alex Courtney
Chris Lin
Dakota Gilliam
Luke Gilliam
Will Goldsmith
Fred von Graf
Kaitlin Sebbage
Nicholas Taylor
Sam Barratt
Connor Somerholter
Shannon manning
Spencer Berndt
Philip Ohlin
Helton Paz
Yahali Gottlieb
ADdam lolz
Jamaal Curtis
anamuko
Edmon Cruz
TobiCaboose
florencia la rica
Ethan Lim
Kristopher Charles
Maximus Olenik
AJ Berg
Tim Koulaev
Damon Oliveira
Karol Hojka
Ben Adshead
Felix
Timothy McLane
Alexander Heale
Jack Morris
Tobias Gurdan
If you're new here, my name is Andrew Huang and I'm a musician who works with many genres and many instruments - and I've also made music with many things that aren't instruments like balloons, pants, water, and dentist equipment. For more info visit my website: andrewhuang.com
You can also stream and download my 40+ albums and EPs at andrewhuang.bandcamp.com or check out my other videos at / andrewhuang
Thanks for watching today and a big hug to you if you share this video with someone!

[@andrewhuang]

Hope this was helpful! Check the description for links to my favorite reverbs (including free ones) and if you want to get in on my online class go here! learnmonthly.com/andrew

[@C28_Music]

I always used the same reverb for everything and never until now thought about using others. This video has helped me out so much, I’ll check those out for sure! Thank you, Andrew!

[@DrLopreOfficial]

Great video Andrew, I follow you from about the beginning of your channel, only now I notice a background noise since I finally did a headphones upgrades, I was wondering if it was because of all your equipment or if it is there for some reason, or maybe I'm going crazy if you could answer me it would be awesome! Greetings from Italy

[@cassettemode2619]

This was helpful! Reinforces some of the the things I already figured out and expanded upon them as well. Also got some insight into the finer details that can bring things to life. Thanks for doing what you do! :)

[@roelbakker8923]

Kinda hoped you'd show off that 100% wet reverb :/

[@nicolasdelliac8098]

thanks you !

[@RoomieOfficial]

This is some great advice!! Even experienced producers need to refresh this stuff every once in a while ✊✊

[@user-wf2my6kz3v]

Hello roomie. I'm a fan

[@olle5555]

Алик Селимов ok now we know

[@lonelylegoman5778]

Oh hey Rami

[@disastermidi1990]

We need to two to colab again, maybe with Rob and Dave too, but either way we need more Roomie x Andrew Huang content

[@dby20]

ok

[@dulla8469]

a TIP for not adding too much reverb... one of the main reasons we add too much reverb and leave it like that, is cause the plugins load at 100% wet, and then we take it down untill we think it sits good, but since you heard what 100% wet sounds like you think that 50% sounds clean, but its just a perceptive thing, instead when you have a good sounding reverb, decay, time, predelay etc. put the wet knob to 0% and then start raising while listening to the full track to know when to stop

[@ThreeUnremarkableWords]

I like the change of perspective. Thanks! I'm definitely gonna try dialling my reverb from zero.

[@WonderSings]

This is great! Thank you!

[@bricelory9534]

Real good call. Very helpful!

[@frawstybawlz]

ill also add. you can save presets on your plugins within your daw. for instance i have 2 limiter presets. 1 for glue compressed tracks and 1 for tracks i use sausage fattener on (both need different amounts of gain)

[@pilot.wav_theory]

Nice tip

[@Scythe69]

2:01 : Messy Reverb 6:21 Burying The Vocal 8:19 Static Instruments

[@diagonals792]

Thank you for this.

[@mmanimosity]

Thank you

[@DactesSwe]

Ty! 💪

[@false361]

I actually needed this for my music prod. Thanks!

[@simon_patterson]

Thank you so much!

[@henry-qs8vg]

0:05 when Andrew says "songs" it sounds almost identical as the first syllable of All Star by Smash Mouth

[@nathan.rodrigues]

😂

[@blizzard_the_seal9863]

same pitch, same length, wow

[@eggladoid2215]

0:06

[@henry-qs8vg]

@@blizzard_the_seal9863 man I swear to god, after so many memes I think I've developed some kind of smash mouth's perfect pitch neurologists should be studying this shit

[@blizzard_the_seal9863]

@@henry-qs8vg ikr, i don’t have perfect pitch at all, in fact (even though i’ve played violin for six years) i am an absolute dumbass when trying to figure out what note a certain pitch is, but i can PERFECTLY IDENTIFY the pitch of the start of all star whenever i hear a similar pitch. neurologists really should be studying this lmao

[@Jonathan-we6lc]

Biggest mistake new producers make in general is taking the following too literally: 'just do what sounds good' and 'every producer is different, there's no right and wrong'. These two statements are absolutely true, but it's far more efficient to watch videos of how other people work and adapt your own style/workflow based on what you've learned. If it was as simple as 'do what sounds good', you could spend years producing without identifying that putting reverb on bass tracks isn't always a good idea, for example. A lot of successful producers have this sort of bias where they forget about all the hours they've spent researching/shadowing others/watching tutorials, and just say 'meh, just do what sounds good - that's what I did'. It's rarely true. Watch videos like this, because sometimes a few simple tips can save you hours of frustration.

[@necrobynerton7384]

And I say Amen to that! Mostly as a hobbyist, I have been playing around with FL studio since 2017 and I have YET to make something that is somewhat not groundbreakingly stale, repetitive and stiff. I will have to say though, I think trying your best to sound design (i refer to this term loosely) for yourself instead of relying on presets as a beginner definitively helps in making your song a bit more alive and connected, rather than having few sounds that just feel off. Music theory I would say helps a ton, but me having a big lack of it, I can't really say much. I do pretty much everything by what sounds good to me, so most music feels like the same rythm, same progression, same notes etc. So, I think having some knowledge there is a big big difference.

[@cURLybOi]

man, that "too quiet vocal" is definitely a thing. i was in your class this january and almost all my comments on the vocal track of my peers were "turn up the vocal" :)

[@TheWyvernGaming]

definitely should be the lead of the song its what everyone is going to focus on

[@TheWyvernGaming]

Lil Blaisy LMAO

[@felixmarques]

There's two kinds of singer-producers, tbh. 1. People who dislike their own voice but just annoy everybody by turning it too low. 2. People who hyperfocus on making the vocals stand out, as they're “supposed” to be the main focus; but should probably lower them a bit.

[@cURLybOi]

@@felixmarques i mean i admit i am a long time singer so when i started producing i was ok hearing my own voice, and i was trying to hype up the others too :)

[@SlyHikari03]

But what about the super whispery anime style J-POP vocals?

[@BenHall289]

A good psychoacoustic trick for making vocals (or leads) pop out in the mix is to very slightly and very slowly automate the pan from left to right. Just a really small amount. You wouldn't be able to tell its happening but your ear picks up on the movement and draws the attention to it.

[@killzoltar]

this is essentially what i do with mine, i just put a really fast delay at like 30% wet and with a feedback of like 1% and it basically creates that slow and subtle panning effect

[@ninj-as7710]

@@killzoltar Isn't that kinda like chorus, then?

[@killzoltar]

@@ninj-as7710 yeah ig but i use the serum fx dimension thing

[@avramneedleman6412]

I don’t know if you’ve heard this from other people, but my school has started showing some of your videos in the music production class. I think that it’s incredible that you can share your content to educate and inspire people about music. Thank you so much for sharing your passion for music, and for helping expand mine. Much love, my guy!

[@larrylove1]

Schools suck.wht school is it?

[@Blarrgensnorf]

Using a small room reverb with very short decay is an underrated way of giving a sound dimension.

[@InXLsisDeo]

Plus shorter tails is where algorithmic reverbs are at their best. No need to buy expensive reverbs when you stay below 1.5 sec, absolutely nobody will hear the difference wih a very good free reverb like Stone voices Ambient 4.0 or OrilRiver.

[@estartica5917]

@tinylilmatt Can you share the video name? I tried searching for it and couldn't find it

[@Aaron-zh4kj]

Honestly, most reverbs are best used in small amounts, overall I think, unless you're going for the outrageous side of things. People equate reverb with size, which just isn't true.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

Gives it that broad, epic, roomy feeling without sounding like recording in a cave.

[@rtyzxc]

@@Aaron-zh4kj Exactly. It's actually the opposite, reverb diminishes the original sound while making the mix bloaty. The less reverb, the "stronger" a part sounds, the more reverb, the more distant and subdued it becomes.

[@andrewarnold9642]

4) Everything panned in the center.

[@xHadesStamps]

I wouldn't know the difference, but most people would, and it'd sound boring. The one thing I'll say should *never* be hard-panned is the voices.

[@xHadesStamps]

In other words, I agree even with only one working ear.

[@calbostic6565]

x Hades Stamps But panning multiple layers of the same vocal around is actually pretty important, even if it isn’t far from the center.

[@brendangibson8200]

@@xHadesStamps it just depends on the song. Often times, several vocal tracks will be hard panned at certain points to make them sound bigger, but usually not more than a section or so

[@xHadesStamps]

@tinylilmatt And I *hate* it.

[@hannes1734]

"Too much reverb on anything" Shoegaze producers: Of course i know him, he's me

[@TheDungeonDive]

No such thing as too much reverb.

[@azedeladia]

too much reverb? idk her

[@alihart7849]

Shoegaze bands don’t have producers. They got rid of them to increase their available budget for overdrive pedals and weed

[@isaacfausett5662]

legit every single thing that he deemed a "mistake" is a common thing in shoegaze.

[@hannes1734]

@@isaacfausett5662 Shoegaze calls for all that though

[@timovitchbeats]

"You can play the same note, but not on the same way" - that's simple but really blew my mind

[@joegreene7746]

Same dude. Gotta love learning

[@dov36Kaizo]

Andrew: "You're gonna want to have a shorter tail than you think is necessary" Valhalla DSP: "Yeah so now you can have minute long reverb tails"

[@patrickwilkie5576]

The contradictions are real in the music world hahaha

[@aons5481]

Minute long!? I've seen minutes long reverb tails

[@cole1]

@Lil Blaisy lmao did you read this correctly?

[@farvezafridifaizurrahman6980]

Minute long tails are useful for drone-based music. I love adding textures and building a wall of sounds that are blurry but definitely there. I love the supermassive.

[@comradecoffee]

@@farvezafridifaizurrahman6980 It's also great for effects, one-shot noises and some percussive elements! Not so much for a lead instrument in a pop/edm banger.

[@bennywollinmusic]

Always love hearing your thoughts. I mostly do orchestral/cinematic work, but the idea of "ear candy" is still super relevant. It takes guts to have an instrument play just one note.

[@CHIMPOaGOGO]

That reminds me of auxillary percussion parts where your counting for 90% of the piece.

[@bennywollinmusic]

@Mark Donald Ear candy is an allusion to 'eye candy'. It's a term used in filmmaking to describe visually satisfying elements that don't contribute anything significant to the story; they're just there because they're pretty. Similarly, ear candy is little sounds that are just there to sound nice in the moment, but aren't necessary for the rhythmic, melodic, or formal structure of the piece.

[@neilingle794]

On one of my favourite albums, 'Spirit of Eden' by Talk Talk, all of the songs have elements of 'ear candy' where instruments play fragments of melody (or even just dissonance) - they come from nowhere, and then disappear. It's simple but so powerful.

[@ChaosRayZero]

Darude had plenty of guts then. =^p I'm not complaining. _I love Sandstorm!_ X^D But it's only like 6 notes. That track is proof that your melody and chords don't have to be complicated to be catchy.

[@roohawkins7412]

I hope you take a second every so often to realize that an entire generation is learning from your videos, your work making them is so influential in the progression of the culture and its beautiful

[@TheRacePig]

Another thing with messy reverbs that you've gotta remember is the high and lowpass settings, which can tighten up the reverb immensely and prevent your mixes from becoming muddy and unfocused. You gotta figure out what the reverb is there for and what parts of the sound you want to reverberate, some instruments have tons of weird transients that will sound awful when the reverb is covering the entire audio spectrum. Basically the idea is that you place effects purposefully and with precision rather than just slapping presets on stuff, you have to know exactly why you put something on a track.

[@BenjaminKassel]

I heard "The Coldest Darkness" in the first song and had a massive flashback. That's still one of my favorite albums you've made.

[@ethanyoung4629]

I wonder why @andrewhuang likes the phrase "the coldest darkness" so much. . . It keeps popping up here and there 🤷‍♂️

[@dby20]

Lil Blaisy *no one asked*

[@disuyetin]

Pffffh, maaan I heard a bit of "soome(body once told me)" in his "songs" at 0:06 Dat's a real flashback

[@ethanyoung4629]

@@disuyetin wooow 🤯😮

[@Makker_1]

Your production really is on another level.

[@andrewhuang]

omg you’re too nice

[@mrio0]

ANDREW HUANG its true doe

[@dby20]

ANDREW HUANG indeed

[@nonami_066xswqoqowiwl]

ANDREW HUANG PLEASE ADOPT ME

[@TheApril1610]

Probably one of the best production tutorials ive ever watched. Please keep doing them! So good and helpful cause your so straight forward and clear about everything. Amazing work

[@nobodys2358]

Thank you Andrew. I'm trying to make music every day and carving out some time from work. Today, 5am, was a bit depressed, but watching your video inspired me to keep going. I wish everyone to just keep going regardless of what they might feel. We can make it.

[@coolmatthew213]

"Whoa…maybe a bit too much reverb on that snare!" That was the first sentence from my audio engineering professor said when he heard and reviewed my mix.

[@ZlakEdoras]

"Things that others don't notice, you but definitely want people to feel them". Why do you make me so emotional with this sentence?? 😭😭

[@dby20]

well, i guess i don’t feel the same way about that sentence.

[@bendayze]

Daniela Yabut you’re fuckin hilarious bruh

[@nanogon7767]

Zlak Edoras well hello KalZ

[@ZlakEdoras]

@@nanogon7767 haha hey nano

[@ZlakEdoras]

@@dby20 loool

[@Aaron-zh4kj]

I was in a traveling contemporary worship band (modern worship music is famous for the excessive use of verb in guitars). I had that realization about reverb and went months without using verb at all, instead stacking delays, which sounded huge. This worked especially, because of the dense mix my band had and all the big spacey venues and churches we were at. I eventually started throwing small amounts of modulated verb to add dimension, but I mostly just did it for the modulation. As it happened, we were at the biggest church we played at with the best sound guys and resources of any venue we played. Their sound guy later told me I had the best mono guitar sound he'd ever heard. (humble flex) All that to say, try creating space with delay and mild modulation instead of reverb. It works wonders.

[@nutritionalyeast7978]

On the flipside of the "too quiet vocal", I often hear "too loud drums" especially in electronic music. It makes it really hard to hear any other parts of the song in more noisy settings like in a car

[@legrandliseurtri7495]

Drums being too loud is something that I'm very easily bothered by. For example, I really like this song:kzbin.info/www/bejne/gKDLm4mPpMuZm9E&ab_channel=LauraBrehm, but I usually turn the volume down by a lot because otherwise the drums are annoying to me.

[@flundlip]

This is like a hyper condensed version of your course. Your course helped me a ton and I recommend everyone to enroll!

[@Cryptiiix]

I heard its not a learn at your own pace which sucks since I work full time. Andrew please make one!

[@JoelMartinez]

@@Cryptiiix an at-your-own pace course would be really compelling

[@ckrug32]

@@Cryptiiix I'm taking it right now, and while you do have deadlines, that's mostly just for peer reviews (and for the sake of actually getting stuff done). Since you have access to the course videos for life, you could technically treat this as an at-your-own-pace course, if you don't care about feedback from your peers. However, I'm finding the feedback useful.

[@shimyshangadaurm4732]

I have FL studio and was curious how much harder it would be because it seems it's for ableton.

[@JoshCottrell21]

I’m SO glad someone is talking about the importance of SENDS for timing-based fx. That made so much of a difference for me when I first started mixing. Glad you spent a little bit on that.

[@marks.3737]

Man, Andrew - I just want to tell you I love ya man. You are so incredibly talented in every single thing you do. I feel so grateful and blessed that I can tune into your wisdom - you talk to us like a genuine human being, I don't know how else to describe it. It's like you're my brother - and you've never even met me! In short, thank you for being you. I'm so damn proud of you - everything I've ever seen you do - literally makes the world a better place. Keep doing what you're doing man - for real. On a side note - I am a drummer - have been for a long time. If you ever find yourself needing anything from one or you're in a bind, just say the word. My abilities are at your disposal my friend and are offered purely out of gratitude for all you've offered us.

[@tsgodman4409]

You're such a great guy, great tips for starters, funny how confidence plays a huge part in early production development, once you get past that it's anything goes and it frees up the creative soul, which is why we're all here creating in the first place.

[@JHVE]

I've been doing this forever brother, but you're great- so fun, and I still learn from you and your friends every day THANKS - keep it going ! Peace,

[@not-clic]

Mistake #3 Static Instruments *AD start playing* This is the cardinal sin of EDM

[@braden9879]

I heard it in my head when I read this

[@not-clic]

@Braden it actually happened to me when I was watching this video ahah

[@Orrinton]

Literally heard this comment 😂

[@blaablaa22]

Great tips. I never go over 40% wet/dry with reverb, usually I stay around 20% to 30%. I don't mean there wouldn't be a place for other settings, but in my style of production more than 40% tends to often create the muddiness so easily. I'd also say: be careful with the width of a reverb and do learn what a pre-delay does. Also a good rule of thumb: Want something to be more in the background? Use a bit more reverb. Foreground: Consider not using reverb at all or use it subtly with short tail. Thanks also for the tip about Supermassive being a freebie.

[@beflyaudio]

Overcompression is also a big one. Compression is one of those unnoticable things that you only feel, and its easy to just overclock it so that you can really hear the crunch.

[@VanzHernandez_engrmsc]

Reverb was one of those effects that I overdo when I was just starting off from audio editing. And now Andrew pointed out more mistakes we can be aware of. Hero!

[@chriszanf]

It's really easy to drown a track in it but it's like making a cake: it can't all be icing or it will be sickly and too rich

[@tonysansom]

@@chriszanf Excellent analogy!

[@TitansTracks]

Yo these are some great tips, we live in such an interesting time where all the info we could ever desire is within our reach. There's no reason not to look back at our own workflow and correct our mistakes! 💎

[@thedemosdude]

I really appreciate you actually giving some insight as to not only why sends are useful but also how many can be used. I've always felt uneasy using a reverb on each track even if it's for good reason (having different settings per reverb on said tracks), so seeing that you actually create different sends for different styles of reverbs motivates me to start using that in my production practice.

[@adambeck6070]

Thanks for doing this, I've gotten busy with other stuff in the past couple years, but recently decided to buckle down and write a concept album. Seeing these videos keeps me inspired keep 'em coming!

[@camandrew206]

Gain staging was something that I didn't know about for a while but made a huge difference and is so easy to get right and setup the rest of the song for success.

[@WangleLine]

Yeah!

[@crimson3362]

the hell is gain staging

[@FriendlyNeighborhoodBallsack]

@@crimson3362 it's a term used when stacking gain-pedals with guitar, at least

[@vikinglord7252]

@@crimson3362 It's making sure your audio signals are at the right levels, starting with how loud you record it (18 dBFS is a good average to shoot for, with peaks going no louder than about 6 dBFS). Also, a lot of plugins have an optimal range of operation (usually around 18 dBFS) to ensure that the signal gets processed cleanly, especially analog emulation plugins (many compressors/EQ's/and tube amps). So if you're using multiple plugins on one channel, make sure the signal strength is at that level (around 18 dBFS) before and after each plugin (many plugins allow you to control input and/or output levels). This is all done to ensure clean processing (minimizing unwanted artifacts for example) and to avoid clipping when all of the signals from every channel are summed together on buses and the main output channel. When I started doing this on my mixes, it made a world of a difference! Edit: If you find yourself having to crank the input gain knob on your audio interface in order to get to around 18 dBFS, your going to introduce a lot of unwanted noise into the signal. This is why people invest in DI's and preamps, to get the input gain to a nice level (and also to add some nice tone).

[@tim0thy222]

@@crimson3362 Making sure everything is the right level going into your mixer so you have headroom. Internet money has a good video on it

[@tuomasgrannas3656]

Videos like this are the perfect thing to watch while learning music production. It's cool to watch videos about "cool stuff you can do", but it's way more helpful for myself to watch videos that boil down to "maybe don't do this most of the time".

[@mateo_no_swiping]

Thank you for this! I'm gonna sign up for your class as well. Super excited!!

[@josephdzingomvera1232]

Nobody: Producers: *Adds a note no one will ever probably hear in their lifetime "That's the secret to my good music"

[@VINNYandPRISCILLA]

Me

[@peace7642]

I make alt RnB and It’s really painful to create such ambience and then stop for a second and think, “no one’s ever gonna hear that perc are they?”

[@leonardo9259]

To quote a guy I don't remember in a moment I don't remember either: they may not noticed, but their brains did

[@larryjones3436]

@@leonardo9259 I do believe that all those tiny details make a difference. Beyond that, to some degree forget what other people hear. It's about what YOU hear. Do you like it? Is it satisfying to you? Are there enough notes for you? That's the question.

[@notakae7089]

I one of my least favorite parts of music production is that because not a bunch of people will hear the tiny bits but without them it doesn’t sound as good.

[@spacetang]

I admire you so much. You give people musical vocabulary which is so powerful as a tool of expression. You have likely helped save peoples lives.

[@Kapin05]

1:25 Andrew: "Never gonna-" Internet addicts: *scared rickroll noises*

[@evolve330]

You have just given me an incredible idea

[@MertensHelbelga]

@@evolve330 muahahaha

[@SreenikethanI]

i swear i was kinda convinced Andrew rickrolled us

[@maruko8324]

LOL

[@GBCACHO]

*sacred**

[@megascrubgaming275]

im glad you mentioned putting little ear candy bits in your song i love listening to a song and being like "wait a moment how long has the background flair been there" it really does make a song better

[@parasiteunit]

There's a principal used in traditional Japanise music known as "ma"... Crudely translated - it means meaningful void. The idea is that the space between the notes is as important as the notes - in some cases even more so. Used that idea a lot recently in remixes I've done

[@tylereaglebabelbrooks5315]

Andrew, I’ve been engineering for like 5 years, producing for like 15, and playing for almost 20... and sometimes I snoop on beginner-facing/“common mistakes” style videos. I ALWAYS learn at least one amazing nugget from both what and HOW you teach. Was just moved to tell you how wide and far your channel reaches. Very grateful. Keep shining, yo - thank you!

[@gmspec]

Andrew this video really helped me out! I’m a 15y/o music producer from London and I’ve been producing music for 4 years. This has been the most I’ve learnt in one video in a while! I produce everything from Trap to Lofi so I can definitely use these techniques in future tracks! Thank you!

[@VibeSounds]

I need to break these mistakes. After the 1st one, I immediately turned the reverb down lol.

[@pogchamp7983]

I started production making Dub so i'm really guilty of that lol

[@YourIdeologyIsDelusional]

Y'know what else is a mistake? Listening to some random KZbinr with boring, unimaginative practices. I am completely bored off my ass with the current industry obsession with everything being "clean." Pour your reverb on like you'd pour hot gravy over fries. Gate it, shape it, compress it. Flip off anyone that complains.

[@hudsonlather9760]

Lol. I checked out ur stuff and it's cool 👍. I know I just look at stuff when I'm bored....

[@MannequinOngaku]

@@YourIdeologyIsDelusional I mean yeah, art before all else. But also, Andrew made the point that these people are just starting out, and are more focused on the songwriting and macro production stuff, and haven't really developed an intuition when it comes to mixing/sound processing. These tips help those people who are just starting out create better music right from the get-go. That said, I've been helping a friend better learn ableton but I envy his music skills. Despite his occasional technical troubles, he makes incredible use of simple effects and spatial reverbs which is absolutely amazing. If your gut tells you to drench it in reverb, more power to ye.

[@lobsterbark]

@@YourIdeologyIsDelusional For real, this guy gives a lot of good tips, but also a lot of terrible one. He seems to really like making the blandest pop songs possible. So he steers people twords making that style of music.

[@justjono4184]

Thank you for the awesome content... also really appreciate the quality of the video editing as well.

[@ryanuys1313]

Wow your tutorials are so packed with value, well done.

[@TobsterStrudel]

I just turn reverb to the max, ez

[@Paftaku]

OTT on master and its done 👌🏾

[@BrofUJu]

Don't forget to add a good 6 db of 100hz on your verb for clarity

[@callum6224]

You mean boosting a notch filter between 200-500hz on the dry and wet tracks, and put a. OTT on a parallel processing track and bandpas that between 200 and 500 hz. Instant crystal clear mixes, that’s a free pro tip from me, a pro.

[@kimyona9746]

To make the worst music possible put the OTT Octagon on the master

[@platypusmusic8843]

SOUNDGOODIZER

[@Glokta09]

I love it when a vid tells me what NOT to do, that I'm probably doing as a hobbyist, instead of how to make an epic omegalul 808. Cheers 👍

[@maelgwni]

This is such an invaluable video. You're reeeally good at making things simple, Andrew. Thanks so much for sharing your advice!

[@misitir]

Thanks Andrew, I really needed this video even if I didn't know I need it! Keep working hard

[@BruceRichardsonMusic]

Hey Andrew, great video. One thing relates very heavily to the mistakes you're listing...monitoring too loud. Particularly the clarity and vocal balance aspects can be impossible to judge if people haven't calibrated their monitors. You may cover that in your course, etc., but that's the first thing I thought about...monitoring too loud makes it super hard to get balance and bass right.

[@RyanDardenA]

Thanks for sharing! It always helps to see how much more we can improve

[@blindboydevita]

this was super helpful, so much great advice and explanations!! thank you Andrew

[@10k-28]

I’ve been mixing my own vocals for almost 6 months that track spacer shit is a game changer

[@TissueCat]

One of my favorite bands (Los Campesinos!) has been releasing remastered versions of their early albums, and the remasters are way better imo. The main difference I hear is that the vocals are slightly louder and just more consistent.

[@CaidicusProductions]

The thing this video has taught me is I need to put a lot more effort into each song I make, they're just too static. Thanks Andrew, I'm entirely grateful for the ideas you share, they're awesome.

[@paolopareno433]

This is such a helpful advice! Always putting great content, Andrew! 🔥

[@lilbeeston]

Your monthly class starts in a couple days!! I am so pumped

[@RewindOfficialDoesMusic]

The editing on that song was beautiful

[@lisastormo5803]

On the waitinglist for your course!

[@Vambibuda]

Always dope stuff 💪🏽

[@GeorgeHammondMusic]

Really nice tips. I feel people should remember that for certain genres it is okay for an element to sound washed out with reverb, so well done for mentioning ambient genres.!

[@no-rj5by]

Exactly! I write and produce shoegaze, so I make an effort to wash things out a bit

[@Jaynification]

Andrew: "I usually set reverb to like 5% wet, maybe 30-40%, but definitely never above 50." Me: ~glances at my own file~ "Ah yes... I see it's time for Noah to build another ark."

[@littlesnowflakepunk855]

super depends on what its intended to be doing. i sometimes have super wet reverb on pads if they're *all that's going on,* and don't need to leave space for other instruments

[@lyanporto]

the best advice in this to me wasn't eve one of the main things but the comment at 07:05 about not using the main fader for automation such a good tip, I can't believe I never thought of it, it will same me so much time

[@jaimerivera4811]

Thank you Andrew. This has been really helpful!

[@this_connor_guy]

Oh god, the reverb. Yes. I have listened back to old stuff I released and gone, "yeah, I need to cool it on the reverb." Thankfully, I'm at a point where I'm keeping it subdued. Always have different reverb settings on different tracks though. The last one with instrumentation will be a difficult one as I tend to work in a minimalist fashion like the band Suicide.

[@genejas]

#2: for rock music, its sometimes a good idea to turn down the vocal just a little. this way; the guitars sound louder in contrast with the vox, and it may even lead to people turning up the volume (which our brains are hardwired to like)

[@64ccd]

You are SO good at what you do! Thank you for this!

[@Uberwulf]

Thanks so much for these tips, I've always been wary about my vocal mixing, as if I were trying too hard if I did small adjustments from second to second. It's good to know that I was doing the right way.

[@EricOehler01]

Andrew: use shorter reverb tails Me: [quietly hides Eventide Blackhole]

[@JesusChrist-he2jj]

ur like 40 calm down

[@EricOehler01]

@@JesusChrist-he2jj I'm older than that, son. (okay, not MUCH older than that, but still) You see, BACK IN MY DAY we used lots of reverb on things and WE LIKED IT THAT WAY. Why, we used to gaze at our shoes while we played guitar and keyboards and people would flock to our shows from miles around. They of course had to walk, because the Kaiser had stolen all our horseless carriages. But popcorn only cost a nickel! NOW GET OFF MY LAWN

[@PhantasmaPhonic]

Even with shorter tails on most of my tracks, I still dig using a little bit of Blackhole here and there.

[@avgust1ne424]

Yeah, I feel that reverb advice is pretty dependent on genre...

[@friesiamans1966]

@@EricOehler01 haha, i´m also much older but still learning (started with blues rock in the early 70s, made my first steps into music by proudly playing the riff of black sabbath´s "iron man" on the old zither i inherited from my grandfather)... :-) i also remember the days when i discovered digital reverb and drowned everything in it, yay! before that i often went to our local water tower, it had three huge empty rooms, one above the other - nothing compared to play melodica in that, the reverb was heavier than any church could provide... cheers from germany 🙋‍♂️

[@codyrap95]

OMG if i only had this video 5 years ago it would have been such a lifesaver.

[@JC20XX]

You'd be a millionaire?

[@mint1547]

@@JC20XX if he had this when I was about twenty, he probably would be a millionaire right now.

[@AndreySavin]

thank you for the advice on reverb and sends, but especially explaining trackspacer in the best way.

[@shwan1680]

I will definitely try to use these tips in the future. Thank you, Andrew. I appreciate your channel a lot

[@LucidRobYT]

"Don't overdo it on the reverb" **Marshmello setting wet on every track to 100%**

[@Andersabjorn1]

Hahaha 😂

[@bmhater1283]

DUNE 3 and its reverb messy presets lmao

[@larrylove1]

U seating on the coxk

[@ZenithAMVs]

I thought that said **Marhsmello sitting wet on every track to 100%**

[@Shmevin158]

The "Ear Candy" is definitely the hardest part for me, just finding stuff that sounds good with the overall sound

[@Aaron-zh4kj]

I also think about people's approach to music being different. You have more minimalist minded people and more extravagantly minded people. If those little things inspire you on a given track, give them a try and see what the end result is. I have tracks where I think to use those little things and it does wonders. However, I have other tracks that are way more minimalist in nature.

[@lukepelletier8580]

one thing i find helpful with ear candy is looking at what frequencies or flavors are missing from a specific point in time in the track and asking how i can fill them in a manner that wont completely ruin the focus. if all the instruments have backed away for a verse and the vocals, bass, and kick are holding it down (or whatever), i might add something shimmery to fill out the spectrum for a moment. also, listen to Minus the Bear's 'OMNI'. That record is perfect for internalizing creative production

[@LevinLuka]

Great Broth 💪 thanks for sharing your knowledge! Great content in your channel, also great song shown in the example !!

[@toofattoskate1]

Have to say, you know your stuff man. and the way you explain it clearly and effectively is excellent.

[@dreaminginnoother]

I definitely do the vocal burying thing. I think i'm over that now, but everything I did before the age of like 30, the vox are buried because I can't stand hearing every little mistake of my singing when I listen, but now I regret doing that to all my tracks.

[@reallyanti]

I always feel like my bass is simultaneously too loud for my mix, and also way quieter than all the music I listen to. FML

[@Aaron-zh4kj]

Sounds like it could be an eq related situation. I think time, patience, and referencing a well mixed track will be the road to success. Good luck!.

[@bigboidadcoq]

Could be your speakers too!

[@DaveLeoBaker]

Ambient / old-school new age musician here: such valuable tips. I really appreciate your videos.

[@homegrownmusician5092]

Great video as always your production is something else! Volume automation is a big one for me, you really see it in videos where producers are working on analogue/physical desks, their hands are always on the faders doing something

[@kalliyan_destany]

I always make my vocals too quiet. I think it's partially because I tell myself if I can understand what I'm saying, it's loud enough. The problem is, I already know what my own lyrics are, so it doesn't really work. I'm working on a song right now and to help with mixing I sent it to my brother and had him write down what he understood from my lyrics. It always helps to get input from other people, even if they aren't musicians! Because honestly the average listener isn't a musician anyway

[@tristansmith1618]

Damn, that's not a bad idea

[@sxipshirey]

Exactly

[@Aaron-zh4kj]

It's not what you know. It's what you hear. When I ask my mom's opinion about certain songs and music, she always prefaces with "I'm not a musician and I don't know anything, but..." to which I always try to respond "If it sounds good, it is good. Your opinion is always valid, given you're not deaf." Often times, our knowledge and visuals of settings compete with our ears.

[@mmanimosity]

Speaking of producers, have you heard of jinsang before? He's a really good lo-fi/jazz producer who knows how to sample well. Plus, he has a really good audience

[@Ceaseless_Cischarge]

I appreciate the expanding on use of sends for different types of reverb as well as the advice on static instruments. Great video and great suggestions. Comment for the algorithm.

[@muddywaterscreative]

Love your videos man, I hope to take your course soon! Just in the midst of setting up my studio.

[@JackHeslewood]

Love how KZbin closed caption thought you said “they make a trashcan” at 1:14 Awesome video dude ignore YT lol

[@nexeration]

I'm happy about the fact that I recognized these mistakes for myself a few months ago :D

[@wokeil]

I also realized the earcandy and reverb thing (quite basic) and it has helped alot

[@MarsLos10]

Andrew we really appreciate that you give so many helpful tips for free. You are amazing!

[@ShellyBBird]

Recently got some mixing/mastering work so I’ve just been studying up as much as I can in the evenings. I really appreciate this. Good song you did too. ✌🏼

[@christynunns7019]

"They'll definitely feel it" *Chimes play Dies Irae* ...I definitely felt something D:

[@ProsserMedia]

“Too much reverb” talk to grimes bro

[@sakaom]

2013 grimes would beat the shit out of him by only hearing those words

[@poemsandplaypieces]

Such a generous bit of advice. Thank you for giving us the benefit of your hard won expertise. So generous. Track sounds awesome.

[@Chicagomatic]

This is helpful AF my dude. 👏🏾 Thank you! Top content.

[@hasan7275]

lmao it woulda been nice to have this 2 years ago when i started out, i had to learn a lot of these things the hard way!

[@iamtonisilvers]

I thought I was doing like a lot of reverb sends than usual, usually this si the main problem on my daw cause it accumulates a lot of cpu power and ram, I thought i was overdoing it , cause on every vocal parts I do have a specific or individual reverb send for it. Thank god I've been doing it the right way.

[@Jessafur]

It's all situational. Nothing wrong with having one big bus that some specific set of instruments get sent to. Just do whatever the song needs 🙂

[@ChrisD__]

What DAW is it? And what CPU are you running it on?

[@tokiWren]

It can help to freeze the tracks in order to save on processing power.

[@fisheatsyourhead]

yeah freezing/flattening tracks is useful but don't do it if you still need to change that instrument!

[@iamtonisilvers]

@@fisheatsyourhead Yeah i mix as I arrange that is why i dont freeze or bounce track . Usually Im starting with a minor arramgement , a concrete backbone for the track then I play with the melosy and after that with the lyrics based on the melody that I made. Btw im using fl Studio 20 Im on a tight budget , most of my savings wemt into purchasing FL so im stuck with a i5 3rd Gen with interhrated graphics along with 8gb Ram , being an indiependent artist and producer here in the philippines is so costly , almost all my salary on my day job accumulates the cost but I'm happy cause I get to do what i love .

[@sqguitar]

Great advice, thanks for sharing your insights!

[@donniedarkestra7771]

The track spacer is really cool. I usually mix metal but your videos are always helpful.