The Magic Separation Trick All The Pros Use

In which I attempt to answer a question from a viewer about mix separation, and pitch a possible future ear training course: let me know your thoughts on that. Oh, and face reveal. No not an old band photo where I don't say which one is me, just me in the shot, no ambiguity.
Update: • Why "Learn To Mix Like...
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[@vinylarchaeologist]

Here to say that the "Face Reveal" in the thumbnail wasn't just clickbait. It's real

[@TransistorLSD]

Now the real question is... Phase reveal, when?

[@StrayBoom]

It's a buildup to the Onlyfans page for sure

[@AL-qj9yh]

@@TransistorLSDactually it was inverted phase reveal, since It was the young him and he is old now, if we had a pic of him old we could do a null test to see if it’s really him

[@TransistorLSD]

@@AL-qj9yh Makes sense!

@@AL-qj9yh I'm not sure a null test would help much. He's gone through filtering and EQ by this time, after all. Fundamental frequency and the more prominent harmonics would still be the same though, right?

[@bookymydoor]

I would, in a heartbeat, happily pay for an ear training course from you Dan. I think that many would, made aware and given access to it, profit enormously from such a thing as this.

[@jimbojazz6879]

Heavily agree, and wanted to comment so it's extra visible.

[@bluberrykush3912]

I would definetly be into that idea as well!

[@Maradnus]

Count me in!

[@MrJimmyFive]

Yes please

[@kwhyland]

Absofuckinglutely.

[@FASTFASTmusic]

Sitting here thinking "please say arrangement, please say arrangement"

[@FASTFASTmusic]

Yess!

[@narrator-timothymckean]

Yes, there's a reason we never have to hear about who mixed for Beethoven, or who Mahler's producer was. The musicians do the work and it comes out right.

[@DanWorrall]

The 'producer / mixer / engineer' is the conductor, you do hear plenty about them.

[@narrator-timothymckean]

@@DanWorrall Good point. Mixed live. :)

[@FASTFASTmusic]

@@DanWorrall excellent point everybody thinks that conductors are just waving their stick about in time what they don't realize is the months of rehearsal and communication between every single musician the performance on the night is really just the party.

[@PipEastop]

Hi Dan, Nearly everyone here is saying they love you and your stuff. Seems like you really should make that course. For me, your doing it here on KZbin would be great because the platform works well everywhere. Charge for it? Yes, of course you should - and it IS something I will happily pay for. Why? Because your ability to teach through the videos you make is astoundingly good. Nobody else comes close, or are as entertaining. “Mixing With Mike”, for example. Lovely guy, great sound engineer, deeply boring courses. I paid for his stuff for a while but gave up on it since I couldn’t hear what he was saying because the frequency of his voice was completely masked by my snoring. I used to be a very successful french horn player in London. I think I spent 55 years in “ear training” for that. It’s something that can always be improved just a bit more. Having been into home recording, mixing, mastering, producing, and all that, for only five years or so, I know I have a very long way to go, and as my reception of upper frequencies diminish over the years I know it is going to be an uphill path. I may have lost some high frequencies, but that shouldn’t prevent me from hearing compression ffs. Where I am now with that is that I can hear that compression makes things better (LA2A on my trumpet, for example) but there’s so much that I find inaudible. I really need some compression ear training. Thank you, Dan. I’m very grateful for everything I have learned from watching your videos and I definitely owe you. So, whatever you produce I’ll happily sign up for it, knowing that I’ll learn a lot. BTW, I bought an album of yours on Bandcamp. I love it. Congratulations!

[@bjornrohde]

Same here. Thanks Dan!

[@jeffreyhanc1711]

Mixing with Mike is one of the first channels I’ll head to for an A-Z walkthrough of a mixing/mastering VST. He’s great, and thorough. That said: yes, I’d imagine a full mixing course of his could be, well, meditative.

[@FlowfallYT]

One trick that helped me immensly over time with my EQs is as follows: every time before you want to make a move on an EQ predict what you are gonna do. for example you'll say you need to boost 3.5khz on the vocals for 3db. you then set this setting and then adjust the EQ till it sounds good. you'll see that you actually boosted 2khz for 4 db, so you have a clear difference between what you thought you needed to do and what you actually did. if you repeat this over time with every single EQ move your instincts on what needs boost/cuts on what frequency sky rockets i promise! (even better if you do everything without a RTA ;) )

[@UnKnown1631]

Dude the 500hz cut at 8:40 is genius 😂

[@GizzyDillespee]

I ALWAYS cut 500Hz at 8:40. Everyone does that. Just kidding I could use the info he's talking about. I'm not as against frequency masking as most people seem to be... but I didn't know what "too much 500Hz in the drums" sounded like. Disclaimer: I don't mix music for other people, so that's not scandalous.

[@rickyspanish4792]

Came here to say that hahaha

[@MrPajmej]

Try Mighty Networks. I like it for this kind of paid learning. Nice platform.

[@Quadr44t]

@@GizzyDillespee Regarding masking, there is a introductory lecture from a uni on psychoacoustics. The playlist: Psychoacoustics lessons from Audio Information Processing TUM. It really helped me improve my mixes. Particularly the masking around the 200-800 Hz range, and how it (like any masking) disproportionally affects the high-end. Way further up than you'd expect. Now I handle that range for the culprit, instead of boosting high-ends of the other tracks. Also, whomever your intended audience is (albeit just you), a shitty mix enshittifies even the best songs. The composition, arrangement, execution, might all be perfect. If the mix bad, the song bad.

[@96elixx]

You could set up a patreon account which is pretty convenient from what i heard. but a Dan Worral OF sounds hilarious and would be my first and last account Id follow on the platform hahaha

[@Gortmend]

I can imagine trying to explain this to my wife when she sees the bill...

[@forgdtot9240]

Make it in KZbin membership please

[@eliteextremophile8895]

exactly this!

[@chrisuzdavinis4364]

I'd still have trouble explaining an OF entry on the credit card bill to my wife.

[@DanWorrall]

So, I'd be doing you a favour by forcing you to address the trust issues in your relationship.

[@cameron8619]

YOU'VE TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT ANYTHING. THANK YOU DAN. I WISH YOU TAUGHT ME HOW TO FIX KEYBOARDS THOUGH IM HAVING A TOUGH TIME RIGHT NOW.

[@wiseoldfool]

Too much 1kHz!

[@CT-ho6si]

Love all the "low effort" videos

[@patricksweeney556]

Dave Moulton’s “Golden Ears” is a classic in the genre, but I think you would offer a welcome and refreshing update to the format and personality of this essential educational foundation.

[@MrSRellz]

I can highly recommend going to see and hear an orchestra performance. I recently went to two free events at the Royal Festival Hall and was amazed when I walked in a realised there were no mics and no engineer. Just the musicians and their instruments and how I could hear each instrument clearly. Great experience.

[@ErreGamer]

I'd buy an OF from Dan no question asked!

[@Timefullful]

Me as well!

[@mohitrahaman]

☠💀☠

[@JuveriSetila]

Agree!

[@sebastianmirceabadiu856]

Soundgym is a great tool for training you ears...But, i would be interested in a course done by you

[@redbigapplefloppa302]

It's too expensive for me to pay every month

[@richardhunt1045]

I never pay for online courses as I never feel assured that what I get will be worth the price. But I’m certain I wouldn’t think twice about paying for this course from you. I’ve been doing live sound for about 5 years with no formal training and your videos have been a godsend.

[@cryptomonique]

You are really the best recording expert there is on KZbin, no questions asked man. It's neither just your professional skills, the way you edit your videos or other aspects of your apparent personality. Your whole vibe is just incredible. You bring something relevant to any question we might ask ourselves or any problem we can encouter. A 1000 cheers for that.

[@jeremylarue4503]

I would pay for a course, depends on the price of course.

[@Maradnus]

what's the coarse worth?

[@19Stride]

That’s literally what Dan was asking

[@Maradnus]

@@19Stride that’s literally what this commenter was confirming

[@romanwestenholtz4396]

You are one of the most respected in the business Dan and I cant wait til your vids come out- I would love to pay for an ear training course! What platform I guess whatever I could have access to would be great- thanks for all that you do your honesty and straight-forwardness has been a breath of fresh air to all in this business!

[@katabatica]

Dan dropping low effort but high value wisdom. Love it.

[@IQM24]

Hey Dan and fellows. At academy we had a lesson called Aural Perception, the tutor Benjamin classically trained, helped us learn through his examples of short phrases of composition, the parts sounded absolutely clean in the right place. I asked him about the mix of course. This video resonates with that lesson Aural Perception with Benjamin

[@nullifier_]

Heey, i've following your channel for a while and it's nice to see when you appear on my feed. Your teachings are valuable for pros and newbies alike.

[@StephenJPilat]

I just graduated in Music Production and Engineering at Berklee College of Music. They teach us frequency ear training in the audio classes with boosting and cutting frequencies on white noise and having to figure out the frequency. It was laborious and I hated it while learning it but it truly opened up the EQ for me and all of a sudden I felt I could finally “use my ears” because I finally knew what to listen for

[@bananagoorob]

Hi Dan, thanks for all the videos. When I was in school for audio, we were trained on a program called "Golden Ears" that went over many of the techniques you discussed. For example, listening to pink noise and identifying where cuts or boosts were made in the EQ. It also had sections so you could learn what different attack and release times for compressors sounded like etc. I believe the course is still available online, but I would rather hear it from you!!

[@gautreaux]

A must-have course once is there! Looking forward already.

[@tpn4781]

The only time I go on to YT and press play on a vid about 'THE MAGIC TRICK ALL THE PROS USE' is when its from Dan Worrall.

[@rfinz]

this video series sounds amazing!

[@Music-tg5is]

Brilliant advice. As always! 💖

[@LuciSheppy]

4:44 A personal hurdle to overcome for me and undoubtedly others too is/was the fact that once you start cutting frequencies something can feel off or weird, you'll think to yourself "this doesn't sound right with this amount of cutting", in reality you only notice this because you'll be hearing the change, anyone else hearing it in a mix might not be able to tell

[@MIXMD-qq4vh]

Thank you for sharing your skills with us and all the great videos 😎🤘 I`m glad about everything you have time for to release!

[@LeChapeauMusic]

nah in my opinion KZbin members would be the best but if you really don't want that, Patreon is also an option. it's a great idea for a video series and definitely something people need.

[@kieranmchugh172]

To be honest I was thinking Patreon as a platform as well.

[@MrSkylightOffical]

The best help/info/training on the internet is always free. You’re a prime example of that, my friend.

[@ChamilawarnaJayalath]

awesome video Dan great idea for ear training videos 🙌

[@srgzbltch2249]

Hello Dan! Thank you for all the valuable tutorials you've been making. I don't have any platform suggestions but will be buying the course once it's available.

[@complexivetunes]

I repeatedly send friends trying to learn your videos and would not hesitate to buy this course from you

[@travismoore7578]

I had a full semester course like this in college for my audio engineering degree. The first half of the semester we trained on boosts/cuts of 12dB with a graphic EQ. The second half was 6dB boosts/cuts. Usually on music. We also assigned a lot of adjectives to these sounds. Now when I train newer engineers both live and in the studio, one of their main questions is “how do I know where that frequency is just by hearing it.” It’s from that training, the adjectives, and EQing thousands of times. So a course like you’re discussing is incredibly useful and helpful!

[@JahnRose]

Yes, please. definitely make this course

[@vgod4eva]

One knows when one is listening to a voice of experience and capability! I’d pay for such a course. Thanks, Dan

[@ethancossett7318]

Just chiming in to vote yea on an ear training course! I've found your free videos frequently more educational than a lot of folks' paid videos, so I'd support any venture from your channel into the paid arena pretty much instantly.

[@RedSoilStudioMaleny]

Yes please Dan - make the course. I’m in.

[@schz01]

You create a course I immediately buy it. period.

[@liamsonary]

and we're glad to meet you Mr. Dan !

[@diegosur]

Ear training can indeed be very powerful. About a decade ago I did one that I believe was called "Perfect Pitch Ear Training Supercourse" (it was a series of mp3s and probably a couple of PDFs), and after a couple of months of daily training I was able to play groups of random 8 notes simultaneously and identify each by its "colour" - like people born with perfect pitch are able to do I reckon. I didn't stick to it afterwards but even today I can identify different notes sometimes, with some concentration. There was also a course for relative pitch.

[@citizenworld8094]

I was five when my distinguished teacher told my dad I had PP. It meant nothing to me until my 50s and started working in music from semi pro to professional. During those years, I told friends and family the pitch of car horns, glasses, cat meows and even farts. I could always prove it by running to the piano which I kept at A-440 , a Bösendorfer tuned 4 times a year. I once failed a choir audition because the tester transposed my line down a 4th meaning I had to sing different notes from the score. I couldn't because it was a lie to my brain. My point? PP is not something you can learn and I'd have preferred to have been more successful at other things but in the end it was like a reverse disease as I was no good at anything else in my life. As Rachmaninov said, Music is enough for a lifetime but a lifetime is not enough for music.

[@currentcontentco]

Been waiting for the OF, it's about time!

[@LockWithNoKeys]

The PARTICULAR to one mix mixing advice you could give is worth 10x the free material you’re putting out online, I feel like!!

[@dico9542]

Yes! This is so important. We do it a lot in audio related educations here in Denmark, but not as much as we probably should. It'd be nice if maybe one of the videos from this course were to be made free so that we could see how in depth you go.

[@EnginearAudio]

I love every video from you, @danworral. Don’t need to be elaborated, just do it whatever is more convenient and easy for you. We know you have been thru hard times and you have already impressed us with fancy videos in the past. 😅. Get well!

[@jacobskovsbllknudsen5908]

I'm happy to report that I was educated as an audio engineer and that we did did both spectral/frequecy ear training and musical ear training. So while I wouldn't give money for such a course, other people who haven't had that, definitely should. Has helped me immensely.

[@LioHmusic]

Yes, I´ve learnt so much from you

[@gunderconk]

Yes im in for that course... Really nice idea!

[@DanHaycocks]

Yes yes and yes to the course. 🎉

[@MellowXBrew]

Had this course for my masters. Changed my life forever

[@guthhalf5484]

You are amazing Dan 😍

[@soulchorea]

Yes please I would happily buy that course (especially if you include your knack for pointing out common pitfalls and faulty "conventional wisdom" type of stuff)

[@casketclubrecords]

Your idea for the course sounds amazing and might be one of the first online courses i ever pay for if you do it! I also have come to realise the only way to get better at audio is doing lots of audio hahah but what you propose here sounds like a neat cheatsheet for frequency management

[@SoCalPatriot]

Yes! There’s Locals where viewers have to pay a price of admission to view your content. Looking forward to it.

[@JonGUK]

Absolutely yes, I would most definitely pay for such a course.

[@mudsh4rk]

When I got my music tech degree in the early 2000s, ear training, ensemble participation, private instrument and composition lessons, standard music theory I-III, and one term of basic classical piano lessons in a classroom of about 20 were all requirements for graduation.

[@Herfinnur]

I really hope you create that course!

[@DaveSurber]

I would enroll! Thanks!

[@jasdhfkajsdfhk]

i would 100 percent pay for an ear training course by you, not only one that goes over training for listening to frequencies but like you said one that goes over learning recognizing intervals, cadences etc,

[@alexkiddonen]

Great stuff

[@DavidJRobinson]

Dan. You are the best at this on YT. cheers. j.

[@pureventrue2357]

As an aspiring engineer hungry for real ways I can keep honing my craft, I'd 100% pay for something like that from the man himself. Ear training is always something I did when I was learning music & now that you've said it, it seems crazy not to have an equivalent for audio. Sign me up!

[@DigitalDemonForge]

Mr Dan ! loving these "low effort -maximum yield" videos !!!

[@Wizardofvoz2]

I have been at this even longer than you! lol 1976. I love your videos, and I believe you are one of the few who are giving good info to the less experienced put there. Do your training course maybe for your website. Think I’ll go grab a t-shirt now.

[@alphaentitysound]

I’m positive you would make hugely beneficial and top quality ear training course.

[@rajatjain4503]

Would love a series like that. And really funny to hear your voice almost crack after the OF comment. Good job holding your laugh 😂 Also wanted to say that whatever platform it is on, please try that the audio is not compressed as that is what we come to learn about and to hear transparently. Thanks for all the videos till date, chasing knowledge has become easier in this crowd of popularity contest. ✨

[@Thepinkflamingo91]

Would definitely pay for a course as you describe. Put it on whatever platform doesn't take a huge cut from you - you deserve it all.

[@static-san]

Whilst I haven't done any professional mixing courses, I _have_ played in a live band at church for many years (I don't now, but that's another story). This teaches you how to be adaptable because you're not always playing with the same musicians. And it also helps teach you how to stay out of the way of other musos. This has actually helped me enormously when creating music and I do get comments about how good my arrangements are. And doing it that way the track very nearly does mix itself.

[@colinmorgan6733]

Very good. I was classically trained and played the Trumpet from11 and played in the Kent Youth Orchestra at 14.

[@kylepetersen6520]

If I didn't have good ears that I've been training already but doing ok the job work, and also training in a musical context I would definitely consider buying a course from you that would help me train my ears. I don't know if i'd get it if it wasn't you making it, you are a superb educator especially on this platform.

[@vogbori]

Ear training courses is a brilliant idea. When I learned one thing as being constantly important it is - surprise - taking care of that. I personally would appreciate additions like learning to realize when your brain gets tiered and starts to process information in a no longer desirable fashion, i.e. let's you start to ruin your mix. This as well as the aspect of focusing on perception in a room where you move while listening, and let your mix compete against external sound sources like traffic noise. And not least something about doing mixes on a level of arranging single instruments before you start working with them on a track or bus level using plugins. Samplitude and Sequoia had this ability from the start, where you can cut an instrument to pieces while the track is played and then let you add any plugin other sound shaping on that object level rather than track or bus level before the sound from the instrument hits those. For me this always had the same effect as telling someone to play their instrument differently on this or some other part, only that it is me applying this after the fact))). In other words there is so much that SHOULD be done regarding training for any engineer's listening experience, and I know of no one else than you who would let me rest assured I can learn something new and important from in this field. So just go ahead, I'd definitely pay for it even as a subscription - because it is just a field as huge as all things audio. AND you would give people the ability to help keeping the tradition of critical listening carried on instead of developing more and more retarded listening abilities.

[@skcrecords]

I would absolutely pay for ear training from you, you’ve been instrumental to my development as an audio engineer. Go for it, Dan!

[@narrator-timothymckean]

Thank you for the emphasis on deliberate musical ear training over time, instead of "secrets" and "tricks".

[@indianasummers7716]

This ear training course sounds amazing.

[@jameswilkerson8873]

I would absolutely buy your training.

[@kshep39]

Definitely would buy the course.

[@lynchseanm]

Absolutely into this!!

[@LordOldToby]

Definitely would be interested in an ear training course

[@noahgiom341]

I would absolutely buy this, if its not super expensive. I went to school for electronic music, but there wasn't much of an opportunity to learn about mixing. Your videos were a big part of how I learned to start hearing in terms of frequencies. In particular I watched a LOT of your stuff while I was writing my senior project album. That record is by far the cleanest mix I've ever achieved, in spite of some pretty dense arrangements. Your straightforward and approachable explanations were a pretty big part of one of my favorite artistic achievements. So yeah you can take my money

[@fitz06]

That would be amazing! yes please

[@dylanreed4146]

Yes. Would love your personally curated ear training

[@gdm_music]

Great VIdeo Man!!

[@karlboman]

Sounds amazing, and I would absolutely not be able to give it the time and attention it deserves :D I hope it gets off the ground and adds to better sound in the world and better finances for Dan :)

[@andrewharlander]

You are the one dude I would pay for ear training ⭐️👍🏻

[@grafzhl]

I had technical ear training as part of my bachelors (Audio Design), but the course could have been more thorough, I'd say. Excited to see what you can come up with!

[@andrewsullivan4101]

I could see you doing a course on mixing as a whole. Even though you put a lot on for free, having it sold together in a clean and concise package is worth the price of admission for me. For the frequency course i could see it pulling 150-200 for the course if not more. Ive used teachable in the past as an admin and it was REALLY great at providing a neat and concise lay out for the students. Very easy to navigate and search through should you ever want to go back and have the course as a reference.

[@wonkyrobot]

In my education here in Denmark, ear training was a big part of the education. The good old "Golden ears" training set was the material used. (Was studying Live Audio Engineering, 4 year education)

[@s0alaih]

yes I would absolutely pay for this

[@Spikeypup]

I agree that the Ear Training portion is critical and would love to take additional coursework from you on the matter!

[@masoudmaani]

Thank you Sir Dan Worrall Attenborough, the audio wild life reporter for this amazing tutorial.

[@ikut4888]

ooh that does sound interesting, and it's cool to see the idea reinforced of what I've been figuring out on my own - to give "space" to important instruments' main freq range by cutting other instruments in the same range. It sounds weird solo'd, but when everything is playing you don't hear that "missing" cut on those tracks. Forget if it was this channel or another which suggested to not hyperfixate on how each track sounds solo'd, because after all the final mix isn't listening in solo... And if the cut sounds weird solo'd, you can just automate disabling it when the "main" instrument doesn't play and the "cut" instrument becomes more prominent. Another mixing "trick" I've seen, is equating different ranges in the freq spectrum to different vowel sounds... It's very clear when it's band boosted over pink noise, but it can be a lot harder to learn how to listen for that in real use cases/on actual instruments. Maybe that'd be worth touching on in the courses?

[@vladrileynavilys]

i still go with the ol' EQ boost or cut and then sweep around

[@guitargas1894]

Me too, gives me a fast impression which frequencies enhance the part and which make it stand out in a bad way.

[@BigBoysStudios]

The problem with that (I find) is that some frequencies just always sound nasty when pushed, regardless of whether there was too much, or too little in the actual mix. I try and hear what frequency is out of whack then find it ... sometimes I need to sweep to do that. Often I'll sweep a little either side just to double check. But, as Dan rightly points out, there is no better skill than being able to zero in on the right frequency without any mucking about.

[@evilduck5691]

@@guitargas1894 the advice I've heard is you shouldn't do this unless you're looking for something specific. If there's a resonant frequency or a boxiness that you're trying to isolate, sweep away - but don't go looking for problems that you can't hear - plenty of good frequencies will sound bad when you boost them.

[@mickebroman]

I’ve had a hobby home studio for 20 years. I’m no professional, but not a beginner either. If you created a straightforward, basic mixing course, I’d buy that in a heartbeat. You’ve shared a ton of knowledge on KZbin, but having a full, no-nonsense course with your teaching skills would be invaluable. A lot of bits of info would fall into place, and it would add things that the super interesting deep dives into plugins and stuff can’t (and don’t try to). It would add an overall perspective and a more complete picture of mixing as a craft, in your view. It would be a gift to humanity. I’d definitely pay for an ear training course as well, though!

[@GammelfarMusik]

Your course would be the only one I would buy. 💪🏻

[@jamesbolt4489]

That would be a great course!!!

[@person2200]

I'd 100% pay for an ear training course from you!

[@theappearedone]

Absolutely would throw my money at this!

[@MrAlFuture]

Yes and yes, please! I'd be happy with either youtube channel membership paywalled or patreon with unlisted youtube videos as a delivery mechanism.

[@charliecrowell6334]

Yes, I would buy your ear training course

[@DanWorrall]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/onbTqIqtmN6pr7s

[@eljaguarenelbeat]

I would buy the course without a doubt!