Serban Gheneas Mixing Secrets

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In Todays video I investigate the mixing tips and techniques used by one of todays top mixers serban ghenea. For a while his process has remained hidden but in this video I reveal a bit of the information about this pro mixer.

[@Spencera224]

Ppl also gotta understand he’s being sent really well recorded and produced records by the top artists and producers in the world. It has way more to do with the source than whatever he’s doing with plugins.

[@MikeHeebz]

Word, That's a big part of it for these well known engineers, that & they've been at it for 20+ years perfecting their ears & craft. The major artists work with great tracking engineers & producers, if you watch most of the Mix With The Masters videos the sound is usually 75-80% already there before the Mixing Engineer touches a fader or adds any plug ins. The plug in chase does not help here... =)

[@Mike-vr7mb]

Bro THIS is important! THIS is the catalyst for everything that precedes but PEOPLE WILL NEVER LISTEN! They think its a bloody plugin or some weird NLS technique. I give up with people 🤦‍♂️

[@jjose100ify]

You’d be surprised, this is true for the most part but a lot of big artists are stubborn and want to do everything done their way (not ideal) and the producers/engineers have to deal with it. I’ve had 10+ years in the industry and this is sometimes the case and it’s good to be prepared for it

[@copetill7896]

@@MikeHeebz Nailed it. I started out at Westlake Studios in LA in '95. We had 2" copies of The Police, MJ, The Stones, etc. These records were recored so well hat you could literally put the faders at unity & it'd sound 95% like the finished mix. Recording a project to tape meant that you had to watch the VU's. I'd align the machine to an MRL then hit let's say -7db for overheads, kick at +3 & so on. The result would be a balanced sounding mix before "The Mix". Applying this technique to a DAW will get a similar result. Everyone needs to be aware of the Fletcher-Munson Curve. Just don't track anywhere near +3db in the box!

[@GingerDrums]

Absolutely true. But it's also true that he is getting an extra 10% out of those great productions than other mixers. There is a good playlist by sonic scoop with mixes from Serbian and other mixers from the same record which showcases how clean, deep, transparent and loud his mixes are compared to his competition working with the same mastering engineer and producer.

[@smonomono4194]

Bro WHAT?!!! I haven’t been able to find a single video of Serban speaking! Thanks man! He’s so hidden!

[@janetbailey6727]

Its from a Grammys recording academy Panel that they did due to the covid thing. I watched it live and for the most part he was very quiet and didn't say much. This vid pretty much has the best clips of him from that.

[@martenfredholm1671]

@@janetbailey6727 Correct. Unfortuantely the other were talking over him. Wish they would have left more space there for him to speak

[@maxheadroom1073]

here’s Serbans mixing secrets: be extremely fucking talented, extremely fucking professional, and do it non stop at a high level for 30 years.

[@thagoatee]

and dont use analog gear

[@ErickT_MX]

and meet Tedd Riley

[@martenfredholm1671]

@@thagoatee Well, altough you are not wrong, I would say this is a slitghly more complexed topic than just stating, he doesn't use analog gear. He used analog gear for so many years that when he went into the box he knew exactly what he wanted to achive. That comes from previous experience and paying attention to details. The best ITB mixers I have met are the ones that have a great analog understanding too.

[@thelinkofperfectioncharity9469]

No one has Ghenea secret. His first Mix with the Masters episode will change the Mixing engineer World

[@collinjamesguitar]

There isn’t one. It’s his ears

[@marcito12345]

he probably wont make a mwtm episode. His assistant john hanes said they have been asked to and declined multiple times already

[@thelinkofperfectioncharity9469]

@@marcito12345 The best we Can Do Is use his mixes a reference with the power of stem extraction

[@skylerfelix7609]

@@collinjamesguitar”His first will” implies he knows there isn’t one.

[@iyoran4838]

his first secret is getting top notch produced music of the highest quality, recorded of the best artists with the best gear for this exact song by the most skilled engineers

[@marcito12345]

Theres a 221 pages and growing long gearspace thread with people asking John hanes (serbans coworker so to speak, using mostly the same processes and plugins) stuff and him replying with TONS of valuable info (its also where the screencaps in the video are from) I recommend reading through that for everyone whos interested in Serbans process

[@eren3390]

Link?

[@pradeeppandey1978]

link please

[@nishyp]

Can't post links in the comments but if you search "Serban Ghenea Mixes - all ITB?" you'll be able to find the thread!

[@Trentcast]

Damn this is such a hidden gem. Thanks for sharing

[@Trentcast]

@@eren3390literally just google it lol

[@Blepherk]

i cant believe it, this is the only video ive seen this guy talk. Truly unexpected

[@SuperFake777]

My guy! George T! At it again! You can get the Spl Machinehead in plugin form Serban even has a preset it’s called Mixhead by Metric Halo it sounds fantastic! I have a teacher from audio school who has a Serban session once I see it I’ll let you guys know what I find

[@AKASHPMP]

Yes please @SuperFake777

[@vincecrow4512]

Definitely post that here! I would love to know what you find in there.

[@Djmontanamtl]

I would adore to see a session🔥🔥

[@Rayobeats]

Hope you share please

[@mighty9156]

Please do bro!

[@TheSwollenOne]

Can't cap 😅. Would've never thought Serban would be this cool lol. We need more content from him.

[@danemiljoshua]

I heard his voice!!! Thanks George 🙏🏻

[@azizlyk]

Let me do you a favor, guys. A snippet from a very, very old interview with Serban. I have the entire interview as a document, but I wanted to share with you the information he uses about lo-fi distortion. He adds it to almost every channel, but only touches it by 0.1%. This ratio makes a big difference in the overall mix. ➡➡ "Ghenea says he often uses the Digidesign Lo-Fi plug-in, which has distortion and saturation parameter controls, and will combine them with a very light touch on each to achieve a tape effect. Other techniques for dialing in some analog effects include reducing the sample rate or bit rate. "What this does is create a little bit of contrast between that track and the rest of the song," he says. "You don't need a lot of it, but it can make a world of difference."🔚🔚

[@Origamibeats]

Increadible vid thank you !

[@DrawingFaith0]

Best video on KZbin atm

[@pradeeppandey1978]

OAT

[@BOODA575]

got those vsx headphones recently and wow they are amazing for checking the translation !!

[@foodwav]

YOU ARE A LEGEND THIS IS THE BEST MIXING VIDEO ON KZbin HANDS DOWN

[@leandrosilva6414]

Serban is so secretive about his techniques! He is a living legend and the GOAT of mixing!

[@santiagogilardi2388]

great video!!!! i think that is the best, congrats

[@nils2660]

George no way!!!!! What a legend!

[@rheawest]

Great video! Wondered how we can access the interview, and where you got to see inside the BTS and Katy track?

[@AllThatJuice208]

Cant thank you enough❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@vsmith6892]

thanks dude! where do we find the interview?

[@KeenanCrow]

FYI: there’s now a plugin version of the SPL machine head called MixHead from MetricHalo and Make Believe. Serban even threw in his mix bus preset for it.

[@RuggedAndPrez]

Cheers for the tip. I wonder how the crane song plugs compare to it. Seems like a similar process.

[@skylerfelix7609]

It’s a hell of a plugin

[@KeenanCrow]

@@skylerfelix7609 yeah it rules. Bought it after demoing it for a day.

[@KeenanCrow]

@@skylerfelix7609 yep. Bought it after demoing for like an hour. Does exactly what I wanted it to do.

[@cydbass1]

Thanks for this one George. Where is the complete interview of this Serban Ghenea interview

[@andrewaboy8852]

grammys "keep the music playing" theres 2 interviews on facebook including serban, manny, and others

[@judsonleach5248]

I really MISS my MXR Drum Computer!(And the 80s!) Cheers! -- Judson & Buddy :-)

[@MariJu1ce]

You got him to do an interview? Good job m8! Thanks!

[@georgetmusic]

No it’s from a recording academy Panel

[@ogustavovidal]

@@georgetmusic where can we watch it?

[@hithere4289]

amaing video love u

[@danymalsound]

How recent is this interview footage? Nobody's been able to get him on the record about anything, so more please haha

[@user-js6zm8ps1t]

CLA VOCAAAAAALS🔥🔥🔥

[@hugosilvacfh]

Would love to get into Rich Costey! Another great engineer with almost nothing online

[@SEVYNTHEVILLAIN]

CLA WOOOOO

[@georgehajioannou994]

Aw, now I feel special! Serban mentioned my name at 8:32 - George Hajioannou!

[@movimento52]

Bro where I can find the full interview?

[@nilespeshay1734]

i just posted the (facebook) link under another comment BUT you can also google "recording academy panel serban ghanea". It's from a Grammy panel.

[@lazybax]

Bro SHATTAP

[@Dbwj-so6mu]

Bros voice got mad deep

[@davidfields1920]

HOW SWAYY 😭😭😭💎💎💎

[@smonomono4194]

George, do you know if Serban is typically using the CLA bluey or is he using the blacky too? Not that it matters too much.

[@SPsounds100]

Both , according to his co workers. Cla 76 around 10 db gr or black around 4 db gr both fast release and mid attack

[@davidpaula5609]

Hello George. Could you please tell me where Serban's interview is from? I would love to watch it in full length. Thank you in advance.

[@Ozilfan11]

Where can one check examples of the songs you’ve mixed? I wanna get my track mix & mastered by you

[@lyrixFH]

On his KZbin bio

[@azizlyk]

I am writing the plugins in order. MM Tone Shaper , Manny Marroquin Distortion, Rcompressor Waves, Metric Halo Channel Strip, Manny Marroquin Delay, Manny Marroquin Triple D, CLA Drums, RDeEsser. Best regards

[@kags79]

thanks a lot, but to be used where...?

[@johnjhonny646]

People are just guessing all day long. lol

[@OscarSL80]

Where I can find his interview??

[@aherbs86]

CLA VOCAL!!!!!

[@Magnolia-OCSol]

what are the monitors called?

[@Rhuggins]

WHOAAAAA

[@avoca6192]

BRO U GOT TO INTERVIEW HIMM??? Woww!!!!!!!!

[@Paulkatz123]

No he didn't haha

[@vigilantestylez]

It was from the Grammy Recording Academy videos. It was a zoom call thing where Serban, Ann Mincieli, Manny Marroquin, and a few other engineers were talking about mixing and giving advice to those who attended the zoom call.

[@avoca6192]

@@vigilantestylez Ah i see, damn that would‘ve been a crazy valuable zoom call to watch..

[@OscarSL80]

​@vigilantestylez there is another one with a yellow polo shirt, you know where is that one?

[@vigilantestylez]

@@OscarSL80 they had 2 videos. He's in both of them. One wearing the yellow polo I think.

[@interesao90]

Great video man, where’s the original interview? I’d like to check it out. Thanks brother!

[@janetbailey6727]

Its from a Grammys recording academy Panel that they did due to the covid thing. I watched it live and for the most part he was very quiet and didn't say much. This vid pretty much has the best clips of him from that.

[@huberttorzewski]

@@janetbailey6727 I can't find it anywhere :(

[@MurphMagic1]

At least I know what the dudes voice sounds like now !

[@nikezooms]

i didn’t catch that - what studio monitors are they talking about? at around 9.30min?

[@Uuuuyyyyuuu]

ProAc Studio 100. They aint cheap brotha!

[@nayanmirza2507]

Please send Serban ghenea this live video

[@Kazumusic]

4:56 where can I find this video ?

[@pradeeppandey1978]

what's the pro x speaker that's being talked about around 8:45?

[@learn2mix393]

ProAc Studio 100 (the older version)

[@nishyp]

Looks like ProAc Studio 100 powered by Bryston 4BSST, no sub. source: Interview with John Hanes on GearSpace

[@learn2mix393]

@@nishyp Yep---except serban does use a sub that's not crossed over. John doesn't use a sub at all.

[@clarenceemmerson1479]

I'm ok with just learning the basics of mixing I have the audio ear

[@Kevinbellofficial]

Shout out to Virginia Beach

[@miguelpessanha]

7:18 How did you find this interview??? Do you have a link??

[@janetbailey6727]

Its from a Grammys recording academy Panel that they did due to the covid thing. I watched it live and for the most part he was very quiet and didn't say much. This vid pretty much has the best clips of him from that.

[@miguelpessanha]

@@janetbailey6727 I meant the other other where he's using a yellow polo. Just fixed the timestamp.

[@janetbailey6727]

@@miguelpessanha Same thing actually they did two of those sessions. The moderator with the Grammy's mentioned doing a 3rd one where the engineers could actually show their protools sessions and I started foaming at the mouth at the thought of getting to see the inside of a Serban session. Never happened though. In fact most of the info from this video is in the GearSpace thread about Serban being in the box. Its 222 pages long and Serban's assistant John Hanes joined in and started answering questions. He's the reason we know all of the things we do.

[@miguelpessanha]

@@janetbailey6727 I've been following the Gearspace thread too. Do you know where I can find the other interview? Do you have a link?

[@dynoprod.]

All of the things THEY do *​@@janetbailey6727

[@texasbound7089]

🤯

[@blankspace0000]

God has spoken.

[@JeffEllisWorldwide]

GTM4EVA

[@mighty9156]

Broooooooo wtf how?? How did u find the oracle ?!?!?!

[@joshcoxmusic]

the Cla vocal memes 😂😂 classic

[@quickstrike209]

Michael Knight?

[@GoodxJ]

👀

[@KM-tv5km]

Make Believe Studios MixHead plugin, Serban Ghenea “The One” preset You’re welcome

[@xanderpills]

Love how it's named "The One", since every engineer around is like a dehydrated desert dweller and Serban knows he's selling drops of water

[@KM-tv5km]

@@xanderpills yep, and it even changes the plugin to gold when you click on it, they know exactly who they’re marketing it for

[@rodrinies]

EHAT

[@plutostube]

conclusion: his ears are his secret that all of us can't have.

[@leonard329OG]

Please show the sources!!!! thanks!!!

[@jaysaezmusic7347]

what are the blurry plugins in 06:10?

[@jaysaezmusic7347]

pro tools lo-fi maybe?

[@marcito12345]

its from a 200 pages gearspace thread called "serban ghenea mixes- all itb?", where Serbans coworker so to speak shares lots of knowledge He blurred it before posting, so noone besides him can tell you, not even george t

[@azizlyk]

I am writing the plugins in order. MM Tone Shaper Manny Marroquin Distortion Rcompressor Waves Metric Halo Channel Strip Manny Marroquin Delay Manny Marroquin Triple D CLA Drums RDeEsser Best regards🙂

[@jaysaezmusic7347]

​@@azizlykDistortion on a lead vocal?😶

[@azizlyk]

@@jaysaezmusic7347 Yes, but it should be used very little, like 3%, if you use Manny Marroquin Distortion, it works very well on the upper vocal frequencies.

[@vwaveproductions6632]

That CLA caught me off guard! Dead

[@theonenonlybass]

cla vocaaaaaaals 📢

[@vysventuri]

Cla wooooooo!!!!!

[@Aiden-cl]

5:49 CLA MEMES HAHAHA

[@terenceblack3724]

What family member did you sacrifice to get footage of Serban?

[@Rhuggins]

Rip my ADAM monitors 🥲

[@argirioskarafotias8841]

More Cla Memes !!!!!

[@ErickT_MX]

AAAAAAAAAAND Metric Halo dropped THE ONE....

[@mani-ud8cu]

while bigger artists are more likely to have good recording environments nowadays they just want to make music whenever wherever so using this excuse that they have better recordings is more often nothing but that

[@mrbehindthemustache]

Great video but you sound like you're edging the chair.

[@dimitriward1449]

Never seen him talk before 🤣

[@yepyep3897]

Narrator: Please cut the vocal fry.

[@thrillblurrr73]

is it turning you on?

[@jamarwashington6419]

A lot of these tips were an insult to the intelligence of anyone who has any business mixing in the first place. Its like a world class chef giving tips & merely saying "you should use salt, wash your hands, & present your food on the plate well"....dang near anybody competent in a kitchen should know that. Sure some mixes have too many plugins but also many mixes sound thin & cheao because they dont have good mix chains with reliable plugins that can compete with analog era color & character frim hardware. That was insulting to show that he uses an 1176 plugin as if slapping one on a vocal will make it sound better(it wont do much at all, especially if you turn of the digital saturation which most pro mixers do because they dont like the sound compared to real 1176 saturation). Good vocals for most artists begins with a good sound proof room to get clean dry vocals with no wonky room noise ambiance. They also perfect the mic placement as to get the best tone out of the expensive mic theyre using plugged into an expensive preamp. Lastly, they automate the crap out of the performance to taste using clip gain style editing & they often rely on juggling parallel compression with the original signal as needed. Why wasnt any of that mentioned? Beware those who "help" you via hiding what could actually make you better. Many people we look up to arent good people but greedy petty minions not unlike the notorious Phil Spector whom's production i still study to glean the genius while never mirroring his perverse attitude(something often found in the "business" hence the jillions of behind the music style stories of downfalls). Heres one last sincere tip: though digital saturation isnt as good as most analog, saturation is still the best compressor you have just like it did the best tonal shaping compression in the analog era, hence things sounded good the moment they were recorded clean to tape & listened to through expensive consoles. The whole reason analog compressors purposely saturated signals was to compress them musically a smidge before you ever actually used the actually attack & release. In other words, if you gently use the best sounding saturation tools you have with the cleanest & sometimes fastest compressors you have, you too are imitating why analog compressors sound good. A tiny bit of different great sounding saturation tools here & there is the digital way of competing with analog(also imitating the effective nature of hardware such as wide eq bands like the pultec or super fast & release times of the 1176, its only real purpose in digital because as i stated, most pros agree the saturation emulation on it kinda sucks though it can sound decent on lower volume virtual instruments in the background). A great saturation method for digital is always adjust your input & output gain as to get as little signal to hit your saturation threshold(which usually makes it sound better than when randomly accepting average level soinds hitting it hot). Even if the meter is barely moving, try & see if you dont like the saturation way better when you hit at super duper low levels, then use your output gain super high to bring it back to the level it was before. I think 95% of beginners shoot themselves in the foot with digital saturation because we want to use it like analog(where overdriving it gave so much character & turning the knobs significantly just added micro amounts of color where as digital is the opposite & you hear major changes the moment you turn the plugins on & it just gets more harsh as you barely drive the signal up 2% more of whats available...its really a design flaw setting us up for failure). I will say though that as a parallel compressed signal, harsh overdriven digital saturation works beautifully to add some bite & allow signals to cut through the mix...so theres real 100% in the box tips for you that you can test & prove(& when you know it to be true, your mixes will sound way better & your ideas on how to invent new ways to solve problems will expand not unlike Phil Spector who's wall of sound mixing technique is literally used even more in digital than his era aka stacking sounds(samples) to create a new tone-sound which btw, is what Teddy Riley did to get his loud heavy new jack swing drums).

[@django3108]

I mean idk ur saying a whole lotta shit about digital saturation being bad but people have been using aliasing ass Decapitator for almost 15 years now (because aliasing or not, it sounds good as fuck), and Tone Projects Kelvin from 2021 and Michelangelo from 2023 sound amazing 😂😂😂😂😂 I think your premise is generally right, but is too general. You can definitely hit certain digital tools (like Kelvin) hard, even as an insert, and shit still sounds good. You can definitely hit Unisum or Kotelnikov or Molot GE hard and it still sounds good. FabFilter Saturn2 Any DMG plugin (absolutely amazing tools from an amazing company) IK Tapes I can keep going

[@Octwavian]

Nice work. But please use your normal voice. The morning voice is quite cringey. ✌️

[@AP530]

Is Serban Serbian?

[@mxlobeats]

bro can you just talk with your normal voice god damn

[@weedywet]

you mean "simple" "simplistic" means OVERLY simple

[@BEK149]

acting like having a super deep voice. annoying bro.

[@gaunt9255]

bro you making a documentary about a person that surely have a huge place in the industry pls quit mumblin, serbans video that maybe shooted (at least?) 10 years ago has more understandable audio than your documentary bout him u just released at 2024

[@gaunt9255]

but still thanks tho what you do is so valuable

[@MrRzk600]

Idk I kinda agree on mumbling😂

[@HollerAtcherBoi]

Dude please speak normally because that shit is borderline unbearable

[@DBMedia1000]

The voice over is fucking unbearable.

[@Sool101]

Can't you talk normal man? With your natural voice what are you doing? Great video but if Elisabeth Holmes had a son it would be you.

[@johnjhonny646]

You are not Serban. Don't waste your time.

[@mytbeats]

I hate videos about mixing .