How to Actually Mix with References (and free tools!)

When do you know when your mix is good and sounding professional? You can rely on your ears, but it takes time, experience and repetitive practice to get your ears adapted to sounds and "good mixes". To make it easier for you, you can use free visual mixing tools such as "Voxengo Span" and "Youlean Loudness Meter" to get an overview of your frequency curve and mix with the help of your eyes! In today's video you'll learn how to actually mix with references and the free tools mentioned above. Enjoy!
Chapters:
00:00 Intro & Tracks
01:24 Load up the Plugins
01:49 Configure Reference Track
02:48 Loudness Matching Both Tracks
05:30 Set up Voxengo SPAN for Frequency Matching
06:50 Dissect Frequency Curve
08:23 Manually Match Elements of our Track
09:26 Reference the Break Section
11:34 The Concept of Frequency Curves
Yerevan - OUT NOW: bit.ly/lt-yerevan
Project File: bit.ly/3QynVau
Voxengo Span: www.voxengo.com/product/span/
Youlean Loudness Meter: youlean.co/youlean-loudness-m...
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Grab More Sounds Here:
🪘Afro - Deep Afro House: bit.ly/lotustunes-afro
🌿 Tulum - Deep Tribal Organic: bit.ly/3MTpNHu
🌷 Synthesia Diva Presets: bit.ly/413sEnj
☀️FULL Azhar Production Suite: bit.ly/3kSo6jq
☁️FULL Daydreamer Organic House: bit.ly/3Qsk3pu
💮 Lotus Legacy Kicks: bit.ly/3mR5Fwm
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Freebies:
🪘Free Afro House Sounds: bit.ly/afro-starter
☁️Free Organic Deep House Sounds: bit.ly/3TB8WeO
☀️Free Oriental House Sounds: bit.ly/3ZTVuWD
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#abletonlive #musicproduction #organichouse

[@Aapy52]

I just bought the Yerevan Sample Pack. It's fantastic ! I highly recommend it. And I will probably buy Diva too, because your presets sound really good. Dude you make me spend a lot of money today 😄 Thanks a lot for sharing your knowledge here. Cheers

[@lotustunesacademy]

Thank so much. Enjoy the sounds! 😄

[@Aapy52]

@@lotustunesacademy Gonna start a new track this evening 🤗

[@Tom-tv4ok]

These are great! please more mixing tutorials. Thanks!

[@FlavioDutra26]

05:42 - This detail is the big secret that I couldn't find in any video on KZbin!!!! Congratulations on the tip!!!

[@DJBre]

Very nice, again!

[@theproductionpark8265]

Thanks for this 🙏🏻🔊

[@AngeloSposato]

Great content, thanks for sharing! 🙏

[@richpea8153]

This was such a helpful video showing the capability of SPAN and actual reference mixing. Love your stuff man!

[@pinacolada2386]

This is the most helpful mixing tutorial I've seen on KZbin!

[@piccell244]

Mal wieder starkes Video !!!

[@SieteSiete.77]

Thnks for data 🙌

[@lotustunesacademy]

Yerevan - OUT NOW: bit.ly/lt-yerevan Project File: bit.ly/3QynVau Voxengo Span: www.voxengo.com/product/span/ Youlean Loudness Meter: youlean.co/youlean-loudness-meter/

[@richtrelo]

Really great tutorial. Saved. Thank you!

[@DiscoTuna]

Always providing great info - and you are stepping up your presentation, with the nice, pause to check it out, visuals - works really well.

[@Aapy52]

Thanks a lot for this valuable video. I'm happy to learn how to view both tracks in Span. It would be great to see more mixing tutorial from you

[@Dutimus247]

Man this vid is SUPER helpful! I seen other ways to do referencing with SPAN but this simplified the process. Thank you!

[@lotustunesacademy]

Great to hear!

[@vadimalmazov4572]

Very helpful tips ! thank you

[@TheAlchemistje]

Wow.. that keymap shortcut is so handy. Again.. superb content as always. i always learn so much from your vids. cant wait for your new pack. Thank you

[@shukranisherard7152]

Really great vid. Thx

[@SilentEvolution]

thank you for this amazing video

[@dj_kik]

Merci pour le tuto c'est top :)👍

[@bigfreak58]

Thank You this gave me a greater understanding of using a reference track and my Spam meter

[@joybeats2425]

Just what I was praying for. Stars just aligned. Voxengo span most def is game changer. Can’t wait to try this out & get a song out of already. But progress is part of the process 😅. Thanks so much brother. Your tips are going in my toolbox. Much blessings to you ❤

[@lotustunesacademy]

Thanks for your comment. Have fun!

[@Dave-Rough-Diamond-Dunn]

I didn't know Span could do that! I've been putting TDR Nova on both and trying to compare them with the windows one above the other! This is a great tip, thanks heaps!

[@lotustunesacademy]

Glad I could help!

[@Jhizzle473]

Dude thank you so much mixing is my downfall it’s so difficult but this is doing a great job of explaining how to mix and balance. Do you have any videos on mixing bass and other instruments?

[@lotustunesacademy]

Happy this helped! I do have one video called 10 mixing tips that changed my life. You can check that out ;)

[@pardalize_]

Very Great tutorial man!! I always use voxengo curve, with a pre made curve to compare and now I will use reference tracks with Span, certainly that my results will be better. Thanks for this!!

[@lotustunesacademy]

Glad it was helpful!

[@badoorama]

king! thx

[@Raminsalari.]

🔥🔥🔥

[@Beyond_The_Fade555]

Thank you🙏🏻🙏🏻 please do more tips on kick processing

[@lotustunesacademy]

You're welcome! Yes, good idea. Will do so.

[@joshuajonesdj]

Could you post up the setting that you used for Span pls

[@Bartendersalmanac]

🙏🙏🙏

[@DrFish_original]

Great video. Couple of questios: 1. Would you say the final limiting/compression changes the frequecy curve a lot? In that case wouldn't it make more sense to use your method during master rather than mixing. Would be a great video testing how much the frequency curve changes from mix to master 2. Do you chose reference tracks in the same key? 3, Any tips on how to match compression levels in certain frequencies? Insted of boosting certain elements could also compress and then push them. Thanks!!

[@lotustunesacademy]

Cheers! 1. Limiting and Compression is something you shouldn't save until the Mastering stage. I'm all for limiting and compressing (especially group tracks) during Mixing. That's why in the video I mentioned that an ideal master should basically just be an act of increasing loudness, not adding any color / compression / saturation. Nonetheless: Yes, Compression and Limiting does change the frequency curve, but not by a lot if your limiter and compressor aren't working hard (reducing volume intensely). 2. I choose reference tracks by mood and similarity, rarely by key. 3. Apply compression to layers that have a high peak value: Toms, Hats, Claps for example. Then do the gain matching ;) All the best.

[@Bender4Fry]

Hi ! Thanks a lot for your video !! I can't find the VST version on my ableton browser, i did researches and ableton says it only manages VST2 and VST3 on windows (and manages AU only on mac), I uninstalled and re installed, moved into the good folders, but everytime only the VST3 version without the sidechain option is appearing, would you know how i could fix this ? Thanks for your time !

[@rossco78]

Hi. Great video again, sir! This is a great way to reference. A couple of questions: 1. Do you use such tools as Metric AB from Plugin Alliance and such plugins? I have Metric AB and find it invaluable. More often than not is is on some sort of sale…worth the investment. 2. When using span, do you ever engage the mid/side for referencing those? Cheers! Again, your tutorial is a great way to do the basics of referencing for free.

[@lotustunesacademy]

Cheers mate. 1. Used to use it but don't have it currently installed. Honestly never really liked the Spectrum Analyzer on Metric AB. All the other feature like importing multiple references I do like though. 2. Makes sense to use it, true! But I only use it for setting my levels right. All the best to you!

[@lagartijeando]

when you put a reference track that is remastered with your mix that is not mastered. When your mix goes to mastering it will have problems... since the limiter raises the bass

[@sha3439]

Doesnt a match eq like smart eq give u the same results?

[@JuicyPumps]

OY VEY!

[@randomdudefpv4927]

Does this work only if you are copying some other genre that should sound same?

[@ubc8179]

What’s your artist’s name ? Can we hear you in Spotify ? 😊

[@lotustunesacademy]

Zahand open.spotify.com/artist/7jIsc2oWolwlC7mbf9wvOB?si=9QyHo0BaSb-KeK_d2Zkj0Q 🙏

[@PhormaticBeats]

how do i get the vst version of span?? do i have to have the paid version??

[@lotustunesacademy]

It comes with all the other versions. Make sure you have VST plugins enabled in ableton.

[@slippyg]

Kevin: does the reference track need to be WAV or FLAC?

[@lotustunesacademy]

Hey Slippyg, yess. I highly recommend a lossless format such as WAV. That's because MP3 cuts high end and low-end to compress file size which isn't ideal for referencing.

[@MUSLIMOV_102]

Что то ты перешел на более медленные треки 110-115 bpm