How To Fix Your DJ Mixes With Online Mastering Services

[@p5ri3o]

This is what a DJ 🎶 community is all about, discovering, learning and sharing knowledge👍

[@digitaldjtips]

Thanks a lot!

[@Spaced_Invader]

I concur! Well done Digital DJ tips, especially at 15:17. You made my day!

[@digitaldjtips]

Glad to help :)

[@davidharris4574]

Thank you! I finally found someone who could teach me what I was doing wrong.

[@digitaldjtips]

You are welcome!

[@kwaiG]

Cheers Phil just used LANDR for my first master of a mix 👏 OMG 😲 I thought it was ok but Jesus it made it completely come to life 😳😳😎😎😎😎😎😎 cheers bro 👍 😀

[@digitaldjtips]

Cool :) Glad it worked well for you!

[@dunndunna274]

How much did it cost you for LANDR to master your mix? Do they charge per mix, or the length of the mix price scaling, or is a subscription service? Also, I see that it’s been over a year now, do you still use the service or have you found something better that you use to currently master your mixes? Thx…I’m trying to figure out if I want to learn to do the mastering myself with a program like Audacity or Logic Pro X, or just have a professional do it for me, if it’s cheap enough to do…Also, anyone use Platinum Notes thru Mixed in Key?? Considering adding that to my arsenal as well, and I see that they also have a program "Mashup 2” that seems interesting if anyone has any feedback on it, thx

[@micksumo]

Great session Phil! 👏 keep up the good work!

[@digitaldjtips]

Thanks Michael!

[@thomasmaxey6106]

You are an absolute gem, thank you for sharing your wisdom!

[@digitaldjtips]

You’re welcome

[@maus3454]

The Pioneer XDJ RX (first generation) has a knob to activate a Compressor. I have not come across this feature on any of the other players so far. Especially for older disco- and dance tracks it really works very well.

[@digitaldjtips]

A handy thing to have!

[@djxcel23]

You actually have to click the box for it to clip. It can go a little louder on audacity. I record in wave and use levelator to treat my files

[@digitaldjtips]

Cool :)

[@laraz-F]

This is a good video for DJs, I have been doing it for years as I'm a producer I don't DJ much but when I do I drop it in Ableton and master it, thought I was being a snob lol

[@stuungar3390]

Hi, does ableton do a similar job, as the online services or is there a lot of human intervention?

[@laraz-F]

@@stuungar3390 you have to do it your self so if you don't know how to master use the online services

[@stuungar3390]

@@laraz-F- thanks for the reply, yep, wishful thinking, ah well!

[@maus3454]

@@stuungar3390 In Ableton you can insert your mixtape recording on a audio track/channel and add the Drumbus- and Limiter stock plugins onto the master channel. This will increase the loudness by compressing it and limit it so it would not start to clip. In general this works fine and does not cost you extra money. The suggestion by Phil using Audicity is also very good, as the Normalize effect does the same thing. In Ableton you have more control but it is always hard to get it right.

[@stuungar3390]

@@maus3454 - Cheers, thanks, very helpful 🙂

[@JAY-dn9qi]

Hello team!! In audacity is it better to amplify your mix or normalize??

[@dorsetengineering]

I use the normalize function, I do each channel separately because there is some balance issue from my turntables.

[@digitaldjtips]

It doesn't make much of a difference, if you're unsure use normalisation

[@JAY-dn9qi]

@@digitaldjtips I will try using both and then compare the results!!

[@djmikio]

Back in the day when I was on the road about 60% of what I played was Beatport-style modern tracks but the rest were a hodgepodge of old school tunes and bumped down stems from my and my friend's hard drives. I spent a lot of what should have been creative mixing time trying to balance the EQ and gain between those files. I wish these online mastering strategies had been available then

[@digitaldjtips]

Yes, it can be frustrating to think about how much time we would have saved 😅

[@chintamanikokani973]

@@digitaldjtips KONDAOA

[@SherwinBajao]

Great analogy. Should I do this to my old mixes and reupload to MixCloud?

[@digitaldjtips]

Why not? :)

[@SherwinBajao]

@@digitaldjtips didn't want duplicate posts or to post older mixes.

[@Atem_S.]

Nice..... I remember it was one of the first courses I took after How to Dj Fast.. Gold stuff!!

[@digitaldjtips]

Thanks Atem!

[@craigparry282]

Just watching back. Interesting topic. I didn't know about the online services but have always edited my audio for my radio shows (+ recording) on cool edit pro (Adobe audition). I also have Audacity which I sometimes use. I'll definitely look into one of these online services for future mixes. Thanks Phil

[@digitaldjtips]

You’re welcome Craig!

[@EimaiEmpusa69]

I have a question... How do you roughly keep the same bass pressure throughout the mix when mastering? I feel like multiband compression would do the track yet make it sound too compressed no?

[@stuungar3390]

Gold information!!

[@digitaldjtips]

Thanks Stu!

[@DJSpidey]

Any experience using BBE's Sonic Maximizer plugins? I know the hardware for these are often use in live settings

[@digitaldjtips]

Sorry, no.

[@grollinsmobile]

Hey, Phil. I use Adobe Audition. I record with Serato DJ Pro. Then, dump the mix into AA. I first normalize the entire file. Then, go to different sections that seem to be a lot lower than others and adjust the db. Then, finally do a hard limit to make the entire mix louder and even. What is your thought on that process?

[@digitaldjtips]

Sounds fine! You should as an experiment try not doing the dB adjustment/hard limiter (but do everything else) and instead run it through CloudBounce or LANDR, and then compare the results!

[@luistx16]

Perhaps I’ve had this wrong all along because I thought you would want to have all the songs you’re going to use for a mix all mastered the same first, and then create your mix with them. But if I’m understanding this video correctly, I should make my mix with however the songs sound now and then have the final mix mastered, is that right? Because how I was doing it before was, when I bring in a new song in my mixes, I would match the loudness of the first track. But the main thing I noticed is if the first song had deeper bass than the next song, the song with deeper bass would technically be louder, but maybe the vocals aren’t as loud, so, the vocal levels wouldn’t match.

[@digitaldjtips]

Mastering gives an overall "sheen" to a finished mix, but can't correct big EQ issues like you mention.

[@djdgordonreviews4671]

So quick question.....when putting together on your mix,what's the max peak each channel shall reach?

[@digitaldjtips]

Just keep it low (totally out of the red), as this software will boost it for you later on.

[@djdgordonreviews4671]

@@digitaldjtips I mean should I let it peak at the top of the green? And secondly when mixing bass heavy rap music ,how low should the basses be turned down (halfway)?

[@kristendorman1919]

Hi there, this was really helpful. I have used LANDR a couple of times but quite often after uploading the mix I get a sort of error message saying the track "lacks dynamic range" and can't be mastered optimally. I have no idea why or what I'm doing or not doing - it's really frustrating as when LANDR has worked for me it's been great. Any ideas what the problem is? Thanks so much!

[@digitaldjtips]

No, never heard of that. You should ask them directly!

[@djjustinocean]

Wouldn't a normalizing function on say Audacity cause the low low's of a breakdown in a trance track to be raised up to high, thus removing the intent of the artist and possible energy boosts? So I'm assuming a mastering program/service would account for this and not do that because it's more sophisticated. Or should I just save money and run my mix through "normalize" on Audacity as a last step and be done?

[@digitaldjtips]

Yes a mastering service is definitely more sophisticated, mixes don't need much doing to them though as you're working with already mastered tracks :) See if you like the results and go from there

[@djscottfrenzy]

would it be a good idea to seperate the tracks in a dj mix and even out the volume/Eq that way? Then put them back together and apply a multi limiter across the mix with a max of -1db reduction gain as the track will have already been compressed/ limited ?

[@digitaldjtips]

The question is how would you do this? Unless you're making a mix entirely in a DAW

[@djscottfrenzy]

@@digitaldjtips yeah I usually do it in a daw either Ableton or cubase

[@CosticaKristianDiVogli]

Platinum Notes 4 I also use Logic (but in case you're not a music producer) So yeah: PN4

[@digitaldjtips]

PN4 can be a good one-stop shop, agreed.

[@Coopzo]

Hello, is it possible to reimport the treated tracks from platinum notes to rekordbox so that it keeps or re links the meta data (memory and hot cues, playlist.. ext) of the old tracks. Trying to use the platinum notes mp3 to all the tracks currently in my rekordbox libary :) please help if you can

[@digitaldjtips]

No it isn't, you should always use Platinum Notes first before importing tracks to DJ software.

[@Coopzo]

@@digitaldjtips thankyou! Damn, gonna start re making all those playlist ahh

[@djlongg2345]

Hi Phil I am from South Africa

[@digitaldjtips]

Thanks for watching!

[@DISCOSERVICEOFCL]

Great tips! Has anyone ran a mix through ozone 9?

[@digitaldjtips]

Not a mix no, would be interesting to see how it does

[@maus3454]

The best audio mastering tool that I can across so far, and believe me I’ve seen them all, is NewFangled Elevate. Just put it on the Master Channel in your DAW and you’re done. The init preset is already fantastic. Everything gets dynamically louder but not clipping. Ozon is fine as well, but is rather CPU intensive and still requires manual adjustments.

[@digitaldjtips]

Interesting, will check it out

[@alexzanderking1556]

Nice one Phil i am learning how to master my mixes

[@digitaldjtips]

Nice one :)

[@mariomingione5213]

Does it make sense to run the tracks on Platinum notes and once you record a dj mix to run it on cloudbounce ?

[@digitaldjtips]

Yes it makes sense

[@mariomingione5213]

@@digitaldjtips just curious...have you personally tried the process of putting all your tracks via platinum notes, then via cloud bounce after a dj mix? I know you are a fan of Platinum notes...so I'm wondering if you do it this way as well?

[@digitaldjtips]

Phil uses PN all all his stuff and he's tried Cloudbounce out enough to recommend it so yes! :)

[@victorgomez8028]

is it possible to fix distortion on a part of a mix? i had guest dj and part of his set its sounds a bit distorted. is there a way to reduce it?

[@digitaldjtips]

Very hard to do unfortunately.

[@filipstaszek462]

Hi Phil, I don't really understand what's wrong with my mix that I want to master. I recorded the mix using rekordbox, uploaded it on SoundCloud and realised that it's not as loud as sets of other DJs. I downloaded Audacity, as you suggested, but the waveform of the mix has little or no headroom at all at some points (scale from -1.0 to 1.0). Is my mix recorded wrong from the beginning? I just want to note that I always keep the channels below the red zone to avoid sound distortion, that's why I'm puzzled now. Would be grateful for some help.

[@digitaldjtips]

This is difficult to answer without knowing what you're comparing it to (and how accurate it is to say that it's not as loud as others). If you have no headroom and you're clipping then you're recording too loud, record a little quieter and it'll give you the chance then to apply some gain automation, some gentle compression and limiting and get your mix nice and loud.

[@filipstaszek462]

@@digitaldjtips Thanks for the quick reply! I compared my waveform with the waveform you presented on this video. Also, I can notice that my mix is not loud enough, since I have to turn the volume a little bit up when I play my mix and it does not sound as ‘clean’ as other DJs mixes.

[@stephennorfleet1814]

Whenever I use Audacity my files are not in Stereo no matter how much I play around with settings or follow tutorials.

[@digitaldjtips]

It is easy to switch to stereo on the input and stereo files will open in stereo

[@SherwinBajao]

The link during the live show for the laptop stand doesn't work.

[@digitaldjtips]

djtips.co/stand :)

[@SherwinBajao]

@@digitaldjtips still not working for me. Is it because I'm in the US?

[@digitaldjtips]

Possibly, works fine for us - it's by "Thingy Club" on Amazon

[@SherwinBajao]

@@digitaldjtips can't find the exact same thing but found something similar used on FB marketplace for $30. Thank you.

[@digitaldjtips]

Cool :)

[@weximan1]

Hi

[@djfuzzofficial]

Phil KZbin doesn't let us know when you go live. It lets us know after the fact that a video has been uploaded.

[@digitaldjtips]

Subscribe and hit the 🔔

[@djfuzzofficial]

@@digitaldjtips Yes even after that is done, I only get a notification after the video is done, in the app. Is there something else we are meant to do?

[@digitaldjtips]

No that should be enough, might be an issue with the app but nobody else has mentioned it - we'll keep an eye out

[@pangea_thetribe]

I dont quite understand why you'd want to master your mix that consists of mastered tracks except for normalisation? :)

[@priyonjoni]

Here are the reasons: 1. When your tracks are in transition, the overlapping signals become louder. Mastering evens that out. 2. Volume can fluctuate throughout the entirety of a mix. No DJ is perfect in this regard. Mastering helps keep volume consistent. 3. Mastered tracks can still have a different average loudness aka RMS. Having a global mastering helps even them up. 4. Mastering reduces or eliminates clipping during transitions allowing you have your mix louder. 5. Mastering reduces or eliminates clipping when microphone is set louder than the mix. 6. Mixes that have a moderate compression and/or limiter to them have a broadcast quality to them. The reason is because a mixshow on the radio also goes through a similar set of compression and limiting that happens in mastering. 7. Mastering gets you a better signal to noise ratio. If your mix is too quiet, turning it up will introduce more noise to a listener.

[@alexzanderking1556]

@@priyonjoni correct

[@digitaldjtips]

Awesome stuff Pri, thanks

[@stefanocanali7209]

Activate subtitles so I better follow when you speak thank you

[@digitaldjtips]

Thanks for the suggestion Stefano

[@SherwinBajao]

Seem like CouldBounce has better per price for better quality files.

[@digitaldjtips]

Cool :)

[@patrickyore]

Do you have pink headphones so nobody will steal them? :-)