How To Identify and Correct Phase Issues In Your Mix | MixBetterNow.com

How To Identify and Correct Phase Issues In Your Mix | Mix Better Now
Watch as I show you how to identify and correct phase issues I was having on some drums in a recent mix. Here I go into detail about what phase is, how to identify it in your session, and how to manually take care of it without the use of aids like Auto Align.
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[@Usef514]

You just blew my mind. Thanks for explaining in simple terms what no one was able to explain to me so far. The difference between the out of phase and in phase was incredible. Subscribed :)

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Always happy when I get to blow people’s minds, haha! 😂 Always a good day 😜 Thanks for watching and am super stoked it was able to help you out! 👊🏼😎

[@koltonmarco6037]

You all probably dont give a damn but does any of you know a tool to log back into an Instagram account?? I somehow forgot the login password. I love any help you can give me!

[@aronlionel1030]

@Kolton Marco instablaster :)

[@koltonmarco6037]

@Aron Lionel Thanks for your reply. I found the site through google and I'm in the hacking process now. I see it takes a while so I will reply here later with my results.

[@koltonmarco6037]

@Aron Lionel it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. Im so happy! Thanks so much you saved my ass!

[@stephenallenmusic]

The comment section in protools is so underrated I hardly ever see anyone use it but it's so helpful. Its the only way I can keep up with what I'm doing especailly when I load the session up on another day. I can't imagine doing recalls back in the day with console tape I would quit shoutout to the og's

[@MixBetterNowTV]

AWESOME OBSERVATION AND COMMENT!!! I totally agree w you!!! 👊🏼😎

[@etyrnal]

The primary thing I learned from watching this video is that if you want your mixes to sound incredible, that you first have to put a knit hat between your ears and your earphones.

[@JubileeGiggles]

Easier than putting the hat on top of the headphones. I've done it

[@Acekorv]

Just adding a tad of low pass filtering to compensate for making a dull mix lol

[@MixBetterNowTV]

JubileeGiggles Good man! You now know the secret to better mixes! My work here is done 😜

[@MixBetterNowTV]

etyrnal Sorry for the long overdue reply. I’ll respond the same way I did to a similar comment: “This particular beanie is actually one of my secret tools to sculpting my signature sound. The thickness and material creates a consistent 18 DB per octave slope which high passes to around 67hz... sometimes even extending to 70hz. Although recently talking to another colleague made me aware of the fact that wool beanies are actually superior to a polyester blend like this one because they really accentuate even order harmonics and add a bit of that analog intangibility we all love and crave from plugins typically found only in vintage 48 channel consoles. The other huge plus is my ears can bench 450 lbs. Try some different beanies to see which thicknesses and materials work best for you. YMMV 🤗

[@maurourrai2550]

@@MixBetterNowTV ahahah

[@connollytunes]

That was slightly brilliant. I think you might be the only person who has made me understand phase. Thank you. It's making me wonder how many of my tracks could have been SO much better and easier to mix, had I known this before. Will definitely bear it in mind properly for my next mix. I have always tried to ignore the whole phrase thang. I realise now that I cannot. Thank you again.

[@step1420]

Now that is some real important tips. I've heard about phasing and its importance all my life but never did anyone explain it so clearly.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Glad it helped! 👊🏼😎

[@jaystay1514]

not to be nitpicky but if u notice the "kick in" mic transient is pulling (going down) while the "kick out" is pushing (going up) what you should have done, is flip the "Kick in mic" to have positive phase. You would always want your speaker to push air rather than pull back on the 1st cycle :)

[@sybreedsTV]

Night and day end results, Great video, thank you!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Happy to help! 👊🏼😉

[@ricardoayala2023]

Huge thanks. At last I catch up the concept. I'm a 61 years old "newbie".

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Ricardo Ayala Good for you, Ricardo!! Never too late to learn in life 😉 I'm proud of you, brother! Keep up the great work 👍🏻😎

[@BlackSuitDevil]

Awesome video . Thanks for posting Bud

[@CaseyWindom]

This was awesome and so helpful, thank you!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Casey Windom My pleasure, Casey! Glad it was helpful 🤙🏻😊

[@soundmakerstudio2486]

super cool tutorial! best one's !

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thank you! 👊🏼😎

[@RobbJolleymusic]

This is the video that I needed

[@Galoski]

Great video, thanks for sharing the tip.

[@aswathyramkumar]

I rarely comment on KZbin but watching this video I wanted to tell you that my reaction was "wow wtf!" I was mixing my first ever track and noticed that the overall loudness decreases whenever I played all tracks together and I was hella confused on why that would ever happen. To fix that I have watched many videos about phasing and all they say is "yeah so when + meets - it gets cancelled out blah blah" but never actually understood how to actually detect it until I have watched your video. Blew my mind! You have even shown us the possible ways to fix that as well! Instant like and subscribe mate! Also I just noticed that your last upload was on Oct 2018, you should start uploading again man!

[@benjaminaustnesnarum3900]

Listening to this through an iPhone speaker.

[@BlueTransAm83]

And you can hear it too. Same here. Must be a more mid range kick. The iPhone EQ is mainly mid, with huge drop offs around 300? Forget. And highs, and just a dead mush mid.

[@phillyjoe148]

Great video 🔥❤️👊🏼

[@recumbentogiro26]

I had no clue until you explained what I was listening too. Great job sir!

[@h.p.dominocus]

I've always struggled with thin sounding snare in my drum mixes and for years I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. It recently occurred to me to flip the phase of the top snare mic instead of the bottom and now I finally have a full sounding snare! I have always flipped the bottom phase out of habit but for whatever reason, flipping the top is what makes the difference in my case. It makes more sense now after watching this video.

[@josephblasingame1430]

Youngblood, you did a very excellent job regarding phase/phase reversal! As an AE for over 45 years, I love to cruise the tube and compliment the guys doing a great job of teaching. Way-to-go!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thanks a bunch for the super kind words, Joseph! Means a lot coming from an audio vet like yourself 👊🏼😎 - Pete

[@jpnavarromusic]

Best video ever in this subject. Thank you so much for putting out this for free

[@MixBetterNowTV]

JP Navarro My pleasure 👊🏼😉

[@bereantrb]

Thanks a lot. I understood the acoustic principle of phase cancellation but wasn't sure how it applied to mixing or how to use the phase tools in a DAW. Very well explained.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

bereantrb Glad to help! 🤙🏻😊

[@thesoundresidence]

When it comes to the snare, it IS important (and make a difference) to flip the phase on the mic that "go against" the overheads...... In this instance, the top snare mic. The other way around will make the snare mics go good together, but then both will work "against" the overheads.

[@anupamtamang6571]

I agree.. polarity of the bottom mic should be flipped.. because the polarity of snare drum on the over head mic will be in phase with the polarity of top mic and the bottom mic would be out of phase with over head

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Great point! 🙌🏼

[@ArrozicStudioOfficial]

U r probably the first person who gave me a clear cut idea about phase issue... thanx man !!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Awesome! Glad it was helpful! 👊🏼😎

[@iane.millais2982]

Cool lesson Peter, thank you. In simple, clear and measured manner you explained a very complex set of procedures. I have spent a load of time looking for videos that could explain how to phase correct and time slip and you nailed it. Thank you once again. Keep the great videos coming, you are a gifted teacher.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thanks a bunch for the kind words, Ian! I appreciate you! 👊🏼😎

[@lindzk8202]

wow what a clear explanation, I have been trying to learn more about mixing these days, I never knew about this concept of phase until about two weeks ago, however I never thought it could make such a difference

[@MixBetterNowTV]

One of those trippy, mind blowing things... Right??! You’ll have many of those “A HA” moments on your audio journey/path. We all have them regardless of how long we’ve been doing it. It’s the beauty of always learning and keeping an open mind. Thanks a bunch for watching and the kind words! Hope the mixing has been going well 👊🏼😎 - Pete

[@kaylab7565]

Super helpful, thanks!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure, Kayla... Glad it helped! 👊🏼😉

[@rbouknight921]

Great demo. Might be a bit more helpful to A/B without stopping the track. Thanks for the tip.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

royce bouknight 👊🏼😉

[@JubileeGiggles]

Best video I've seen explaining this subject

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thanks for the kind words! 👊🏼😎

[@jacobthompson5934]

Super insightful explanations and demonstrations. Thank you man!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Happy to help! 👊🏼😎

[@computerjantje]

Thank you very much. This was very clear educational to me.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Awesome! Glad it helped! 👊🏼😎

[@markhunstone2747]

Spot on explanation! Thank you!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure, Mark! 👊🏼😎

[@royalemuzikproductionz]

I might be wrong but sometimes I have a great sounding sample of a snare mostly and when I add it to a clap it sound thinner but this might be the shade being thrown on my mix.I'll definitely experiment with this.cheers mate

[@davidball7211]

Awesome video. Thank you so much for the extremely in depth explanation. Best video I have seen on this subject hands down.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thanks for the kind words, David! Means a lot. Super stoked to hear that it helped! 👊🏼😎 - Pete

[@marcus6872]

I've just been learning how to check for and solve phase issues, this video really solidified it. Great tutorial Thanks!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Stoked to hear it helped, Marcus! Thank you! 👊🏼😎

[@lakshensilva2454]

wow ... your lessons are awsome .... thank you very much for your support to get some knowelegde about phase camcelation

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thanks for the kind words, Lakshen! I appreciate it! 👊🏼😎

[@harmonicsball89]

Super helpful. Just subcribed

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thank you! 👊🏼😎

[@dizzolve]

great examples.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thanks! 😁

[@jamesgullickson6502]

Thanks for this one man, good stuff

[@MixBetterNowTV]

James Gullickson Cheers! 👊🏼😎

[@thenicopires]

I was doing shit wrong, perfect video, had to suscribe! greetings from Chile.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Muchos gracias for the sub and happy to help! Sending lots of love back to you, Nicolas from Chile! 🇨🇱 As a huge football fan I’ve always loved watching your international team and players like Alexis Sanchez 👊🏼😎 (I’m a USMNT, England and Chelsea FC supporter myself 😉)

[@erictsenmusic]

This is a guy to be trusted. Subbed!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thank you! 👊🏼😎

[@Algernon273]

This was massively helpful, thanks so much

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure! 👊🏼😎

[@sakethkommajosyula]

Thank you for this tutorial. It is so easy to understand.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Happy it helped! 👊🏼😎

[@RoC1909]

Well done! Thanks for explaining this in layman's terms.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

RoC1909 My pleasure! 🤙😊

[@adikickass84]

Finally understood this. Thanks man! Great vid

[@jozsefilyes3533]

Very good tut ! :) Thanks !

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure! 👊🏼😎

[@johnmartin5153]

I finally understand this. Thanks man !

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure, John! 👊🏼😎

[@Azerothz3on]

Great tutorial.... Thank you so much for this. 👑

[@MixBetterNowTV]

👊🏼😎

[@martincassin9369]

thanks for all of this man, very instructive ! one question : why not using nudge also for snare mics in relation with the OH mic ? Sounds tempting doing it that way

[@mauricerobinson9560]

Thank you so much my brother needed to know this god bless you

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Maurice Robinson Right back atcha Maurice! 🤙

[@CliveVaz]

Hey Thanks man you really explained the phasing so clearly with examples and the wav forms thanks a lot man really appreciate it. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and inputs on this subject. God Bless

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure! Happy it helped! 👊🏼😎

[@AlanSamuel]

Thanks for this very convincing lesson. Clear and loud! After watching your video, I realized how so many of my recordings were full of out of phase material! Thank you so much.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thanks for the kind words! Really happy to hear it helped you. Being able to HEAR phase issues when they occur is a massive tool to have in your arsenal. Hearing is always >>> “seeing”. Cheers, Alan! 👊🏼😎

[@charlesmathew8815]

The best explanation heard so far!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thanks Charles! 👊🏼😎

[@victor-dweck]

Absolutely incredible video. Came here for dialogue editing in film, comedian here. Thanks Pete!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

It’s all love! Audio is audio regardless of what you’re into 😉 Happy it helped! 👊🏼😎

[@vezzyx2879]

Great tutorial ... moving individual drum tracks is meant to be a no no .. but you are proving them wrong here ... sounds great .. must try it .. sorry to ask but .. kick mics/snare mics/pres/converters ?? thanks

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Glad it helped. And yeah, I don’t subscribe to any “hard and fast rules” in audio. The only “rule” I know of is “If it sounds good, it is good”. Anyone telling you otherwise either doesn’t know what they’re talking about or is trying to sell you something 👊🏼😜

[@danecustance2734]

Thanks clear explination easy to understand.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Dane Custance Thanks, Dane! I appreciate it! 🙏🏼😎 - Pete

[@roygertel4647]

Great tutorial ! Thanks

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Glad it helped, Roy! Cheers! 👊🏼😎

[@Mauroxprime]

Thanks!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure! 👊🏼😎

[@zouxification]

give this man a glass of water !

[@rickmarr9634]

Dude, i knew i wasn't the only one lol

[@MixBetterNowTV]

I’d rather have a beer! 👊🏼😂

[@gabo182b]

Amazing video man ! thank you ! and congrats for such amazing content :)

[@MixBetterNowTV]

gabo182b Thanks! 🙏🏻😄

[@BraveStorms]

I've been studying music production at university for 2 years and this is the first time I've ever heard of phase, should've just stuck to self-teaching :/ ty

[@anunakigaviria1105]

YOU THE BEST MY FRIEND. THANKS FROM COLOMBIA.

[@savatomic2]

Thanks for the video!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure, Sava! 👊🏼😎

[@trackworkz1793]

Commented, liked and subscribed

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thank you! 👊🏼😎

[@PanTricks]

Really good bro made it easy to understand!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Curtis Edwards I'm glad! 😁

[@BSADNB]

Very nice! What you mean by kick in kick out? Two different kick samples?

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Kick In and Kick Out microphones on the drums when recording... Very common/popular to use 2 mics when recording a kick drum. One can be placed “inside” the kick and the other “outside”. Now that being said you can always use one mic or even more than 2. Hope that makes sense! 👊🏼😎

[@GmKiam]

Very usefull tips man!!! Thx A lot!!!!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure! 👊🏼😎

[@notofimportance]

Great vid, thanks!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

👊🏼😎

[@buddy5799]

Great video dude!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thanks, Buddy! 👊🏼😎

[@victor-dweck]

Can you do a video on your mic and recording setup, for podcasts?

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Good idea! I’ll put it on the list. If you have any questions shoot me an email in the meantime 😊

[@DanUpdegraff]

I'm mixing a live orchestra right now with several close mic and far mic tracks. Phase flipping can also improve the sound in this case as well. I even had one track that sounded odd by itself until I applied a plugin that converts between L/R and M/S. Don't know why I had to do that, but it sure helped.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Awesome!

[@alvarozegers]

Thank you !!!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure! 👊🏼😎

[@nazarenodadamante8703]

Thank you so so much! Subscribed!!

[@beardguitar5539]

Very informative, thanks man!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

My pleasure! 👊🏼😎

[@WizeChoice]

Great Vid! Thanks you much

[@jannevaatainen]

Great tutorial. As a Cubase guy, I'm quite surprised that there is no phase invert in the Pro Tools mixer for each channel. About the toms: Wouldn't it be wiser to nudge the tom tracks so that the tom hits themselves are in phase with the overheads, not the snare bleed on tom channels? I always gate the toms anyway, because of their constant rumble.

[@LeopardBull5trik3]

Is there a phase invert button in cubase?

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Sure. If that works for you, do it that way. In audio I find there’s always multiple ways to “skin a cat” 😉 And I’m with you on Cubase. Exactly why I switched to using Studio One full time a few years ago and haven’t looked back. I can work 10x faster in S1. Now that being said, I always advocate to use whatever DAW YOU like and what you connect with the most. All daws in 2020 sound awesome. 15, 20+ years ago I found that different daws had different “sounds”. But nowadays we’re all spoiled with so much amazing gear at affordable prices. It’s a great time to be alive and making music! All the best! 👊🏼😎 PS - Go follow my buddy Chris Selim and his channel at “Mixdown Online”. He’s an INCREDIBLE engineer, an even better human and IMO he’s THE Cubase guy 😉

[@alfieholloway]

Great explanation. Thank you. Do you have any thoughts on vocal phase that can be caused by any of the following: * parallel bus sends which might affect the timing of the wave * duplicate and copy a vocal and add a pitch shifter with a delay time Can you end up creating phase via manipulation of one waveform? Thus making the vocal thinner? The exact opposite of what your goal is?

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Phase is an issue of one sound source hitting 2 microphones at 2 different times instead of one. So for example if you’re stereo mic’ing a source you can have phase issues. If you’re mono something (a voice, an acoustic, etc) and doing multiple takes you won’t have phase issues, you’ll get “chorusing”. That make sense? If not I’ll try and explain it better. Cheers, Alfie! 👊🏼😎 - Pete

[@icpark]

Great lesson. One question: why is it important to keep track of which mics you phase-flipped, other than to be buttoned up? Are there situations where a phase-flip will give you issues that you have to know that you flipped phases?

[@morten1]

Straight to the point. Great

[@ricomartinello1654]

Very well organized and presented

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Rico Martinello Thanks! 😊

[@xadziak8896]

on of best videos!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Ratsound Thanks! 🤙😊

[@DrumApe]

Wow, thanks a lot!

[@tapashbanerjee8267]

Learnt from you. Thanks.

[@Julio3dc]

Very helpful video, thanks Pete

[@AndrewDInSydney]

Hi, thankyou for an amazing lesson! I just wonder why these plugins only ever seem to have 180° correction as the option? The example of your Tom phase misalignment shows what I have always wondered - what happens when it’s something other than a perfect 180° (which my guess is the situation most of the time)? It seems more intuitive to me that it should be a dial as opposed to an on/off option(?)

[@SirFickman]

Phenomenal video - very informative and detailed. I will add that - maybe I'm sensitive to sibilance, but the smack / pop to startany sentences came through harshly on my speakers. It didn't take away from your content; I look forward to more.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Glad the video helped! And yeah I ditched that mic and setup a long time ago. Was def no bueno 👊🏼😉

[@jimmytribe3339]

I always see mixing engineers explaining phase cancellation in lower frequencies, but does it also occur in higher frequencies? And would that be bad aswell or worth correcting? Would like to hear what you think :)

[@XiyuYang]

Jim Stam Not OP but you should always correct phase, because basically every move you make when mixing (EQ, saturation etc) will change the phase relationship between different mics. If phase is not aligned from the get go it will get worse.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

X Y Totally agree!! 👊🏼😎

[@jordany9601]

Of the 10 phase vids i watched this is the only one that helped me understand

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Thanks for the kind words, brother! ✌🏼😎 Glad it helped!!! - Pete

[@SemfanyPro]

Great video! I'm a subscriber now. Thank you.

[@MixBetterNowTV]

SemfanyPro Thanks and welcome! 🙌😁 - Pete

[@brandon23471]

Great video man, I learned a lot!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Glad to hear it, Brandon! 👊🏼😎

[@bustacap3791]

Thank you very much for the very concise and informative video. Does this also affect dual guitar tracks, or even "Big mono" type of mixing?

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Phasing occurs when one single sound source hits 2 separate mics at the same time. If you’re mono mic’ing a source (vocal, acoustic gtr, etc) and doing multiple takes, you won’t get “phase” cancellation... You’ll get “chorusing” which is a different thing and sound altogether. Hope that makes sense. Great question! 👊🏼😎

[@dreamyphil]

Awesome!

[@MixBetterNowTV]

👊🏼😎

[@davidbrussard-composer7372]

Brilliant, thanks so much, man

[@MixBetterNowTV]

David Brussard My pleasure, David. Glad to help! 🙌🏼😁❤️

[@OdindeSa]

Hey ! Please do a video on Aux and bus setup for mixes. More specifically how they help create louder mixes ! I am have a really tough time getting a louder final product without cranking my limiter way too much :/

[@MixBetterNowTV]

I'll make a note to shoot something on the topic in the future. Cheers!

[@dizzolve]

Is there ever a situation (mainly with drums but any) where you know it's out of phase but prefer the sound? Or will you always correct phase then tailor your sound later

[@MixBetterNowTV]

Of course. If you like the sound, use it! There’s only ONE RULE in audio I know of and that is, “If it sounds good, it IS good.” Always trust your gut, ears and taste 👊🏼😎

[@kendarlyrel]

very helpful tnx

[@MixBetterNowTV]

👊🏼😎

[@zip7806]

Hey that Aston sounds good as Voice Over mic. Thanks

[@deancarter727]

Thank you 💕💕

[@dinushanbandara8773]

Thank you very much

[@helloyoro]

Hey so I have a question, isn't the phase invert button a symbol of polarity invert, because there is a change in polarity i.e exactly flipped 180 degrees?

[@Zerofaux]

Great information, thx for sharing, I subbed. Have a good day

[@MixBetterNowTV]

KymaFox Cheers! 😄