How To Mix With Pink Noise

[@vertecsrecordings]

Great advice, Becky! It´s way more intutitve to raise the levels of individual tracks (or groups of tracks occupying in the same frequency range) until You hear them than to match the spectrum of Your tracks with a reference track by looking at the frequency spectrum. Trust Becky and trust Your ears, guys.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Yes absolutely! That's why sometimes I'll balance the upper frequencies of the kick seperately from the lower frequency and then balance the entire group again with the pink noise. It works a dream!

[@AKAtAGG]

great reply, this.

[@fa0179]

This is the most straightforward video on this topic

[@BeckySaifMusic]

🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

[@ArtHubbCo]

honestly pink is my favorite color so I feel very supported by this video

[@BeckySaifMusic]

that's great!

[@alirizaibrahimgumus]

I love you Becky Saif. You are very friendly and very warm blooded. You love your job. may God glorify you.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Aww thank you so much! 🖤🙏

[@moreorlesto]

~Wow~ I've gotta say that I've never heard of this technique before, but I'm totally down to try it! Questions tho: -- you said you had 2 different Pink noise files in your example because you "just wanted to balance back and forth between the two". How so? Were you using one file for some tracks and the 2nd file for some specific others? Why not just one? -- you set the Master channel in Mono and then disabled the Return effects so you're "not messing with/focussing on the stereo image." How would the Returns staying on mess with this mixing technique? And once you've put the Master in mono, would it even make a difference to turn the Returns off? When listening in mono, I suppose it's possible (perceived) levels might appear to be affected if Returns are left on, 🤷🏾‍♂️ but is that going to have a significant impact? -- I want to try this technique on a mix with channels already gain-staged. Would that be a problem? Thanks for once again showing the world interesting techniques with audio!!

[@BeckySaifMusic]

So I had two files in the project just as my ears may have favoured one over the other for balancing the mix. I balanced the mix using one of the pink noise files and then used the second one to make slight adjustments. But really, you only need one. I just like to have more than one reference so that I can hone it in a little more. The return channels generally will have time based effects on them - i.e. reverbs, delays, which occupy the stereo image. When you send to the returns, you are adding more to the stereo field. Disabling them forces your brain to focus on the mono image. Other effects present on the return channels may only affect/enhance the mono image and in this instance it's important to mono on the master but keep the return channels that are adding volume/colour etc. present in the mix. i.e. don't disable all of them. mixing in this way is a form of gain staging, just using a reference rather than balancing the levels purely from listening to the mix itself. You can also use an existing piece of music as a reference to A/B your mix and get it sounding similar. I'd use a combination of everything to get the mix sounding how you want it. That's my preferred method. Thanks so much for your questions and I hope that helped.

[@rac06oon]

wow...one of the best if not THE BEST mini tutorials I watched.🌹

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Aw thanks 😊

[@JoshuaDontJust]

Been waiting for this videoooo 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@BeckySaifMusic]

🙏🙏🙏🙏😍😍😍😍😍

[@faho8221]

Mind blown 🤯 super interesting .. happy pink day 💗💕

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Yes!!! This is the comment I have been waiting for on my channel. 😄

[@robertjames4908]

Hi, it works quite well. But I am wondering , what is the difference to mixing with pink noise versus just using a -3db per octave slope filter on a spectrum analyzer.

[@mrutherford1994]

Great advice have heard this advice before but never explain like this.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Awesome!

[@orpheuscreativeco9236]

Cool trick 😯👍✨ Thanks for sharing! ✌️

[@BeckySaifMusic]

you're welcome 😊

[@patrickmurray8701]

Great technique for balancing volume, thank you

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ABunnyVTuber]

Cheers! Thanks for the info!

[@BeckySaifMusic]

You're welcome 😊

[@joshuakincheloe]

Love this!

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Thank you!

[@rhysmop]

🥳 keep up the great content!

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Keep up the great comments! and thanks for the sub ;)

[@Zet237yt]

Really need to try this one out, thanks for the video!

[@jamesdoyle4383]

Have tried this before and found very useful for getting a balanced mix 👍 Have a question for you, do you bounce all tracks to audio before doing a mix down or do you mix down samples with your vst sounds? Is there any benefit to bouncing all to audio or does it not really matter? Cheers.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

I've been meaning to bounce all tracks to audio and do it in a seperate project for a while but my brain just doesn't want to go to those lengths. I have been bouncing to audio a lot more recently, it's really useful for actually seeing the waveforms and their tails, to help with reducing overlaps across bar lines etc. It doesn't matter hugely but it's a good practice to get into imo.

[@jamesdoyle4383]

@@BeckySaifMusic that makes alot of sense. Never thought of from that perspective in terms of seeing every track as a wave and peaks etc 👍

[@joncorv]

Thanks for sharing this advice

[@BeckySaifMusic]

You're welcome!

[@JonnoRobinson]

Lovely! go Becky go

[@BeckySaifMusic]

JSR where art thou? Hope you are keeping well my friend. You are missed.

[@BF-up5xw]

This is a great, straightforward explanation, thank you! Am I colour blind? All your pink things look like pale violet to me!

[@BridgerBloke]

Now thats fricking amazing Beck, i never knew this, really helpful, an amazing way to guage loudness without audio meters. Also i never really new the difference between white and pink noise only that they sounded different. Now i know. and to find another use for pink noise like this is really helpful. A new tool for my production armoury.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Indeed! This is a wonderful technique and I use it in conjunction with traditional gain staging. Works a treat!

[@pinknoizz7510]

im here !

[@prestonessence]

Somehow, I hadn't heard of this famous trick before. Really interesting. I'm eager to try it on every song now and compare it to my longer mix attempts.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

When you try it, come back and tell me how it went. I bet you'll be amazed. 🤯💥

[@AndrewJohnClive]

Thank you very much!

[@BeckySaifMusic]

You're welcome!

[@osiriswills6749]

Hey Becky this was really great info. I've found other videos on mixing pink noise and get confused at times. What volume level should I set the pink noise too? Also should my instruments and drums come above the pink noise or under the pink noise?

[@nuvisionprinting]

Wow! Never thought of this but this is an awesome idea!

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Honestly try it... you'll be amazed at how stress free the results are.

[@nuvisionprinting]

@@BeckySaifMusic I'll have to when I get my new pc. The old one blew a gasket!

[@BeckySaifMusic]

@@nuvisionprinting ohh sheeet. Dark times. God speed 🙏

[@nuvisionprinting]

@@BeckySaifMusic thank you. I may need to come to you for some pointers and criticism.

[@georgepoindexter7416]

Hi Becky, this is truly incredible. I can measure in decibels to get my settings!! Wow…it is joy girl ( I’ll try the -11 )…thanks

[@BeckySaifMusic]

It really is. Such a game changer and so easy to do as well. 😊

[@georgepoindexter7416]

Your photo once again shows your excitement, and enthusiasm to music. You mentioned “Joy” and you express it well. You are contagious sharing your findings!! Thanks Bec!!

[@shawnhenrikson1993]

Definitely going to give this a shot on my next mix. Saw a video on this a while back but Becky did a better job explaining things, as usual. Sold!

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Give it a go and then come back here and tell me how it went. 😊😊

[@shawnhenrikson1993]

Might take me a few days but I'll definitely do that Becky!

[@shawnhenrikson1993]

I gave it a go Becky. Works pretty flawlessly. Just downloaded a pink noise wav and looped it as you suggested. Definitely much faster to get a static mix. Again thanks for the awesome explanations!

[@optimistic777]

such a good idea. would this work for other types of music?

[@vertecsrecordings]

Sure, it's just a good and quick indicator for Your mix where it is too bright, too muddy or needs more bass to be "well distributed". Based on that You can fine tune it to Your taste - if needed anyway.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

@@vertecsrecordings exactly this ^

[@optimistic777]

@@vertecsrecordings oh ok thank you.

[@optimistic777]

@@BeckySaifMusic thank you

[@omnidirectional2339]

need the pink panther in the studio :) cheers Becky

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Hahaha now that would be epic!

[@JoshuaDontJust]

Such a good video!!! Gonna try and feedback 💥💥💥💥💥

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Yes mate!!! Try it... let me know how it goes.

[@PSingletary]

What about mixing in other "color" noise? is that a separate video? (How)

[@BeckySaifMusic]

I find pink is best suited to human hearing

[@wojciechwieja5134]

Well, I have tested each track in my production with pink noise and it shows different levels than occurs in my ears when I listen to final piece

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Interesting comment. There are many things that can affect your mix. I recommend using whatever gets you the best results for your sound!

[@wojciechwieja5134]

@@BeckySaifMusic Another topic: maybe there is a tutorial somewhere but I'd like to ask how to eq&mix to sound good in a bigger room? I mixed my piece using in-ear-monitors and my home studio monitor (with subwoofer) but yesterday when I launch the music in big room (for about 300 audience) it was total disaster.

[@MrMaddatt]

This is so interesting 🤔🤔🤔 It's an old technique but with a new twist, the new twist is doing it all within a DAW. The first time I saw this i thought it was ingenious to use a standalone spectrum analyser and pink noise generator inserted into a mixing desk via a patchbay to setup a basic level and pan mix quickly before working on the full mix.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Yes indeed the new twist! I'd love to be able to do this in the studio. Any way to get my hands on hardware!

[@MrMaddatt]

@@BeckySaifMusic If you wanna get some hardware you could try ebay or facebook marketplace. I so love using hardware with all the buttons,knobs and lights. Doing a full mix on a DAW is alright but i prefer to do it all on a mixing desk with alot of outboard gear.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

@@MrMaddatt same. Just need the dolla for dat ting 😅

[@freewheelburning8834]

your pretty in pink

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Thanks!

[@Reggi_Sample]

It may be better to sidechain the pink noise to spectrometer so you don’t have to listen to it or rely on perceived loudness

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Isn't perceived loudness the point?

[@FunktheEmpireMusic]

This sounds like you went way above hearing them "just above the pink noise". Every other tutorial I have seen does it just so its a tiny bit audible over the noise.

[@cinex5114]

After 4month...are you still using this method?

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Yeah I use it in every project. I don't only rely on this though. I will gain stage in headphones and on speakers. Alternating between methods. and listening to my music on my phone speaker too.

[@Bero70]

Proper way is to raise the level of the track so that you can barely hear over the Pink noise. In your example you are way ,way louder then pink noise. The whole Idea is to use Pink noise to "blend frequency spectrum". So, yes the idea is old ,tones of videos on you tube ,just raise the track till you can barely hear and then move on to the next one.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

3:11 - welcome to the channel Bero! 🤟

[@SouthYarraMan]

Using pink noise like that is like applying a multiband brickwall limiter on steroids. This wrong method is prevalent in swarms of EweTube uploads. By setting a gradient like this you are limiting the dynamic energy in a restrictive way i.e, pinning the frequencies under the p/noise profile. Go to a freq' analyzer & you will see the true dynamic track response which is not what you get by applyling the method you urge Becky to adopt. In fact she has it right by bringing the signal ABOVE the noise profile, thus preserving the dynamics but still generally following the gradient/slope. Do not use the p/n slope as a dynamic wet blanket. Go over - NOT under. If you want to be even more precise insert a VU meter, measure the p/noise & trim each target to 1.5 or 3dB above it. Drop the output buss gain accordingly. The audioflies teaching everyone how to mass produce 'miss downs' are like a black cloud. The difference between mixing under the gradient or over it is like wearing a pair of trousers the wrong way around, Lol! No mastering engineer uses p/ n the audioflies way. Becky is the only one I've seen who has it right but could raise levels by more dB for greater dynamic range. That's really the secret sauce.

[@lionpaws3809]

Another super simple way to cut corners in music production that KZbinrs try to push to masses, but is it good? IMHO no, even if it sounds logical and has some sort of scientific background it is just bad solution for any beginners. There is no JOY for sure in blasting (figuratively) your ears with pink noise even for 1 minute, I find it particularly unpleasant. Also literally not even one professional and respected sound engineer is using it. Try to analyze balance in your favorite songs and you will find your that balance curve is not even near pink noise. Yes, it sounds tempting, but you can’t cut corners like that, you need to embrace yourself and train your ears (with a help of visual representation if you want) and get better in mixing one step at the time

[@Theron_main]

You're funny )

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Haha thanks

[@ceilandiamaisverde9844]

Becky Barbie Saif

[@artemisnite]

Or... You can just turn down the volume until you can barely hear each track. No need for the white noise. However, neither of these techniques account for instruments you don't want at full volume.

[@burns46824]

if only all music had… no dynamics

[@neutralfog]

That's gain staging not mixing. Mixing is much more than adjusting the gain of the tracks. It's kinda misleading to beginners. Be precise with your language next time. Also, you don't have to be entertaining or funny in a tutorial. That's not what most people are here for. Thank you for this upload anyway.

[@BeckySaifMusic]

Do me a favour and type 'Pink Noise Mixing' or something to that degree in KZbin and tell me how many videos of this nature come up in the search results. My video isn't a brand new technique that is not already on KZbin. However I still wanted to share my take on this amazing trick with my own subscribers. Mixing is indeed far much more than just using pink noise as a reference. There's a whole playlist on my channel devoted to mixing, if you'd like to check it out. Thanks for calling me entertaining and funny, I wasn't even trying but that's great that you noticed that. I've just come off of the back of 2 years of a life threatening illness, so it's promising to hear that my energy and personality are coming through in my videos. You may prefer to check out my earlier videos where I was still quite unwell. Thanks for your comment - at least your text will help boost the algorithm on this video. Have a nice day. x

[@prestonessence]

Steve Duda famously told a Pyramind workshop in San Francisco that "mixing is 95% about level balance." He challenged his students that he could beat their mixes using no plug-ins, only faders. No doubt Steve would be surprised to learn he wasn't mixing.