Is Mixing More Important than Mastering? (For EDM & Bass Music)

[@nathanwood9147]

You're the first producer who really explained and has demonstrated mixing techniques in order to make my tracks louder! Thanks so much. I'll be buying your racks. Also really enjoy your tunes. I've been playing them in my car regularly.

[@areshudson4508]

You prolly dont give a shit but does anyone know of a trick to get back into an instagram account?? I somehow lost the password. I love any tips you can offer me

[@breckenalejandro3028]

@Ares Hudson instablaster =)

[@areshudson4508]

@Brecken Alejandro thanks so much for your reply. I found the site thru google and im trying it out now. Takes quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.

[@areshudson4508]

@Brecken Alejandro it did the trick and I now got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thank you so much you really help me out!

[@breckenalejandro3028]

@Ares Hudson happy to help xD

[@baddiemcbadbad9231]

I can push my master to be - 2db with barely any distortion in the saturation/clipping process in bass music. If you watch any big name artists stream you'll see that they barely do any mastering at all. What they do is a technique called "Mixing hot" What most of them do is mix with their mastering chain already enabled. So yes, it is "in the mix" because they barely touch mastering. It's a very simple mastering chain in most cases. It usually just includes an EQ and either a soft clipper or saturation to stop anything going past 0db. You then shove your drums as loud as you possibly can until you get extreme distortion. This distortion will likely be because of the low end in your kicks. We know that the low end distorts much easier, and is much more noticeable the harder it's clipped/limited. A pretty easy solution is to just EQ out some of the really low portions of your kick. This allows you to push the drums even harder into the compressor/limiter with little distortion. It leads to a much louder sound. As far as everything else goes, you just do what you can to increase perceived loudness of your sounds. You can increase perceived loudness by things such as compression, saturation, and distortion. A combination of all of those will lead you to a much louder mix. Your high end can also distort pretty easily, but if you sub and lower frequencies are present enough, they will actually drown out the sound of distortion. The trick is to make everything as loud as you possibly can with little to no distortion. As I mentioned earlier, most distortion is first noticed in the low end so you need to watch for that.

[@FrAuSkY125901]

span, the vst of legends

[@johnc1867]

Your truly the only artist that made it and actually gives back. I seriously hope you find success on like a Tiesto level, your prolly like the only one who I feel deserves that kind of success. Your content and tutorials are top notch and they aren't just for beginners like just about every other resource out there. Thanks and peacee

[@GooseTronics]

also i bought the racks a few weeks ago... i use them on everything!

[@godteeth]

explanation of how to use EQ to build your bass to how you want was amazing, thank you

[@RickDrift]

5:55 what you said here, made me decide to go through a bunch of my tracks, Dip all the bass, low and low mid sounds around 1k as well as a sub boost in the master eq and everything sounds so much cleaner and fatter. For whatever reason, the way you worded this and visualized it made this click for me. I am thankful for this video.

[@billyraymyers1002]

Have to agree with all the other comments here. You have explained why, where so many others fail to do so. Could you maybe breakdown the bass processing or synthesis on the be this funk track as well?? love the smoothe tone!

[@tresillianofficial]

I love that you include your notes on the side man - thanks for another useful vid

[@fortknightpredilluvian2008]

yo watching your youtube channel evolve into what it is today is amazing, thank you for these insanely helpful tutorials

[@Leoppassion]

So very generous of you to share your way of getting stuff done. I hope you get a lot more support!

[@TheBrendoe]

IF YOUR READING THE COMMENTS TO SEE IF YOU SHOULD GET THE RACKS OR NOT. YES DO IT. these racks are phenomenal. Amazing content for the price. 10/10

[@cjmrichards]

Dude I've been producing a year now, very intensively, and my mixes have been getting a lot cleaner, but this tutorial EASILY improved them from what I learned within 6 months! Thank you for this.

[@iowask666]

Bro you seriously have by far the best tutorials THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH

[@wes_the_scifi_guy]

You know how to explain and what to explain so good keep doin you

[@enhancdreality]

Absolutely loved this tune when it was released. Such a good collab. Both your styles come through so clearly! I wish K+Lab made tutorials because his tunes thump so hard and have such manic energy. He is only getting better too

[@zZMazeZz]

This is everything ive ever wanted in a tutorial thankyou!

[@kelsoc5639]

THIS! Was seriously an awesome and helpful tutorial. Great commentary and well-spoken.

[@xWUND3RWAFFL3x]

I would love to see an in-depth tutorial on how you sidechain everything to the kick and snare. Thanks AHEE, your and those racks are killer!

[@kaichmura241]

I would just search a volumeshaper, gatekeeper, or LFOtool sidechain tutorial on youtube- there are tons of them. The most advanced/in-depth one I've found is by hullabalo0

[@danquay9504]

Thank you for exactly how explain using span and comparing them in the eq , to sound the more professional and more punch I certainly try your method as the last video helped a lot, and I love span and my last track sounds amazing now

[@jamesrogers7616]

Thank you for everything you do. You’re a real one my guy🙏🏼

[@Jaketsx45]

I love this guy

[@GrahamWilliamson1985]

Superb again mate. Great tutorials and really well explained. I purchased your racks the other week. Not had a chance to use them yet but looking for ward to it 👍

[@OfficialAHEE]

thanks man, here is a video on how to use them, hope they help a ton! kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGTNn4xurdugnM0

[@breaksjunkie100]

The more watch you videos Ahee, Makes me see how clueless about music production I really am, I've made tracks and and I'm pretty embarrassed now haha Thanks for the video's and pro insights into what really goes on under the hood of production.

[@robertwright957]

I make bass music and I've been putting limiters on everything. It definitely felt wrong but sounded better and allowed me to get louder cleaner mixes. Def need to get my leads mo' better, too many hobbies some days.

[@graywhitney4085]

Baller. Thanks dude!!!

[@85ringostar]

my brain is fried! you are a God man it will take me years to get to your level

[@TRXST.ISSUES]

This is a wild tutorial 😮

[@Pnkfloid49]

I have been really struggling to try to mix and then master an album I'm working on and I kept getting stuck. But I think this Video and your other video on using the Span spectrum analyzer was really helpful

[@SkorpionDnB]

one of your best videos! I have hearing damage so mixing with SPAN and Pro-MB is a super helpful visual for me controlling dynamics! Thanks

[@Djpuzzle]

Nice video. Sounds like those snare samples have some pre production on them. I could be mistaken. Lots of EDM drum samples that people use tend to have lots of processing baked in which kinda helps in some cases.

[@MajorLeePayne]

Swish! haha Thank you for your wonderful insights on production, you really go in detail about all your groups working together in frequency spectrum. I have much to learn but you're a HUGE help. Hope people take notes, valuable stuff!

[@ThisisLuzifer]

Dope man! Keep up the good work. xxxxxx

[@osyrismusic5339]

I have been waiting PATIENTLY for a mixing tutorial for this style of bass music. T H A N K Y O U

[@EastTiger32]

wow amazing trick with the lo and hi multiband sidechain thing. def gonna try that and look into your racks! also, why is it you look at -30 in span? why that number specifically ?

[@OfficialAHEE]

EastTiger32 it’s how I was taught & also if you watch a hundred of your favorite producers tracks thru Span you’ll see why too 👽🤟

[@tobyarmstrong5450]

Hahaha "thusly", great vid man the visual approaches to mixing are very helpful

[@ramjamsam6948]

This is great! Thank you! That track is sick!!

[@ProjectUnity369]

All hail lorde Ahee!

[@motownjungle9794]

Thanks for all the great info!

[@urigeheadmot1196]

Love that snare

[@GooseTronics]

Thanks yo! alway tons of helpful info

[@breaksjunkie100]

I particularly like the break down video of 'Be that Funk', So many light bulb moments....haha

[@CristianArtlejandro]

Very golden video 🎉❤

[@ryanwrice7482]

I havent really looked too deep into you cause im flat out soIm not sure how long you been on the go with videos. I have been using the internet to teach myself for a good 15 years. The last 10 been pretty heavy into DJing and music producing, I put myself on a "when Im thirty-five Ill have my music on lock down." Im turning 32 this year and I got some shit coming down the pipe at the end of the summer-a little time in the can, its all good. just trying to make the most of it or whatever. hopefully gunna complete the goals I have. blah blah blah, just trying to give some substance to wha Im about to say. When your the youngest of padawan with a fresh lappy , ableton installed, you get on the internet and before long if your good you find Mr. Bill. Mr.Bill, to me, is the guy who teachs ya to ropes, hes your first slayer master. You my friend are a slayer master! You will go on to be a legend like Mr. Bill Im gunna get your racks next money download I receive. The knowledge you are giving me and have available for me completely transmute the negative emotions I experience in regards to the tribulations of the future. Please if you will, sit down and take a moment to actualize the gratitude I have for you. I am Techno/House music guy and I had the whole Steamy Ray Vaughn thing happen with Dubstep and sequentially "Bass Music." Your tracks Your tracks are WMD bro. I am grateful of your existence. AAAAAAAHHHHEEEEEEEE

[@Abhishek_Sarvaiya]

Mix your song very beautifully than its not required to master

[@MastaDzu]

thanks! cool tutorial

[@kristerrr1videos806]

thank you sensei! :O

[@Iammikeyv]

Hey ahee, I know this video is a couple years old.. but I have a question.. what’s the difference between EQing MIDI clips and EQing audio clips? Is it better to flatten midi??? Thank you!

[@lorenfulghum2393]

Ahee, do you ever break production into a writing phase vs a mixing phase ? Do you export normalized stems and re-mix once the track is "written"? Or are you of the school of thought that you can do everything all in one "framework" , or box, by working on what is going to be your final mix from the beginning? Also, do you ever use clip mode to arrange tracks?

[@OfficialAHEE]

Yes I breakdown into 2 phases, but I'm always thinking of the mix in the writing process. Sometimes I render out a track and master it, but often it's all in the same project. I used clip mode to arrange when I first started in ableton, but I don't recommend it to anybody. I will only use clip mode for live sets now days, but mostly use CDJs.

[@lorenfulghum2393]

@@OfficialAHEE Thanks a lot for your reply! Please keep making these videos, they are very helpful. I've been producing electronic music for like 30 years, and your one tutorial breaking down the bussing in the skrillex project totally reshaped the sound im getting.

[@zachd5242]

Nice content bro 😎

[@totemmuzik8962]

Awesome vid my dood. Lots of goodies. Looks like Soothe by Oek would save you a buncha notchin' time. I'd imagine we'll play some shows togethz soon. BlessUp

[@Kdog708]

Do you not do surgical EQ on your tracks to clean up phasing and other muddiness? It looks like you’re just doing a cut at 100-250 hz for stuff that’s not sub bass related.

[@STATXMUSIC]

Could you possibly make a video breaking down exactly how you’re side-chaining to your kick and snare with that hi/low splitter? That sounds like something I should probably be doing... lol.

[@OfficialAHEE]

will add it to the list :)

[@STATXMUSIC]

Official AHEE 🙏!

[@urigeheadmot1196]

split the signal into 2 by making a group with one track being a lowpass filter (for example at (~150hz) and a highpass(same frequency so 150hz). On the track with the lowpass add your sidechain device of choice, for example the ableton compressor, and chain it to your KICK. On the Highpass do the same, but chain it to the Snare.

[@urigeheadmot1196]

Ideally you want to split the signal with multiband dynamics, as it‘s linear phase. Sometimes one sounds better than the other, try both and decide for yourself

[@ThandoNewYork]

Do you think you could do a video where you show what the limiters are doing?

[@liqwiidOfficial]

Do you recommend saving your into WAV first then Mastering or Mastering it in the same place you made it?

[@SonOfUnagi]

It's more important in any production. You can't even begin mastering without a proper mix... I mean you can, but you'd just be mixing on the master bus

[@Trem.official]

Hey can you guide me, when I put Span on my master channel it doesn't hit -30db. How do you achive that without mastering? Do you make your kick hit 0db from the beginning? I couldn't figure it out

[@nargoon1]

Yo where do you guys get your vocal samples from?

[@ALYXDyLan]

siiick

[@DONBRETX]

whats the settings of the last last Pro- L on your master

[@GuruxMusic4eva]

7:08 Don't you level the kick around negative 30 like the sub? thanks a lot for your videos AHEE

[@OfficialAHEE]

Gurux Music nope, I don’t pay attention to the kick level numbers wise, more a feel, I pay attention to the overall sub content around -30 in Span tho ;)

[@itsnopez]

Tl;dr: Yes.

[@graywhitney4085]

Ahee do you ever do Skype lessons?

[@OfficialAHEE]

Gray Whitney yes sometimes, I usually post about when I accept lessons on my Instagram: @iamahee

[@Un0ification]

how do you put limiters on each bus? dont you get latency problems?

[@OfficialAHEE]

not with the Pro L 2, no problems, I'm on a laptop even. FabFilter did a great job.

[@urigeheadmot1196]

Official AHEE what preset are you using on the buses ?

[@hypedelicmusic]

Do you offer lessons?

[@teampyro911]

limiter inception

[@sirloin7241]

tl;dw = YES

[@user-en1oc8xn8q]

Zeds dead baby

[@ambermurray4481]

😮😮

[@ALYXDyLan]

seen san holo and peekaboo just send their drums into send tracks basically doubling the volume output while letting it clip so it cuts thhru

[@ALYXDyLan]

I guess so but theyre the ones headlining so that kinda sets the listening standard

[@OfficialAHEE]

DIELAHN yeah I’ve seen that too, Hearts is right about this tho. Turning up a utility would do the same thing ;)

[@ameer6168]

Would you like to make some tutorial for beginners This stuff is little bit advance for us

[@kromanoidx]

the song says "nibbas fault"? (°ー°〃)

[@rootz420]

Is Ozone worth the $500 for mastering?

[@gjfc4315]

no

[@WillWind]

depends on how much money you got to throw around

[@OfficialAHEE]

Get it when it’s on sale, I love it.

[@rootz420]

@@OfficialAHEE wb Gullfoss ?

[@urigeheadmot1196]

Demcheck yes

[@ozzelthecomposer5825]

First

[@largepoodle6036]

Didnt come here to watch the video, just to answer the question. Mixing and mastering is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You need both of them. You can make a jelly sandwich but it's not that good. You can make a peanutbutter sandwich, but it's not that good. You need peanut butter and jelly.