Mike Dean's Mixing Secrets

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Today I go over some of the techniques mike dean uses when he mixes. In this video I go over a previous twitch stream that mike dean did. This goes over mike deans drum and 808 mixing techniques, mike deans vocal mixing techniques

[@juanb.m5753]

mike dean mixing secret is that at the beginning of every session you need to light a blunt and let the magic do his work

[@gonzalosaavedraalban]

FACTS

[@TaylorKromOFFICIAL]

Its dope to see Mike Dean doing a lot of things that I also do when mixing, I was self taught and literally binge watched KZbin to learn my way. So when you see legends doing what you also picked up along the way is hella reassuring! 🔥

[@rudyorejel9723]

Factss bro I was so happy to see the waves de esser lol

[@TaylorKromOFFICIAL]

@@rudyorejel9723 brooo that one hit me in the heart no lie 😂🔥

[@Retro10X]

@@TaylorKromOFFICIAL self taught gang !

[@undeadmystro4806]

broooo

[@claycowartisamazing]

Nah sorry fam, apples and oranges.

[@MKD371]

He uses the stock pro-tools eq, this eq is one of the best sounding surgical eq's ever, similar to the sonnox eq, so not sure why anyone would make fun of him using it.

[@georgetmusic]

A lot of noobs don’t seem to understand that using stock plugins can yield professional results

[@tilda140]

@@georgetmusic They're just upset they spent $250 on an EQ and still can't mix xD

[@rapidfiremuzik_official]

@@tilda140 that part loloooo

[@peacekeeper3743]

true, even the stock Avid compressor is super good.I mean, it gives you full options to shape the sound the way you want.

[@MKD371]

@@peacekeeper3743 Yes, it is also the fact that whatever pro tools does, it will inherently sound good. I know many say it's just binary digital stuff, but there is a reason so many pros use PT for audio specifically and use the stock plugins half the time, so it's not surprising he sticks with the PT eq.

[@manv_world]

The time and energy you put on doing these videos is incredible..you did it again brother thank you🔥🙌🏼

[@montieblanc4074]

This is the first video I’ve watched that’s been actually helpful on KZbin in years

[@TCHartselle]

Bro the effort you put in these videos is insane! Thank you so much for sharing this!!

[@greenleaf4127]

i really appreciate your work and all the info that you compile, this is fantastic

[@DukDolan]

mike deans mix is a lot louder and dynamic compared to the rough mix

[@TheGrimFiend]

That’s the point tho of mixing, get as much ‘loudness’ without clipping the whole mixdown

[@Powsimian]

@@TheGrimFiendthat was his compliment I think

[@InfamousAWJ]

@@Powsimian It still don’t make sense cuz that’s the point of mixing

[@chrisoquistmusic]

@usAWJ It's not the point of mixing though. You could maybe argue it's the point of (modern) *mastering*. The point of mixing is to create a blend of tracks that sounds good - not just loud - with instruments having their distinct spaces in the sound of the finished piece, perfecting the tone of individual elements in the mix, creating a stereo space that works, getting sounds to work in relation to one another so the overall piece feels cohesive. More like making things balanced and sonically effective than loud.

[@lilnightvision3637]

ya no shit

[@chillingFriend]

i have watched all of these at some point but your summary is amazing, i still learned some new stuff! thanks a lot man

[@georgetmusic]

Glad to help!

[@nickjohnson398]

Bro I blame the KZbin algorithm for not reccomending you to me sooner. Exactly the kind of content I enjoy from the engineers I admire. Subbed + belled instantly lol gonna binge ur vids

[@joshcoxmusic]

best youtube channel ever. so many dope secrets compiled

[@KeyserTheRedBeard]

brilliant video George T Music. I crushed the thumbs up on your video. Keep up the excellent work.

[@trackmatic850]

This was exactly what I needed to see thanx

[@billyghost2411]

Thanks so much for these vids. Learning a lot.

[@AndyKingCo]

This is possibly the best production channel on all KZbin forreal

[@Barncore]

Agreed

[@mattpark4426]

that seamless kick on the short zay was fire

[@count_up_50]

Thank you for this!

[@ulyg505]

These are great!!, It saves so much time, some interviewers ramble on and make it hard to focus on the actual info

[@georgetmusic]

Thanks. I fell that with alot of interviewers

[@kevinavila_s]

God bless you man🙏🏼

[@ILOVEFRIDAY]

Love what you are doing. Your channel will blow up trust.

[@ILOVEFRIDAY]

Just subbed

[@sybillin3583]

Y’all are goat

[@user-mz3ni8yu4v]

MIA KHALIFAAA

[@ericklopezzz]

wtf are u doing here

[@DanielSqrd2]

Sauce it up is my favorite song from yall

[@CosmicLloyd]

Awesome bro thanks for posting that

[@Muribeatz]

Thank you for this type of videos ❤️🤝

[@georgetmusic]

Appreciate it

[@em8969]

Thankyou brother

[@djdunningbeats2177]

People be knocking stock plug ins but they can be your best friend🎧💯

[@zephigh]

Very good explanation video bro, keep influnce this shi

[@AJBuddha]

It doesn’t matter what plug in’s you use. What matters is the quality of the final product 🙏🏽✅

[@mattpark4426]

True but someone in the comments did mention that the stock pro-tools eq is one of the best eq's.

[@user-kp1hy5xm6i]

Pro q3 is great to.

[@mauriciorojasclaros2112]

Thanks bro

[@MOSATV]

SONG IS CALLED “NEED TO BREATHE” BY MOSA

[@daylozdee6047]

Thnx bro

[@cypressmuzik]

Respect for the video fam! Lookin forward to seeing more. Hope we can get a Jaycen Joshua template video soon ;) lol

[@georgetmusic]

Might put together a JJ template. He has got one of the craziest templates tho

[@rizzyinstrumentals]

bro i love you

[@prodbytytaan]

You a genius for this 🔥🔥

[@georgetmusic]

Thanks!

[@OGDAYV]

excellent video my G

[@georgetmusic]

Thanks

[@TyghtWayzTv]

I’m a long time audio engineer myself and I grew up listening🎧 and studying 👂🏾 mike dean mixes 💿 this is so awesome 🤩 to see 💯🤙🏾I would love to have a conversation with the legendary Mike Dean 💯🔥.. Awesome 👏🏾 Video 🎧😁

[@georgetmusic]

Yea he has a lot of to share

[@JiiNxMusic]

I thought the rough mix sounded good then when he played his mix I was like sheesh😳🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@georgetmusic]

Yea he is legendary

[@yuulian4776]

Power of sound selection that go good together I guess. We really must focus on that

[@Tyler-ko8dp]

12:00 - does that doubler on the lead vocal track mean you'll get phase issues when you actually create newly recorded vocal doubles on separate tracks? Like, can you have both? or do you have to go with one option?

[@kzbeats2146]

nah mute the main vocal on doubler, so you just have the stereo sides, and fuck with the detune and other settings . itll give you a nice stereo fx , youll hear it alot on don toliver voices. sounds good.

[@user-is9pl4np7v]

Dope video 🙏🏾

[@dopedopedope1148]

amazing content bro!

[@georgetmusic]

Thanks

[@DJChUnks64]

amazing ass video holy shit so much knowledge that was made digestible because of this video thankyou so much🙏

[@SpacedOutDoonie]

14:21 damn 🤩

[@prod.bennett8943]

First video i’ve watched of yours. Sub

[@georgetmusic]

Thanks@

[@tekis0]

It's impossible to judge the difference between the rough mix and MD's mix. The overall level between the two is just too different.

[@neverpowers]

Get your point but you can still hear a decent difference in overall cleanliness and cohesion if your able to tune out the level change.

[@Thiebelamberts]

@@neverpowers but u cant tho

[@alien-hs1zn]

@@Thiebelamberts facts I barely hear a difference

[@mixedbyguapo]

so u cant hear xD

[@greganikin7003]

I’m doing the same thing with 2 separate summing boxes. Drums through Heritage Mcm32, guitars through it too, keys and rest through Neve 8816. I can control width with it.

[@bigstevedzn2353]

Analog summing is so underrated. That’s like Mike deans secret weapon (apart from god level skill). Thinking about picking up the neve orbit. I hear it’s the same transformers as mikes 5060 but without the functionality.

[@melvainlegent6764]

Mike Dean one of the 👌

[@georgetmusic]

Fr

[@Record_Bandzz]

Genius

[@h0odie]

question. when he sends out the outputs to his 5060 does he have a stereo track where it comes in pro tools always active monitoring? can't seem to find that track in his session.

[@bigstevedzn2353]

Yes. If you notice above the track where the reference mix is, there’s a stereo track with record and input monitoring available so we can hear it and he can check is VISLM loudness meter. I also think this might be exclusive to him streaming because he doesn’t use headphones and you wouldn’t need to hear what’s actually going on in the daw when his monitors that he only mixes on are directly connected to his 5060.

[@elizabethsteele4633]

Of course , you know about all of this , just felt like chiming in .

[@reggiebushjr619]

this is awesome. can you explain what hes doing with all the NLS plugins on the drum parallel? ive heard jayceon joshua talk about it but what are the settings?

[@georgetmusic]

Yes that was the work of the previous mix engineer/ recording engineer. Mike Dean doesn’t use that technique good eye spotting it tho

[@reggiebushjr619]

@@georgetmusic maybe do a video of it?

[@fdgggfh24]

@@reggiebushjr619 kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnm4oIighcaBZtU&ab_channel=Doudway he explains it pretty good. you can read the subtitles in english

[@robbeservaes3625]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q16vYXh-ntB3j9k There is a comment on this video that explains every setting etc. There's not much to it, he just alternates the different NLS emulations pretty much. He explained it in a little bit of detail on a mix with the masters video that you can access through their subscription. It's pretty much about the different saturation types that the NLS plugins bring. Stacking that can give you some nice results. Experiment with the different types etc. Quick trick, if you go into the presets on the NLS you can actually select different variations, they all sound a bit different. If you wanna know what exactly they are doing in a bit more detail you can download something like plugin doctor and analyse them. Pretty sure there are some videos available of that too

[@jensnln]

Its for Non Linear Summing, engineers use that technique to emulate the analog feel of an analog mixing desk. Basically give it character (in reality a some kind of distortion and mostly noise). But wouldn't really use that unless you actively missing it.

[@MelodeusForever]

I wish I ran this interview...

[@mixedbytonio]

best youtube channel ever 🔥🙌🏼🔥🙌🏼🔥🙌🏼

[@MagicPlants]

That deEsser is great

[@philcox3419]

THX

[@matthewgreaves5291]

can we talk about how we have no clue what happened to the 808 between 5 to 5:30. is it just there nerve5060?

[@mattpark4426]

I demand to know what song he is working on right now

[@CaydenChristanoChristian-cb7nw]

I’m waiting for Jackboys 2

[@chrisst6388]

Need to breathe by MOSA

[@elizabethsteele4633]

I'm a retired film rerecording mixer , almost 40 years behind Neves' and later Pro Tools and Euphonics systems . I meant no disrespect - just that most of the intermediate steps probably were slight . EQ'd and louder is what I heard as the difference . Again , no disrespect . Film mixing is different from purely music mixing which is different from broadcast mixing , etc . Thank you for the video .

[@Tahir-wz9rb]

lol people see all these plugins and him turning knobs and they think he is doing a lot lol

[@bigstevedzn2353]

@@Tahir-wz9rbI mean source material ultimately reigns supreme but Mike deans mixes, particularly Travis Scott songs, are indistinguishably a mike dean mix. It’s not about “doing a lot”, it’s about making the right choice which ultimately leads to a great song and a great engineer. Doing a lot to get to the same point is actually a worse look than doing feeble moves and coming away with the same quality product. But I might have misunderstood your comment but my point stands.

[@fvinevnt]

Where to get stock pro tools plugin for ableton?

[@AlbigOfficial]

🔥🔥🔥

[@Barncore]

Interesting. Looks like Mike Dean is doing Jaycen Joshua's multi-NLS thing on the drum parallel bus @6:38

[@georgetmusic]

It’s from the previous session that the engineer gave him mike Dean doesn’t do stuff like that.

[@Barncore]

@@georgetmusic Ah true, fair enough

[@EpilepsyGod]

Just explain gor russian speaking guy (me), why on 2:00 he use srparate channels with latency? Just give me answer, can I use something similar in Ableton?

[@larrytan73]

HARDWARE Synth or MPC's Hardware samplers....AND GOOD MIC"S ..The mixing all falls into place after that! The secret is to start with good source material!

[@calebjenkinson7035]

Dope video! I'm guessing the vocals weren't recorded in the best acoustic setting cuz there's a ton of harsh high end even after the mix. Zero insult to the artist, I'm just curious why MD wouldn't try to tame that?

[@georgetmusic]

They are kinda harsh but that might be due to twitch compression plus mds mic was open half the time

[@stillgotyourmom]

Cuz its fake! He cutted the MD talk in from other interviews.

[@bigstevedzn2353]

I think that’s Mike deans sound. Some engineers love deessing until the high frequencies are nearly gone, and some like that harsh bite and sibilance.

[@user-kx2dn5jx7k]

Can you do videos bout wide 808s ? Been widening my 808s with aux track with distortion and microshift but by listening to music’s lately I noticed that they got stereo lows too so im curious bout that!

[@georgetmusic]

Yes I will make one soon. If you want a way to make 808s wide try making a parallel channel distorting it and the putting in microshift or a widner on the parallel

[@cesargonzalezbueno3359]

The Pultec he uses in this video is a hardware control digitally? If not, can you tell me the plugin manufacturer?

[@Styrant]

Looks like the avid/pro tools version of Pultec EQP-1A but it looks like he replaced that with his waves gainstation vst because it has a pultec style eq section

[@cesargonzalezbueno3359]

@@Styrant you mean acustica audio gain station. I don't use pro tools so I stick with bettermaker.

[@Styrant]

@@cesargonzalezbueno3359 yeah idk why i thought waves lol, bettermaker is good, kiive also makes a pretty decent free pulteq too

[@leogolive]

Mike Dean is a legend. I grew up jamming all that stuff he did on Rapalot. Him, Bido, N.O. Joe and Scarface made classics. I like that stuff far better than this new music he works on. I ain’t hating on the youngsters, it’s just not my taste.

[@georgetmusic]

Cool perspective a lot of people do forget that his work goes way back

[@loganverst2373]

no one asked

[@DJeMo]

New music lyrics is all ad lib ego NONSENSE, very rare anyone slick enough to tell a story in a clever way, rap game is dead bar the odd one tryin to hold it down among all these non lived gangster preachers

[@ToniDelgadoAbellan]

@@DJeMo you gotta listen further than tik tok tunes bro

[@AnalogLanguage]

Guys like Mike Dean hard carry the modern shit, it's all about production these days.

[@johnjhonny646]

No one knew he was using fg-x as a simple meter until his stream

[@belizenigg]

Crazy, I was just listening to this song yesterday and wondered how the hell the sample was so wide and i distinctly remember him saying the sample was all together as one and not tracked out.

[@0xVox]

so whose song is this tho, I’ve been searching it after I watched this vid

[@belizenigg]

@@0xVox kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKHIiKWElMZjm68

[@georgetmusic]

I don’t think it was ever released otherwise I would have a copyright claim on the video

[@0xVox]

@@georgetmusic got it

[@belizenigg]

@@ralphsnightmare103 need to breathe - moss

[@niganools1501]

Mike dean da goat

[@Afterlifesonixs]

real fu**ing legend !!!!!

[@barneyrubble8255]

whats a neve 8080 desk?

[@MxbbKingBeats]

He said he keeps his kicks mono?

[@FSLHavok]

8:54 (Vocals)

[@JonpritPritam]

Where is final song

[@davidvalens3337]

Can anyone comment on all the plugins he used on the vocal chain?

[@msofficialxo7953]

⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

[@marvinlilienfeld7476]

he also said that he did extra clipping on Astroworld

[@georgetmusic]

Cool

[@evighvitveis]

all the drive knobs on the Neve were basically set to max throughout Astroworld

[@notprosperBEATS]

@@georgetmusic lmao "cool"

[@jsadecki1]

Mike Dean sounds like Hunter. S. Thompson

[@JBreezzBeatz]

💯💯💯

[@ayao]

why did he compare the first mix with his master? edit: the final master literally clips on the higher 808 notes... how did the song pass inspection and get released?

[@georgetmusic]

might be the twitch audio

[@ayao]

@@georgetmusic nope, i checked it on spotify

[@stillgotyourmom]

​@@ayaodude is fake

[@Stewartchampion]

I'm not really synth guy..guitarist..tho I like trippy music...drum.n bass..dub. guitar music.folk.blues..reggae...all sorts... I like Mike tho... i like my weed....and well basically..I enjoy learning from him and well getting stoned while I do that...simple

[@belizenigg]

Bro !!this was my go-to video before CLA Woo got his channel deleted. Can you upload this session as a torrent file?

[@georgetmusic]

Just search Mike Dean on twitch and you can find the og video

[@hv2623]

Just need some eq & compression on Mike's voice!

[@blxckpxddy8700]

hey bro this video is dope!!, track id anyone?

[@georgetmusic]

I think it was never released

[@kelvinpostaroo]

🔥

[@alexroy371]

do you have a link for the article that you used in the video?

[@georgetmusic]

Search up Mike Dean sound on sound

[@Orderftw782]

Bro turned off 20 plugins and used only 3 . Respect man 😂

[@thesahel7218]

that interview clip is funny because you can tell that the interviewer doesn't produce. mike dean name drops these plugins and hes just like "yeah you're a legend"

[@georgetmusic]

Yea the interviewer had no idea what he was talking about lmao

[@superbobbyjoe13]

he actually does produce but doesn't know anything about mixing lol. He knows the basic FL studio beatmaker knowledge, not the pro tools mixing god knowledge u feel me

[@JukeFPSB]

why are the sound doubled sometimes ?

[@georgetmusic]

Because mike has his louder speakers on which which his mic is picking up

[@massikrbeats9195]

Godly drums geesh

[@travisashby]

I noticed that all the drums were in stereo. What happened to mono drums on everything. Dope Video Tho loved it

[@bigstevedzn2353]

I think people regurgitate the same jargon they hear over and over instead of actually mixing and finding out themselves (I’m not coming at you). I mean go listen to my eyes by Travis Scott, the whole sub is in stereo. And anecdotally, I’ve found that converting stereo drums to mono loses all the fundamental qualities that make that particular kick THAT kick.

[@travisashby]

I agree. Ive heard yhe dame thibgs but i dont think they relate as much anymorr. I too have convertrd drums to mono and lost all the energy. For me now, its whats sounds the best. I work with a guy who stereo drums everything and his dru s sound way better than mine

[@bigstevedzn2353]

@@travisashby I couldn’t agree More. What sounds best sounds best. I think people either lose sight of that or are too early in the learning process to actually do what sounds best.

[@thothromaniacontact9855]

​@@bigstevedzn2353 They are not stereo; they are dual mono, essentially fake stereo. This is typically how stems are exported for all channels. The kick and the 808 were undoubtedly initially produced in mono (I'm only referring to the kick and the 808; the other elements I think they were really stereo). Did you notice when he does the routing? He sets both the L and R channels for the 808 to center, which slightly boosts the mid information. Then, he routes it to a mono output on the summing mixer, which is same as routing to a mono auxiliary in Pro Tools. Then, he routes the kick in mono but without adjusting the L and R to center; he keeps them at their normal settings wich is "stereo channel" This is certainly done to enhance the power in the bass signal before routing it to mono, which will further increase the loudness because the channels were in "stereo" mode + the panning track before routing only for 808. Also, if you pay attention to the EQ section, he consistently uses the stereo widener to mono the signal, especially in the vocals where he mixes with stereo plugins. These are routed to a stereo auxiliary, but the EQ, which is first in the chain, has frequencies from 0 to 700 Hz turned to mono in the bx EQ. :) Essentially, almost all of his low end is in mono. Then, he sums the high hats, percussion, and snare to stereo outputs, the same as the sample. The sample is routed to an SSL, which uses it to further widen the sound and make it more stereo. So, the music is largely stereo, with the percussion and snare in stereo, while the kick and bass are definitely mono. One more tip, the kick and 808 were not routed together; they were routed to separate mono outputs. Even the snare had a separate stereo output, only the high hats, cymbals, and all percs were routed together to a stereo output again. Output 1 (mono) - 808 which he named it (A1) Output 2 (mono) - kick which he named it (A2) Output 3 (stereo) - snare which he named it (A11+A12) Output 4 (stereo) - high hats, cymbals, and all percs which he named it (A13+A14) Output 5 (stereo) - sample music which he named it (A15+A16) Good luck!

[@bigstevedzn2353]

@@thothromaniacontact9855 makes sense. I’ve always got in the habit of loading up the bx digital and using the mono maker. Honestly I’ve mainly used it to center the VLF on my reverbs. But that makes sense, I was almost confident I knew how his 5060 routing was setup but now I know more, thank you.

[@808_rafa]

Golden Grail right here

[@manv_world]

💪🏾🔥for sure

[@US3Rofficial]

If Norm Macdonald was a sound engineer

[@DG-ws5cv]

Lol 100% RIP Norm

[@ITSMRZFG]

Catalog goes back almost 4 decades a lot of people aren’t aware of that

[@georgetmusic]

Yea its crazy to think about tbh

[@DON_XAVEY]

Miss the old johnny yukon

[@elizabethsteele4633]

the final mix is louder and brighter ........................ a fader and an EQ

[@georgetmusic]

This day and age that’s mostly what mixing is.

[@elizabethsteele4633]

@@georgetmusic Responding to you brought back some memories . Back in the 80 's in the film world we typically used Lexicons for reverb - very good but not perfect . So let's say in the film there was a scene were a TV was playing through an open window into a courtyard . With a lexicon 300 you get get a convincing sound . But if we had the time we would " worldise " the sound . We would find a quiet location , play the audio over a TV , through an open window and into a courtyard and record that to use in the film . A lot of fun . Nowadays plugins are so good there's no need to do that . A few years ago I mixed a film where someone off camera sneezed during a line from Willem Dafoe . So we stole 2 or 3 words from other takes to sandwich in and avoid the sneeze . But the director didn't buy it , he said the sneeze take was the only take he wanted . With Izotope we were able to remove the sneeze , eq and compress what remained , and it sounded great - no sneeze . Todays plug ins are really something else - although my all time favorite is the ancient Waves R compressor .

[@DOJOFM]

What song is this?

[@georgetmusic]

Never came out

[@MrScrooge1980]

I saw the same Slate digital plugin I use🔥🔥🔥

[@georgetmusic]

Yea although he only uses it as a meter

[@travisalvarez2655]

Don't mean to seem as though I am putting you down, this is more constructive criticism. You need to do something about the audio on this video, have not seen any of your other videos from your channel, the speech is unintelligible. The video has great content, just very poor or nonexistent post production work. Recycling content from Twitch and sifting through all the footage to find relevant and/or exciting/interest moments in the stream is genius. Having quality audio would really take this video from what could be seen as a bootleg Twitch stream with a voice over, to an actual marketable product. Just remember a lot of those twitch streams are an after thought for the artist, who's main job is not streaming, and they are usually forced/asked by major labels/distributors to put them out. Production on those types of streams are nil, they don't want to spend anymore time or money of theirs on something that a major label/distributor is making them do for advertising purposes. To make long things short: Twitch's streams should be looked at as raw material by you, and it is your job to cobble and polish these streams into "your" own content.

[@noagbogudki7766]

Just when I was about to retire the slate fgx 🤣

[@georgetmusic]

Yes but he only uses it as a meter from the looks of it

[@luisgregori3817]

Where do you see mike deans lives ??

[@TheNBCC12]

hilarious seeing mike dean mix down a beat and its titled free drake beat in the bottom haha some KZbin producer is freaking out somewhere his beat got a mike dean mix down

[@gabrriel_la]

whats this song ?

[@MOSATV]

Mosa - Need To Breathe