Mixing and Mastering a Hardstyle Track!

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[@FloMNIB]

Watching this in 2022 I noticed two things: 1. SUPER interesting to the mastering process of a Hardstyle track especially on analog gear. 2. I’d flippin love to see more of these mastering harder genres videos. Very curious to know how this would go on one of these more recent tracks of hard dance. Thank you for sharing the process 🙏🏼

[@BAMbeeRBC]

dude you are awesome! and i really love your studio. i would spent the most of my time in such a studio! :3 you also are a really big help for understanding what mixing is about and how it works. i see that i could learn many things from you. :)

[@JimijaymesProductions]

There is one main reason I would love to mix analog and you show it here, it is so much more intuative and fast. Mice get in the bloody way and take so long to turn things how you want (especially on old school knob style eqs like Slate or something).

[@xxvNIXONvxx]

Hey nice video ,I can learn a lot of useful tips from it , where I can find full versin of this track ? It is so amazing.

[@kickzkickx29]

I thought i was in skrillex channel!!!!

[@eloywillemsen4753]

Wtf this is the weirdist hardstyle track ever

[@luxeagoris1825]

He is just showing how he would mix and master a lot of elements which are used in the Hardstyle genre. :)

[@eloywillemsen4753]

Panoc i see thx

[@m4nimy]

«This Is Special»

[@JimijaymesProductions]

Tha intro had a cool old school vibe, reminded me of happy hardcore but slowed down, the rest of the song I didn't like so much. Of course your tips for mixing are extremely helpful for any hard dance.

[@bunyaadi]

What was the unit you were using to filter and EQ sounds? It was certainly eye-opening to me. A standard mixer or one with filter banks on it. It's pretty cool anyway.

[@AnymMusic]

welp. come back a year later and still wonder how in the world the leads works so well with a kick that takes up all of the spectrum.

[@atcordice]

I like the mix. That board sound good. I am listening on focals that is nice

[@AlicevanGallifrey]

Wow, that is some nice stuff you got there. You're a big fan of analog stuff too I see :D

[@tikitaka0909]

I love this channel really halpful

[@In_Quarantine]

More of this kind of tutorials thank you!

[@richarddunn367]

how does that console thing work. What are the blue, yellow and red ones adn grey ones

[@richarddunn367]

dude, you are a genius

[@Luftbubblan]

Nice video. Would be nice to hear what you could do with a better production. Enjoyed watching your workflow.

[@QatyDance]

I was intrigued by your video about mixing and mastering the hardstyle. You would also dare to do a hardstyle kick tutorial ;) ?

[@Whiteseastudio]

+QatyDance i already was planning on that! Kick design or kick mixing?

[@QatyDance]

i thing that kick design will be more useful ;) but ideally both :)

[@Zeamless]

Thanks for the great video! Really liked what you are doing. Maybe I am sending my projects in the near future if you are not too expesive :P Good job!

[@Whiteseastudio]

Thanks for your comments! I try to do my best! Expensive is a broad term... Let's have a Skype call about that when your projects are finished! ;-).

[@drummerjeroensimons]

Goed bezig daaro!!! Top!!

[@reneschmidt9799]

thanks for TELEFUNKEN at 15:40 and thank you for the insight into your professional work.

[@DBLCreations]

Man, great video! I subbed !

[@mutinyz]

What mixing desk are you using

[@jaydeeofficial2694]

Great Video! It was very interesting for me to have a sneak peak of an engeneer who is mastering a hardstyle track. I think I will contact you in a few weeks via Facebook or your Homepage because I got some question :)

[@ihork]

I like your attitude :D

[@Ometen]

I always understimated the power of L/R EQ. Thanks for this brilliant video!

[@Whiteseastudio]

+Ometen i really need to do more of these ey?

[@Ometen]

yea man i would appreciate it a lot. I never thought of applying tape saturation on a kick o.O I am decent at mixing already but you tought me some really cool tricks. Cheers for that!

[@CAChab93]

very helpfull. thx men! Gonna learn with this video

[@nathanbegel4505]

True dragonblood never dies!

[@Sjammienators]

Good Stuff :) Thanks

[@AnymMusic]

I think a big problems young producers have is that they look too much at the sound on it's sound, yet they should look at the whole progression. else the individual sounds are good, but together it's bad.

[@Whiteseastudio]

Correct! It's all about how it stands in the mix, the solo button is just to do quick checks. Apart from that, I think that most producers spend too much time in general on the mix, I know from experience that the first intuitive setting almost always is the best ;-)

[@AnymMusic]

true. I'm not even making music for a year and already started hardstyle. not sure if great choice, or very challenging but rewarding choice hahaha

[@Whiteseastudio]

Hardstyle is very challenging and great!

[@tragedyproductions4165]

Dude I've been producing hardstyle for 4 years now and it's still the most difficult electronic genre i have worked on lol still learning on the way. Good luck on your hard dance journey :)

[@nguyenmuzz3483]

I'm using a SSL compressor. What is the best ratio/attack/release for mastering hardstyle tracks?

[@Whiteseastudio]

That is a difficult question, because it mostly depends on what you want to achieve. I know from experience that there isn't one setting that always works within a genre. I also don't know if the SSL compressor is suited for Hardstyle music since I don't own any SSL products.

[@louisjans9450]

A good basic setting to start with is a fairly slow attack (10), set the release in time with the music, generally medium to fast (look at how the needle goes back after the kick hits) Ratio at 4:1 and then adjust the threshold to achieve about 3dB of compression, adjust make-up gain accordingly.

[@mallorca1guy]

Hey man ik vind je videos echt leuk, waar is je studio gevestigd?

[@Whiteseastudio]

+mallorca1guy arnhem

[@MegaVivian99]

Great video ! The mastering is not loud enough, youre around -9lufs during the drop but hardstyle lourdness norm are way lot loud, like around -3 or -4 lufs in the drop and without distortion. I thinks hardstyle is the most difficult genre for mixing and mastering, because of the agressive sounds and the distortion in the mix, and because of the target loudness and the lot of low end (in the mastering process) that the hardstyle scene claim. Making a master around -4 lufs integrated without distortion and with a lot of low ends is very difficult.

[@crytech8882]

what plugins do you recommend to apply the same techniques because I do not have the hardware to do something like this

[@Whiteseastudio]

The plugin isn't going to make or break your mix, your own skills and capabilities will. What I recommend is keep practising and to stand up every time you fail! You'll get there!

[@crytech8882]

Can you listen to something I made. Really need some professional feedback on what I'm doing wrong in the mixing process. If not I understand too.

[@Whiteseastudio]

I can give it a short listen! For a more thorough check, please consider the track-check over at whiteseastudio.com/track-check

[@crytech8882]

thank you so much, also I think I'll use that track-check from now on! clyp.it/e5a1ltox

[@MrMikomi]

Sorry, what hardware are you using, and why? Thanks.

[@Whiteseastudio]

I'm a big fan of German equipment, so most of my studio is vintage German stuff. Brands like Neumann, Telefunken, ANT, etc... I'm using it because I feel really attracted to the sound and reliability of it!

[@MrMikomi]

And it looks and feels good! ;-)

[@mika461983]

what abouy recall if your client gona make changes?

[@Whiteseastudio]

I photograph everything

[@lanceavila]

What is a wireless track bat?

[@murkdurk8961]

Hahaha. Track pad*

[@dannydr]

So, I understand that your mastering chain is nothing more than an eq, multiband compressor and limiter?

[@taylansoydan]

WHERE IS THE TRACK ITS BEEN YEARS

[@audiowavezofficial5910]

fuckin aye, where is this beasty

[@motivacniknizky320]

i cann know how use MB like you ;) epick ;and simple solution ;)

[@MeltdownDJ]

there's still a lot of things that can be fixed but is not so bad overall ^^

[@Quant-Beat]

Normally in a mix, the bass and sub bass are to have low dynamic range, even with brickwall limiter. This gives more headroom, hence an easier mix to proceeed. MB compressor is really useful, where one wants to have operation on a certain frequency range only. I think a track like this, which has quite few elements, is not harder to mix than average electronic music. They often want to hype hardstyle as "advanced" and "difficult" when one can do a track quite fast just a kick and a big, wide synth. 10-15 years ago the claimed that trance was the most difficult to compose and mix, which is both wrong and correct. The same applies for hardstyle, both not difficult and difficult, depends how much and what content the track has.

[@Moritz_269]

I have to disagree that hardstyle is not harder to mix than average electronic music because it strongly differs in the fundamentals of the sounds. A hardstyle kick fills up the whole frequency spectrum while normal electronic music kick drums mostly operate in the low to low mid frequency so it is not easy to find a good balance between your leads and the kick while also keeping the character of both and making it hit hard.

[@Quant-Beat]

But most hardstyle also sounds quite raw and annoying, not rawstyle now. The kick has been exaggerated to way too much and often just blows the whole lead, often takes over the lead in some ways. Before, when Showtek ruled, the reversed basses had a less raw sound regarding the kick, now it sounds more like old school hardcore regarding the kick. I showed a typical 2016 hardstyle track for a producer, he just said the kick sounded like hardcore from 1990's. It's partly true though. With this way overloaded kick in the track up against the whole wall, one needs to be used to listen to hardstyle for saying that nothing is wrong. When the mixes sound so rough anyway with the kick blowing the whole lead, it appears to have been a compromise however. It doesn't sound good anymore, and then no one manage to lure me that the mix is "perfect". Also, many labels have shared kicks for many of their producers, many don't do their own kicks. Therefore, place the kick in the DAW, play a screamy lead with Virus and Sylenth1 and hardstyle is made. I also emphasise that only a lead and a kick are not hard to mix together. Few elements, easier to mix.

[@Moritz_269]

"Also, many labels have shared kicks for many of their producers, many don't do their own kicks." What is your source ? Are you a hardstyle producer or have contacts in many labels ? I think youre really just trying to sound like you know better and just dislike current hardstyle but saying that you cant make it sound good anymore is just petty.

[@Quant-Beat]

I heard Hardwell and Audiofreq didn't make their own kicks. The latter was admitted in the Scantraxx Master Class 2016 Amsterdam. There are a lot more though.

[@Hardsonix]

There's a 2hrs tutorial by audiofreq on youtube, how to produce hardstyle kicks. He himself shows some of his own productions there. Sure he (at least did) produces them himself.

[@hazimazizi27]

Love when you tweak those knob.

[@Whiteseastudio]

+Hazim Azizi 😂

[@keesverschoor528]

I was wondering what exactly you were doing when u started tweaking? It was more than just equalizing, right?

[@soulreaverz425]

16:09 That's Frontliners Kick from Beam Me Into Space :-/

[@Hurtwolf]

So?

[@MrTreety]

Tree Cube lololololol are you serious xd

[@BassJunkieXL]

yep and its part of Frontliners Hardstyle Sample Pack ... and this samplepack is something for beginners and newbies ... for people that arent that experienced ... everyone starts small ... if you'd know which producers use samples like this ... Jesus Christ... everyone uses KSHMR samples nowadays ...

[@ricktermaat6766]

even big artist do not always make their own kicks

[@djkurtstudio]

@@BassJunkieXL It's a bit different in a style of music where for example, 90% of the time taken to write the track was spent making the kick because the biggest and most important thing in the track is the kick. It's fine for beginners but anyone serious will not just grab a kick from a sample pack.

[@d-vuzion6397]

Madd molly kick🤓

[@murkdurk8961]

So? Your artist name isn't original either.

[@TheMusicFresh]

skrillex is that you?

[@adrianmutimer5022]

Wait up. Was this a hairstyle track? If so you are all on the wrong lines. May I suggest a short back and sides?

[@Promosharmtv]

hei cool i was the 11.111 viewer :)

[@Ramt33n]

all instruments play the same melody! wow

[@-_Nuke_-]

Decent

[@matrixate]

If you have to pull +/-6db on a MB Comp during Mastering, you have a problem you need to address in mixing. Sorry.

[@richarddunn367]

great video. just didnt understand anything you where doing on the console. You might as well could have been talking chinese

[@subele_music]

22:11 bloody bastrd 😂

[@Blackain66]

a bit disappointed on the pure mastering side.. only multiband and limiter ? what about some coloration, exciters, additional stereo etc

[@kuku7763]

The start of the break kinda sounded like RanD - Zombie

[@villaserena6100]

Your definition of audio is like the one of your sex .... it is not known that you are ... hahahahaha

[@jycOfficial]

who else thinks he sounds like Laidback Luke

[@alexanderpressler5364]

i hate this music style - cmon this is a kick, really oO ?!? sounds like someone banging on a trash bin :D :D :D but i love your video, you got my sub dude ;)

[@de-ztorction136]

Alexander Pressler Wow so original

[@dfbeats806]

A good hardstyle kick is one of the hardest things to make actually😂😂

[@DarkRehabOfficial]

@@dfbeats806 agree ;)

[@AnymMusic]

I hate EDM. cmon this is a kic, really oO ?!? sounds like someone punches a firm pillow :D :D :D see how dumb it sounds?

[@biula3278]

Mhhh... a lot of "out of phase" stuff. Not a good practice; maybe is ok for the genre, but phase cancellation is always there...