Mixing Masterclass: Film Score Mixing & Composing with Tom Holkenborg (aka Junkie XL) [MixCon 2021]

[@_BangDroid_]

I watched parts of this multiple times and I still have no idea how to make my mix sound better.

[@Estel-z1c]

This guy is such a good teacher. His workflow makes total sense and i actually understood what he was talking the about the whole time. Junkie XL is a true master of his craft.

[@okinawajapan1]

This was one of the the best, clearest, most comprehensive explanations I've ever seen from a world class professional writer, mixer, mastering engineer and producer all in one session applied from a real world example. Thank you!!! THIS is the kindness and conciseness others should follow to share the art so it continues on. A legacy shared here borne from long, hard earned experience. Wonderful. Grateful.

[@brusecco]

this is one of the YT videos where a simple "Like" button is just not enough. thank you!

[@OXyGeNe8DJ]

Sound recording, sound designing, composing, mixing, mastering. One Man Army

[@jhcmusicii6181]

Great! My God his demos that he won't approve of as a final, sounds better than 99% of the scores that actually make it to the theater.

[@VenceRay]

So much gold! I watched the whole thing and it felt like a 5 minute video! 🏆

[@imotivation651]

Back in 2003 as a 14 years kid I asked Junkie XL in his website/forum how to create music like he did. Now I watching this and I know how :DDD

[@henria.8269]

This tutorial is of such GREAT VALUE - thank you so much Tom & Justin!

[@mikewhiteman23]

Great info on the reverbs and depth and delay timing and panning thanks

[@ohmnemusic1606]

THIS IS IT!!! I TOTALLY GET IT!!! Thanks guys, thanks Tom!!!

[@RyanMovingViolationz]

Thanks for doing this, Maestro Holkenborg!!!

[@SonicScoop]

Join us for a live Q&A session after the premiere at kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYXHd4N6itlrl9E Big thanks to Plugin Alliance for helping make this free to the public! Check them out at plugin-alliance.com Check out more videos from Tom Holkenborg at kzbin.info

[@anonagain]

Thanks for sharing these Justin - I always look forward to MixCon time.

[@WesleyWestMusic]

Amazing video! Thank you I am a young film composer from South Africa 🇿🇦 This is very inspiring

[@GprokYB]

I don't get the dislikes...this is so informative!!! Thanks so much for taking the time to do these videos!!!

[@voice-of-oblivion]

Thank you very much. How very generous to show this all. Great.

[@twangology]

this was awesome - I'm a little sad that you don't produce any more Junkie XL music. Your remixes are fantastic - Beauty Never Fades, World On Fire, so good! HUGE HUGE FAN and this has given me some inspiration for my own music - I love template idea and then making the stems to then mix - brilliant!

[@consonaadversapars]

My computer has packed all of its cables up and left my house after playing this for me.

[@mimidhof2179]

Sound designer too. I loved the synth sound bank called Junkie XL those were preset he mades in Alchemy the synth of Camel Audio, before Apple bought Alchemy... He's soundbank were fantastic. I rage it doesn't exist in pc anymore. I saved installer an soundbank I had but cubase doesn't accept to recognise it anymore...

[@markseagraves5486]

Still a great look into modern filmscore tech. Even after three years, his approach to grouped instruments with VCAs and onto finished stems holds up. His crazy number of predub stems really comes down to his own final mix style. If you are sending stems to a stage, you’ll want to talk to that mix engineer to understand their needs. Of course the nature of the film itself has a lot to do with this final layout. Building your own libraries is really essential to bridge between the orchestral libraries everyone uses and a final score that is unique to you as a composer. An Excellent video. My one wish is that Tom would do something less massive. He is a very talented composer and I personally would like to hear his take on something that isn’t being crushed by hyped explosions and gunfire.

[@TwoDeep2]

I was lost in the clouds 🏔 when down dropped this video with the rope i needed so i can continue climbing. Thank you both for coming together and lowering down another life line. Most people kick rocks to people at the bottom ✊

[@ignite137]

Can't hear the "wider aspect" (percussion part in the beginning) since it was translated to us as mono. Nevertheless very cool class Tom!

[@alaincoppejans6399]

Great video with lot's of great info and explanations. I'm a newbie in movie scoring and will try to take part in different movie scoring competitions. I still have to learn so much. Thanks, Alain

[@emmitbrooks9909]

Very heavy duty presentation. Just for kicks- what kind of monster computer is able to keep up with a session like ths?? Thanks to Junkie XL for this.

[@TwoDeep2]

When you bounce a midi track and its plug-ins to a wave file, it frees your CPU from all that processing, the wave file requires far less CPU.

[@creatiw]

I think he's got multiple machines. Check this video out. It's the studio tour. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hoq9m4iKprOgp6s

[@brahimdrif334]

He's using a server

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

he uses differents cpus for different softwares and libraries etc he may also have different kind of shoes

[@titusxwatson]

Big fan of junkie xl 👏👏

[@OfficialStevenCravis]

Phenomenal!

[@angelocast]

This is amazing and so inspiring! I realized my workflow is very similar to Tom and I though was not the best way. Learning and ready to create more! Thank you SonicScoop

[@gabrield.cstoica1832]

This is great.

[@kouadioangebasile8530]

ONE OF THE BEST

[@ralfmoss]

WoW. Thanks 4 that lesson. I just have found a new teacher !!!!

[@rdru2ner82]

Master-Masterclass in rare form…thank you!

[@ikonhero]

I think his way of working really comes from his background as a dance music producer. Most electronic dance producers, being house / techno or whatever, do most of the stuff themselves. Sound design, composing, arranging, processing, mixing and even mastering. They have to know a bit of all the different aspects. He clearly knows a lot of all of it. Very interesting video!

[@illyph9963]

Amazing👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@the_newvoice]

Great chapter!

[@okinawajapan1]

My questions: 1. For that final stem mix, how do you zero out the levels again to unity for sending to the dubbing mixer so he can have his session with all faders at unity? 2. Can you share a realtime writing session so we can see your speed at which you work and the workflow in a general sense if you haven't already? I'm very grateful you are so open to share this with the world. A truly great gift and a legacy being built and shared for us all. Thank you.

[@EFlexMusic]

I can answer the first question, When you are done mixing the demo version or your final version of the track in your DAW and you render all of the stems out, it will automatically be at zero when the dubbing engineer loads them up into his/her mixer. They are basically working with your mix that you did and adjusting it accordingly.

[@ScoringStageEu]

thanks for the insight on reverbs. So basically I use my MIR-Pro-3D (VSL) to set orchestral instruments in the room and afterwards putting Rvb on top of them to give them additional space?

[@TomMAF4]

FYI the first bit of mixing the at the start has mistakenly been exported (by Tom H acc. to sonicscoop) in mono. So that's why it sounds a bit crap, not because of Tom's recording or processing!

[@TraxtasyMedia]

Just had been wondering why it sounded so metallic

[@matteofalco9944]

That was great, thank you so much!

[@5minutesofpiano]

always learn new from JXL!!!!

[@Shimmernut]

Gold

[@scottfaircloff9530]

thanks so much!!

[@rafahaddad4803]

tanks for you guys

[@jclawsnyc]

Awesome - thank you!

[@seekingtruthonly.4299]

I just want to know where to get that desk with the keyboard drawer.

[@dealsbetweenfriends]

wow,,just watched interview with Rick beato on film Scoring 2023

[@ramonf.9217]

This is great

[@HMzTheGreatest]

🙌🙏

[@nicksaya]

Cubase really needs to support multi channel format in 3rd party plugins. The pro MB on your master quad buss for example is only working on front channels. i alway have to add two of same plugin and rout with insert router one to front and one to back

[@nicksaya]

That shadow hills compressor is only working on front left and right. It’s hard to find plugs that are working on more than stereo when inserted on quad track.

[@giordanobruno2509]

Why is a "Mixing Masterclass" in mono?

[@jaketanner109]

@Junkie XL...when you compose, record, mix..etc...are those ll separate paid gigs? Do you charge separately? Thanks.

[@djcata7474]

Doesn't work that way. He is hired as a "head of department" if you will, in charge of composing, recording, mixing and delivering the final assets. The costs are included for each department.

[@rileybeemusic]

Please tell me this is going to be available for playback later! I have to go to work but this is all GOLD!!

[@SuperIZL]

Hey Mafkees!

[@an_outskirt292]

1797 tracks?! W.T.F. Edit: AND 50 returns?

[@bastianjohanmusic]

87 stems... STEMS

[@nicksaya]

@tom I noticed in the mix session your stems are not panned hard front and back. Looks like they all have rear speakers panned half way back. Why is that? Thanks

[@dafingaz]

Awesome! @dafingaz

[@katiepower1570]

This is free to watch unlike mix with the masters.

[@DavidKfilmmaker]

Dude looks like Kramer

[@pedrobarrionovo]

☕❤️

[@TBX819]

thanks a lot. I´m baffled that it is not a industry standard discussion, but a deep dive into the art of mixing with whatever DAW. Would love to see more creative comp/engs not being drawn to merch talks, although Tom will sure know highly marketed and costly software, but NOT emphasizing it all over, man...what a relief seeing this. Is there some peace shining from a distant planet with kind of a .wav standard for the sake of reasonable-business-all-goode-scene possible...?

[@DESYNC3D_Music]

26:25

[@uw0tm838]

You have to be VERY careful with putting MB compression on the mix bus. It's very much his sound, but if you're making orchestral music that doesn't sound like this, it will destroy your mixes.

[@SonicScoop]

If you use it right, MB compression can actually be MORE transparent than regular compression. (It can also be made to be more extreme.) I cover this some in the Compression Breakthroughs course. Could be good fodder for a podcast episode some time! Very best, Justin

[@uw0tm838]

@@SonicScoop I agree, but again, it depends on the source. If it's the type of music you're not using a lot of compression for, like classical, you have to be cautious. But, of course, also depends on the recording itself.

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

do you have issues with Waves?

[@dandelgado11]

I'm a little bit surprised that he got parquet flloor in the studio. Never saw that in any studio, the ressonance is just to big

[@okinawajapan1]

Last question: I've noticed your room treatment isn't as much of a concern to you as many others out there. Why do you not worry so much about it? E.g. lots of hard wood flooring, equipment in the room. You use a house and not a designed studio, etc.

[@nathanielwise508]

he's mentioned before that it comes from his dj days where mixing in a treated studio meant horrid sounding mixes on the dance floor. so, he's just more comfortable working without extensive treatment and knowing the quirks of the room. basically, if it sounds good here it'll sound good anywhere. :p hope that helps and that I've remembered correctly. I believe he answered the question in a studio time episode if you'd like to go searching for it.

[@SonicScoop]

He talks about this at length in the live Q&A. Check it out! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rYXHd4N6itlrl9E

[@danb1942]

Cool but fails to translate well off Utube.

[@sebazvideo]

A template that took him 15 to 18 years to make and improve... I bet there's not a single person who has seen this video that wouldn't cut a finger off to have that template 😂

[@delta1742]

i wanted to know the tricks not how to use groups :((

[@JClay-lf7nx]

You should have spent more time talking in the beginning...