How I Quickly Mix My Tracks In Under 20 Minutes!

We're doing some mixing baby! These are 3 things I do to ALL my tracks before I test them out in a club, car test, and ESPECIALLY before I send them off to mastering. It’s super simple, super effective, and can take less than 20 minutes once you get some practice in! Take these tips with you into whatever DAW you're using. I'm in Ableton live, but all the default stuff in any DAW like Logic, Fruity Loops, whatever will still work. Alright let’s dive in!
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00:00 What's Up
01:17 The Track In Question
02:05 Step 1 - Mixing Volumes Easily
06:21 That Movie Vocal Sample Tho..
06:52 Shaving Off Low End Is Important Example
08:46 Why I Love This -6db Technique
09:50 Careful with EQ and changing the Volume!
11:02 The Problem With DIGITAL MIXING and Only Looking At The Channel Volumes
14:33 Step 2 - Focusing The Bass
19:32 Step 3 - Creating Depth and Width In a Mix with Hats!
23:35 The Before And After Is Better Than I Thought It Would Be!
25:24 The BONUS spit shine to top it off
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[@RickyTinez]

Step 3 was taught to me by @CraigWilliamsMusic who also has a really good video on mixing here -kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKjRfnqQZc9-nqc

[@lxxwj]

PLEASE DO MORE MIXING VIDEOS!!! this is so helpful, ive never understood mixing more than i do now after watching this lol

[@birddrugs]

I second this

[@dracul74]

One thing I recommend is to put a limiter on the mix bus… not to actually use as a limiter, but to use as a mix checking tool. Often mastering will uncover issues with a mix. While you can try to fix them during mastering, if you can fix the big ones during your mix process imo you will get a better master. So when your mix is ‘close’… turn your limiter on and crank it up a bit. It will give you a sense of shrill spots, volume issues, etc.. Turn the limiter off, fix issues.

[@hugorinville8526]

Just tried it. I'm really impressed by the power of the volume adjusting technique. It really forces you to choose the position of each element, and the constraint is helpful to go ahead. And it's soooo fast .... thanks for the vid! (watched a bunch of yours these days)

[@RickyTinez]

Yes! I think that's where it's really powerful, just picking one and moving on. And if something is still out of whack you'll hear it later and adjust accordingly

[@phyxirian]

As someone who needs to get confident with mixing these videos lets me know that you do what sounds best to you. And while that's different for everybody you do pick up on stuff watching others. Thanks a bunch. Share the knowledge and love brother.

[@RickyTinez]

Hell yea! Thanks for the kind words @phyxirian ! Dope name too btw

[@KidxVicious]

Perfect timing, man. Just finished a track and am about to start the mixing process; I have a bit of a workflow currently but I never really feel like I have a clear direction forward. Definitely going to try your method here as a framework and see if it helps me get a good result with less guesswork.

[@hazmatforhumanity7318]

Hey there friend. Just wanted to chime on again and let you know that this video got me over the hump. I watched Uta. Few different times while working on this album where the mix was just driving me crazy and your tips really saved my life man! I can't recommend this video enough for simplifying what has often been a very complicated process for me. Thanks friend!!!

[@blackmateriaofficial2383]

Another tip: for generic reverb, that's just meant to push things a bit wider and back in the mix, use a single send channel effect for all those sounds. Saves on cpu, gells the sounds as they are in the same 'space'. Also eq out the low and low mids on the effect send. The reverb is just meant to be some top end sparkle and the overall mix will be more transparent and less muddy

[@hazmatforhumanity7318]

Your videos have been so helpful for me in the lab. I'm always struggling with my mixes but you really simplify the process so I can really understand it. I hate the mixing and mastering part of the process. I just want to play with my toys and record col shit, but this makes it a much less painful experience! Thanks Friend!

[@betley1400]

Great technique to stay away from perfectionism that can often ruin the mixes! Simple yet genius approach. Massive thanks for this video and your time Ricky!!!

[@ejmikk]

The -6db thing with just peaks doesn't actually make sense though. For example, if you saturate/clip your kick and compensate for the peak volume, the perceived volume of the kick is gonna be louder, while the peak stays the same. If you use samples, you have no idea what kind of saturation or other dynamic processes have been done to the samples, so just using -6db peak differences for the mix is just gonna give random results. Peak metering in general is not at all useful for judging how people hear things, it's just there to help you not clip the master. Loudness based metering like LUFS or RMS is much more useful for judging how people actually hear things. I am a professional mixing engineer and there really aren't almost any tricks or workarounds besides having good monitoring and experience. That said, the best actual "trick" is to just use reference mixes and compare your mix to them and try to achieve the same punchyness/balance/groove.

[@ACCOUNTANTB]

your videos are so great Ricky ! - cheers Rio / Brazil

[@Quimmoo]

Sup, man, very neat vid, as always. One more tip for a smooth buttery bass is to use a multi band compressor on bass in your 25-50 range and add a vintage optic compressor (like LA-2A) and push it to "overdrive" just a little, so you almost don't hear the OD from compressor, just a bit of dirt. ~1 dB of gain reduction and you are set.

[@ericmosh]

THIS IS.. SO GOOD! Thank you for sharing this!

[@farshidrodsari]

Amazing timing. I've been devouvering mixing videos the last days and this came just when I needed it. Thank you for sharing all this knowledge Ricky. Love

[@illegalgiant_]

thanks dude. been wanting to move a bunch of stuff out of my digitakt and this has been a daunting part of this process. appreciate your candor and vids man

[@fauxlamarr]

Love this! I’ve gotten so lazy with mixing. This is a great reminder that it really doesn’t need to be complicated.

[@djmsquared]

Great track and great mixing tips! Thanks for sharing!

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

Just watched a recent @Bthelick video and he's a huge advocate for no compressors for mixing and also really pushes for not needing mastering either. If you can make a good enough mix you won't need mastering. It's a pretty awesome goal to shoot for.

[@videosarchive8058]

Thank you, Ricky! Just what I’ve been looking for. The creative inspiration is deep. Would love to see a video on making bass patterns using Ableton stock sounds. Recs for go to bass’s. ❤

[@rekall76]

i've always firmly held a belief that eq'ing for each timbre (so they're allowed to occupy their own space) is far more effective than compression ad nauseum

[@daniberlanga]

Que buen vídeo Ricky. This was awesome, and I have been mixing for many many years. This is almost like a framework for a quick draft mix, and then you can go ballistic with the traditional tweaks. Love all your videos and love your music, house with beautiful pad progressions, a bit like in the mid 90s. Keep up the great work!

[@ceetronic]

I've watched a fair few mixing videos, but this has been the most easy to follow and understand. Can put into use straight away! Thanks Enrique! ❤

its so nice to see somebody actually making it simple and not trying to sell tons of plugins. thanks for that, bro!

[@distantcomets]

Thanks @Ricky! This is a really straightforward approach to getting to that clean mix we all need. I always struggle with this and end up spending too much time on it and throwing a hodge podge of plugins at the problem. Conveniently, I'm about to mix up a batch of tracks from this summer, so excellent timing!

[@strangersun7721]

This is a great mixing video. It's a great example of how to get past the analysis paralysis that can happen.

[@RickyTinez]

Yes, keep it moving!

[@andrewcampbell8938]

i think this is one of the best videos you've made. Nice one! Thx

[@shannonia81]

You are Mr Uncomplicated - in the best sense. What a great straightforward video. Thanks!

[@henommusic1229]

Yo dude, don't make me take notes to your sessions :-D Killer tips to get in the ballpark. I've been struggling with mix lately because I went too far ahead of my skills with my ambitions. Get back to basics - start with volume and EQ and arrangement and let those build the tracks. This is exactly what I needed in this space of time. Appreciate you!

[@RickyTinez]

yes! some of my best "mixed" tracks are on my old MPCs which only had volume adjustments haha. But what really helped them, I think, was the final output of the L/R outs. I have a hunch that it glued it all together well. Where a DAW might try to leave it as transparent as possible. Either way, volume, EQ, some effects to add width. done!

[@davidgoode7416]

Excellent advice, thanks...

[@OnemoreRisingSuns]

Thank you.. what a great, informative video. Massive simplified help.

[@RuthGingerMusic]

Oh my days Ricky!! This is so helpful!! Thank you ❤

[@Jbrunel510]

Track is bangin man, really sick tune.

[@shaftpunk84]

This was maaaaad useful. Thanks so much for what you do.

[@ales_shi]

Thank you so much for sharing these tips! It helped me a lot! I was usually struggling to set the levels right and now I can do it not only by ear and the results are great! Sending love!

[@JimmyLem]

I used to use something like this way back... In the mid-90s, Tascam dbx NR cassette 4-track of about 12 or so instruments - rock stuff...gtr, keys, electric bass, a Boss DR-550 mk1 and all sorts of little percussion things - into a Dolby C NR Sony tape deck (metal tape), to manually make my masters to run copies off of. I learned it somewhere, may have either been my training on 2" 16 tracks or the Home Recording book by Peter McIan and Larry Wichman. You make great vids with an honest take on things - thank you!

[@eliaswarg6818]

Ive mixed stuff since the early 90s, and this still teaches me "new basics". Well tweaked!

[@sativanative]

i appreciate you deeeplyyy, im never too too dissapointed in my mixes but i know this gon help tha level up s/o ricky, much love to you gang

[@hippez]

Sick video G🔊

[@ChrisP3000x]

Great stuff, man!

[@deltamumusic]

Cool idea and nice tips. I'm gonna try this out later. Thanks a bunch for the info

[@xlat808]

Thank you for some really great sounding and instructional content! I'm learning more about mixing, and this was super helpful.

[@jokmenen_]

Great video. I was sceptical at first about looking at the peak meters instead of using your ears. But your argument about removing decision paralysis is really legit and i can see it speeding up my process. Gonna try it soon!

[@NineTo5Golf]

This is gonna be a game changer for me. Creating beats to edit my vids to has been a challenge because I'm always towing the line between having elements that sound interesting and sit in the mix well without getting annoying or distracting because the main focus is the video. Using this as a guideline will help bring so much more consistency to the tracks, keep up the great content!

[@RickyTinez]

That's why it's so difficult for me to make music for my own video haha! It's like to competing things playing at once. I applaud your efforts in that goal

[@illhellmuss420]

great tutorial, sweet track!!! 💚🙏🏻💚

[@rodvik]

Great vid. Really helpful when you gave specific -db per element. Thank you 🎉

[@locket104]

Wow new to the channel and production love your videos been here for the last two and im learning stuff so good. Will have to go into the archives and look for more mixing vids but more of that mate fantastic! Thankyou

[@RickyTinez]

Welcome! And thanks for the kind words @Locket104

[@AppleJoosh420]

This is the most eloquent explanation of mixing that I’ve heard. Thank you so much

[@LeftCat]

Holy crap. I usually reference pink noise and mix my levels against that. It works ok. But I just followed your suggestions in this video and got my levels sounding AMAZING very quickly.

[@xselfcreative]

Cheers for the info shows another take how to approach mixing. Have a good one. ✌️✊

[@philipbard2333]

Just applied the -6db recommendation to a track I was mixing for my band and it got me to a really good place really fast. Thanks, Ricky.

[@TheBezerraFamily]

I have to rewatch this video over and over again !

[@DavidDeLuge]

Great video! I've bookmarked this and will be referring to it again. 🙏

[@lfarrolas]

This is public service, Ricky. More than that! Thanks!!!

[@puckingfunk]

This was great, thanks!!

[@ColossusBall]

This is actually the best short-form mastering lesson on the internet. No joke.

[@fonclairmusic]

Thank you! Perfect timing for me 😇

[@konaritoikka]

I love that -6db idea you are talking about. My mentor teached me technique where think that - 3 db is little and -6 db is much. So if you feel that sound is too loud move it -6db and if little too loud move it -3db and vice versa.

[@OfficialDomshe]

Sick track! ❤

[@0711RC]

Thanks! Great video!

[@edo9117]

Great content, thank's Ricky!

[@bassguitar2709]

while using meters to get you in the ball park, I'd still dial in some fine level adjustments using your ears, the clap is a bit hot at -12 in my opinion and should be around -14/15, always use your ears, also mix very low monitor volume, you can hear when elements appear and sit in the sound bed, mixing is all about practice and knowing your monitors, always good to leave space on the master bus around -10/12 db for the Mastering stage, also good to have a Reference track to compare against, no matter what genre youre mixing,

[@jimshannononsounds]

Awesome content Ricky. This video could have been epic if it were a live stream.😂 Love your stuff.

[@forsale313]

This method works for me. Thanks for the Gem.

[@DaveSmithHayes]

I refrain from moving the mixer level at all and do everything with utilities. It allows you to boost way above like you mentioned, but then you can just throw effects on the line after utility.

[@CircuitHorizon]

Good tips!

[@smacksalad]

Thanks, Ricky!

[@Jim_KYB]

I generally try and stick to 1 reverb (Vintage Verb) on a bus for my drums and instruments. I used to use individual reverbs on inserts when i started out, but found it would make my mixes opaque/foggy. I use a bigger ambient verb with a low blend on vocals.

[@alsoulmusic]

Great tutorial! Getting your levels right does make things so much easier. I have been using a plugin called mix monolith that works on a similar principle as you are describing. It combines the utility aspect with having different gain levels for the type of track you are mixing. I start every mix with it on every channel. I don't use a lot of compression and always wondered if that was wrong. You have put my mind at ease.

[@MrBeatIndication]

Good lord... this is a perfect feel good mixing lesson. 🤝

[@channelite]

I really enjoy your videos every saturday, it’s like a ritual.

[@robdechamber3973]

Simply beautiful :)

[@dsvoid]

The tricks in this one definitely helped with a track of mine, thanks

[@DXC673]

needed this video like 2 years ago 😭🙌

[@morgue_file]

Beautiful track, please release this one 🙌🏽

[@MrScarabey]

You give so much in one video, thank you)

[@jabbarindabenz]

This video is a jewel

[@e4bigler]

Great tips ! One of the hardest thing for me is panning. Would love to see some experimentation around that topic

[@RickyTinez]

Yea panning is extremely difficult haha. I'll put a sound to one side then think its missing from the other side. So then I add a sound over there and now my track is too cluttered! Its tricky. Also, for my style of music and where it's usually played, having extreme panning might be a downfall since a lot of clubs are mixed mono, or wires extremely weird to have music playing throughout a building

[@likebutton963]

You earned yourself a sub. I know it's not much, but it is the only way the little guy (me) could show you appreciation.

[@landonh3535]

Sweet video man, I use a VU meter for this, especially getting the kick and bass balanced. It works a lot better than peak meters because sometimes the perceived volume is louder or quieter and it can be tough to get the right balance with those elements. For example, -3 on the VU meter can show a different peak value for the kick depending on the sound of it. So the VU never really lies like the peak. For kick bass, try kick at -3 on the VU and then when bass hits with the kick they should peak at 0 VU. Give it a shot!

[@RickyTinez]

Exactly what Tejada was telling me! Do you have a preferred VU meter? He uses a plug-in I can't remember the name of

[@nodz007]

Klanghelm VUMT bro @@RickyTinez I like your technique better though as it works well with all the other elements in the mix

[@user82938]

Hell yeah Wedgehead Pinball.

[@gilesbowkett]

I like how 2 minutes into the video you get so into your own track that you forgot what you were going to say - sign of a good session

[@hotbutteredcrumpets]

Thank you🙏👊

[@christoroppolo8742]

I’ve been using logic on the iPad pro for film cues and sound design with killer results too!👽✌️

[@bipedal_earth_roamer]

The real magic here is how well you mix your voice-over with the rest of the track.

[@conduit-seoir]

Lol so true

[@conduit-seoir]

It's probably a little side chain compression 😆

[@sjlearning149]

I can hear some phase weirdness from those high Q factor EQ settings. I would suggest using lower q factors unless there is a need for surgery. Using a lower q factor and setting the frequency a little more extreme + adding a little volume to make up for the loss near the cutoff is a better plan for normal situations.

[@domeniquexander_]

Great Video as always my man 🔥👊🏼 For these ‚hard‘ transients i use the gm audio clipper. Also a great tool for these kind of things. Cheers, d 🙂

[@Zeisslermusic]

Wauuu this tips are dope ❤🇩🇰

[@joeyasaperson]

good stuff

[@Protectaline]

Such a useful video that I will definitely keep coming back to. Interesting that your initial mixing process goes from the kick through the percussion then onto the bass.I must have watched 100 other videos where the kick then the bass take priority.

[@RickyTinez]

I like to get the drums nailed down, That to me is the most important for my house music. It is one instrument, it also should be able to live on its own without a bass or chords or main sample. If all elements turn off in the middle of the track and the drums are groovin' the dance floor don't stop

[@codebycandle]

delicious with pleasant presentation. long live 'haws musik.'

[@GabeWilliams]

I learned so much, wow

[@thegeenius]

break Down! ,, thank you sir,, super valuable info

[@mikrdgz]

Ricky!! Awesome content, very helpful. Would you mind doing one where you try and maximize loudness and finish the mastering process yourself? I don't use a mastering engineer because I'm a broke beginner. If I were to export a track like the one you just did at -.76, it would sound quiet in comparison to the rest of my DJ library and in Rekordbox I can always see my songs have way more peaks and quietness than studio tracks. Any thoughts on that or a video would be so appreciated

[@DieAndereKoelscheToen]

The real MVP.

[@andrew71017]

I’m a mixing engineer myself who came through university studying it. While there is a lot of crap, generic mixing tutorials on KZbin that teach you nothing but bad habits, Ricky’s tutorials are absolutely fantastic. This is probably the most helpful music mixing tutorial I’ve ever seen! I wish I’d have come across something like this when I started. I’ve just downloaded that gorgeous apogee limiter too. Thanks Ricky !!!

[@Pheekofc]

Great job. I made a similar video some months ago and I’m happy we do things in same ways. 🎉

[@melokit-music]

I really enjoyed your video, they are super effective tips for putting a mix together! As for the pans, do you leave everything a little in the middle so that the sound passes correctly in the club? otherwise, thank you again for your nourishing and always positive spirit dude ! d;-D peace

[@qwer4621]

Hey so I saw that your master was at like -3db. So after this what do you do to get your track at -12 or -6 for mastering?

[@iambadd]

A good segway video would be mastering this same track :)