Mixing LOUD Beats that Compete (5 Simple Steps)

[@TheHouseofJukebox]

BRO - I can't lie, this has spun my head top - you're telling me that now, mostly, all I have to worry about is the tone and the characteristics of the music?? And, after I get the level, just pull down the overall vca, and not really worry about HEADROOM?? LOL pff - thank you for this.

[@SeanDivine]

👍🙌

[@chawk_]

gamechanger for sure

[@tylerdengler6960]

@@SeanDivine can you insert like a gain or trim plugin after the limiter to achieve the same effect for headroom or no?

[@aswinjohn1259]

So there is not need for gain staging each track when we just pull down for the overall vca,right?

[@aswinjohn1259]

@Paul Asante So there is not need for gain staging each track when we just pull down for the overall vca,right?

[@viyer6963]

Finally a mixing tutorial relevant for producers uploading beats to their stores! So grateful for this

[@SeanDivine]

Happy to help

[@ludovictchouate2589]

God bless you Sean !

[@SeanDivine]

🙏

[@cvstlebeats]

Im glad youtube started recommending me your videos again - i never thought of using the LUF metering for the mixing process. Deff love this approach.

[@thejacksontwinz]

This is an Awesome video, We Are learning a lot from you, our mixies are becoming much, much better with time.We are recommending all my friends to your channel, you the man bro.

[@KtraaOfficial]

That beat is fire 🔥

[@SeanDivine]

🙏

[@chawk_]

hey bro, it would be really cool if u made a follow up video where you detail how to take a beat like this and some vocals and put them together to sound good be leveled/mixed properly and ready to be mastered.

[@SeanDivine]

noted! I'll see what I can do

[@chawk_]

@@SeanDivine amazing, thanks man, really appreciate your response!

[@GT300KR]

This is beyond useful, practical and awesome. Thank you for sharing this gems Sean!

[@LukeIcardMusic]

You really know your stuff. Im a seasoned producer and I actually learned something

[@bigcat1703]

Maan, THANKS A LOT! I've searched through tons of vids on youtube and none of them told me right what I was looking for! Super dope info fo real!!!

[@SeanDivine]

Glad I could help!

[@ot-mills]

Thank you! Ive been racking my brain over this for a long time wondering how Beatstars top producers are always so much louder than mine...and the funny thing is doing it this way was my first instinct, but II thought I needed to allow that -6 headroom. Oh well, about to go remix all my ish..LOL

[@repoman5581]

Thank you man... I have re-done one track about 4 times, and wow, it makes all the difference.. now I feel my tracks will compete with the right loudness.. :)

[@jaycole1900]

This is amazing. As always Sean!

[@athornsound304]

Wow. Thank you. I have searched KZbin for a video that cuts to the core of leveling your beat to a competitive level professionally (Measuring TP and LUFS) and other videos don't touch on that. Bravo my friend, Bravo.

[@IDPgen2011]

bro you're a life saver. mastering has been driving me nuts and this video finally made it click for me. Thank you!

[@SeanDivine]

Great to hear Swonny

[@IDPgen2011]

nevermind, im still bad at mixing/mastering :( multimeter is stuck at -18 LUFS having followed all the steps in the video

[@emarbeats6896]

Excellent stuff in here

[@The_Cyber_King]

Awesome info . Keep ‘em Comin!

[@LETTMusic]

I'm going to try this out on my next beat. I've always struggled with mixing, but I think if I just did top down mixing or bringing everything to zero and coming up until all the elements are right, it would free me up so much time in the long run. I feel like when I mix as I go, I'm constantly battling different elements, because you bring up something, and then something else gets lost, and then you go circular in trying to bring everything out. I think I'll save the 'leveling' part for last, and just focus on composition and getting the sound design FX like delays/reverbs/distortions in place as I go to lock in the tone and vibe I want as I compose.

[@emerytylerreid]

great point! this video brings so much structure to making competitive mixes a breeze, allowing us to leave our focus on the more creative aspects of the music.

[@TheBlackJewelz]

Any thoughts on aiming for RMS values instead of LUFS?

[@danteben3139]

Just started mixing about three months ago. Your videos have really helped get my foundations set and I’m still coming back to refresh the basics when I get stuck. Thanks, Sean.

[@vancenichols9490]

This is geniously concise! Awesome! Thanks!!! 😃

[@adoebeatz]

Thanks so much for this! Perfect video that I needed! 🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯

[@prodmioo]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge

[@ranjesluther]

Its always an honor learning from you.

[@SeanDivine]

🙏🙏🙌

[@Kevin-yq1ls]

Thank you Sean, once again a great video! 🙏

[@benja303]

Achieving competitive Masters for beats: Put a limiter on master at just below zero Put on metering Get a reference track Check lufs of reference tracks: aiming for -10 Your kick will hit around zero true peak

[@mikegmusic]

Thanks a lot for this bro! Do you typically pan a lot more? I noticed here you didn’t really pan much

[@SeanDivine]

typically yes, although I usually don't do heavy panning until I have the vocals

[@ritodanger]

great vid! every time the beat comes in, my head starts moving.......

[@kingzluvinproduction]

Thanks for the info your videos have helped me achieve the loudness I have always struggled to get to

[@Djac_Carbone]

This video alone made everything i do consistent (mixing the kick to loudness first was all i needed) thanks 🙏🏻 i kept getting lost in the master end when i brought everything up and nothing was correct,

[@professorpurp970]

Thank you

[@ShocMane]

Good teachings divine

[@macacorul3s]

you are the man Sean!!!! last few days your video have really been helping me out

[@SeanDivine]

glad to help Josh! 🙌

[@larzsmith1214]

Great video helped alot

[@kevinshi1000]

Bro - Im in love with your tutorial!

[@prod.dreiii]

Very helpful, thank you!

[@mkirbymusic]

Absolutely awesome tutorial

[@highsocietymedia4098]

BRO, those plucks are tastyyyyyy FIRE tutorial, fire beat, from a fire vet. Keep helping the community we all appreciate it

[@SeanDivine]

🙏

[@PatrickObiang]

This Is Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Thanx!

[@henryblaeser]

oooooo new space!

[@SeanDivine]

same space, new lights :)

[@henryblaeser]

@@SeanDivine haha ooooops!

[@drumboxbeats]

Yesssir! Helpful as always!

[@dabeatbruizerbama2055]

Much appreciated the knowledge bro

[@higherentertainment2343]

Awesome video bro 🙏🙌 I love the idea of mixing into a limiter. Thanks brother 🤙❤️

[@archyman7860]

thanks bro

[@eleven21_music]

Sean, great video as always. Question... would you have approached the drum mix the same if this track had vocals on it?

[@SeanDivine]

as far as the initial balancing, yes... I usually then will go back and fine tune drum elements in the same frequency range as the vocals once they're mixed (i.e. snare, percussion, hats)

[@Jmwangs]

Thanks man! Is the master/vca the same as the normal master fader in fl studio?

[@SeanDivine]

I don't use FL but I think so!

[@barrywilliams8289]

GR8 TUTORIAL

[@austinmsisya4897]

This is really helpful boss.Thank you

[@vishwajeetbabbar7622]

Sean devine has best KZbin lessons

[@SeanDivine]

🙏

[@malcolmm4360]

This is great information, I would like to see you do something like this but in a different genre, specifically house music (with vocals)! 🙏

[@VVMUSIC888]

thx for this video....! you are the best !

[@jedianakin1492]

Ur a goat new subscriber !!! If i decide to add vocals to this , shoul i use the same method ? then leave headroom with a vca for traditional mastering ??

[@SeanDivine]

Welcome :) and generally speaking, yup!

[@canuseeproductions8264]

Thanks a lot bro ! How can we add vocals to this and get a song ready to be mastered ?

[@SeanDivine]

no problem, check my channel :)

[@velanche]

Thanks for this; this is hella useful! I'm doing a mxidown today, so this video could not have dropped at a better time. My mix downs aren't bad, but watching the video has me learning a few new things and confirming other things. For sure, mixing is where it all counts. Really appreciate it!

[@SeanDivine]

glad to hear it Velanche 🙌

[@ELLIOT8209]

@@SeanDivine hi Sean, can you make a video on mixing to translate in mono. I checked some songs and they sound almost the same in stereo and mono

[@tcmuze]

Awesome video. Really Needed this!!! Would same approach work song with vocals?

[@SeanDivine]

essentially, yes... this is more of a mixing approach for producers releasing beats specifically. once you're working with vocals in the session, it will be better to leave headroom and use a more traditional mastering approach IMO.

[@tcmuze]

@@SeanDivine Thanks for the clarification.

[@Transitwo]

Bravo Sean, I work in Logic, ozone etc. And because of your work flow this reinforced my work flow. Although I still make bad calls my mix often hits the lufs before limiting thanks to you. Loving the music you create btw. One thing...sometimes I seem to lose reverb on vocals while mastering? Is this common? Keep the Videos coming :)

[@SeanDivine]

thanks Steve! are you using stereo reverbs and adjusting the stereo field much during the mastering process? that could change the way you're hearing it

[@Transitwo]

@@SeanDivine Yep...usually with saturation type plugins which push out the stereo field. Usually don’t mess with Stereo spread in ozone (I do that at mix stage).

[@DreErdna]

Love the tutorial & tips, Sean! Edit: beat sounding amazin

[@MO-fb8oh]

Very helpful!

[@SeanDivine]

glad to hear it!

[@deemomusic1982]

Thanks bro always a pleasure of gaining knowledge from you vids!!! Beat is 🔥🔥🔥🔥!!!

[@SeanDivine]

appreciate that Dee!

[@tazgoemi3574]

Dope really dope my man i have shared this to all my producer friends and if possible please do one on mixing in mono which is better I don’t what am trying to say but I hope you get it just explain if its cool or not coz some guys say mixing in mono is the best way to mix...then put the stereo ryt at the end is that cool... thanks man I got a lot from you..🙌

[@SeanDivine]

thanks Taz, I have a mono mixing videos on my channel. Here's one: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWaQZoCtqrOMadk

[@riktascale4]

Thanks for this. Sweet music and BTW do you ever consider using a DAW controller for mixing?

[@SeanDivine]

thanks Miguel! and yes I do, just haven't found the right controller yet... keeping an eye out :)

[@Pjaysusity]

This Sean guy.........smh 💯🔥

[@kiralight793]

So useful ! Thanks ! But if wanna add some punch to the kick ( like with a smack attack or im puncher ) or parallel compression to the drums , i cant because everything is already hitting at zero , what can i do in this case ? Turn down the fader ? Or gain stage with a gain plugin ?

[@SeanDivine]

Use a VCA as a master fader :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/emSvmYp7e858eas

[@rheimidi]

Dude, Sean, you rock bro. You got the best KZbin channel mayn. I learn so much from your videos. I do have one question (may be silly) but why did you lower the master volume instead of the output volume? Thanks!

[@SeanDivine]

thanks :) best practice typically is to setup a master VCA, so you can retain your send / aux relationships and adjust the track levels independently BEFORE the master output

[@friendsintheweb]

What about soft clipper? A lot people seem to use something like that to make their beats to “hit harder”

[@TheMultimedia8]

Sean.. please help. Did this s.ame approach. Dont know hy but I bring the levels up and instead of gradually increasing the LUFS... It drops... So if its at -12 LUFSwith a kick... When bringing other instruments up. It starts lowering to -13 then -14 and sounding distorted. Suggestions ??

[@lX-NDR]

Did i see your master clipping in red? Isnt that a problem? Great videos btw,subscribed!

[@SeanDivine]

Not necessarily :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/emSvmYp7e858eas

[@lX-NDR]

@@SeanDivine nice!! Loving these videos you put out!

[@yamadatarou4545dopyudopyu]

Is the 14:48 "Master" fader (color orange) a vca fader for all tracks?

[@Rio-uv1gs]

What you discuss in this video is done after gainstaging and leveling or before?

[@SeanDivine]

what step in gain staging are you referring to? if you mean setting the levels to unity gain, that would be done first.

[@Rio-uv1gs]

@@SeanDivine When setting the levels with the UV meter and turning tracks from midi to audio/wav files. So first set to unity, then use u.v to find sweet spot, then add plugginn effects or am I off...Trying figure out the order

[@SeanDivine]

​@@Rio-uv1gs the key is to print any audio with plenty of headroom... then set unity gain if you prefer and start mixing! "sweet spots" for plugins are subjective, they don't all treat levels the same way... use your ears :)

[@MixedByRBL]

Thanks for the video man its really helpful I got quick question though if you were to send the stems out of this beat for someone else to mix what would you keep on and what would you take off before rendering the stems?

[@SeanDivine]

take off everything on the stereo bus (unless you think it's essential to the mix) and bring a VCA fader back to provide headroom. Most producers send stems with FX... if I need them clean, I ask.

[@LoneWolfSwitch]

Please make your vids available for download some of us can't stream 24/7

[@evngeo8126]

Anyone know how to bounce stems in Logic if you use auxiliary tracks / buses on your instrument groups? Whenever I go to “export all tracks as audio files”, any effects I have running through buses don’t print.

[@SeanDivine]

right click the aux track in the mixer and click create track... once it's in the arrange window, it will bounce a stem for the aux

[@ThaiZeo]

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@EmmzBeats1zx]

still dont get it. I just want my kick and 808 louder without distorting.When i upload to youtube only if i put the voume to max the kick will be as loud as other producers on half the volume

[@MegalocefaloBill]

Man your videos are making me improve so much. Appreciate your channel and hope you achieve all you goals. I have a question though.. what about the gains? I learn from another channel to use the gain plugging in all channels for the sake of gain staging, but you dont even touch it why? 🤯

[@SeanDivine]

glad to hear it’s helping! This video explains in more detail - kzbin.info/www/bejne/emSvmYp7e858eas

[@MegalocefaloBill]

@@SeanDivine 🙏🏽

[@IssaMuzik]

But in case we'd decide to only offer our beat as one file/track, it would make sense to add saturation, EQ etc onto the master-bus right? I ask this to understand if it's the same procedure if you mix for "standard mastering" or stem mastering. For stem mastering you shouldn't put anything onto the master bus when exporting. Is this comparable?

[@SeanDivine]

if you're releasing the beat on it's own, as-is, then yes. In most cases, you don't want to add anything to the master bus until you're actually mastering... that would typically happen after the artist has recorded their vocals to the beat, then you have the full session with all stems mixed.

[@Dat-Mix]

My snare or clap is higher than the kick in the mix. I lowered it but it seems to low when adjusting so it doesn't outdo the kick.

[@burnercomented]

Maaaannnn...free$$$$

[@urielquinones7131]

This is where I get confused. Aren’t you supposed to leave headroom in order to master it? What am I not getting? I always mix beats at around -4 - -6db and then make them loud in the master because that’s what I was always told to do

[@apollospyrol7168]

Keep that same approach!

[@SeanDivine]

typically, you have the 2-track for demoing in your beat store / recording purposes (the loud version we created here) and then the multi track stems with headroom for mixing the entire session WITH vocals... then you would do traditional mastering

[@urielquinones7131]

@@SeanDivine makes complete sense thank you 🙏

[@alwaysinthelab6698]

🔥🔥🔥

[@IDPgen2011]

hey sean, first of all thanks for the free quality content. One question though: In order for my kick to hit -13/-12 lufs on the multimeter, i have to boost it a lot... like 6-10 db until its actually hitting above 0db. Ok fine, it still sounds good. Then as soon as i bring up my 808 to a level where it sounds good, the LUFS on the multimeter is brought down to -16/-17 lufs :/ the only way to maintain -13/-12 is to bring the 808 down to a level where its barely audible. the same goes for the other instruments. as soon as i introduce synths, guitars etc, the multimeter will be stuck at -18 LUFS... what am i doing wrong? Im doing everything like in the video :(

[@SeanDivine]

it depends on the kick itself and how it's processed. the kick sample in the video is hitting at -3 (true peak), -12 LUFS without any limiting. a different kick also hitting at -3 (true peak) might have a reading of -16 LUFS. That's the difference in measuring perceived loudness with LUFS. Try a different kick :)

[@IDPgen2011]

@@SeanDivine Really appreciate the reply! Will give this a go and report back. thanks again :D

[@Jack-ow7gx]

Is gain staging required? after i gain stage it makes reaching the -11, -12 LUFS range for the kick iffy

[@SeanDivine]

Is it causing unwanted distortion / artifacts in your plugins or in the master? If not, I wouldn’t worry about :)

[@bossmanwurldbeats]

Am really great full

[@unbeater]

🙌❤️‍🔥

[@clarkflavor]

Is normalising each audio file when importing stems to Logic going to ruin my signal besides mess up the balance?

[@SeanDivine]

Not necessarily but I wouldn’t recommend it

[@clarkflavor]

@@SeanDivine I'm thinking that too, but don't know why exactly ☹️

[@tri-unetrl3966]

Yo Sean, I notice you didn't pan anything when you were mixing... why is that? just curious. Thanks

[@SeanDivine]

it's not always the same but I don't personally do heavy panning in the beat mixing process... it's generally best to wait for the vocal / complete mix

[@tri-unetrl3966]

@@SeanDivine Oh okay... I feel ya 👍🏼

[@natanbake2933]

💥🌟💫

[@TheMultimedia8]

That last master is a VCA CHannel ?

[@SeanDivine]

in the case of Logic specifically, yes use a VCA to apply the level to change to ALL exported tracks

[@TheMultimedia8]

@@SeanDivine Thanks Sean! Appreciate it. . Yeah, Logic is the man. 8AUDIO

[@MrDjodji]

👍👍👍👍👍😉

[@cesargonzalezbueno3359]

But why a well balanced mix at a level of -8lufs sounds way lauder than other well balanced mix at the same level?

[@SeanDivine]

They're mixed with dynamics and perceived loudness. That's not the same as loudness represented by LUFS kzbin.info/www/bejne/oIvbiH99gryKrsU

[@cesargonzalezbueno3359]

@@SeanDivine thanks. I also analyzed before you had the opportunity to replay me a lot of song from top Reggaeton artist using Youlean and I noticed everything you just told in your replay. Thank you.

[@ludovicnaba8940]

No gain staging ?

[@SeanDivine]

not sure what step in gain staging you're referring to, but yes... all audio tracks were printed with plenty of headroom, there's no problematic clipping or undesired results :)

[@DycayBeats]

Have you done gain staging before all of this?

[@DycayBeats]

What I mean by gain staging here was using VU meter or just check individual tracks' peaking level and set them around -10 to -18db so that plugins don't have to react too much to the incoming signals and create unwanted distortion and stuff. That's what I learned from other youtuber's videos, but as you said in the other video if it sounds good it sounds good and nothing really matters. I thought if I followed this tutorial I will get better result with my mix so thank you.

[@homdiggymuzik]

Nice concept… but the contradiction is …gain staging… if you gain stage to say -6db you cannot hit -8/9 Lufs .. you have to mix hot to achieve such levels

[@ItzBanknotez]

feel like the 808 is a little too quiet. A lot of beats i hear especially those atlanta beats like southside, 808 mafia have the kick and 808 around the same level and the melody sits under.

[@ProductionBandit]

first

[@iamjohnblack]

Second

[@pelvis777]

3...

[@SeanDivine]

@@pelvis777 4th

[@gabegooding8962]

U can never hit -6 lufs with this approch . Thank me later

[@SeanDivine]

🤔 13:50... right around -6 lufs (loudness max)

[@beatsxkd]

Heard Ozone and had to stop the video.

[@SeanDivine]

what's wrong with ozone?

[@beatsxkd]

@@SeanDivine Ozone’s limiter sounds harsh IMO, & kills the low end in a lot of my mixes.

[@SeanDivine]

@@beatsxkd hmm I see, which limiter do you prefer?

[@apollospyrol7168]

@@SeanDivine fab filter😩

[@TheBlackJewelz]

Any thoughts on aiming for RMS values instead of LUFS?

[@TheBlackJewelz]

Any thoughts on aiming for RMS values instead of LUFS?