STOP MIXING

💥 Watch my FREE Workshop where I cover How I Create PRO Quality Music at Home - and How You CAN TOO here: produceracceleratorcourse.com...
💥 Check out my gear through my Sweetwater Shop: imp.i114863.net/3PEb0A
My Studio Gear List:
--------------------
I personally purchase my gear from Sweetwater and have for over 12 years -- these are affiliate links, meaning you can support my channel by using Sweetwater. The reason I trust Sweetwater is because they have the BEST customer support I have ever seen, two year warranty, free shipping, and they have they best reputation in the industry. You will never see me recommend buying pro audio gear from Amazon
Check out Sweetwater: imp.i114863.net/MPRz3
--------------------
G-Drive SSD External Drive (storing sample libraries): imp.i114863.net/MPRz3
Logic Pro X: (use the app store)
Antelope Audio ZenGo (not affiliate link - Sweetwater doesn't sell them): en.antelopeaudio.com/products...
Komplete Audio 6 (audio interface): imp.i114863.net/jNJbe
Presonus Eris E5 (monitors -- you'll need to buy a pair): imp.i114863.net/kyJ6z
Komplete Kontrol S88: imp.i114863.net/mLode
Komplete Kontrol M32 (my mini controller): imp.i114863.net/Yg193B
Presonus ioStation 24c (FaderPort alternatively): imp.i114863.net/mgz5Va
Presonus Atom SQ (another MIDI controller): imp.i114863.net/KeJj3y
Lauten LS-208 Mic: imp.i114863.net/MPReJ
Avantone Pro CV-12 Mic: imp.i114863.net/d25dM
JZ Mic Black Hole: (Producer Accelerator members get 50% off - not sold on Sweetwater) usashop.jzmic.com/collections...
Shure SM58: imp.i114863.net/2oVmz
Audio Technica ATH-M40X (headphones - I have 2 pairs): imp.i114863.net/BNRL1
Novation LaunchPad X (also compatible with Logic Pro X): imp.i114863.net/0gRaM
Furman for Power Strip: imp.i114863.net/QOJy3x
Sample Libraries / Plugins I HIGHLY Recommend:
_____________
Native Instruments Komplete Ultimate (this is the BEST bundle you can buy - I have the Collector's Edition): imp.i114863.net/OkyDz
BABY Audio Plugins (love ALL of them): bit.ly/babyplugins
Arcade: output.com/products/arcade
Signal: imp.i114863.net/Qa2DA
EastWest (Hollywood Orchestra): imp.i114863.net/PemxY
AutoTune Pro: imp.i114863.net/qnA4XN
Spitfire LABS (free): labs.spitfireaudio.com/

[@matt_nyc_audioengineer]

I'm a professional freelance mixing and mastering engineer and this is pretty much spot on. I mix ALOT of projects and 70% or more have little to no hope of sounding "radio ready" and it's because it's a bad song or the recordings are terrible. We can only fix so much and that should be because we HAVE to, not because a producer wanted to cut corners. Good advice and video!

[@tobebuilds]

Thanks for laying this out. You've helped me realize that what I want to focus on is ONLY singing + songwriting, and production to a lesser degree. I'll have to team up with producers + engineers. And that's okay.

[@andidrogynous7347]

I love how Nathan James Larsen and Make Pop Music release their vids in the same five minutes. I always know when one will be released as soon as I see the other

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

Totally not on purpose 🤔

[@reese3344]

That’s how u know, u a pro baby

[@ThatGuy-Official]

Very true. Sound selection is HUGE. If you pick the right sounds and produce them effectively you may not even need to "mix" in the traditional sense because your sounds will already fit together. It becomes just a game of adjusting volume.

[@Jcjenxnc]

I love these videos! You explain things really well.

[@DurshMusic]

That's exactly what I was thinking today 💖 well explained 🙌

[@rishipanda]

Great tips as always❤️

[@somyadeepbhargava7030]

Your channel is awesome. Great Music

[@Bthelick]

I'm with you all the way, I haven't panned a synth, or compressed a kick drum etc (literally) in years. Once you train your ears, you start to pick you sounds/recordings with an ear for the final production better in the first place. Once you develop a 'minds ear' from experience (and a good listening environment helps too) your mix just forms itself from the choices of sound and arrangement. Just like mastering, there is no need for a formal mix process any more. I make 2 tracks a night and release them the following week. I have several hundred tracks released professionally, and of those I have the data and control over, I can tell you the better mixed ones aren't the better performing ones. Like you say the average listener does not care, when egos get caught up in these technical conversations its easy to forget your not making art to please other engineers. (unless that is the sole purpose of your brand haha but then you wouldn't be watching this)

[@oldunclemick]

Great video. For years I wondered why my 4-track Portastudio productions were my best even though I knew so much less back then and it was because there was no possibility of fixing anything in the mix. I had to arrange the whole thing and plan the recording before even hitting the Record button.

[@mrbass093]

Thank you for reiterating this in my brain

[@heartshinemusic]

Some good points. The first step is most important! If only there were as much (quality) songwriting tutorials as there were mixing tutorials. Too many bad songs are getting produced and mixed. People should focus much more on the first step: creating a great song. And that takes more effort than most are willing to put into in. But it's the most worthwhile, and ultimately the most rewarding, step of the process. There's no use in producing and mixing bad songs. It's mostly wasted time and effort.

[@narresnair1154]

Straight facts! Thank you Sir

[@makegamemusic]

Cheers for this man, exactly the video and advice I needed to hear!

[@nickyadeniyi37]

You are incredible Nathan, seriously. This is facts, and if anyone out there is like me, I only really care about the production, period. So this is encouraging and motivating. You’re basically shifting the focus of creating back to just that: creating. Can’t thank you enough.

[@kalelisuperman]

Boom!! Take that Mixing!

[@Larzguitars]

Great info Nathan!!

[@3xAudio]

very true. focus on the music and having fun and the rest will sort itself out when the time is right

[@AlexRome]

Love this

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

💪 thanks bro

[@biancahelena4109]

STILL WORKS AT THIS DAY TY MAN !!!!!!

[@nundebeats6754]

Thank you for this

[@tr_sanzbeats2508]

I applied this, and what I do, is to take a reference track, and produce it until it can sound as good as the reference, after that, I mix it and master it according to what I think I should remove or add. Maybe some techniques in mixing would make it more clean and nice, but this techniques would be developed throughout the process and time. So I really support your position 💪🏻

[@SoloKrauT]

I would like to do the same. Do you use raw multitracks? What sources do you use? An answer would help me a lot.

[@tr_sanzbeats2508]

@@SoloKrauT I convert the song from youtube to a WAV file, then put it in my proyect, and use plugins like SPAN or Youlean Loudness meter for the mixing and mastering phases

[@SoloKrauT]

@@tr_sanzbeats2508 Thanks for your Response

[@ORIGINAL_MEDIA]

Great advice

[@geniusondrugs3769]

working on dropping my first song later this month, and boy oh boy have I spent hours and hours on watching tutorials on vocal mixing and everything around it these past few days. Edit: just now got to the part where you admit to almost never spending much time on mixing, and woooow I really needed to hear that

[@LitchfieldParkFamily]

Great info, thanks! 🎶💯

[@ItsCounter]

you sir have radicalized me. thank you for your work kind sire.

[@DubFreakuencies]

This is very true. Its easy to get caught in the mistake of fix it in the mix. Im sure some people can relate to the fact that sometimes, with very little work you have a song that sounds polished and translates, and one wonders why? Inadvertent good sound selection and arrangement, which means its possible to do it with very little mixing. I do mostly dawless jams, and the "mixing" is basically good sound selection, levels and filters, which means again its possible. BUT, an accurate monitoring system is essential, to check if actually something sounds right or wrong.

[@progrocker84]

Great video! Sometimes it's difficult to know when you're engaged with tone selection (i.e. production) vs tone refinement (i.e. mixing). For example, should a guitarist decide which amp blend to use during production, or is that a mixing decision?

[@artg7909]

Best advise.

[@felixnotkjellberg]

this is what every new prods should watch...few months ago i watched Arcando's twitch stream and mentioned that the only important thing to do is adjusting volume and find good samples. i tried and it worked so well! big thumbs up Nathan!

[@toygun9644]

I love this guy

[@AmitSamma]

Thank you for this tutorial. It's 100% true I can remember that 7 years ago when I started producing music, I focused in mixing. Recently I focus on production. Now I can produce a song within one to two days.

[@rionvalet]

This is so True

[@TheTMR2011]

Great Tips... This is the only mistake I was doing but my Son Produced a song with simple acaustic guitar that sounds great

[@Heathen-Sun]

😅 I feel seen. I feel like my motto is “writing songs is easy, production is hard.” But from watching this I can see what one of my problems is. I am always trying to mix while working in production and then back track because it starts to sound weird and I don’t like it. Then I get befuddled by going back and removing the things I had already done and it takes up soo much time.

[@abhishekc1458]

Hey Nathan, this one is really Helpful. But could you explain more stuff like this

[@akaDezert]

thats a big gem, took this one serious bro

[@daleboreland3226]

I love your content

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

💪💪👏👏🙌🏻🙌🏻 thank you!

[@Elayzee]

100% agreed.

[@artg7909]

So true.

[@susanwojcicki5714]

this video changed my life

[@realdiole]

True. Newer producers have a tendency to trick themselves into thinking their tracks are not good due to a lack of proper mixing and mastering, instead of the fact that their production skills are just not good yet, and they should focus on that. This leads to wasted time on mixing and mastering, a true definition of putting the cart before the horse.

[@CryzorBeatz]

What a great video Nathan ! I really have to say that I made an experiment with a beat I made... Not mixed and mixed.. I gave it some people to listen to this versions but they didn't know which version was the mixed version. Most of the time they thought the not mixed version is the mixed version. Crazy but the point was for me that my mixes were to clean and they lost some soul and emotions., Did you ever get a similar situation with mixing ?

[@joelmorder9780]

Where does producing end and mixing begin? Is tinkering with a guitar EQ production or mixing?

[@onimisilovesonmusic4548]

I really don't mix. Once i get the right sound , my mix is already sounding great. In the past they only level. They don't over do mixing they do everything possible to get it right from the start. Nice video Nathan i love ur channel

[@user-xh6py6fd5d]

wooooww you are amazing.+1 subscriber from Ukraine💙

[@melophile9859]

GasP* I've been waiting for ya.! ManH.!

[@steeeee]

I took a kick in the nuts. I’m glad it was from you 😉

[@TheJammerman]

Don’t freak out; he’s being philosophical

[@LoneTreePeak]

Haha for the longest time I used to call arrangement "bouncing." Since I got involved in youtube late last year, I learned a few new terms that I should've been knowing all this time 😁 I am also not too confident about mixing myself, as I've always just made music for myself so the laziest approach didn't matter much to me then. Now if I upload something, I'd at least like the sound quality to be decent. Decent for me meaning less distortion haha. Thanks for the tips and I trust your opinion and advice Nathan! 👍 👍

[@howzr]

Being a drummer has helped so much with my production and I encourage everyone producing to learn drums as much as you can! Along with everything else but man if you can’t create a nice groove on drums then your tracks aren’t going to be as amazing.

[@Dreamdancer11]

Nahhh on the contrary...countless songs are amazing hits with quite generic drums beats.....not to mention that the drummer is pretty much the only on that can be totally replaced from the whole process and no one ll ever tell....cant say that for a guitarist or a singer or pretty much any other instrument performer but drummers just like the milkman...have been replaced....

[@howzr]

@@Dreamdancer11 ok so don’t learn drums and listen to this guy ^

[@howzr]

@@Dreamdancer11 you’d think so. You’re right tho the average listener won’t be able to tell if it’s a new drummer or not. My comment wasn’t about being replaced or learning an instrument that’s irreplaceable. It was simply to encourage other PRODUCERS to learn drums as much as they can, and obviously every other instrument. Yes you can create a sick groove that sounds good enough to carry on a song but it’s takes knowledge to write those notes. Nice talk bud

[@Dreamdancer11]

@@howzr I actually agree with this guy the fact that people screw drums a lot is undisputed but the fact alone that you can take a stab at them without knowing drums at all pretty much tells the tale...try and do that with guitar...or violin...or any other instrument for that matter and you cant even make close to poor performances if you dont know the instruments....

[@howzr]

@@Dreamdancer11 bro all instruments have notes and yes even drums 🙃 learn them all so you can be an amazing producer 👍🏽

[@calebjenkinson7035]

Any online mixing services you'd recommend?

[@kazvanrooij]

Where can we listen to music you mixed? Seems absent from the channel?

[@sadfunkkboi64]

I'm here for the spicy take

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

💪 needs more garlic

[@MINDSET_THE_PRODUCER]

💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

[@ashleyvaile]

Wow this actually helps a lot 😂

[@TheDivinian]

(For reference, im a BEGINNER) See, something that I'm stuck on and can't figure out is VOLUME CONTROL. I'm using Logic Pro as well, and trying to keep each track under -6db and above -18db, but my drums always sound way too quiet... I try to work with that by blending everything down, and cranking up my volume on my interface so I can get a proper "listening experience". So for example, if I keep my Drums (which is usually the loudest instrument I have in my song) at a max volume of -6db is that good? Is that Bad? Should I even be mixing around my drums in the first place? (I understand it depends on the genre) But here is my REAL dilemma, once I blend everything together, my output is still clipping up to about 1.2 db. Is that bad? Does it matter? I literally sit in front of my computer for HOURS trying to figure it out... ANY ADVICE IS EXTREMELY APPRECIATED! -a struggling home studio musician 😅

[@b3owu1f]

Isn't Pre and Prod about the same when you're working in a DAW? You're basically laying down tracks of MIDI (or audio) as you create a song... then you mix it once your tracks or more or less done. The only thing I can equate is maybe pre is recording midi/audio, no FX/etc applied. Then Prod is creating busses and wiring up groups of tracks, applying FX and applying EQ, etc?

[@Bthelick]

I think its important to understand the difference between production and engineering. these terms get blurred more in recent years i find as the bedroom producer rises, these things get glossed over. Producers don't, and ideally shouldn't mix. Its a different role and mindset and the sooner you get out of confusing/merging the two the better.

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

I 100% agree. I actually made a whole video on defining each so people aren't confused. Because as you said - as more individuals start making home studio setups - more people begin to think that producing and mixing are all the same when they are definitely not. Interestingly enough - as you move up in the industry - producers usually do not mix their own records. They've got engineers that work on them that specialize in mixing and then often times the mastering engineer is even different than the mixing engineer.

[@stevhard]

Please don't hurt me. I'm still new to this: You said (provided I have a Killer Production) if I focus on Volume, Corrective EQ, and Space, then the average person can't tell it's not mixed. But, isn't volume and EQ mixing? I'm asking, not trying to split hairs.

[@jsnedd66]

that's good advice ,the thing is i give up 2 years ago ;-(

[@CryzorBeatz]

never give up :)

[@Youngguy]

As someone on fl for 5 years I agree with this BUT mixing is crucial in some variations of music. I personally will mix for about an hour after I create a pop song because of some elements that I think need adjustments wether that be cutting of lows or highs. I Personally don’t believe in bad music though.

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

I believe mixing is crucial . I said it's super important :) just not some a BEGINNER should focus on 💪

[@Prajwal____]

First you should explain what is mixing, because I dont know what that is, but my music kinda starting to sound good now, and I am doing all those things which you said in end of the video

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

I have a whole video on that on my channel! Just search "what is mixing" on my channel!

[@MiketheNerdRanger]

What is a good song?

[@hectormann1843]

Pre as writing GREAT songs should take up 90% of the time. That’s the problem of to days music. Music is produced today, not written in a great way.

[@senseitheproducer]

Ok

[@dwaaaiii8757]

I mean it's true that most of the stuff on KZbin about mixing is just teaching bullshit. But I'd say instead of saying " oh corrective eq isn't that hard" ...you could say that " you don't need to be great at eq if your not a mix engineer" coz honestly hearing eq having having ear training is extremely difficult. It's okay if a artist cannot work that hard or can't have the same skills as a mix engineer. As a amature producer/ Aspiring full time mix engineer...i have seen massive differences in my songs after proper mixing.. it's definitely not just 15% 😂...a normal listener may not be able to pin point everything that's great about the mix..but they do feel it, trust me.. they do feel that reverb automation in the chorus, they do feel that compression, they do hear the tone and everything...they just don't hear it conciously like us.

[@davidg2404]

as a songwriter the 10% for pre-production hurt my feelings

[@ariczair]

This video went in the same direction I thought it would... but boy, on my last mix I was sitting there like "I really messed up the snare velocities on parts of this song and it's killing me rn." Granted, I did pay a TON of attention to the production phase (thanks mainly to you and MakePopMusic, no lie), but there's things I could admittedly have done better. I don't think it *kills* the mix, but it's definitely a needless distraction. And that's JUST the snare. I can't imagine what I'd be getting if I outright ignored other elements

[@HaharuRecords]

Which is why great artists make a lot of demos, like Michael Jackson...

[@samiinsight2249]

bro to proof this advice make 1 song without mixing and show for your fans the quality thats it

[@djsrimusic]

Okay I stopped!

[@farzad5748]

I know my biggest problem is drums🥴

[@CrazyDroiid46]

No I won't

[@barrytheartist.]

…please please mix your tracks 😭as an engineer, come in with musical knowledge/ experience and have other people do your mixes to really lock in that full sound . Don’t listen to just the title but know what you record is what you’re stuck with, take what you want from that. I’ll end this with mix small master big but nothing will sound great without a killer recording 🤷‍♂️ you can tweak what you get but you can’t rely on that… just how this works holistically not hyper focused on either aspect. Happy music making my friends, it’s a creative process👹

[@barrytheartist.]

Also Nathan, this video was done well to engage and point out mistakes so people can problem solve for themselves 🤘🙏

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

Again remember who I specifically say this is for "beginners" - if you're not a beginner then absolutely 100% either learn to mix or hire a mixing engineer. If you're producing a record - and you aren't able to mix it amazingly but you CAN produce it really well then it's time to hire an engineer

[@mrbass093]

Thank you for reiterating this in my brain

[@konstantin3101]

Thanks for vid. I was pretty sure, that reverbs, delays and all this stuff is still part of production part, especially when it goes to vocals and fancy sounds you to come up with. Can someone clarify this point?

[@NathanJamesLarsen]

Totally depends on if you are using it as an effect that is a characteristic of the song or if it's for space which is a mixing component. Using a delay on a guitar is a characteristic of that specific sound - so that's under production. Reverb on vocals is a part of mixing

[@konstantin3101]

Thanks, now it looks much more clear Nathan!