The Easiest Way to Add Depth to Your Mix

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When we think about "depth" in the mix, we often reach for things like reverb, delay and other fancy FX.
But there's a much simpler way to create front-to-back depth in a mix, and it's more powerful than artificial effects. Here it is!

[@timball8429]

Other depth techniques include: - Fast attack compression - Increased predelay on reverb - Volume/gain reduction - High pass filtering - Centred panning

[@BreeMorenoMendozabrybry]

pretty sure fast attack reduces depth. centered panning also reduces depth due to mono playback from stereo file.

[@dsanj4745]

​@@BreeMorenoMendozabrybry Fast attack reduces transients, having the effect of pushing the instrument(s) into the background. Try this on a soloed drum bus and go from slowest to fastest attack and you'll definitely hear the effect at work. Regarding panning, the farther a sound source is from the listener the less stereo information is perceived, so narrow width or centered panning is a naturally occurring phenomenon with distant sounds. It's like listening to an orchestra while seated in the balcony as opposed to the front row.

[@soft6418]

For those who need it: - fast attack compression: sounds lose dynamic range with distance, I.e the faster the attack time the further away a sound will appear - increased predelay: reverb will reach your ears as fast as the source if it’s away, I.e long predelay (up to 30ms) is upfront, short predelay is far away. A predelay of over 40ms will turn into slapback delay (40-120ms) and regular delay over 120ms I’m not too sure about the center panning. Maybe it’s got something to do with pan law? I would include that under volume though

[@hyperactivists9390]

WOW 45 years mixing and I never realized you can do this with a high pass. And there’s less competition for the high end. Good tutorial!

[@hellcat5music]

yea, people use EQ for this vs. built in hi / low pass in reverb plugins. If you have a weak computer, then fewer plugins running would be best approach. if you're going to have an EQ and reverb on the track anyways, I usually just do this with the EQ.

[@jbealsmusic]

I've binge watched a few dozen of your videos in the past week. Frankly, you have the best mixing related tutorial content on KZbin (and I follow a lot of "recording tips" channels.) It's criminal that you don't have more subs. The quality of the content you put out is great.

[@Giofergom]

How crazy it is that in 1min and 30 secs you managed to explain something that I couldn't understand in 3 years of mixing. Thank you!

[@charlesbrown8737]

This reminds me of a compression trick I learn a couple of months ago. If you squash a sound with a glue compressor and remove the transient you emulate a sound wave coming from farther away. Complement this with your EQ-trick and you have a nice tool to add depth without needing to get all wet with reverb and delays.

[@elviscabrera8815]

Congrats! Your spot on. It's a real life example; As things get more distant from you, they lose top end. Even in the studio, the more distant your are from your monitors, the less highs you'll hear. Here's a PR move, based on your tip: At the end of a mix, have your client sit at the engineers chair for added clarity. Genius! Thank you, my friend

[@robhaley5136]

Some of the best advice I've ever, ever heard, less than 2 minutes in. It's not advice that's convoluted or confusing that you need... it's something like this that is so simple even non-engineers can understand it. It clicked instantly, and now all my mixes are going to be so much better for it. Thank you!!!

[@DeltaWhiskeyBravo13579]

Great advice with very useful demos. Much appreciated.

[@droptarget7713]

Fantastic use for LPFs! It’s silly how obvious it seems yet it’s a technique I haven’t really utilized. Thank you!

[@nathanjean1744]

Honestly… you deserve an award! Gold! So simple! Changed my whole view on this over complex thing called mixing!

[@hardcoremusicstudio]

☛ Grab your FREE mixing cheatsheet and get on my list for the best audio training on the web: hardcoremusicstudio.com/mixcheatsheet

[@killergege]

Great tip ! Depth is something I've been wondering a lot lately, and never managed to do something satisfying with reverb. Will apply it ASAP !

[@thebraggersKansasCityPop]

Thanks a bunch this will really advance my mixes

[@ofelinto]

What and excellent video!

[@michaelbreslin3336]

THAT DELAY TRICK IS SO GREAT I CAN’T BELIEVE I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT! THANK YOU!

[@tiarit]

The 'bubble picture' appearing at 0:47 is 'Visual 167C. Heavy Metal Mix' from the book 'The Art of Mixing' by David Gibson, published in 1997.

[@awwal7375]

Damn this was crazy helpful... even 5 years later.

[@donkeydave3246]

I feel like my mixing has leveled up just from watching this video. Thanks Jordan!

[@thiagoborges892]

First time i heard this in two years of mixing tutorials!! Genius!!! Thank you so much!!!

[@TrueGritProductions]

Great vid helped a lot

[@conorkirwan1835]

wow. 3 years producing and never seen such a helpful video!

[@darrendm8037]

Such a great explanation! Thanks :)

[@EricF]

This might be the single most helpful mixing tutorial I have ever seen. THANK YOU

[@JUNK_ZONE]

Man, it's the simplest stuff that really does wonders, huh? 1. What band is this? I'm digging it. 2. Any chance of a series about mixing each instrument and what to look for in the ideal character of each? I know that's a lot of work, but I feel like a lot of people could benefit from it. Too many channels tell you what they did and never say WHY they did it. What the goal was.

[@marcusdavidmusic]

It sounds like Graham Cochrane!

[@andrejg1981]

The singer sounds like Dustin from Thrice, so possibly a newer Thrice song

[@initialsoundllc]

The Longest Year - Engineered/Produced by Zaya and Initial Sound, LLC (Me) 18007764103.

[@initialsoundllc]

Ectoplasmic

[@ZeroPointProductions]

Initial Sound I couldn’t find anything on the net have you got any links

[@themodernairline]

Great, simple and clear vid! Thanks for posting!

[@countryguitaronline]

Really cool trick! I’ve been thinking about controlling depth with compression until now. Going to try this also! Thanks for the videos, so helpful

[@Svm777]

Nice to see a David Gibson image here! That is an awesome masterclass!

[@henryvirgil8188]

Svm777 shoutout to David Gibson and The Art of Mixing.

[@360PhoenixFlip]

Great tip with the delay! Never thought of doing that!

[@Seifer_42]

This video alone has helped my mixes exponentially.

[@GCrozariol]

Man, that drums sounds so good!

[@DanielSalazar-nf4kr]

Thank you so much!! Amazing video

[@dodo13500]

OMG are you serious? Something as simple as that will give my mixes space?!! Everything just sounds up front in my mix. No depth, space on anything! Thank you.

[@immytech]

Having that same problem right now everything is upfront do you have you learned any tips that could possibly help?

[@randomselect645]

@@immytech reverb , And cutting the upfront frequencies which is from 1k to 5k

[@Dr.Fingertips]

Great tips thanks champ!

[@JiihaaS]

Great advice! And if low-passing is too much, just use a high shelf filter with whatever attenuation you wish. I like using ribbon mics as room mics, mainly for two reasons: 1) they already produce a very naturally soft high end, and 2) you can reject direct sound and emphasize reflections by angling the capsule 90 degrees towards the sound source (since ribbons have figure 8 polar pattern). That'll make the room sound twice as big!

[@generichuman_]

saving up for a royer!

[@henryssurfshowcase]

Good one, you are right it does add depth. Especially on that vocal! Thank you very much..

[@mattkirkhamm]

great tips mate. i knew that its a good idea to low pass high cut reverbs an that but wasnt really sure as too why. this makes it so simple and gives me another pathway to get to where i want. now i have an understanding and what it does and the effect it has now i can think, oh this is too close. push it back with a high cut. oh thats too far away give it a lil highs

[@rachidajewher8649]

you showed the picture available in the book the art of mixing by david gibson and i think what you said is wrong because in this book they say that when you low pass a signal the sound will appear smaller than before not far away and it's the fader what controle the depth of a signal and reverb represent were the signal is huge room ,smaller and by the way i think you have the best content in youtube thank you for your efforts

[@koushikbhowmick1601]

It's absolutely wow... Though the conception is familiar to most of the people but few of them can think in this way..

[@dancalmusic]

Great tips; well explaned the concepts below them.

[@Michael-o7s4d]

Very helpful 7 mins. Thanks a lot!

[@kesha3801]

You are amazing man big love from India❤❤

[@DavidDiMuzio]

Great video. Thanks! I definitely don't do enough lo-passing.

[@rockkley9159]

The amount of high or low freqs is not the only thing that matters to imagine the distance. Changes also should be done to early and late reflections, attack and sustain and I may have forget something else.. With just low pass filter on a drum room it then sounds like it's covered with a pillow or somesht like that, but not like it's further away.

[@ashtaylor5236]

Finally got to a position where I could replace my KRKs RP6's with my Yamaha HS8's now that I'm in a bigger mix room. My primary goal from the new setup was to achieve more depth. I seem to have achieved this without even really trying. The top end is much clearer on the HS8's, so there's an interesting correlation with this video here. I'm low passing with much more confidence and I've dialled back a lot of compression on drum shells (live & samples). You can hear much more clearly when it's too much too, due to the top end sizzle you get from things. I've also upgraded to a Rosetta 800 AD/DA which has helped somewhat too. What's interesting also is that once you have more depth, it gives you space to turn down the guitars a bit, as you've created a deeper soundstage that they can blend in to.

[@crazyweather8207]

That's good ,, the spatial reference. kudos

[@kenerb8249]

Love this channel

[@Yob98]

You should include the name of the song/artist in the description. Sounds like a cool song and I'd also like to check it out, for reference but also just enjoyment.

[@heavymetalmixer91]

Ok, this gives me a good idea of what I have to do to get a more spacy and old-school sound for my mixes, thanks dude.

[@terrashae5300]

Amazing tip, thanks! I'll be sure to use this on my next mix... you've gained a new subscriber in me :)

[@spookie3000]

That is a really great tip!

[@AudioswayLabs]

Great tip. Thanks so much! I can see how that really provides a good front to back landscape on the mix.

[@rafalvarezsevilla]

love that you use illustrations from the best mixing video in the world (The Art of Mixing by David Gibson)

[@jirehjamesasis7851]

Thank you for all that you have done, sharing your knowledge with us. More power to you & God bless!!

[@yoe91]

Thanks for that. Applying it to my metal project and already seeing the benefit.

[@Joerowleymusic]

Immediate improvement on my drum mix, thanks!

[@charliekey2979]

Great advice, Thank you!

[@rodrigolaporte274]

Very cool tip! will start using it! I've already do that for the delays just for intuition, it's good to know the details on it!

[@coleberggren1346]

Great advice Jordan.... Bravo once again!

[@peterbmusic]

Super helpful thank you!!

[@vocalproductionandeditings9322]

Thank for the the great guidance. The universe is consistantly telling me these days that less is more. Even in music! No need for widening plugins, just filter...

[@markaugustus4064]

For concepts use 'further', for distance use 'farther' A lot less confusing. Thanks for the video!

[@iericnierman]

Awesome tip.

[@timothydillard4192]

Thank you man for this

[@paulleimbach3198]

Dude, i hope you’re still reading old comments xD this was super helpful! I’m self tought so i still do a lot of rookie mistakes (or at least i think i do miss some of the basics) so the graph you showed in the beginning of the video is super helpful. Now the question, how does that graphic change when you mox orchestral metal where there is a lot of information in the (semi-)background. En where would you naturally carve out space in the mix for the violins en choir to sit right? Is there an adjusted graph for orchestral metal? Thanks in advance!

[@pcaudio]

Excellent stuff! It is easy to forget in the grand scheme some of the simpler steps. Thanks Jordan!

[@heinrichsmit2]

This is really cool advice not often said on production channels

[@norbertbalaz9421]

Great vid man! Awesome how easy it can be to achiev a great mix! Thanks for your sharing!

[@melvinbrinson]

Do you have a video on the drums used/mixing for this track? That snare in particular is lovely!

[@TommyMarcinek]

Excellent video! Gets right to the point with salient, highly useful, and vitally revealing Information! Thank you so much for making this video! It's the magic sauce! Tommy

[@rays7805]

Very helpful.

[@loubot3332]

Might I add you can also use compression to create depth. That way you can combine even more variations of depth even for similiar instruments in the same track (I.e. lows, mid, highs)

[@drampadreg1386]

I was wondering why my mixes had more depth when I started using a low pass filter to save cpu filtering frequencies I didn't need on certain instruments, now I can use it much better understanding how I did it! Flukes don't count, so thanks for filling that bit in for me! Started just filtering below 30hz then more for some things that didn't have any low end anyway. This will help me quite a bit, but I'll be up for days remixing now.

[@charlesbrown8737]

Just so you know the trend of filtering everything by default is controversial. It does affect the sound even if "there's nothing there" and it's not always for the better. I think White Sea studio did a video on it, you should check it out

[@mattjammhot2482]

That's high pass filtering mate, not low pass. High pass filtering (i.e. attenuating the lows) won't create the sense of depth he's describing here. He's talking about rolling off the top end (i.e. low pass) to create the perception of distance/depth.

[@ANDYWOUNDSABRXS]

thats sick bud. nice one. subbed

[@Andrew_Renko]

very useful video, thank you

[@greenbearmusic7099]

Elephants communicate over long distances using low frequency rumbles. Submariners can also detect contacts that generate low frequency noise from further away

[@whereismymind667]

Great tip Jordan ! Thanks a lot !!

[@Byronic19134]

The easiest way I found is just to insert Eventides SP2016 on everything. It has an insane algo that adds depth to everything without the usual wishy wash reverb sound.

[@BrentLeVasseur]

How does this compare to say using a convolution room filter, where you can give an instrument room reverb based on a specific hall? I do orchestral composing, and want to learn mixing.

[@usynthesis4749]

Wow! First time I've ever come across this trick. Awesome! Makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing! Like that "art of mixing" illustration by the way. =D That was also a great video.

[@twincircus]

Thanks so much 🙏

[@VinnieVMusic]

Really great explanation and valuable information enjoyed the video ! Thx !

[@podd1984]

man FINALLLLLLLLLY another genre in your example.... THANKS!!!!!! VERY great tip :)

[@JR-bn3ev]

Sound Particle - Air addresses exactly this in mixing. 😃

[@s2diosrecords]

So what's the difference between this and turning the gain levels down? Wouldn't the latter also create some type of depth?

[@cmd_f5]

Excellent tip here. Sounds way warmer with LPF applied. Thx :)

[@brendanjay9798]

A great reminder!

[@lilian896]

Refreshing.🦔 So glad l found you!🐿

[@aje7183]

how did you get logics Eq in Abelton?

[@BFMVvsATR]

whose mix are you doing? The track sounds dope!

[@tuenguyen5553]

you are Bob Rose of Metal hardcore music mixing :D

[@AtaosSinRJ]

once in a while there is a tip I may have already eard but in a wrong way. And even rarely you find someone who can correct this brain bug. And when it happen, you love the other dude.... So that's it, love you! ;)

[@rudib4833]

Thanks master

[@Alterwill]

This was very enlightening!

[@someone_sad]

This was helpful, thanks ;)

[@fernandoteacher]

amazing tip, Jordan!!!!!!!!

[@PharaohLawLess1]

Thank you for making this video

[@zeclomal2265]

So cool! I'll try that on my next mix! For what I understand, I can use this on my drum room and reverb/delay sends but...any other instrument as well? Thxs Jordan!

[@rybotekk]

Thank you.

[@dundun9345]

brilliant! thank you

[@sergio_grez]

Great Video as always!! you are a true master at your work! Can i ask if those are real drums or samples? and if so.. which samples? Thanks!