The Low End Mix Trick - TheRecordingRevolution.com

[@recordingrevolution]

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[@kingkyoga9263]

Why did you turn the gain back down on the kick then?

[@Tornadominsk]

@@kingkyoga9263 😂😂😂

[@ACES-BRAZIL]

no man!

[@SwordOSouls]

so today i decided to implement this trick in a metal mix i was doing for a client. I got the bass and kick drum balanced to each other and then continued to finish the mix. When i was close to finishing i felt there was not enough low end so turned it up in the mix, exported out and tested it outside the mixing space and lo and behold i was wrong. By trusting my un acoustically treated room i added to much low end to what i felt wasn't enough. I then went back and rebalanced the low end with this trick and got great results. For me this trick really worked and i got my mix to sound great and the client was very happy.

[@darrylcooper9214]

Hello... I have a question: so did you put the VU meter on both channels? The Kick & the Bass channel? Or just on the mix buss or do you route the two together? Please Help!! Because every time I mix a track the way I like it & the then I go & put it in my car or another Audio source & there no low end of not enough low end so it's sounds really thin & I would have to turn up the Bass on the device or on my radio in my car & that drives me crazy

[@howtomakeyourownmusic8084]

@@darrylcooper9214 It looks like he has it on the mix bus only, then solo's the bass guitar so it hits -3, then bring in the bass guitar and aim for it to hit "0"... Is your room treated or untreated?... You might also try iZotope Tonal Balance Control along with this trick, it would work well also and give you an idea of low end targets (I tried that on my untreated room and got better results also).

[@psufilm]

I want to say that Graham is a really nice guy and he offers a lot of useful advice. I want to say thank you Graham for your generosity. Most of the tips offered on Recording Revolution are spot on, but I want to respectfully critique this one. The appropriate relative volume with regards to the kick and bass is going to be different for every song. Some songs are going to work with a more prominent kick and others with a more prominent bass. It really just depends on the song, arrangement, character of the bass and kick and the role each one plays in the song. I want to caution everyone against using this technique as a "do this every time" trick. This trick may work for some songs/mixes but may be not right for others. It's always best to use your ears and know your monitors.

[@RoryLandt]

having this knowledge has instantly improved my mixes.

[@JoshuaLoveofficial]

Thats nice. I heard this also on Pensado's Place and my first mix with this trick I got tons of compliments on that balance. Great tip.

[@jjjuhg]

easier trick: if you wanna keep all the other tracks where they are, if you're happy so far... the bass should be lower than the kick with 3 to 5 db. for example, the kick goes to minus 10 db on it's channel fader, then the bass should be at least at minus 13, maybe minus 14 or 15. of course, we all know that any track will have peaks and lows, but see where the average volume is. For me, if I do this, it works perfect on anything. For a test, go to one of your good projects and see if you set the volumes like this, I bet you did. Cheers!

[@oDTRT]

good tip

[@iamgreatness6649]

Bass as in 808?

[@umpontonouniverso]

Yeeees :)

[@murdanaman]

this what i do, if its an 808 i might go 6db down as i like to keep stuff in multiples of three

[@Recovery_Station]

I just can't thank you enough for that. I'm a bedroom kinda guy with no monitors or room treatment at all (flat, family, neighbours, you name it). And everytime I mix a song I struggle to find balance in low end area resulting either too much bass or lack of. And after I tried this - boom. Sounds great everywhere you play it. This trick will now always be in my "Soundguy's handbook" lol

[@Charlyfromthenuclearcity]

Elementary acoustics : Two coherent sources together : +3dB Two phase-matched sources together : +6dB

[@MichalGutkowski]

thank you for the clarification, I was wandering where to pin 6db here.

[@livingdeadwolf]

No: Coherent sources = same frequency; Incoherent sources = different frequency; Adding incoherent sources of same level = +3dB Adding coherent sources of same level= depends on the phase shift between the two Adding coherent sources of same level, same phase= +6dB

[@dedskinprodcerdj4273]

wait ,can you elaborate the first post a bit more . i know there are few different dB methods , first one is based on what we hear , the other one is digital , based on numbers not ear ...so which one are you talking about and can you elaborate more on the subject matter . im interested . Or did i get it wrong , i dont think dB is a sound unit , its a difference unit , can be used anywhere , but since modern DAWS came along , they introduced another standard , there is also RMS and Peak , a lot of stuff there

[@Charlyfromthenuclearcity]

Well, I'm not a pro at sound theory/acoustics, but here's what I got from my teacher couples years back. First, few of the dB scales are based on ear. In every scale the 0dB have a reference level. Decibels are just logarithmic scales, so you have to use the one that suits the situation. - dBFS : As you said, digital audio is measured with dBFS where 0dB is the maximum (since you're "using" all bits at 0dBFS). Knowing that, it's easy to understand why there's more dynamic in a 24bit recording than a 16bit one. - dBVU : In the analog world 0dBVU correspond to 1,228V RMS at 600 Ohm using a 1kHz sinus signal. In the digital realm the common equivalence is 0dBVU = -18dBFS (although there is no actual norm about this). To put it simple, this equivalence helps to "simulate" the headroom of an analog console, so you will clip at +18dbVU (0dBFS). VU-meters are used to calculate the average volume of a program. On the other hand, a Peak meter will give you the actual peaks of the program. RMS and Peak are ways to measure an electric signal, and didn't came with DAWs. - LKFS/LUFS : two names for the exact same measure (Loudness Units refered to Full Scale). This a pretty recent scale based on the EBU R128 norm (European Broadcasting Union). It's also often used at mastering, since it's more representative of the loudness perceived by human ear that dBVU. You can find all the info about EBU R128 here : tech.ebu.ch/docs/r/r128-2014.pdf Also some stuff about the loudness war and the use of LUFS: www.soundonsound.com/techniques/end-loudness-war. Actually two dB scales based on human ear exist. It is based on the Fletcher-Munson curves, which show that human ear have a more flat frequency response at high volumes. I think this is also used for LUFS. dB(A) : using the ear frequency response at low acoustic levels (from 0dBSPL to 55dBSPL) dB(B) : using the ear frequency response at medium levels (from 55dBSPL to 85dBSPL) dB(C): using the ear frequency response at high levels (from 85dBSPL to 130dBSPL). By the way, dB SPL (for Sound Pressure Level), is the dB scale used to measure sound in the acoustic realm (well, the name of this scale make it pretty obvious). :P More info here : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour Also, to end it, no the electrical side of things : - dBu (or dBm) : 0dBu corresponds to 0,775V at 600 Ohm. A common measure in the analog world. - dBV : 0dBV corresponds to 1V at 600 Ohm. Here's a little chart I found for equivalences : 0,775V = 0 dBu = 0 dBm 1V = 0 dBV = = +2,2 dBu 0 dBVU = +4 dBu = 1,228 V = +1,78 dBV Analog to digital (not real norm, but the commonly used values) : Europe : -18 dB fs = +4 dBu = 0dBVU USA : -20 dB fs = +4 dBu = 0dBVU Thanks for asking, I had to go through some internet pages to remember all that stuff. I gave a heads up to myself too :) Sorry if all this is uneasy to read, my English grammar might not be the best since I'm French.

[@dedskinprodcerdj4273]

yes now see that is it , i know it all , just not in numbers , so back to the bost , +3 +6 dB , that is -DBFS scale ,where minimum is -64 i think , max +12, you were referring to that scale right ? in other words DAW scale

[@ego_sarx]

This trick is an awesome one... I've tried it on a couple of my mixes and, you know what?, these just came to life... I had volume slides all messed, compressors here and there, EQ over EQ... I've deleted every single plugin in the chain and started all over again.... I just have the EQ's for high-pass and a couple of compressors and... wooooh! sounds waaaaay better than what I had... thanks for sharing.

[@BM-zv4xz]

That's a nice tip, and it should cover the kick/bass part of the balance. However, it's only a small fraction of properly balancing the low end - which is to balance kick and bass relative to the rest of the instruments. That's when the real "too little / too much bass" problem lies. Kick and bass can be matched perfectly against each other, but there still may be too much or too little bass relative to the rest of the band. I wonder if there are any rules of thumb that help solve this part of the problem (other than using your ears, of course, and your gear - but now we're back where we started).

[@manifestgtr]

There aren’t any that I’m aware of…there’s that old pink noise trick but to be honest, I’ve never tried that. This isn’t meant to be a hard and fast, “set it and forget it” type trick. It’s just a small, early step in getting your low end right. It might also help younger/less experienced engineers to hear what a well level-matched kick/bass sounds like.

[@thesnipecatcher116]

Nice practical tip, thanks! Made the mistake of reading the comments section. I’m amazed how many folks are more qualified to mix than Jacquire King! More amazed at the arrogant responses from folks who didn’t even understand what they saw. Crazy times

[@notachannelanymore-y1g]

I'm not sure I see what you see. Yours is the only pompous comment I've read.

[@MikaKotikoski]

Just an idea regarding further mixing... Once you have matched the kick and bass with the VU against each other as in the vid, how about then cranking up a pink noise generator adjusting its noise level so you can just about hear the kick+bass coming through. After that solo the levels of other tracks against the pink noise... And take it from there. :)

[@KKMcK1]

Yep. This is exactly what we did in the analogue world back in the early 70s. Start with Kick and Bass. Then build the band to that. Match guitar to snare level. Match keys and vocal levels. Then ride the faders accordingly in the mix. Of course, today we can automate, but back then we'd have six hands on the board. Fun stuff! Not to say that I don't LOVE automation today. At the end of 2016, it's really getting fantastic!

[@ni13ma]

3:34 random breathe noise coming from left side scared me

[@kylestewart4444]

Definitely a good general starting point. I don't know why so many people have so many negative things to say about this. This is clearly meant to help those who cannot trust their ears to mix the low end due to either their own mixing environment or their speakers/headphones. Of course it would be a good idea to compress the bass guitar before balancing - this method isn't a hard and fast rule. It's just meant to give people a solid starting point from which to build the rest of their mix

[@ztz1775]

That is exactly what I was looking for over a year! Thank you!!!!

[@joybeats2425]

i LOVE LOVE LOVE it when good willing folks share golden tips such as this. i have no intention of going back to school anymore nor any school related to music just to produce whats strumming in my hearts strings. so i take it super seriously when in depth things like this are dropped to the world wide web for an everyday nobody jane like me to try out and use. appreciate it you so much cause im learning all on my own, but not really lol. i am listening 😘

[@AmpsforBuddha]

Now these are the tutorials I enjoy and frankly, need. …Thank you!

[@joshmiller5374]

I've seen a ton of mix tutorials and tricks, but this was probably the most helpful. Can't wait to use this on more mixes!

[@azaelbuendia3118]

Thanks for the video!! It is a neat trick to get the low end level right in an unfamiliar room. One thing though. If you add up a source and its duplicate, for example two kick drums, the actual dB increase is 6dB as the phase relationship is at 360 degrees, they match 100%. However, if you add two not related sources, say the bass and the kick drum, then as you said the increase would be 3dB. Just to avoid any misunderstandings. Your channel and website is awesome! I am a fan. Thanks again!

[@antoniofretes940]

I tried it and it really melt the kick and the bass together! Great technique coming from a Grammy Award winner engineer.

[@Muzeishen]

I was really confused by the gain boost but I realized that the gain is for both instruments, not just the kick drum, simply to get them to hit the -3 and be relative to one another and hit 0. He didn't mention that the gain boost was for the bass as well, but it's on the mix bus, so it is.

[@dj_instruments937]

But he turned the VU meter back to default. Doesn't that unlevel the kick and bass?

[@YeahButStilll]

@@dj_instruments937 ​ it brings both their gains back to their original levels BUT the faders are now adjusted to keep the ratio of bass to kick equal which is what’s important. So just don’t touch the faders from here on out and when you need to adjust the volume, add or subtract gain equally and you’re good

[@dantei.9661]

Thank you for sharing the method! There are few things I'd like to mention tho. Nothing major, so don't take me for a hater, just want to straighten something. When saying "twice as loud" it is quite tricky with decibels due to their logarhythmic nature. It requires a reference (for example a sound that you hear and can compare to). This is why when something is in decibels it has + and - attached. For example ,-10db SPL or +3db SPL. It is not the status of a sound you're setting when moving the fader, but relative change in relation to source at unity level (+/- 0 db). This fact means few things in practice. First thing - "doubling the dB" does not mean doubling the perceived sound loudness. If your meter is in dB SPL (Sound Pressure Level) and the value it shows has doubled, then it means that the voltage got doubled, but it is not twice as loud. For the percieved loudness to double, we need to increase dB for about 10dB. (It is about, because the accurate value is not known, our ears are not linear instruments). Now the change of 3 decibels that you were talking about in this video means that that Sound Intensity has doubled, so thats another thing than the abovementioned. :P Decibels are quite a complicated unit, so I don't blame people for not knowing or something. It's just for future videos, a nice thing to remember.

[@catonlsd3]

this answers in a way why people use VU meters when mixing.... they balance for average/density levels and control peaks by ear afterwards It's all about getting a sweet density balance with controlled dynamics/peaks, right?

[@HTDav01]

Loved this. Same trick with some modification for balancing instruments and vocal lines against each other is what I use most often for general loudness balancing before punching the low end and bringing in each section of the band around. Some instruments are more solo and on target while others are melodic backing--both important but having different roles in the loudness dynamic. Using +3 on a fader and -3 to 0 in a vu meter to balance two instruments to each other lets you make some instruments 2x as loud as others at 0 on the fader, when you bring the softer instrument down from +3. Then the balance of the two can go to a group or aux and be mixed with the rest. Over and over, layer after layer, this is mixing at it's most basic dynamic. It's that last, awesome and easy step to get it just right.

[@ralphverdult]

It's a very good way to balance your kick and bass to each other, but I don't see how it's going to help balance the rest of the mix with the low-end if you remove the reference (which is the meter). If you would say that, for example (!), your whole mix would be around +6dbVU, your low-end elements should be around 0dbVU, it would've made sense.

[@KreapOfficial]

+Ralph Verdult once the kick and bass are summed you can move them on one fader to fiddle with your mix. balancing them is the key to getting a foundation but not the final level of the kick and bass. this is about locking in a balance between the two. it works.

[@didasteez]

+Kreap Mcgee great tip!👍👍👍

[@mattduncan5500]

If its a starting point , would you not start with that as your level in the mixing stage. and then do the rest by ear . ok this needs to be louder then the bass, and this needs to sit under etc etc ??? im actually asking to, not being a Keyboard warrior

[@moonhowler667]

Wouldn't work because he's playing with the gain in the meter so it's not an accurate reading.

[@keinnamemusic4161]

Create a group with all your faders. Once you made a good balance around your kick and bass, loop the loudest part of your song and turn all the faders up at the same time till your hitting that -6 db

[@rico879]

This is a great starting point for any style I think. For pop and indie this is a basic setup. Thanks for sharing, this is very useful! Once the low end is sitting nicely, the rest of the mix comes together.

[@RogerioValgode]

Still using this in 2019. Works great!

[@fedup3449]

Just tried this on a mix and it really worked. As i soloed the kick i had to turn it way down to hit -3. When i put the bass in obviously it was also way too loud. When i got the two balanced (it helps if the two are compressed properly so you don't get nasty spikes) I started to bring other stuff back in. Clearly my original mix was way too loud. I had been too impatient in constructing it as i recorded the various takes. I wanted it to be loud from the get go. This really works. Every track sounded better and none of them were competing with others. The plugins were working properly as well, without being overdriven. If i can suggest to at least one person here to work on this your mixes will sound better by far. I used the TB Pro Audio mVm2 Meter which is excellent and free. Don't know about PC but if you're in Logic you will need to re-boot the mac b4 logic sees the VU in plugins. PS - i posted on here 6 months ago with a question. I hadn't understood the process but now i do.

[@dutchgamecrew6106]

I would just like to add that when you take 2 sounds together it does not increase the volume by 3 dB per se. It would be an exact increase of 3 dB only when the sounds would be identical. However, the lower your frequencies, the more your sound will become like a sine wave. Therefore, the mixing trick only truly works if the Gain Plugin you are using in this video is only receiving input from the fundamental frequency of both sounds, which would be almost identical as you are receiving only the lower sine wave fundamentals. In practise you won't receive pure sine waves off course, but this will get you closer to a perfect balance if you really want that in your mix. It's more practical to just mix with your ears, especially when you take things like side-chaining into account which nullifies the benefits of this trick. Just my 2 cents.

[@TheVisitor3]

100%

[@SpiceProductionsProducerVideos]

I'm using the technic on a mix for a beat I made. However, I used it on my kick and 808 instead of kick and bass guitar as shown in the video. I am pleased with the results. My low end sits just right. Thanks for the tip!

[@fadickinson]

So afterwards would you group the bass the kick together so that while mixing the other tracks and need to raise the bass or kick up or down a little they would stay at the same level to each other?

[@BunkerAudioPanama]

Basically, the kick “sums” with bass frequencies it’s in modulation with. This is why many use the side chain to “duck” the initial hit itself for more punch in certain genres. Thanks for sharing your time and knowledge!!

[@75hilmar]

4:33 If you are very impatient

[@edwinlundgren3456]

You think expecting the video to actually start before four and a half minutes in is impatient? xD

[@j.castillo5654]

Th. You. Graham. The video was informative and I had no problem understanding at all. Made perfect sense. Your way of explaining is easy to understand and I don't see why people would not see this as being an easy method of balancing the lows . I know there are many ways to do the same thing but this seems very straightforward and a great method. I hope people can learn to be more positive and uplifting in their comments and mannerisms. Im thankful people like you take the time to post info like this , for over a decade I have learned more from people like you on you tube than I can shake my finger at. I for one am thankful.

[@AntKneeLeafEllipse]

And this is before processing, yeah? I imagine after you get a balance, you volume control as you EQ and compress but I figured I'd better ask!

[@afaromusic]

Holy hell it works!!! Cant believe it. My kick cuts through the mix pretty well with this method. Thank you!

[@BirdYoumans]

Yes, 3 db does equal double energy, but that does not necessarily sound good though sometimes we might get lucky. It's not a matter of being equal, it's what sounds good. If you can find a picture of the board at the old downstairs studio at the early Motown studio, you will see that they painted over the meters. Why? They LISTENED to the mix and that sounded much better than reasoning out the mix. But of course, what ever works for us is how we do it. I just prefer to listen rather than look, though I suppose to some extent I do both, but I listen much more than look. When you "equaled" the two in your mix, the kick was in your face and the bass sounded like an after thought, though admittedly I'm not listening on my studio monitors and I'm sure that would make quite a difference, so take my thought with a grain of salt. I'm not being critical, just pointing out I suppose that we all hear differently. But then, that's the beauty of art. We all prefer different things anyway. The reason I built my own studio was so I could do it just like I wanted it without having to listen to the "big boys" tell me It won't work that way lol! They also told Shania and Toby they couldn't write, and we know how that worked out. For me, the bass and drums are the foundation of my mix so I spend a bit of time marrying them not only sound wise but in how they play together. That's everything - how they play and compliment each other. How they then sound is a bonus. But you are correct in that technically, energy wise, they would be approximately equal with this method if that's what you want. On second thought, for those just starting out there is indeed a lot to learn and I suppose this would after all be a good place to start. Mixing is an art that takes a lot of practice. Years. At 73 I still watch a lot of how to vids just in case there is something I haven't tried yet, and there usually is lol! We will never learn all there is to know about spirituality or about music. Thus it's a life long journey. A wonderful one!!!

[@monsooncity484]

Saw this video last year, never tried it cause I forgot about it. Tried it today on a mix that I've been struggling to get the low end right on, and it seriously helped. I must say though, this is not a bulletproof trick because after doing it I ended up having to make some adjustments to the bass track level. However, it did give me a solid starting point which is all you could really ask for when it comes to mixing & mastering "tricks".

[@pernormann4869]

For me the intuitive place to implement this would be after I've set up my tracks, i.e. EQ, compression on individual tracks. Maybe even after I done some initial EQ:ing etc on my master stereo channel. Is this how you would do it?

[@FreshMusicGroup]

I have mixed very similar to this for years and I can say, this practice, especially in rap (hip-hop & trap) works very well. The only difference is that your kick and bass or 808 will sit a little different when you mix the rest of the music and vocals in. But great technique.

[@ZakiWasik]

Interesting trick. I'll give it a shot, but there is something that weirds me out a bit: Would it not yield exactly the same result if you just put the meter on the master bus, then adjusted the bass (soloed) to -3dB and then did exactly the same for the bass guitar (soloed). Also, how about songs where the bass does not necessarily play on the downbeat? Say you have a old-school disco groove with the bass drum on all four and the bass playing off-beat? Or maybe the point of doing it this way is that if the bass plays off beat it needs to be louder? And finally, it's kind of a prescriptive trick. It may work for some situations, but I'm sure there are many mixes where it will not. But honestly, I always struggle to find the right levels for the BD and the bass, so I'll try it out - it might be a good starting point. I also like the approach of planning a bit ahead in terms of how to leverage headroom on the master bus.

[@jamjar142]

Mattafact Unless you use a SIP, (solo in place) which good analogue desks have, but not many DAWs do.

[@lilp4pii310]

Would this be valid for having a sub-bass and bass Guitar?

[@KillerUgly]

I just tried it for 3 different songs. it was really helpful for one, didn't accomplish much with another, and resulted in the third having no kick drum. and I listened to all of them in different situations, not just at my desk. I think it's one of those things that's song dependant.

[@KSchultz98]

U know, u don't have to say old school disco bc disco for itself is old school 🤭

[@rickisabelle4314]

Great mix tip! You don't need VU meters to implement this technique though - in fact it's easier to apply with precision digital RMS meters. Most plug-ins offer both RMS and Peak metering. Izotope and Fabfilter plug ins, for example, have an RMS feature. Fabfilter's Pro L, an amazing limiter plug-in, makes implementing this technique easy. Simply watch the RMS levels in Pro L as you set the balance (without actually limiting anything). With precision RMS meters you can experiment with other kick to bass guitar ratios that may be more genre specific. A version of this technique, by the way, was used by one of the original Beatles engineers back in the day. I read about it in a great mix engineers book titled "Behind The Glass".

[@tuxievous420]

Anyone here 2019 cx

[@alanhoward4082]

no

[@tuxievous420]

Yes you are no fibbing plees c:

[@brunofelixmusic]

2020

[@DJURBANBG]

@@brunofelixmusic 2021 !

[@hiphopalx]

I watched this before. Now I have got the VU-meter from Waves and I come back again to check it out again! Its a good and informative video!

[@brayzbeats]

That tip is so brilliant - thank you!

[@samuthomi]

This is a really great tip, been using this approach to starting my mixes for two weeks now, it definitely made the difference. 😀

[@novakattila]

Heavily depends on the style you're going for. Sounds like you're mixing something like Dire Straits, but this "trick" wont do well with something heavily bass dependent like techno or dub.

[@phaedruslykos3249]

yeah i like my dubplate needles scratching and stopping and starting in the club :P Needs all the hertz

[@mehditayshun5595]

Yes it will. Keep your B.S. to yourself

[@mehditayshun5595]

Even if the low end is prominent, the kick and the bass still need to be balanced with each other, stupid

[@2ndMOUSEofficial]

good advice. The bass is the foundation. If the bass is weak, the rest of the mix will collapse , just like a house. I start with the kick every time now. Everything else is pulled down to zero, and I bring things back in and work my way back up, from bass to treble. Definitely easier to achieve a good balance this way

[@unlockyoursound]

Logic Pro has Multimeter for RMS metering.

[@MichaelCozineSounds]

Graham, you have been the single most helpful person in my mixing/recording career.

[@topiasleskinen6908]

+recordingrevolution Hey Graham, great video, as always. i'd like to know does this trick work with metal mixing? Differences in amount of bass/low end in pop vs metal. Thanks

[@BenFitterman]

This video just answered all the questions I've been asking google all week. THanks!

[@KolicBeatz]

great useful tip ! thanks for sharing

[@AightOAightFriends]

Ach wenn haben wir denn hier :)

[@AightOAightFriends]

🦄

[@vitor_portela]

I was not going to say anything, but after trying this i had to come back to the video to say THANKS!!! really useful information!

[@Faction24NYC]

Some of you guys commenting shouldn't be mixing if you're asking these questions. First of all don't come at graham as he is sharing a trick showed to him by a Grammy award winning engineer. Secondly, if you don't know to set the output of whatever processor you're using to reflect the original level so there isn't any unnecessary gain, you need to go back to school, or STFU! with the negative comments. Further more, for the genre questions, YES,YES, and YES, i can guarantee if you're saying it didn't work you did something wrong. Be respectful, Be grateful you're learning something for free, and get back to work. If you're working in pro tools, once you have the balance, simply select the kick and bass tracks CRTL+G name the Group "KICKBASS", and then mix from there.

[@kensley94]

Or you can stop being cocky :)

[@jamjar142]

All this is just BS anyway, I subscribe to the Dave Pensado school of thought, if someone tells you that this is the way to do it and is the right way to do it, don't listen to them as if it were gospel, just take it as advice and try your own way of doping things, that way you learn much more about how things work and how to do things. The key word is EXPERIMENT,.

[@hearmenow909]

@@kensley94 Your 'trying to be clever' like ratio needs more work.

[@DanielZini]

This was the final issue in my music. All was sounding great except for the bottom frequencies. I couldn't trust my monitoring system, and referencing with other songs wasn't working either. I just can't thank you enough! One day I may have a decent monitoring system of course, but, for now, that made the trick! Thank you again!

[@thatsjadon4230]

Do you use this trick before or after eq and compression?

[@rossco78]

Jadon Adoko Generally before, especially if the audio is going into an analogue emulated eq or compression plugin as they are generally suited for audio to hit them around -18dbfs. However, you could also do it post eq/compression - as part of the gain staging process to ensure the signal is still at the optimal level. Remember, if you use samples, many have already been eq’d and compressed so unless you are after a certain sound then there is mostly no need to do more. The easiest way to check is to look at the waveform. Google is your friend! I hope this helps.

[@IndustryInstrumentals]

good tip for applying to kick 808 hip hope mixes too. mix low end in this way, then bring in rest of kit except snare, set levels, then bring in band, set levels, then snare levels. another great vid graham cheers

[@Mantiz]

I'm definitely gonna try it out, but my question is about using this mixing trick when I use a sidechain method for my kick and bass. Should I balance my kick and bass first before I sidechain, or sidechain and then balance with the VU meter?

[@jux2010]

that's a great question

[@Mantiz]

+Dominick Fenwick word. I mean after hearing how loud the mixes are today, I discovered how to use sidechain compression as a means to get what I'm looking for but I'm not always mixing in a space where I'm certain of the low end. I just know my kick won't get drowned out.

[@jux2010]

+Mantiz I have the same situation I know how to side chain I do it all the time with my 808's and kicks bass and kicks vocals and instruments bit I'm never certain of how my low end is sittin u heard... I got good monitors but sometimes I over do the bass bcuz I don't rock with a sub

[@jux2010]

+Mantiz I over compensate

[@Mantiz]

+Dominick Fenwick EXACTLY!!! My nigga.

[@ryanreiss1172]

Holy crap. This is genius. I'm definitely going to try this and see how it translates to current finished mixes. Excellent balance starting point! Thanks Graham!

[@AbirTarafdar]

Invaluable information. Thanks!

[@kriscody3577]

I'm gonna use that tip. I've always gravitated to balancing the bass and kick followed by automating the lead vocal and start building around those three.

[@Lmoes]

Did you learn this from Jacquire?

[@225maine]

Ummm that's what he said in the video! Wtf!?

[@TheMixClub]

Nice trick will give it a try. I mix so much by feel and not always keeping track of levels like I should but I'm 50 and old habits are hard to break. Something I liked when you brought the mix in was you bass and drums are smooth. I have been a FOH for over 30+ years and recording for 20+ and I always find my studio mixes have so much lows because thats what the bands I mix live need and want. But when i listen to your mix its a reality check that I need to lose some of the junk in the trunk LOL. I still think we should mix with our ears but this might break me of some old habits in the studio. For me placement is key to a good mix so i get what you are saying. Enjoy your vids. I have dyslexia so sorry for spelling.

[@mrbrubbs10]

One question I always wanted to ask...do you do this before you have eq'd the instruments or after? Might be a dumb question but I was just wondering

[@SuperSonicSauce]

That's the smartest question in the whole comment section, and we need answers! I've noticed if i high-pass the kick after the VU trick, i get a spike in RMS but it sounds cleaner and that seems to work, my pro friend that works for a label for 15y+ in the same room with the same speaker set never mixes anything together until he's satisfied with how everything sounds SOLO, and just like magic it sounds cleaner than my mixes without the VU meter thing.

[@marlongouveiar]

@@SuperSonicSauce IMO Volume matching is usually the last thing you do, what you want to do first is to create space in the mix, eq without changing the character of the sounds and add panning(it will sound a lot cleaner)... if you do that right you will have a good pre-mix, after that, you might want to make your sounds hyper-realistic (sounding bigger than what they are in reality with a compression bus, more eq, a reverb bus, overdrive, anything you want really... depending on the genre, you will know what needs to sound further or closer, louder or quieter, don't overthink volume matching it is an easy task to do after you've done everything else right. Also, beware of your sound output hardware, headphones are good for insight details of sound, speakers are in general better for mixing, but you have to have good fidelity ones and a well-treated room to not mistake your ears, remember, your speakers are your ears. Good luck.

[@SuperSonicSauce]

@@marlongouveiar Thanks man, that was really helpful, cheers!

[@nyikomhlarhimusic]

1. I balance the bass and kick to get a provisional low end balance. 2. Then add other instruments relative to the provisional balance. Add effects as I wish, even in the bass and kick channels (I know it will change the initial balance) 3. When I'm done mixing the whole song, I then go back and do a final low end balance, also group the bass and kick. Now I adjust the volume of the group till the volume/level of low end matches the entire mix. Hope it helps. Stay blessed, stay safe and enjoying mixing 😃✌🏿

[@davidhaggerty9850]

when amplifying a signal it requires double the power for every 3 dB of gain. That's why speaker sensitivity is such an important number. It determines the baseline from which those 3 dB increments begin and since the doubling is exponential it makes a huge difference anwhere past 9 or 12 dB of overall amplification.

[@matrixate]

This is pretty specific for some songs with drum and bass. Still, this is simply another technique to add to the list. Like others' have said...just use your ears then balance out. Thanks for sharing with us.

[@Yobott]

its pretty handy to have a reference point

[@kelainefes]

@recordingrevolution in this video you are using Protools and a meter plugin, but Protools does allow you to choose many meter types for channels and master channel, you just right click the meter bars and the menu pops out.

[@michaelreaper666]

That's a good tip Graham ...Thanks :)

[@bcarr3116]

Good trick, thanks so much. Especially when hearing the bottom depends where you mix and whether your ears are fatigued or not. Thanks again B

[@daniellara1215]

You should do a how to mix hip hop video.

[@ROOKTABULA]

No.

[@mimidhof2179]

Great share, I bought it right away... I would personaly ad that this is also the cheapest stereo expander you can find anywhere used in M/S mode... balancing mid and side part of the mix... Wonderfull.

[@AmagrasMUSIC]

Great, now I don't have to use my ears! ;)

[@TheBDD65]

I use this every mix to get things started, then adjust from there! Great tip

[@lordgrill252]

ZEEro on this VU meter :D

[@grahamhughes2025]

on a journey with this ...around understanding gain staging...and have the latest version of that meter......this was helpful....hadnt thought of adjusting trim...many thanks.

[@peterfarr9591]

Better to just use your ears in a treated space. Personally I think going off of numbers is a bad approach to mixing but to each their own I suppose. Also, something to think about is let's say you sidechain the bass to the kick so they don't fight, well, now their summative volume won't be the same, so this "trick" falls apart pretty quickly. Likewise if you sidechain dynamic eq'd the bass to the kick so the lows duck with a low shelf when the kick hits.

[@martriobr]

Hi,very good way of balance the low friendly frequencies

[@wapanglemdur]

If you have a well treated room and have mastered your hearing ability why the fuck are you here.... This video is for struggling ones who needs something to beat the odds

[@electropocalypse5877]

This was extremely helpful I noticed that in my first song so far... taking forever lol... the kick sounds louder with other instruments than it does solo. It also seems to take on the pitch of other instruments as well. Perhaps tuning and adjusting (many more) volume knobs will do the trick. This is all very cumbersome with lack of practice but your videos really explain things well. Thanks for that. 🙂

[@Misdom]

Do these same tactics work when mixing Trap style hiphop with heavy bass/subs, or is this balance technicque genre specific? I hate watching tutorials that are never mixing the music that's relevant in the leading music today. You go to your DAW and do what you see on youtube and it makes you sound terrible compared to the successful pros in your genre.

[@thecyrilcril]

Tried it on pop, it works for me. "leading music today" is so relative, what mainstream gatekeepers promote don't necessarily lead. sorry for ranting BTW I am an hiphop guy but I listen and mix other genres

[@GabryszBruno]

good trick! Just another way to tell that gain structure is the most important thing to get right. Then mixing becomes just more organic

[@colinmurphy3478]

Yet the bass is still too low compared to the kick. :/

[@davidnika446]

+Colin Anthony I agree. But this still looks like a good way to start a mix. I would probably just pick -4dB or -5dB for the kick as a starting point, instead of -3dB, and keep 0dB as my target for the "kick+bass" level.

[@ebernakamuragomes1134]

+Colin Anthony perhaps too much sub frequency on the bass..

[@TheRealKiFFTv]

+Eber Nakamura Gomes and not enough distortion or harmonics to hear it too as well @colin

[@Spoolz07]

If you introduced some compression on the bass channel and *then* matched it with the kick like he did in the video, that would make it sound punchier (in my opinion) and take account of the variation in playing volume during the track. If in doubt, just do it like Motorhead used to - Everything Louder Than Everyone Else :)

[@xradical89x]

I guess you could probably bring down the kick a bit, leaving more room for the bass and turn it up a bit, and kinda balance the two so that the bass would add more lows to the overall levels... so the kick would probably not be at -3 but around -4 maybe smth like that.

[@Rodoadrenalina]

Ok so I have Studio One artist, and this was tricky, first my VU meter didn't have gain in the plug in, just scale and sensitivity, First of all I had to set the scale at -18 db in the Vu meter, then as I didn't had control of gain in the plug in I put a gain reduction plug-in in the kick track to get it to -3 in the Vu meter, then copy the gain reduction on the bass track and balanced it until 0 in the Vu, then just turned off the plugins, and it did had a nice balance, that's how I used it, hope this helps.

[@Terbie36]

You should have increased or decreased the bass on Studio One's channel fader, not the gain plug-in. At least, that's what the tutorial says. Gain of the kick is set with a gain knob (not fader) but the Bass is adjusted with its (the channel's) "volume" fader. If you didn't mingle with the volume faders, after you turn off the gain plug-ins, wouldn't the result be the same as before inserting the gain plug-ins?

[@snapascrew]

sounds like a whole lot of mixing with your eyes

[@TheMattd546]

+snapascrew When it comes to volume you need to mix with your eyes otherwise you might clip the master. When you eq you should do it without your eyes though.

[@fernandoizu]

+snapascrew well yeah, but as he says at the begining of the video, it`s meant to be used in situations where you can`t depend on your ears to accurately measure the low end balance (like if you are in an unfamiliar environment)

[@akasickform]

I think it looks like a logical and simple starting block. I'm definitely going to be trying this out, and take it from there.

[@moonhowler667]

It even says in my DAW manual, "Mix with your ears not your eyes" xD

[@cperception]

even if you clip the master. it doesnt mean that is "wrong". u have to concentrate on your ears not eyes. if you see clipping, but the sound is still good, than go with it.

[@procletnic]

Very nice tip, tested it and was surprised how well it worked.

[@donnalisajenkins]

yall take so long to explain something. got damn run on sentences. but good work man!💯

[@Opeckie]

So glad you explained this better! I kind of had the idea but your in depth explanation made it crystal clear! Thank you again Graham!

[@tellermotion]

how about using your ears? I mean its a trick good to know, but it will not improve your skills

[@Versus61]

He has a point, some rooms are really bad for mixing low frenquencies. also a lot of homestudios only have small 5" or 6" monitors. its basically a trick to doublecheck your ears in those environments.

[@tellermotion]

ok. you are right, that is a point! cheers!

[@thesoundthatbangs3429]

Yup. Definitely use your ears - but even in my work in a good studio with high end monitoring... and good start point is worthwhile. Mixes change depending upon mood - if you set up a standardised point of reference then you can "have a good reason" to move away from it.

[@TheFissnoc]

As a poor home recording hobbyist with only a couple pairs of headphones, the only thing I got is tricks. I can play guitar and bass but this whole mixing thing has my head spinning.

[@TheFissnoc]

***** Yeah you lost me there

[@ShallieDragon]

Interesting strategy. I might give it a try on my next traditionally-mixed track.

[@LukeWilliam]

You really don't know how much this has helped me!

[@HazzCraft]

Ok i master my own music and the other month by ear i nailed the bass volumes. I just went and checked with a vu meter and turns out id unintentionally done exactly this just .5 higher. This is awesome will be using this

[@moano3271]

In between all the "i am mr. know it all and i know better than you" comments, i just wanna say that this was a higly valuable tip for me 👍 i tested it out and it worked out great. Def. gonna use this as a guideline in the future 👌 thanks Graham.

[@finkleterry2137]

i learned that in school pn a really old Neve VR :) thanks for the refresher on VU meters.. been a long while since Ive used one

[@jawadmbadinga252]

Hi Grham im taking my love for recording and mixing more seriously , tis video has seriously helpmeet out a lot . I never even realised that was a thing to do before even mixing . thanks bro and please keep those videos coming bro it has really helped me a lot brother. take care

[@AzeveidoMateus]

This trick has helped me out so much, thank you.

[@ryanreiss1172]

Incredibly useful tool to get balances set. Thanks for sharing, Graham

[@Rodoadrenalina]

This is really nice, I've had some problems with the volume of the bass and kick, I always strugle with not hearing it or putting too much of one of them. I'll try this for sure.

[@bottomsupbass]

Bassic great sounds. Even for non bassists. You've done a good service

[@JustWriteMusic]

Started implementing this in my mixes! Totally dig it, love the balance. Quick tip for anyone else trying this: if you find that your kick and bass are sitting quieter in your mix after trying this, just turn down all your other tracks until things sit where you want to. Happy mixing! XD

[@psalmist91]

So, are you saying that after doing this trick, this is your final bass level? I'm thinking this wouldn't work due to having to adjust the VU input level.

[@JustWriteMusic]

+Psalmist96 the VU meter is on your master bus, which applies to all signals. All that's doing is adding gain. When you take it off, you're back at the level you were mixing at in the first place, only now with a better gain and level balance with your bass and kick.

[@MrMambojumbo]

Anyone else wondering what the band is? It sounded really cool. Apart from that, a really cool trick. Definitely trying it out soon!