The Most IMPORTANT TRUTH in MIXING MUSIC.

[@wrathpsp]

Nate Dogg already said it; "the rhythm is the bass and the bass is the treblllllle"

[@Strafuzz]

👌🏾

[@ravenizer]

This was like listening to Owen Wilson teach me audio engineering and I’m here for it

[@steediy3567]

Thank you for teaching me so much in such a short time. I've written recorded and mixed 95 songs and you can hear a difference between when I discovered you and before. Thank you!

[@damienholland8103]

How do you find the willpower to do it. I'm also artistic but I'm having the hardest time getting into the habit of doing it. It feels pointless. I know I'm capable I just lose the will and play videogames or do other things instead. If I was making money from it, or had an audience, I'm still not sure I would be able to find that spark again. It feels like it was blasted out of me over the years.

[@izzDirezza]

@@damienholland8103 Do it for the spirit, the abstract, your soul, or whatever you want to call "it". Just do it and do it the best you can and step away, those thoughts about money and audience just weigh a person down...

[@curtis_chip]

yes 👍

[@realjohndead]

Nobody in the world has ever written 95 songs, that’s impossible

[@Superdelphinus]

Do it for fun. If it’s not fun, don’t do it and go easy on yourself.

[@sam-you-is]

every time you teach i feel like im being gently corrected by a wise uncle and its always just what i needed to hear

[@ooglyga6100]

kinky

[@MAXEFFORT]

Treble is bass! Fear is freedom! Subjugation is liberation! Contradiction is truth! *Everything is everything!*

[@TheHouseofKushTV]

Don't forget "sarcasm is insight!"

[@tilda140]

Entourage effect but music!

[@evgenytr]

1984

[@MartinvonBargen]

@@TheHouseofKushTV Life is life!

[@MarginalCoyote]

@Wayne Brown 😂😂😂

[@YannSelka]

One more example I love comes from the world of vocal tuning (manual tuning that is) - if you listen to a phrase and a note sounds out of tune, sometimes just fixing the note before it or the note after it will make everything sound good again - EVEN if technically it was in tune before and you're de-tuning it to match the other note. That way, in some songs, the singer can sound more natural than just fixing every note that's out of tune, but still sound "in tune"

[@TheHouseofKushTV]

Love it! Haven’t tried this, but I will now!

[@robhaley5136]

You know I started doing this, just as I noticed that 'de tuning' around a note seemed to work like you explain.. I wasn't sure if what I was doing was a cowboy approach to fixing a problem not... but nice to know I was actually doing something 'right'!

[@bencalhoun]

I have absolutely found the same! Excellent note @YannSelka

[@ccbass16]

@YannSelka - Great tip, thanks for paying it forward.

[@andrewsrea]

IMHO, your mix approach is better than most DAW KZbinrs who mostly 'add'. Due to headroom limitations of physical gear, I learned to 'cut' 3 times more than add and it really provides the space for 3D sound, as you describe. I appreciate you explaining it the way you do!

[@strictlydubrecords]

When you find someone on KZbin who don't show you DAW screens, analogue equalisers and other racks of gear, but speaks to you like you both are sitting behind the fire near silent river - that's gold, that's a real find. And you get more experience and knowledge then when you see a screen with examples of many tricks. After, that you find out that this handsome man is the owner of Kush Audio... Forgive me please, it took time to understand that all... keep watching! Bless!

[@jkf9167]

I was working on a mix last week and I was having trouble contextualizing the volume of the bass guitar. It was confusing for me because it was palm-muted with very little sustain. I had two mixes, where the only difference was a couple DB on the instrument slider for the bass. I asked my teenage son which mix he liked better. We went back and forth a few times. He said that that he could hear the bass guitar better on the second mix. The second mix was the one with the slider turned down. When I listened to it a couple of times, I realized he was right. It wasn't fighting with the kick and guitars as much, and you could hear it more clearly. It happens with bass all the time that you high pass bass it or roll off the low end and and hear it better, but this was the first time I've made an entire instrument more audible just by dropping the slider.

[@jkf9167]

Update: second time in a week I've undone most of my bass guitar EQ tricks and simply turned it down, and it sounded great - and audible. This was a tricky track too, as it had a lot of loud guitars and a giant open kick that had a lot of action at 100 hz. The funny thing is that I'm not a pro or a particularly expert mixer, but I've been complimented on my bass sounds several times times, and it's usually when I've left the bass mostly alone and turned it down, or run it through a fake amp and then done the same. I'll use EQ and compression. I'm not allergic. I even use a pedal high pass filter when I play live. I'm also willing to high pass guitars to an extent that will make other guitar players cringe, but I didn't do that this time.

[@TheHouseofKushTV]

Nice! Bass is like that IME, it's a either 'a little nip and tuck' or it's 'smash it and carve it to hell'.

[@jkf9167]

@@TheHouseofKushTV the only problem is I was right the first time and wrong the second time. This time, I was wondering why my mix sounded so undynamic, and I was so perplexed that I actually posted it one of those forums where people tell you that your mixes are bad and you should buy stuff, and everyone said that the guitars were way too loud, which didn't surprise me, because the sound was giving me a headache. I realized that if I was gonna turn down the guitars, I'd have to turn up the bass, because there are really only three instruments in the mix, but I knew that the bass didn't sound good loud. So I started from scratch, and I realized that my compression settings on the bass were all wrong for what I was trying to do, and once I fixed it, I could let it rip, cuz I thought that the song needed quiet bass, but it actually needed loud bass. It's like you were saying, the first thing that you notice is off isn't necessarily what's causing the problem.

[@tomw5124]

I just want to personally thank you for everything. Not only do I own your products, learn from your incredible videos, but I also have found your voice has a calming effect and on the nights when I struggle sleeping, I play your videos and I sleep like a baby. You my friend are blessed!!!!

[@allinonechannel7456]

I also listen him anytime.. and I feel his like I am watching "Jigsaw" Movie... But leatn a lot

[@ThiagoCamposOfficial]

I've been mixing for quite a while now and consider myself intermediate to advanced but your tips are gold for any level. Great contribution to the community, my friend, keep it up!

[@saunders2112]

These tips could make the "Salad" even better!

[@ThiagoCamposOfficial]

@@saunders2112 they already are! My new "Salad" is called Tryptamax and I just finished the arrangement for the first song! Should be out in a few weeks.

[@saunders2112]

@@ThiagoCamposOfficial Can't wait to hear it, my friend.

[@dakotasycamore5260]

this is one of the biggest things I've stumbled upon just messing around with things and listening. with vocals i realized from simply just cutting the low end it makes it brighter, just one example but it applies to everything. PRACTICE AND APPLY THIS MINDSET!!

[@siriusfun]

This is a topic that doesn't get addressed enough. Very much looking forward to the deep dive.

[@mikelo303]

This way of thinking translates well to life choices as well... Thank you!

[@AKAtAGG]

You say the things that sound so obvious as you say them, and teach me, a person who has produced music in one form or another for 30 plus years, new things, or new ways to look at those things. Amazing.

[@TheHouseofKushTV]

That’s friggin awesome to hear man! I think the reason I can do that, is because I have that same experience. I’m not quite 30 years yet but I’m close, and I really feel like i’m only just beginning to approach the level of craftsmanship I dream about. The learning never stops, it’s crazy how endlessly deep everything seems to go!

[@mdihero]

Thank God a mixing tutorial with NO MIXING. This is a good thing believe it or not. Actually great advice and not highly technical nor underestimating the audience's intelligence. This is so much more valuable to me than watching someone work with a plugin.

[@parnellitube]

You really have a knack for teaching. Thank you!

[@fizmo100]

I love these no-bs videos. You can really tell the difference between someone wanting to teach and inspire compared to someone wanting to boost their channel views. These are so worthwhile, thanks you for sharing them!

[@wilburh2m]

Great reminder that the soundscape is a limited space and tracks compete for frequency space. Overlapping sounds around a commonly-used freq range like you said around 300hz can cause sound cancellations and out-of-phase wobbles or muddiness. Basic fade, like you say, can go a long way instead of messing your track eq. Sometimes though it helps to eq to make combinations more complementary. "Everything affects everything."

[@TheHouseofKushTV]

80% of the time, it's a little cut down low plus a little point in the mids, everything else is faders and distortions 🕺🏻

[@DThompson55]

Brilliant - I had a brightness problem last month. I'd just read something on tilt EQs, so I tried one. I made a 1db adjustment to the low end, which gave a 1db boost to the high end obviously, and it was almost too much. But it was exactly the sound I was looking for. It was that low end cut. Amazing. I could have put a 4db high shelf and not gotten the same nice clean high end. yes, cut the lows to hear the highs, everything affects everything.

[@tredfxman]

Im using Bitwig Studio 4. The only thing that annoys me: is that the volume faders isnt as perfect as Logic Pro's. When i fine tune the db its hard to get lower than 1 db at a time on automation. I dunno if this is to much to ask, but if you compare to Logic Pro, it seems it have insanely much higher resolution and also "space to move the slider", tricky to describe if you havent tried it. But its annoying, when the rest of Bitwig blows away everything iv used before! 👍

[@_leivo]

You have no clue of the value this channel has for all of us, thanks! ❤️

[@ayodez9951]

I love his content. Doesnt need to pull a fader or touch a plug in. Training mindsets, much appreciated

[@bluebones1778]

Thank you Owen Wilson! 🥰

[@hendricksam]

I've been learning this concept the hard way after more than a year of consistent mixing. Epic that you're putting this so succinctly.

[@nejm612]

🐘

[@zeusdeux]

Solid conversation as always! Big big +1 on the volume slider being the most powerful mixing tool!

[@Lake_Claire]

Jesus, this channel is a gift that keeps on giving. I’m so thankful for your great tips Greg, I love the fact that you are sharing philosophy behind certain technics instead of very narrow, situational solutions. Thanks a lot!

[@TheHonestTruth]

wish i would of seen this vid 4 years ago.... Took me 10 years to teach myself to mix. reduction is almost always the way to go. reduction of freq's in the beat always brings the vox out more (subtle of course) Huge piece of info..... Nobody talking about this....

[@TrumanProductions]

I swear to god you're the best teacher on youtube 😭😭 every time you upload I always learn something about how to approach music as a whole, the philosophy of this art

[@PeanutButterAM]

We need to get this man a cape and a cane asap cause this pimp is teaching the game like no other. 💪🏽🤘🏽

[@gtarist7]

would love the pt 2. this is something i have been learning on my own for a while and the perspective is super helpful. it also made me think about the concept of 'theres only so much space' to the need to de-emphasize elements of a mix

[@andyhdotinfo]

You know, if you and Dan Worrell sat down Infront of a camera I think brains would melt. Great ideas, thank you

[@WAZA___]

Dan is snake oil.

[@m3str_techno]

This style of teaching is just on point for me! Thank you for sharing your knowledge once more!

[@stelthtenau]

Been watching music production videos on KZbin for the last 10 years. This is one of the best I've ever watched l. Heed this mans words.

[@raphaelsimard788]

I really appreciate your holistic approach to audio (and all things in life -- RIP Kush Audio Happy Funtime Hour). Thanks a lot.

[@chiefindisguise]

Best topic ever. It is holistic in nature because it goes to the root of all (science/art/psychology-composition/arrangement/aural positioning). Can’t wait for the deep dive.

[@EarmWermChannel]

Love the unbiased and unassuming tone this channel has. Feels like watching a Ted talk on a fascinating subject.

[@MadeOnTape]

i dig your message... and your productions!

[@nicoarias5969]

You are the lighthouse in the storm. Always come back here with great confusion and disappointment and leave with serenity and encouragement

[@alexanderpiano1506]

I've listened to 5 of your videos, the one "PLEASE stop doing this to your vocals" changed my simple mixes COMPLETELY. My vocal sounds much more forward and present in my mixes now that my methodology is (how does this affect other spectrum areas... even within the same instrument). I don't narrow-bell "sweep" for "bad" frequencies, and I'm not afraid of them as they can sound awesome in the right context. I hope you start making videos again. Love the delivery and teaching style. Excellent.

[@reggiep75]

I always learnt to cut over boost frequencies as your hearing can get overwhelmed and tired in short space of time. Cut, take a break, come back and listen. In some cases, don't listen again until the next day. An analogy of this vid can be shown with a simple 2 wave experiment - a 40-60Hz sine wave and some noise above 1kHz - and filter the bass until you can hear the noise more than the bass as bass in those frequencies exerts more physical energy than aural energy.

[@Tobez]

As I'm re watching a bunch of your videos a new one appears. Wonderful. Thanks for the content as always

[@pvalenti]

My Zen Mixing Guru/Hero. Several guys who have channels are worth paying attention to and I wouldn't mind meeting a few of them. But this is a guy I genuinely want to have a beer with, and I don't drink! Great stuff as always, and a perspective that is much needed in my mixes! Thanks so much!

[@matthewtunnicliffe201]

There's so much good advice in this episode, and much of it really came in handy when I was struggling with a mix a few days back. Very helpful indeed.

[@Agent56000]

2:22 in the mix taught us this very well in his "clear up a muddy mix video" this is great.

[@foketesz]

One of the most important (and so often overlooked) concepts regarding music production. Most of the times it makes the difference between amateur and pro sound.

[@wado1942]

On so many of my early recordings/mixes, I wanted a big, powerful bass sound so they came out really dark & muddy sounding. I started putting mics farther back and started cutting low end instead of boosting. There was my clear, powerful sound and I could hear the bass better.

[@ShanHexis]

You are the one of the few producers those who speaks what we need from pros...

[@matt_nyc_audioengineer]

Wow, GREAT tips man! I can't agree more with this. The concepts you are talking about here are the kind of things that separate people who really know and understand what engineering is and those who don't. At the end of the day, we are all just problem solvers. Whenever I find myself in situations like those I find that if I just sit back and think about it for a minute the answer becomes obvious. If I just jump in and go with what my emotions (maybe a little panic hahaha) tell me it never really helps. Great tips here man, thanks for the reminders.

[@jehavelock]

Brilliant as ever, like Oblique Strategies with an intuitive explanation.

[@bennettshapiro2965]

Very Taoist of you. I've always appreciated the priority of trying to remove what shouldn't be, in order to reveal what should. It's the whole Michelangelo's David was always in the marble, and Michelangelo just uncovered it idea. There's beauty in that idea, even if it seems ridiculous at first thought.

[@zwsh89]

I always enjoy this channels no nonsense approach to understanding the bottom line. There’s a lot of noise, and a lot of “noise” out there, really looking forward to the deep dive!

[@johnromanos6957]

everything gets divided when hearing, everything is part of something and it is that contrast (bass/treble, front/back, loud/soft, sum/dif etc , even harmonics /instruments ) which best describes the db and human hearing as a constant binaural equation in space and time

[@SR-ih1be]

Your videos are the best on KZbin for mixing tips, hands down.

[@moano3271]

You’ve been missed Greg! Thank Odin you’re back 😁👏

[@OdinOfficialEmcee]

You are welcome

[@billymcguiremusic]

Just found your channel today. I always love finding videos like this because it makes me reimage how to go about production/engineering. Thank you so much, my man!

[@GravytyMusic]

You are the best teacher on the internet. Actually. Please make many more videos.

[@TheManInCommand]

Happy to see you back. I was honestly worried.

[@chazmechenbier]

One your best. Instruction right at skill-level for me. If I say "let's scan the possibilities" to a client, I'm gonna sound very smart.

[@TheHouseofKushTV]

Did I actually say that? Yeesh, I really AM a robot! 🤖

[@HitWaveMusic]

Everything effects everything... so profound. ;D

[@parasiteunit]

In my (relatively limited) experience - one of the most missed culprits for clashing and space eating in mixes are reverbs.... EQing/filtering verbs nicely can literally change a mix in an instant. The low end especially can be a terrible gotcha.

[@xanderpills]

I hate the lows on reverbs. Never(ish) any need for reverbration under 100 Hz. Or even 150.

[@averyintelligence]

Just to add, also deesing and delays and compressing the delay signal always helped me. Without doing this my delays sound amateur

[@ParthGandhimusic]

Your videos changed my entire perspective in mixing... So great that you don't just put a demo session and make us see how you mix like most of the folks out there .. great videos and a big thankyou for improving my skills without even playing music in your videos....

[@GaryShowbiz]

Aww man..THANKS big time for this video..I watched it last night, and it addresses perfectly,my latest issue! which I have been scratching my head over..and now it seems so obvious. I was overegging the kick and bass..SLIGHTLY ..and it was just dragging all my mixes down to the murky depths. Please keep up the great work.

[@uriuri6502]

There you are!:D missed your videos already!

[@briansansone]

Brilliant teacher. Who needs audio school when you've got Kush. Especially for us old folks who want to learn, and are way too old for school. This is my school. Thanks Mr. Kush!

[@brianholtzmusicsound]

Word up baby! I had a bass heavy tune with some bludgeon-mad kicks and guitars hammering away like a rainy season SoCal mudslide. Added a little sparkly tambourine thing and now it sings like pure angelic manna from above.

[@jeremyquinlan7245]

Another mind blower from GS!

[@seenmusiqe]

Said it ones, And i will Say it again ! YOU ARE A LEGEND Mr.Scott Thank you

[@tarasolegov356]

Thank you, Gregory! I`m a rookie in the world of mixing, it least o near half of the year. And only now I have a handful of understanding of frequency fightings! Really good idea - not to gain problem, just make a space around for killing it!

[@Brutuscomedy]

This is why I love the Sculpt plugin from Plugin Alliance. So great at addressing some of this

[@iamgates7679]

This is 10 mins of condensed wisdom and experience about the philosophy of mixing and not a single knob was fiddled or a mouse clicked. Eloquence is an interesting thing; Cheers!

[@AlexNiedt]

So much truth. It's so easy to massively overcomplicate everything when all you need to do is turn one element down a dB during a verse.

[@theurbanmonks1]

Thanks for all your insightful conceptual overviews. We are richer for having your counsel!

[@arnavsawhney]

Mixing is like driving. Sometimes you gotta give space, somtimes you gotta take space. No two cars or tracks can occupy the same spot. (I tried LCR mixing as per your suggestion and my space has opened up a lot better)

[@Hectorymusique]

each time you post a vidéo... i have the strange feeling that i understand sound better... thanks so much !

[@boyreporter]

Gregory Scott: 'I want you to just start thinking this way' Me: 'HELL YEAH I WILL GREGORY SCOTT'

[@hnatyshyn]

Man, this is like listening to the Bob Ross show but for mixing. I am happy to find someone explaining things clearly and not trying to sell the "miraculous plugin" for once.

[@stevenorr54]

Thanks. Vocal Alchemy. Love it. You reminded me while listening. Yes. Sound is energy. My main mentor never touches the faders. Perplexing. Everything has the potential to be a tool. And yes. “COLORS.” Keep healing, living and sharing.

[@inno_hiphop]

Love the view you have of music production, it’s macro and micro at the same time…which really resonates with me. Thank you.

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

it is totally true. You ad just on single instrument as background for just 1 measure and see by yourself the problem it can create in the whole

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

happened to me here specifically kzbin.info/www/bejne/oqrbpWp-gr2keaM ;)

[@RocknRollkat]

It's nice to see someone who has a clue as to what's actually going on.

[@natebrown4939]

dude I love you. You help me out so much without even opening up a daw lol. Thats magic.

[@davidmastel5652]

I have done a lot of live mixing at churches over the years and have always found it fascinating. Had a three day event with a Master's degreed sound engineer 20 years ago that helped me a lot. One of his key points was adding or subtracting DB with the parametic sweep to notch openings in or out through the mud zone, 100Hz to 500Hz. When I get those set and spaced with one hand moving the vocal volume sliders and the other hand moving the instuments volume sliders I have found the biggest success. And I never add monitors for the musicians before I set those sounds for me in the room, most of the time they need very little add, with the exception of the me, me, me musician and everyone can hear themselves with very little change. Then the everything else you are talking about with sound in the 1/3rds and octaves both ways just add the overall fidelity you can find in the acoustics of a room. That is probably lower than the lowest basics for you guys that are pros, but I found it helpful for me. Honestly you are really fun to learn from and I can see there are some very deep waters swimming in your head...thanks so much for the help and your willingness to share! Best regards, Dave

[@lavalizard1]

Damn GS. You cut right to the heart of the matter. Genius. Love your vids.

[@Audiojunkk]

Thank you so much for your wisdom! please keep these wonderful videos coming

[@gulagwarlord]

That ISOL8 plugin is really useful for soloing certain bands on a mix and to see what's happening in those areas. That tool has really helped me in my mixing for solving a lot of these problems. Soloing the low and low-mid bands really helps for getting the kick, snare, bass/sub balance... it sort of sounds like listening to your mix from outside of the club or something which gives good perspective. Soloing just the highs or any band really, and ab'ing with the full mix seems to help give a lot of interesting perspectives.

[@harrypalmer3481]

Yet more great advice Mr.Scott. Thanks Chuck.

[@thezombieeconomists7981]

This is great. I think as a beginner you discover pretty quickly that everything affects everything because of course you go straight to the element you want to fix then realise that the problem you've just "solved" has given rise to two new ones. You can spend a long time going around in circles like this, fixing things you've just broken. I'm definitely going to start applying this way of thinking on future projects.

[@storsender2032]

I like the way of calm explanations that just the 'little' can make the difference

[@callummacdonald9610]

Great stuff man. Glad you’re back

[@babypowdah]

Kush Audio. Simply the best!

[@WEHAVETHISDREAM]

Just love this "after hours" chill learning concept - where you can LEARN and CHILL! Thank you!

[@Septurez]

Its so obvious that a mixers intuition requires a lot of experience to then think outside of the box and attack things from a different perspective. As someone learning its incredibly hard to distinguish details like this but one thing I do resort to a lot is going straight for the fader or modulation gain through utility via ableton. - I suppose next step for most would to reach for EQ and sidechain but your advice is to analyze a sound's context in the mix and changing the things around it which is much preferred now that I think about it

[@youaintgottheanswerssway1594]

Been a min, hope you been well and busy. thank u mix Jesus 🙏🏽🅿️

[@perkeleman1265]

Gregory, I just want to say thank you for being such a huge inspiration alongside giving us such great hard and software, all the incredible information and insight you give us for free and the super awesome music you make with your wife - your accomplishments really are inspiring. I'm a 25 year old "selftaught", and only thanks to people like you who share their knowledge for free, I was already able to learn sound engineering to a point where I already could do 1k pax events live, learn enough about gear to be able to build my own mics, learn enough about music production to make my own music and currently building my own mixing room for my studio. And while I always jokingly say "I can do pretty much everything, and none of that well", it is thanks to you sharing knowledge and experience, that rather inexperienced people like me have a nice goal to look forward to - even though just being on the road there is already a great experience! Thank you, and best regards from Austria!

[@forestlittle]

Another wonderful and information packed video. “… the alchemy of mixing …” I like that term. Will definitely use it one day

[@morizanova]

Love the complementary frequencies insight . Just like graphic design process, everything also effect everything especially with color and shades

[@christopherbartlett4285]

I've heard this expressed in a lot of ways, but for whatever reason, the way you've talked about it has really got my gears turning, particularly because I'm doing a lot of rough mixes to produce demos of our band's songs, that are, let's say, not pro level at this point. I appreciate how you're talking about this subject, and definitely am interested in your deep dive.

[@bitmau5]

I live off of faders, in mono. Balances everything. If that doesn't work. I pan, just slightly. Soundstaging is huge for me.

[@aceedmond8053]

One of my top 3 channels.... thanks Greg, thanks for sharing your brain.... golden info.

[@marshpw]

Makes sense! Give the compressors more high frequency energy to work with. the whole thing ends up balancing out nicely.