Why Your Mixes Suck (and how to improve quickly)

[@SuperFoxMulder]

Always a THUMB UPS. Is there anybody who follows this channel that hasn't been helped by Sean Divine? Real talk. This dude MADE my MIX. He speaks clearly. He explains clearly. He obviously expects you to have a little bit of an ear (when he's talking 'bout brightness n' low-end etc), but he basically walks you through the whole thing without any hassle. This guy is a total professional, and it feels like you're in the same room as the dude when he's explaining things. When somebody asks me for tips on mixing, I say "Sean Divine."

[@Freefromthehive]

SuperFoxMulder fax

[@marcjohnson5148]

Exactly what you’ve said

[@tsihme]

My personal favorites: mix levels in mono, EQ first in mono then stereo, make drums and low freq content stand out from vocals, and blend keyboards and tonal synths using matching EQ.

[@SeanDivine]

great tips!

[@iloveeverything4380]

Should i just turn master to mono

[@yuulian4776]

@@iloveeverything4380 when mixing yes, you can try it :) but dont export it mono

[@nicjohnson5691]

Lowkey gets me angry how underrated your channel is. You have so much content and not only the quantity but the quality of each video is outstanding and you do a great job of explaining. Thank you so much, you are making a huge difference for many people

[@SeanDivine]

I appreciate that Nic! It's always encouraging to hear that they are helping :)

[@AbstractCatsMedia]

No offence taken, I more then willing to admit, most of my mixes suck, or end up sucking! Thats why I'm here :)

[@kingvonbee9067]

Dear Sean, you are just DEE-VINE ! ! ! 😍 ☺️ Lots of thanks for sharing your knowledge with us ! 🤗

[@daniellouviereii5532]

I knew the name Sean Divine from way back in the day on SoundClick, and even then your music stood out to me more than others. But man, after following you on Spotify and really paying attention to every song on your channel, you're one of the realest artists I ever heard in my life. Not to mention the most humble and God fearing. Respect bro. You got mine. And I appreciate everything you do on KZbin. I never planned on commenting on any of your videos. I was just going to soak up the knowledge and run. But nah. Sometimes a man just gotta swallow his pride and give credit where credit is due. Good Lord willing I live long enough to perfect my craft and release my music to the public, it would be an honor to collaborate with you someday.

[@SeanDivine]

The fact that you took the time to share this means a lot, I really appreciate it Daniel. Seems common to think some of us KZbinrs get jaded and don't pay attention to comments... it really helps keep me going, so thank you. Hope these videos help with your own music and look forward to hearing the progression. Blessings 🙏🙌

[@daniellouviereii5532]

@@SeanDivine Blessings 🙌🙏

[@lairdriver]

Sean gives good advice here, pay close attention to what he says about mixing audio levels. In a track it should be Kick, Bass and Vocals first. That is to say that you bring every channel in your mixing down to complete zero. Move your Kick up first, Bass up second and Vocals third. That way you can work on getting your kick drum and bass lines to blend with sidechain compression and eqing etc. It also helps because it will show you if there is frequency overlap from the low end of your vocals and the start of the low end of your kick and bass. You should be able to sweep a good portion of the bottom end of you vocals out to leave room without losing the thickness or presence of your vocals. After that you bring in your synth/piano/keyboard work. Work with it off the vocals. After that your percussion and fills and effects come last and they should be spread further out in the mix.

[@huss2600]

Thank you for this tip, I just wrote it down in my notes.

[@OneManAndHisSongs]

Putting an EQ on the master bus to monitor low end is SUCH as great idea, thank you! You're explanations are clear and concise - great stuff :)

[@SeanDivine]

glad it helped! :)

[@no-yj2cf]

Very true. Every single one of my vocal mixes have sucked, but they get less suckier the more I watch your videos lol

[@SeanDivine]

:)

[@Trussles]

You are the first person I have come across that doesnt try to sell me some bull shit on another website to learn how to produce. I appreciate your content man, glad I found you today.

[@FroggyFreshRap]

Shoutout to Sean Divine.

[@SeanDivine]

FroggyFreshRap 🙏

[@carimabdala]

And a quick shout out to Christina Applegate

[@thejohnhoang]

carimusic damn you beat me to it

[@darrellcrammusic1617]

Only recently came across your mixing and mastering videos man and I have to say you stand out as one of the best production teachers that are kicking about on KZbin. I've been producing for just over a year and my biggest struggles have been getting an effective mixdown and vocal processing and just after watching 4 of your videos I already no longer find them quite so daunting. Keep doing your thing bro your channel is due a blow up.

[@SeanDivine]

appreciate it Darrell and glad to hear the videos have been helpful :)

[@HaddonMusic]

Tip 4 is so true. I've been mixing over 2 years and still learning more about compression. It is KEY though

[@SeanDivine]

👍

[@lairdriver]

Also remember to mix your bass and kick in mono. Understanding the importance of mono mixing makes a massive difference in the sound spectrum you have available./

[@MickDarkstar1]

Finally someone who gets "less is more". Good thumb rules! Alot of todays music is over-compressed, to loud, smashed with plugins (cause they are sooooo available and cheap in this new era of digital home studios). Thank you for reminding us of focusing on things that matter

[@Imagiknowledge]

Just tried the tip about managing the low end frequencies that shit cleared up my mix so much man!!!!! THANK YOU

[@rizkisusiloutomo6663]

Thankyou. You are so good at being teacher and very open informative. I hope you success and always happy 👍🏻

[@SeanDivine]

thank you 🙏

[@heartseasebliss1152]

I love watching these tutorials now you explain things so much more clear and better!

[@CivortepOfficial]

You're a great help to all aspiring musicians and producers. Thanks Sean for your effort

[@SeanDivine]

no problem!

[@mannylittle2966]

Sean, i love you. You took my music so far. still have a long way to go though.

[@carljohanthore]

Great summary of potential problems in your mix! Thank you!

[@walterearl6456]

Thank you Shawn for sharing

[@SeanDivine]

sure thing!

[@MAJORSVNVLOGS]

Sean! You’re the best man!

[@kennex5000]

Sean! Thank you so much for the videos. You are helping everyone so much, really great!

[@arinaldocosme7733]

Good morning Sean! I did an analysis of your videos, and I came to the conclusion, that you are the mixing and mastering teacher, there is no other, as soon as I can, I will buy all these courses with Professor Sean Davine

[@SeanDivine]

thanks Arinaldo 🙏

[@oliverlukedelorie]

This is good one. Thanks Sean

[@j.jerome4073]

Big thanks to your wonderful delivery!! Subscribed!

[@SeanDivine]

Thanks and welcome

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

nice tip on the low end. Another reason is probably bouncing when you are tired or used the ear the whole day

[@lairdriver]

Mixing vocals is a completely different topic that I urge people educate themselves on. That will always be the most challenging aspect of a mix. Do not be afraid to or be discouraged by using STOCK plugins that come bundled with your DAW of choice. In about 90 percent of the case, the Ableton standard Compressor is pretty much going to sound like any other compressor out there. Plugin makers get you with the GUI and the interface. If you are going to spend money on mastering plugins - Waves plugins are industry standard. I highly recommend Fab Filter plugins as well.

[@UmuLuangwan]

this is really helpful Mr. Sean big thumb signs up

[@AbstractCatsMedia]

Also. yes I'm a sucker for a beautiful GUI. I've stopped buying vsts, mostly.

[@theerealatm]

AbstractCats Official How many do you have approx?

[@JTFuller]

FANTASTIC VIDEO SEAN. This is dead on time man.. Thank you again.

[@SeanDivine]

sure thing JT!

[@allbarzent]

A blessing to the music world

[@SeanDivine]

🙏

[@Jansku]

"buying plugins you don't need" *cough cough* maybe "pirating plugins you don't need" xD

[@SeanDivine]

don't do that either :)

[@LowFrequency]

why not ? @@SeanDivine

[@mistysmith7183]

Famous words from mike dean “nobody buys plugins”

[@briancase6180]

Plugins are a distraction. When you need a plugin not included with your DAW, you will know exactly why you need it. If you are getting a plugin, free or otherwise, just because you want to see what it does or how it sounds, you're simply delaying your progress, at least that has been my experience. You're MUCH better off working with what you have and understanding WHY it's not good enough for your purposes. If you couldn't explain EXACTLY what's deficient about your stock plugin to your friend, you don't understand yet. Keep working! Don't be distracted!

[@aooga9995]

@@LowFrequency because if he said for people to do it that would be illegal :)

[@TINOSASSER]

You started of good cause that's what I'm feeling

[@SeanDivine]

keep pushing man!

[@tayerofficial1]

MAAAN.. you are REALLY AMAAZING !!

[@SeanDivine]

thanks man :)

[@brucestevens2242]

Was just about to email you then found this video hahaha my mix doesn't quite suck... but these tips got me in the right direction to make the mix great! Good looking out Sean! - Tree

[@SeanDivine]

awesome Tree, glad it helped 🙌

[@C-zaar]

Read “why your mixes suck” and thought… aight yeah my mixes suck so it’s worth a listen. thanks for this haha

[@DBLCreations]

Thank you Sean! I'm learning really a lot from you! I'm going through your video's and i really really like this stuff. You explain everything very good and it's clear for me to understand. (English isn't my native language, so it not always easy to follow along when someone is talking fast :-D )

[@SeanDivine]

glad to hear it Laurent :)

[@The_Answer_Is_Within]

This is free gold for all u good people out there: if your equipment is ‘lying’ to you and not translating the audio as it should, no tips and tricks can help anyone. This comes from much experience, firstly your system and gear must be able to translate the audio correctly. When you have figured this out, then you can begin fiddling with all the other tips and tricks. I mean you can’t make music if you can’t hear what your doing.

[@Housa38]

My man, you da man. Good lookin out

[@iam_kohli]

you are truely great man

[@papa.alfredo]

thank you for the video

[@Ashraffigoo]

Hello, I want to know the sound tracks and the locations of each of the musical instruments, cakes and hits, and all the effects and sound in the audio field. What are the mono and stereo instruments? An angle of 180 degrees and 130 degrees. Can you explain more?

[@NeverduskX]

"Too many instruments" Time for me to entirely rethink how I construct a song. I was wondering if this was the case, but now I realize I should start much more basic.

[@radofficial4672]

Concentrate on making instrumentation sound fuller so you don't need others to fill out the mix. Look at reverb depth, EQ, making the sound more dynamic with space so the listener identifies the individual sounds easily. You also know it's a good song/melody/arrangement when it works with minimal instruments and a great vocal.

[@antoineundermess]

A video about "how to ajust the preamp" on vocals and instruments should be good !

[@SeanDivine]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qYTGqoxja9yfhcU

[@antoineundermess]

Oh i'm sorry ! didn't see it ! Thanks a lot !

[@naturesguy2319]

YOU'RE HELPING ME MAN...... Thanks

[@JontyAshWoodworks]

Thanks man, very helpful

[@SeanDivine]

no problem!

[@nicholaskern3602]

Good shit man. You're a savior!

[@felixs6501]

Your intro is dope

[@SeanDivine]

thanks

[@Joviibeatz]

great advice really helped👊

[@Bobzekat21]

Great video by the way.

[@SeanDivine]

thanks

[@brucestevens2242]

Can you do or have you done a video on how to fix a muddy mix? I been looking thru your videos and haven't seen one but I wasn't sure if I may have missed it. How you're doing well!!

[@SeanDivine]

see what I can do Bruce :)

[@brucestevens2242]

Sean Divine thanks bro!! I actually watched your video on parallel compression yesterday and that was a complete game changer. I added it to a mix last night and 🤯 so clear and present... I need to learn more about EQ that helps with cleaning up a muddy mix right?

[@Royy]

you're a fucking genius, thanks for the knowledge

[@SeanDivine]

🙏🙌

[@michealbanda2287]

great work mr divine

[@papasam01]

thank you always boss!

[@SeanDivine]

sure thing :)

[@MikeAllenTarot]

a blessing!

[@RB_Musik]

Thanks Sean! :)

[@SeanDivine]

sure thing RB :)

[@DreErdna]

Thanks bro!

[@MrJaevonn]

Love your vids Sean...I’ve became good at mixing over the past years. But I’m still trying to understand if applying effects and automation should be saved for mastering or should I just do as much to the mix as I can to make the mastering phase easier? Anyways, thanks for the tutorials and keep doing your thang bro.

[@SeanDivine]

short answer - don't expect too much of the mastering stage. Needing automation in the mastering stage is rare. The mixing stage should make up at least 95% of the sound of what will be the final release. The last 5% in mastering should be simply enhancing what you've done.

[@MrJaevonn]

Sean Divine awesome dude...thanks again

[@mamilyfamily]

you told us what was wrong yes.... how to fix em no .. what level should they record at... what level should the vocal be when editing....whats the steps we should follow ....the main plug ins what should go in sends etc

[@SeanDivine]

there are over 250 videos on my channel covering all of this :)

[@mamilyfamily]

@@SeanDivine ok thank you family

[@cleavong3536]

Great job! Thanks for these videos!

[@SeanDivine]

Sure thing Cleavon 🙌

[@djehr2831]

Sean, first I want to thank you for sharing your knowledge...you have great content and very helpful advice on your channel! Second, you’ve previously mentioned on this and other videos about listening to your mixes/projects in your car stereo sound system and some of my friend producers do that too...I guess my question is: What makes a car stereo sound system better than a home studio sound system...the subwoofers? If that’s the case, does adding a subwoofer to your home studio save you a trip to your car...just wondering?!

[@SeanDivine]

there's generally a few main reasons for the car reference being so effective: 1) the closed environment allows you to hear low end in a more objective way 2) it's a very common playback environment for most listeners... Yes, a sub in the studio (with minor treatment) can help with judging low end 🙏

[@Powhart]

Reading the title "Why You Mix Suck", and I'm like "HOW DARE YOU?!" Then I look closer and it's a video by Sean Divine... "OK, Master, teach me!"

[@drumswagger1]

Good job.

[@msgsaltsweet]

Great tutorial. I'm learning a lot. Thank you.

[@pyrrhic4535]

I want to learn the terms, I want to learn what things do and what they meant and I want to learn and know about what I'm messing with, yknow? I feel so frustrated being in this weird spot between knowing the very basics but not being knowledgeable enough to go beyond because when I watch tutorials and things like that, I don't know what they're talking about 😭 it's really my dream to do this professionally but I feel like I'll never get there; I don't know how to obtain experience when I'm not going anywhere due to my lack of knowledge. Nothing to do with this video, just looking for answers, yknow? This video really helped though, thank you.

[@SeanDivine]

keep at it, small steps :)

[@pyrrhic4535]

thank you, I will work hard and keep at it!! :3

[@iam_kohli]

i had learnt lots of things

[@SeanDivine]

glad to hear it man!

[@PeanskeanENT]

man Im just finding your channel May 2017, good shit bro, even for Vets,- Peanskean Riddler

[@Kambiz.Mahdavi]

wow tnx for great advisings

[@parahund]

best english mixing tutorials!!!

[@SeanDivine]

:) thanks!

[@JTFuller]

Hey Sean, you really to have studio monitors to mix right? you really shouldn't use house speakers and like a Yamaha surround sound receiver right? I did a mix yesterday and it really sucked.. lol I think.

[@SeanDivine]

Hey JT, having proper monitors definitely makes it much easier to judge what's actually going on in your mix. That said, the truth is it really comes down to how well you know your speakers and how they react. If you learn them, you can compensate accordingly and still get good mixes. Ironically, one of the most famous "studio monitors" is the ns-10 and it was originally designed as a consumer bookshelf speaker lol. Engineers simply starting using them in studios and they became familiar. All this to say, proper monitors will be easier to learn on and you'll get better results faster... but you can get good mixes with any speaker once you learn them!

[@JTFuller]

ok, thanks man.. I have some old Alesis Monitor ones.. UGH!! I haven't done anything since they were out.. lol But thanks though. I know the NS-10 are still in studios I see them on here. Crazy.. But they are nice.

[@DalesBadBug]

My one and ONLY issue is balancing both Vocals and Instrumental...I Pre-make my beats. A lot of hours,hard work goes into them..then,i write to the beats i make..come recording time,it's "meh" but alright...then mastering/mixing./editing and it never comes out the way i need it to. i need a balance.

[@VAEOMMusic]

Should I low cut side information below 150 or mono everything below that??? I am confused

[@SeanDivine]

you can, not always necessary. 150 is a bit high, I'd aim to center below 100

[@RISIKOO]

thank you !!!

[@SeanDivine]

sure thing!

[@RISIKOO]

Sean Divine Do you have a mastering tutorial ??

[@SeanDivine]

@@RISIKOO plenty :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/qXynoWBsZdGLl9k

[@MB1z]

thanks 4 the tips.

[@v2mofficial521]

Perfect and straight to the point👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@SeanDivine]

🙌🙏

[@Atrociteeshirts]

Great vid brotha!!

[@solarenity]

im starting to think my problem has to be my mic. ive been revising my mix for a year and i still cant get ot right (i have earbuds and im on my phone) i feel like i know whag im doing i know what plugins do and dont do. how they work such and such but i still just cant get it to sound good

[@benjaminmagambo3849]

I like the music in the background ! how can I get it ?

[@SeanDivine]

thanks! our catalog is available at divinetracks.com

[@cesargonzalezbueno3359]

I compare my mix with a professionally mastered song and I see that I do a great job. However my mixes don't hit as hard as my mix even when I have a good frequency balance. What can I do?

[@DJVilLe]

Have you checked your mixes loudness?

[@scottfaircloff9530]

thanks!

[@simke123]

bro do you use Gate or noise reducer or however is it called? if so, its very annoying, but awesome videos :)

[@busterchiyonkoma7425]

cool stuff

[@niroshanmadushanka6711]

great video

[@SeanDivine]

thanks!

[@jey-b7400]

sir sean when you were doin mixing what studio monitor did you use? headphone or the speaker? ?? hehe thanks :-)

[@SeanDivine]

Event 2030 and Yamaha NS10 for monitors, Beyerdynamic DT770 headphones for mixing

[@bjoernkrinn]

Thank you 4 this!

[@riktascale4]

Thanks very muck for the info Sean. Legit stuff! BTW what are yo mixing right now? My studio is down for the last year till about August. Was enjoying your live mixing vids in the interim. :):)

[@SeanDivine]

no problem :) Mixing a lot of different tracks right now and will have videos up on them soon!

[@SuperICEMIKE]

When you are not making a video, do you wear headphones then as well or mostly monitors?

[@SeanDivine]

I mostly mix on monitors when I’m not filming. I do reference in headphones often during the process though. They have gotten a lot better over the years (DT 700)!

[@SuperICEMIKE]

@@SeanDivine Thanks for the reply!

[@dcolson1002]

how do you blend the track and the vocals to make sure its setting right for mastering i been doing this for a while and still lost so if u can help me out that will be truly appreciated can you do a video on it and thank

[@SeanDivine]

that's a loaded topic... a lot of my videos on compression speak on this but I'll try and post something specific for you in the future!

[@dcolson1002]

like I don't know.if I should turn the beat up and turn the vocals down or vice versa to make sit right cause I'm having trouble with that

[@dopameanbeats9540]

The right amount of gentle compression should help glue these two tracks together, assuming you've bounced the instrumental with very few mastering effects. A common mistake made during this process is applying lots of mastering effects twice; once during the instrumental bounce and again during the vocal/instrumental bounce. This can cause everything to get smashed together and general sucks the life out of a song. Keep that in mind and check out some mastering videos from Sean Divine, the man knows his craft and breaks it down so damm good!

[@dend3085]

спасибо,Бро.Очень пригодилось!

[@SebastianKomor]

Give it time. It can take years upon years to get really good at getting your mixes sounding how you want them too. No new super ultra mega new plugin is going to do that for you.

[@dusathemaid]

Learned this the hard way

[@djprocuttanyc]

really dont use to much plugins sometimes you do need alot of plugin to get to that color that you are lookin for

[@DaltonRimmerGTO]

Do you typically just use sslcomp on masters and instrumentals / is it ever used on vocals ?

[@SeanDivine]

Dalton Rimmer its typically used as a bus compressor. You could certainly try it on the vocal bus!

[@JayMadeelrubio]

i have a question, with the mcdsp analog channel, how do I get the plugin to show me on the graph how the frequencies are affected when I under bias or over bias? it only shows me activity when I use the bump and rolloff buttons

[@EnjoiYourLoss]

Question, sometimes I don't compress particular tracks because I like how the instrument sounds without it and honestly I haven't noticed any problems even on other speakers but I see some people compress everything. So is it really necessary to compress every track? So far the only time I use compression is when it truly feels/sounds like it's needed. If anyone could get back to me on this I would really appreciate it, I'm quite new to music production but some things I see people do just don't seem necessary unless it's intentional. I only have about four months experience so if someone could clarify when I really need compression that would be a great help. Thanks!

[@SeanDivine]

Hey Tyler like you said, I'm not a big fan of using compression on the instrumental tracks unless it's needed. Compression will flatten things out and kill the dynamics if not used sparingly, especially on drums. As far as when it's most useful, I like it on tracks like pianos and instruments that have a wide dynamic range, just to keep things in check and upfront in the mix.

[@EnjoiYourLoss]

That helps to clear things up, thank you for the fast reply!

[@Began2011]

Do you still have the same monitors? Second question do you think maybe purchasing a sub woofer can help you for as judging your low end.

[@SeanDivine]

yes, I'm using the event 2030 and ns10m for years! A sub can definitely help you hear what's going on in the low end. It's important that it's tuned carefully though so it doesn't cloud your monitoring perspective.

[@miguelowls]

2 questions help!! If I was to record acoustic guitars should I eq and compress them before I record vocals over them??? And does the gain between instruments and vocals need to be the same ??

[@SeanDivine]

as long as your processing them in the DAW with plugins (non-destructively) then you can always adjust later after the vocals are recorded. the proper balance and levels for the music / vocals will always differ and that's the art of mixing :)

[@miguelowls]

Your the best dude! Thank you for the reply

[@mvh2275]

I wouldn’t recommend applying any processing unless it needs it. I might use a compressor during tracking only to keep any transients from clipping. However, you really don’t have to track at any high levels recording into digital. The key to a great recording is the source. The cleaner to track the easier it is to mix. My thoughts - Cheers mvh

[@aremissomar459]

What about mixing in mono? I have always heard that is a great way to mix your tracks, however I'm not sure how ti go about it myself ...ive heard that this is a great technique and would like to know how to approach it, that's if it is still a good technique to use and has not been replaced by some software and or plug in...

[@SeanDivine]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3nFnYmZfNGaecU

[@arturio55]

That beat in the beginning of the video is hard....what song is that