5 Reasons You Aren't Getting a Tight Mix

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In this tutorial, I wanted to go over 5 reasons why your mixdowns don't sound tight. You have probably heard some songs from your favorite artist who has this type of mixdown, which sounds godly everywhere you play it. The key to these types of mixdowns is an excellent balanced mix where every element has its own place in the mix and good proper compression. Today I will go over 5 issues I've had in tracks before when it came to achieving this and how to go about in fixing it.
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[@artifica0]

1) 1:41 - low end not tamed 2) 6:02 - not compressing enough 3) 9:43 - too much build up on a frequency 4) 11:32 - sound selection 5) 13:13 - leveling

[@seamus1357]

Needed this, brother. Thank you for what you do for the producer community

[@TehWaver]

I swear reducing the 250 hz range with master eq is the easiest/best mastering tip I've heard. Such a small addition makes a HUUUUUUUGE difference. You don't even hear the muddyness but as soon as you reduce it you hear how muddy it was before.

[@miscellaneous1276]

Well yeah, BUT sometimes those frequencies are missing, i think you should do what makes it good.

[@tanishkshrivastava6822]

imagine if you're fixing muddiness in your MASTER LMAO

[@anomalypsytrance6573]

Bruh if you didn't hear the muddyness before then maybe the muddyness you hear when bypassing the 250hz cut is because your ears have adjusted 😂don't be cutting shit because some dude on KZbin said you must lmao

[@Skrenja]

@@tanishkshrivastava6822 It's quite common practice, actually -- especially doing MS eq on the master to get rid of some mud. Making narrow cuts and/or using a dynamic eq can work wonders. I often automate a linear phase eq on the master. There's no rules. If it sounds good, it sounds good.

[@richcoleman9909]

absolute legend, been having a problem with this recently and ive found it hard to understand or vibe with other tutorials but you always seem to nail it

[@carlosmolina4486]

I needed this! I’ve been mixing by ear but this helps visualize and understand the way sounds interact using span

[@RafaelGrilli]

Always so helpful mate! 👊

[@JayantChakradhari]

I know, no one care about my comment but I just want that you read this You are genius zen 😀

[@rahulsengupta6785]

Noisecontrollers - The night, the track has some top notch mixdown.

[@epelly3]

Thanks a lot for this vid man. Been watching you for a while you always have clear concise directions and techniques

[@dede-sm7sl]

Excellent video man! Doing a great job for the community !

[@JeremyShaver]

Im still learning that’s why I’m here

[@JeremyShaver]

Thanks for whom ever that was that liked my comment because my statement is true, @Zenwork helps a lot and I can use it towards the music I make on my iPad Pro with Auria Pro and other DAW’s

[@DNBENTHUSIAST]

noisia - sinkhole uses the stereo space so well, listening to that track with some proper headphones is weirdly awesome

[@csselement]

The analogies you use are funny but also very helpful in communicating the concepts behind mixing choices. Great content, I've learned a lot.

[@maxstone4823]

Nice Video Zen! Thank you for your tips!

[@DoctorDupe]

Thank you for all these super helpful videos keep em up!!!

[@squidcatbass]

Zen! This was a great tutorial. Always blowin minds 🤯. Just got back from Dirtybird Campout and all I want to do now is master the tightness of my tracks. It felt like most Dirtybird songs were bangers because their kick and sub was hitting just right. Your song had the same frequencies. I really appreciate your insight my ninja. Thanks again 🦑😻

[@yohanruiz8332]

Miguel Bastida- Soul Reactions. One of the tightest mixes I’ve heard still to this day.

[@JanooProductions]

Thank you for this, you are amazing bro!!

[@iluzi2351]

Really well explained video man 👍

[@halabishki]

i've learnt so much from you man. thank you so so much.

[@nolank2166]

Wow that demo track sounds incredible... good work @zen

[@caracciologuanipa1786]

Great video ninja, help a lot..

[@KYAMIofficial]

Yea Nobody else is really well mixed. I really like how shapov mix his tracks too

[@ReflexEight]

Thanks Sam World!

[@fortemmusic]

The track is FIRE, please release this!

[@LibriumMusic]

One of my favourite mixdowns is on Light by San Holo. For house music, losing it is always great.

[@theturokchoi]

this was amazing!

[@SixPalms]

Super useful, thank you!

[@nickhandcock7515]

Inzo-overthinker is the definition of a tight mix. Pretty much a perfect production

[@tuxievous420]

A balance gain stage leveling vid would be awesome 👏 thanks 🙏

[@1Brockhenrie]

Great video. Would love to see more serum sound design videos

[@quazrmusic]

yessir. thanks brotha

[@plagiarhythm]

Dude your so good your are really helping do ty

[@rernofficial6660]

To me, Karmon’s mixes are always really tight and clean. My favourite is Alex Kennon - Last Call (Karmon Remix)

[@vanoddworld]

Deorro - Keep It Going. Super tight mix there

[@anastasmusic]

Gorgon City - Elizabeth Street, tighest mix everr!

[@auxthenticjoshhendrikz]

Thanks so much dude. I think a good example of a tight mix on a house track would be SQWAD - Like That... also, making a video on leveling especially mixing in your claps with your kicks and stuff would be awesome

[@iamdeejaymelody]

great tutorial

[@troubleshoot002]

holy shit those bangers really slap my ears

[@NANI_Official]

Always cool videos. I'm coming back to your stream this Thursday! Lol it's been a little over a year since you destroyed me haha hoping to get a play. And hopefully I got better.

[@simenga4414]

thanks man, very usefull !

[@JDVVV378]

Thnx Bro!

[@TehWaver]

Such a good video

[@chimpalahee]

Yo you should do a series where you fix other people's mixdowns or address certain issues in their mix and rectify them

[@Ultraskill23]

Thank you

[@jacksonlaframboise6257]

I like to just slap stuff into some kinda framework based on a genre, but the fundamentals are the same. Hi’s wide. Lows mono. Reverb ads depth. Sub 30-100 (sometimes 140 for phone speakers.) side chain this so it doesn’t clash with the bass drum....Otherwise the low end will be a homogenous static mess with no movement and a ton of rumbly bois. Fundamental 140-3 or 500 ish. This is useful with biiig chords. It helps you avoid the (idk what tf chord that is) moment if you have too many voices/ layers on something. In rock this is sometimes just the basses job. Other times they go for the wall of sound vibe and that’s ok. But normally works with power chords or 2 note chords so keep all that in mind. A super saw stack will usually gain around 80 siiiick points with a soft clipped fundamental layer on top and it might just remind the people in the pit to drink some water cuz that shit will be rooooling harder than they are. Mids and hi’s can somewhat clash due to stereo separation variability and the extra wiggle room that provides. However, this can cause phase discrepancies in mono. Just make sure to cut out the mud and any harsh frequencies. Also, do not over do stuff. Remember, that a song needs movement. You will use a side chain from the kick for like most things, but the rhythm should still be obvious without it. (In terms of the mud thing: Usually like 200-400 in mid instruments and like 3.4-4khz in hi instruments like noise and hats and stuff....as for the sub....please, just mono it and low pass it. Do not mess the sub up. You can saturate it sllliiightly if you want it to pop on phone speakers....But just do not mess it up.) Vocals. (2 stage compression.) first stage cuts out overly dynamic peaks. Second stage is gentle with attack turned clockwise and release turned counter clockwise. mix according to song. May need saturation. May not be saturation. Use ear. Go for confidence and mud free. I still suck at this, but I’ve watched like 40+ hours of content on it so like, I have some theory. Just, not enough application yet, so take what I said here with a grain of salt. (Not too much salt cuz the performance is super important and it’s hard to sing dehydrated.) also, pitch correction. Drums. Side chain hats, cymbals and noise to the kick. The kick should be fairly brief. The kick is a kick. The bass is a bass. Don’t make the kick a bass. It gets weird. Use good samples. Kick and snare should be the loudest thing in the mix. In rock, it sometimes helps to glue the whole set together with compression, but uses sparingly. This only works sometimes. But when it does, it’s super cool. Hard clipping is cool. Don’t over do it. Loudness is not the determining factor of a good song. Dynamics are also not the determining factor of a good song. Please don’t blow my headphones up for the sake of an energetic drop after a super quiet intro. Lastly, less is more...but only if you know what more is. You also can’t magically stop overthinking stuff without learning theory. If you don’t know what you are doing, you wiiilll over complicate shit. That’s ok. Learn. But don’t waste like 10 years doing it like me. Trial and error is fun. But you can bypass a whole ass year of doing it in like 30 mins with a KZbin video on the subject. So if you value time and efficiency, put ur pride aside and assume that even if you could figure it out in a day, with technology, you can figure it out during your morning dump and use it for an entire extra day. Why did I post this? Cuz I hate preaching technical knowledge in comment sections so by doing this, I’ll remember that time I decided to ramble in a comment section and all the stuff I needed to remember will just come back to me. Have a good one bois and gerlz. Ez.

[@JonTorreto]

GOAT

[@cjfromgtasanadreas]

I love the sound at 19:07, the midi melodic open pattern I think, is this from one of your packs? If not can you tell me how to design it in Serum?

[@AirArtStudiosOfficial]

Thanks

[@elyastayar7057]

Dude you should release this track 🤯🤯

[@thistadj]

Yoo Zen would you mind doing a sound design tutorial on SWACQ’s leads in his track Ox and Yababa

[@jiggybeats3703]

Anything Space Laces releases is the epitome of a tight mixdown to me.

[@mitchdobbs6296]

1. Super helpful video 2. Could you drop the link or point us in the direction of the Axwell tutorial??

[@giovannydaniel707]

Joe Vanditi, Max Chapman. Both are nice with the mix!

[@jeremiassteffen6453]

Boris Brejcha is doing really nice Mixdowns

[@jbods1998]

Boris said he hardly ever uses compression he just soothes frequencies on every channel with a dynamic resonance suppressor like Soothe

[@MattGwoz]

I really like the mixes of San Frandisco by Dom Dolla and White Lies by M-22

[@jdstarek]

Great mix example: Pig & Dan - any track on Modular Baptism.

[@rishikhanna3073]

Hi man! I really dig your channel. I checked Evo sounds but I noticed you only have serum presets. Since I currently do not own serum, it's a bummer. Could you also do massive presets?

[@marceldhaini3363]

13:36 that track is dope!

[@felixsela2898]

Feel Something by Illenium and Exicion is really clean

[@adriancarrasco4865]

I've been studying artists lately by really listening to their EQ & compression. Skrillex, Deadmau5 & Galantis are in my top 3 for clean, tight and precise. P.s. I LOVE your song!

[@tanishkshrivastava6822]

Listen to g pol once

[@baiatu_teh_boss5613]

Check out Mr Bill too, absolute mix legend

[@excorific2205]

For a tight mix, I really look at the drums. It's hard to explain, but it's the drums for me that give away a "TIGHT" mix.

[@Skrenja]

Songs with tight mixes and great low end: Rome in Silver - "Fool." _Insane_ low end, punch, space, width and clarity. Fat Nick - "Georgous Gorillaz." Not a perfect mix -- but it has some of the hardest 808's I've ever heard. Astrix - "Deep Jungle Walk." This song has so much space and dimension that it sounds like you're listening to the damn thing in surround sound.

[@gecko100]

All the Magnificence tracks are insanely tight imo.

[@anonymoususer2764]

Tracks with best mixes (according to my knowledge) Hardstyle - phuture noise : circles and squares Melodic dubstep - Hans Zimmer time Ben Walter remix Dubstep - virtual riot x panda eyes x barely alive : Tri force (Dodge and fuski remix) Trap - eptic : power

[@DNBENTHUSIAST]

dnb: anything by noisia & mefjus

[@justhazza3068]

there are better mixes out there than circles and squares (in hardstyle)

[@baiatu_teh_boss5613]

With dubstep and melodic dubstep pretty much any Virtual Riot song within the past few years except for the VIP EPs with Barely Alive are really well mixed. However imo one of the top artists ever in terms of mixing is Mr Bill. Check out his recent EP he made with kLL Smith title "kLL Bill"

[@techsavvyscruz]

Bro you funny af man. Giving you the finger 😂😂

[@AVA21398]

Allright. What about Sub Focus - Solar System?

[@zacharyhill8405]

IMO "Open Misere" by Spoonbill is an astoundingly tight mix

[@joewebb8446]

Dennis Cruz - Wicked has a really tight mix to me

[@LibriumMusic]

That singularity remix in the background tho 😍😍 such a great song.

[@Echofieldsmusic]

glad i wasn't the only one who recognized this

[@jeancarlocarmona6489]

Techno wise: Umek - Amnesiac Dubstep/trap: sicko mode and humble skrillex remix Hardstyle: Phuture Noize - circles and squares

[@vkmusicz8160]

Drift away too tight mix

[@jeancarlocarmona6489]

@@vkmusicz8160 agree 👍

[@fridayishighday8016]

Jam Master - T78 Remix... Oh dude that kick breaks your skull on the dancefloor

[@sirwilhelm7250]

D-Sturb songs too

[@jeancarlocarmona6489]

@@sirwilhelm7250 double agree.. I like drop em down so much

[@Laureniti]

ily

[@davet8618]

Zen Thanks!! Awesome teacher !!! Can you make a video on reverb how many reverbs you ise. What you send to a reverb ,? to which revern? and the decay times and how you much you blend. The parameter that you use. Like how many plates do you use how many reverbs do you use. and delays as well you use. But showing the reverbs decay times ?

[@miss.antidote]

google reverb calculator

[@aldistoteles2919]

Miss Antidote Useful tool!

[@mememan2428]

Hey man, can u please make abreakdown video on Saberz - Epidemic ? its sounds supernatural. AMAZING mix down

[@maybecrazy6934]

so the levels in the spectrum always have to be similar level? Lows with mids and highs?

[@iamthe4044]

Your voice is tighter than any of my tracks

[@isaacsherwood8373]

Why do you recommend Span? I get that its free but what makes it better than Ableton's built in Spectrum?

[@mehdi7413]

All song from vowed are well mixed in my opinion

[@SHIFTandCo]

What do you think about Sevenn's Music is my Suicide as a tight mix ?

[@TheGrimProjectTGP]

I wanna full tune man!

[@TheLostYouth]

Released in (!!!) 2008 : Chymera - Parelo (Kaveh Soroush & Charles Gudagafva Mix).

[@Thando1988NYC]

What axwell tutorial were you watching?

[@cussinsk33t3r8]

Anyone wanting examples of the closest thing to perfect mixdowns/masters, check out SPACE LACES. Not only are his mixes impossibly clean, but they're also LOUD - which I've found is a hard combination to execute - especially for heavier tracks like his. Dude's also leagues ahead in terms of creativity, originality, and sound design in general. He's got a significant fanbase, but he's still one of the most underrated producers out there. Cheers!

[@BTMandy1]

the dudes sound design control over the higher frequencies is unreal

[@cussinsk33t3r8]

@@BTMandy1 1000000% agreed! He's all around so damn impressive - it's ridiculous.

[@Skrenja]

Yeah, his mixes are dope. I'd argue his masters are bordering on TOO loud though. (And yes, that's a thing... even in electronic music. 🤣) "Get Stupid" is a sick song. I love TroyBoi's mixes too. His songs always have insane low end, width, loudness and clarity.

[@cussinsk33t3r8]

@@Skrenja I can respect that! I'd argue it depends on where you're listening though. The louder the better when it comes to live shows and when a track is mixed and mastered as nice as Spogs are, it can be as if someone just squeezed extra volume out of a sound system that you thought couldn't get louder without any distortion. That's one of the reasons why these record labels sign these kinds of people and why "loudness wars" exist in the first place. And hell yeah - TroyBoi is an awesome artist! He's definitely no stranger to a clean-ass mix... Loudest song I've heard in recent memory (still baffled as to how there's not more distortion) is Oddprophet's track FLEX. Worth listening if you haven't heard it already. But my God is that shit loud. Seriously nutty compression.

[@johnwitcher7039]

Jesus Zen

[@freshavacado_]

Why do my voice sound like in a glass like not clear? What should i do

[@Wanden]

Frankie you are tight

[@djdeto7382]

Social links are not marked blue which makes mobile users difficult to use them please fix

[@pentacle9783]

Hi How do you apply the white noise?

[@MusicProducer808]

Which Axwell tutorial did you refer to?

[@madvicemusic]

Knife party recent EP tight

[@NecsoiuAndrei]

Hey Zen. If you want to hear the king of all well mixed tracks, here it is: Matador - Kingswing

[@Souron1994]

If you want extremely clean sound design, look up G Jones.

[@antoineadragna1783]

Did you released the track you're using in the video?

[@dylanloera7783]

Kick one I am learning about this week, especially listening to other tracks kicks compared to mine; been shaping it in kick2 to sound more like theirs and it has made a huge difference. The right kick for the side chain track is also important

[@shilohjordan8023]

steve darko always has tight mixes

[@WAZA___]

The whole mix...12db pole high pass at 50hz with a bump at that frequency too.

[@keveydaking]

Has this track been released?

[@JayantChakradhari]

Zen please tell me what's the name of this music's genre 13:29

[@Subholik3]

somebody tell me the genre>????? of this demo !

[@ThomS8]

everything from Enrico the past years

[@DSVN23]

For sure, extremely high level producer