Hello friends ,

Recently I've been struggling mixing some beats I've made. I used to work with samples so I had 7 or 8 stems max in a project. It was not easy for me but I could handle it. Then I started to make my own melodies and stuff so I got to a point of having 15-20 stems to mix. I do not call myself a mixing engineer nor a "producer". I learned everything on my own and I'm trying to improve. Back to the topic now. I pulled up a project in Ableton yesterday and started mixing it. I got to a point where I was happy with the levels and I had lots of headroom to work with (-9db master). I went out for half an hour and when I played the song again, I thought the levels were fucked up so I re-adjusted them. I started EQing and compressing stuff whereever I thought it was needed but at the end I didn't like the result. For example the kick was either too loud in the mix or I couldn't hear it as I wanted it in the mix. When melodies and drums and all that stuff played was like covering each other. Have you ever been in the same spot? What's your advice from your years of expirience? Thank you for your time and have a nice day


PS - Sorry for my english.

 

there really isn't any guide or rule book.. all comes down to your ears and years of experience. I come from a DJ background so I always approach mixes from a DJ's ears vs a mix engineer's ears.. if it sounds good to me I know it's something DJ's will play and be happy with.. I definitely always use benchmarks by comparing my mix to mixes I know are solid like old records or CDs or any current record that's out now. Sometimes when I mix I don't even trust what I hear coming out of the speakers... if I can't hear something I won't change it just yet.. I'll play the mix in another system or different speakers to see how the mix translates then I'll go back and tweak it.

People will give you tons of advice or tips but every mix is different... it's all up to your ears. find a song you like or something that sounds like the sound you're looking for and use that as a benchmark. with kick drums, compression (sidechain compression can definitely get the kick to cut thru the mix and stand out more if that's what you're looking for)

 

Mixing beats is a lot different than mixing full songs, which is basically what you are doing now. I don't know how much you know/do about mixing, but: The big thing I had to learn was Compromise. EQing frequencies out of instruments to make them sit better with the others. Sometimes I really liked the freqs.

And if you don't use 'ducking' now is the time to learn. Also its important to give your ears a rest while mixing. We become 'tuned' to some frequencies and desensitized to others. I have a 45 minute timer then I take a 15 minute break ever hour, especially doing other peoples mixes.

Hope this helps a little.

 

Haha so very true.

 

check your gain staging in mono.

 

Try this. 1st, save your project under a different name so you have 2. Then cose the current one and open the new one. Now, take off any EQ and compression that is not part of the sound design for each track. If the mixer in your DAW has a srereo width knob, you can use that. If not, insert a stereo tool on each track. Now bring all the tracks down to mono. Put a stereo analizer on the master (this will help you see where each track is going in the stereo field. Now just using panning and volume, position and mix the track until you're happy with it. Save the project and go do something else, to give your ears a break. Come back and check to see it still sounds good. The start to slowly bring back the stereo width of the elements that need it. take another break, come back see if it's still good. If so bounce a copy, convert to a shitty quality mp3 bit rate file. Go check it out, on your phone, tablet, stereo, car where ever.
Probably not how most would go about it, but when you don't have the ability to throw parametric EQ at things to solve a conflict, you have to look for other solutions.

 

Last edited: Feb 23, 2017

"When melodies and drums and all that stuff played was like covering each other. Have you ever been in the same spot?"

Yea, its called a mix in progress.

 

Thanks for the tips guys. I don't want to mess with mono yet although a lot of you recommended. As I said, I don't know much about mixing and to be honest I don't like this process but I have to do it.

 

As you're mastering all the techniques and tools you have at your disposal, keep in mind there's a million ways to do a great mix. There is no such thing as a correctly done mix, there's only what makes you happy. Keep it grounded on planet earth, it's just sounds.

Not all the listeners are going to like it, and you really can't afford to give much of a shit about that. Not in the biz of pleasing everybody, just please #1 - you. This applies even if you're working for someone, doing their mix. They hired you to do you, that's the entire point. Your job is to do the best you can with what you've got on OneShittyWednesday, 2017. Then you move on. Fuck that track, it's not in your thoughts any more, it doesn't define you. You unleashed it on the world, and were promptly gone to do new stuff now.

In the beginning stages you're always going to be a bit insecure, faced with a hundred thousand options and plugins, second guessing yourself about every little thing. This isn't permanent, it goes away as you force yourself to complete more and more stuff, and just declare it done, refuse to touch it any more after a deadline. Changes the whole feeling of the job.

 

Last edited: Feb 23, 2017

A small little trick that really helped me ballancing all my mixes is this Jacquire King - Low end trick. I read about it years ago. And use it since then in every mix. Even in my own studio i really know. Great little trick to set the gainstaging for low levels. Just watch the video...
Build your gain staging than around the kick-bass. Great starting point.

The rest is ez just some eq, compression, and reverbs till everything sits well in the mix and you got your hit record!!! Kidding.

Creating depth (putting something infront or futher back) is another often overlooked thing that is essential for a mix. Carving eq holes and stereofield mixing things are more obvious to creat. Putting isntruments/sounds upfront and in the back is often a huge problem for people. I add another video that is worth watching with great tips and technics you can add to your arsenal.

 

Well said. It's just words but I can say you helped me a lot. Thank you so much.

 

I'll check these videos out, thank you brother.

 

Too true lol.

As a beginner I can tell.
BEFORE MIXING MORE THAN 3 TRACKS: "Hey, if the tracks sound good separately this is a piece of cake"
AFTER: "This sounds like shit. I hate myself and I want to die."

 

I get that every time. I can make everything sound perfect to my ears but when I play them all together I feel stupid af. It's more like sounding good together I guess.

 

I've been using Proximity from Tokyo Dawn Labs to help me figure out depth creation. Such ease of use for front to back adjustments. I'll use it to see quickly what sounds right, then try to reach that sound using compression, eq, and reverb sends. It's been a great learning tool, and has stepped up the depth in my mixes considerably.

Oh, and that low end trick has been really effective at training my ear for proper kick/bass volume ratio.

 

Yeah, you have to look at the mix as a whole, not individual tracks. Find masking frequencies between tracks, and eq them out/in depending what the mix needs to be more prominent. The hardest thing is learning to live with the compromises that you make.

 

what do you think about it https://allihoopa.com/s/HfUMHqaS

 

Theres so many ways to go about this, the least i can do is give you some tips and what i do when i mix.

Usually i brickwall EQ out the low end frequences from everything that doesnt need them, same with the high end on bass (mainly)
The main problem is frequences battling for space, a nice trick i learned recently is to pan conflicting sounds a bit to the left and right, this way i avoid using too much EQ and it might save you from using stereo enchancers later.
Also never use limiters on individual channels. Compressors only when and if needed. You should make all your sounds sound good together without dynamic proccessing. Only use EQ/Compressing as last resort.

 

Sometimes you can reach for a compressor (or a dynamic eq, less so for trying to alter transients than ducking frequencies...sidechaining is key here) instead of trying to notch out frequencies of competing instruments because transients tell a lot of the story of how a track sits in a mix. Experimentation is your friend.