These "5 best mix tricks!" youtube videos are like candy, they're appealing to watch but you don't learn much because they're contextual and not foundational. I'm more interested in the videos where you witness the decision-making process live in action. They're long and boring but much more enlightening because you see the whole process. It's like sitting in with them while they explain what they're doing.

What are some of the best videos you've seen where a legit pro (not a random youtuber) just screen records his entire process, and chimes in every now and then with a comment explaining his decision?

 

No mixing video in any shape or form is foundational - unless we talk about targeted videos (on eq, compression etc) which are not mixing. The realistic, correct and honest explanation for any mixing decision is "because that's the way I like it". We don't mix with numbers, to look good on FFT, or to have a compressors' needle "bounce correctly" - we adjust until it sounds right. The problem is, the experienced engineer will dial by ear 2.34 dB and for you that .34 will not make any difference. Now multiply this .34 error with hundreds of plugins that guy made settings and see why you'll learn nothing from watching.

So mixing is pure taste:
- Do the cymbals sound the way YOU like it?
- No
- Then make whatever it takes to make them sound the way you like.

The only foundational thing is experience in knowing what tools do (eq, compression, distortion, delay, reverb, chorus), so then together with your vision and taste you will know a bunch of methods to shape the sound from A to B. Also squeezing as much as possible from simply balancing a mix with the faders is again something no one can teach. No one can teach you how to hear. Edit: no one online. This used to be the role of an mix engineer assistant/apprentice. You'd spend years with that guy and your ears would pick up his taste to a certain extent. Online is impossible because your monitoring is not his, you'll never hear what he hears so is close to impossible to be a proper online apprentice

This is why every time someone pops up a question you get 10 pages of different answers - people know various ways to achieve a result. Some may be more complicated than others, but they can still solve the issue nonetheless.

It may be counterintuitive but your solution is to mix more (in the realm of hundreds of mixes) and consume less information imho

 

Last edited: Jan 5, 2023

The most helpful one for me is on the sistersite, I'm Pretty sure. It was by Com Truise. Deadmau5 also did a Masterclass video, but he can be a bit of a spaz when it comes to talking about anything. Lol I watched that one a while back and don't recall getting much out of it, but I thought the Com Truise one was interesting. It's about the whole process for him in making a track. Ymmv

Sorry, you said ENGINEER... my bad. These of course are music artists. I'll leave this up though, anyways.

 

Last edited: Jan 5, 2023

A lot of good engineers have been streaming during covid. Now they are back to work and some amateur YouTubers remain lol

 

I enjoyed Andy Wallace mixing videos on Mix With The Masters Series. It's like traditional large format console mixing process where he just do the very basic of mixing but he explained every single compression and EQ moves he made while mixing. It's long but not boring. It's not like you can learn much (tips or tricks) if you've been mixing a lot all your life, it is just from it you can learn his decision making, how he made bad music like Avenged Sevenfold (no offense ehem) listenable and hard hitting music like Nirvana a world phenomena once. For Nirvana music, you can compare it with Butch Vig version that IMO isn't that bad at all, but I don't think it could achieve all the glory of what the AW version did. AW version is what we all know how the songs are today, without losing the band's character. That should count for something. Should watch his video in order of release number though, because he didn't really repeat stuff.

If you are more into a modern type of "producer/mixer" or "mixer/mastering engineer" all in one, there are two people that I can recommend to search for their videos. Illangelo (MWTM) and Luca Pretolesi (Faderpro).

Those are things that comes to mind right now, I watched around 1000+ mixing videos (I think more) since I found sister site and made a record of them. I will add more suggestion once I found something useful on my note.

 

Last edited: Jan 6, 2023

Produce like a Pro have many mixing vids on YT of various genres but I don't know if they're really good (although I must admit I've seen the worst sounding pro mix on there ever).

 

You're right, but you've misinterpreted my intention for wanting to watch them. I don't want to copy their settings, i want to get a feel for their intuitive decision making by watching them in the moment. The best engineers mix based off their intuition rather than based off the technicals, and witnessing that flow and the "why" in motion is valuable. It's a philosophical knowledge booster, not a technical booster. Obviously practicing is the best way to develop your skill. That goes without saying.

Now, back to the video recommendations...

 

Wowee that's organised. Love it

I do a similar sorta thing, i have a bunch of google docs of notes i've made from various videos i've watched over the years with the pros i love (Tchad Blake being one of them). Every now and then they will drop a philosophical gem that changes the way you approach mixing, so it's worth writing it down to internalize it.

Will check out the Andy Wallace one, haven't seen that yet. Sounds exactly what i'm looking for. Great rec!

 

Can you please share the site name, which you have mentioned as sister site ?

 

You may find the tutorials you are looking for @ puremix dot com

 

NailTheMix and the courses on ProductionMusicLive might be worth looking into.

 

Have a look at your alerts.

 

Yeah. YT is flooded with amateurs showing them mixing songs. I imagine if there were videos of professionals, you wouldn't learn or achieve much because a lot of factors come into play which most people lack - the mixing desk, the monitors, the room, the equipment, etc.

Waves NX series promises to deliver to you the experience of sitting in a real-world class studio (Abbey Road, Ocean Way, etc) from the comforts of your own home. Even so, would you be able to tell "how" your mix is supposed to sound?

The mixing & music production vids from IO Music Academy, Udemy, Groove3, etc., are probably helpful, but could also be YMMV thingies.

Tools like Adptr Metric AB, Izotope Ozone, Mastering the Mix stuff, etc., come to mind. Again, YMMV.

It's also known than some people mix and master in their homes and release their tracks like that, and some do hit the charts and become hits.

 

please tell me also.

 

Done.

 

MixedByAli