Mixing with Pink Noise - IT WORKS! 🤯
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.พ. 2020
- ►► Download my essential mixing guide here [FREE!]: bit.ly/31pFVIC
Pink noise mixing is often discussed, but do you know how to mix with pink noise? It’s a great little trick to mix quickly, by balancing levels, and can be used at the beginning, middle or end of the mixing process.
In this video, we go through the following:
1. I explain exactly what pink noise is
2. Why and how to mix with pink noise, and
3. Walk-through an example of mixing a track with pink noise
You can also download a free pink noise sample here: [bit.ly/PInkN0ise]
I first heard about this idea from Eddie Bazil in Sound on Sound magazine. Here is Eddie's original article: bit.ly/2ialwoL
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#mixing #pinknoise #homestudio
Have you tried this? Have a go at mixing with pink noise and let me know how you get on in the comments below! 🔥
EDM tips great! Thanks!
@@djdanrouge No worries!
So you are suggesting to disable all the effects on every individual/group track first before mixing with pink noise? Unless one has done precise gain-staging, the volume could change on tracks that have effects such as saturators and compressors, no? Or, are you just suggesting disable fx on the mix/master bus?
@@sammiller9855 That was a question I had in my last video, so I do cover that in this one: You can use it any stage, and yes...adding the effects will change the balance, so you could re-do this pink noise balance technique again later on in the mix if needs be.
@@EDMTips i may havea weird and rare question but at what level should your speakers should be at when mixing and what level should your PC sound must be when mixing
I think the equally important point is, and you did mention it, is selecting the right sounds that work well together. That’s a huge point. Thanks for the great video!!!
Absolutely! + 10 for this. So important. I look at it as a hierarchy from the idea, to the sound selection, to the mixing to the mastering. A weak lower layer makes it much, much harder to get a good end result. In short: you can't polish a turd! 💩
Your humor is classic. Keep it up. Love the videos and have learned a ton from ya.
Thanks, man...I appreciate the support!
I managed to mix some ambient freeform psychedelic experimental progressive jazz funk drum and bass using pink noise and listened to it through a tea strainer attached to a hose pipe from the next door neighbours dog kennel. It worked! As soon as the doctors okay me to be released back into the community I'll upload a video of the results 🤞👍
Nice! 😆
@@EDMTips Hello Will, On a serious note (no pun intended) I've been intrigued by pink noise mixing since seeing it on your channel. I've tried it with mixed results (again no pun intended). The best results have been with house tacks. I mainly use my beyerdynamic dt770 headphones for 90% of my musical creations and as a general rule of thumb gain stage to around -18 across the board. Using the downloadable pink noise sample you have provided, dropping it into logic it sounds crazy loud so I drop it to peak around -6 db and use it to mix each channel with that as a target. Do you think that's a good level or would you recommend perhaps a higher/lower target?
I think it's always good to refresh ones mind with some back to school mixing tutorials and as there are so many sometimes contradictory/confusing vids out there, I decided to view only your content and go through all of your vids and guides on mixing/mastering. I hope to have a firm and sure grip on mixing/mastering by the end of it and if successful will possibly send everyone at EDM tips a lovely cake. Thanks😎
I really love your channel and thanks for explaining this! I hadn't fully understood how people use pink noise but you explained it very clearly. I won't be doing this because I like mixing tracks all by ear but it's good to know how :)
You're welcome! Yep, I very rarely use this, personally, but it's quite handy for people who haven't been mixing very long (or get stuck, which happens to everyone from time to time).
Man, you are amazing .. yet another great tip I had no clue about - We'll put you out of work with all these golden tips ♥
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed it! :)
Even tho it's an old video and you might not reply, this was a really helpful and great video for people with not much mixing experience to a get a pretty solid volume mix for your tracks. One thing i think you forgot to mention is actually putting a RMS meter on the pink noise channel, for example that reach -14dbfs if that's your target for your genre, or maybe -10 or even -6 if you some heavy hardcore dubstep, so that way your track will reach more or less that RMS value perfect for the genre you are making. You can't just throw a -2dbfs RMS pink noise and mix based on that if you are doing some chill slow production, you need probably -18 or even less in some cases, depending on the genre you are making tho. This even said thanks a lot :D
A very good point Rick.
Amazing stuff, thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it! You're welcome :)
This is awesome. Thank you so much.
You're welcome, glad you found it helpful! 🙂
Great tutorial, thanks 4 sharing your knowledge!
You're welcome! What would you like me to cover in my next vid?
@@EDMTips well, I'm struggling to get my arturia drumbrute right in the mix, so any kind of tip about this would be great.;)
Thanks for the awesome tip. I'm confused about one aspect - why do you bypass all the effects? Many effects will alter the volume of tracks substantially, with gain matching being rather tricky. Do you recommend going through this pink noise process at the beginning, then working on the effects, repeating with the pink noise, and then making final tweaks? Or is this something best done on the raw tracks before anything else?
Good question! You can do it at any point to get a rough balance (pre effects and then afterwards, too)
Would like to see a demo of pink noise mixing using symphony orchestra music. Movie or game soundtrack and trailer.
Wow! I know literally nothing about mixing and I gave this a try on a track I'd made and I heard such a difference!
Nice work!
It's a thing. Whether the pros use the noise or not IDK, but most commercial song's frequency spectrum matches that of pink noise. So there is something to it.
dropping knowledge as usual thx
💣💥
Anything else you want me to cover?
@@EDMTips Anything you'd like to cover :) - I'm pretty big on full track constructions (starting from scratch) so i'll be on the lookout. You're a great teacher
@@sixtoronto4477 Thanks! I've got something coming tomorrow you might like then ;)
Thank you very much
Great job at explaining the d..n thing, on the other channels it is way more confusing ;-) thanks also for the sample buddy! Ps: What is the BPM for the pink noise? 😂😂😂😂😂😂
I tried this both after and before adding some compression to equal out the dynamic and it worked the best doing it at the very least adding some compression obviously.
This methode won't improve your mixing to like the next 5 levels, but it certainly makes ballancing the instruments much faster and efficient if you do it right.
People that do say otherwise are either just stubborn old farts or have no idea what they are doing with the methode.
The vocals are sitting somewhere back at the mix whilst some sharp synths crushing your ears and the dude goes “yeah it works well balanced mix” 😂😂😂
You can heard everywhere around you outdoor like river ocean wind fire in the city and inside when you breath with your noze So you can reproducing a great sound with pink noise It's also used into acoustic materials like boose or focal and studies like sound enginering or producer
If you do it after processing, doesnt that mess with certain compressors,? like if you had a glue compressor or one to catch the peaks at the beginning of a track ? Like the input "energy" going into the compressor would change, so wouldn't the actual compression change too ? or is it completely fine
Hi, can you do a Pink Noise for Orchestral Soundtrack style please. Thanks in advance & also for a great video.
Are they all samples gainstaged before this process or?
what if i have volume automation in any of my tracks? do i still have to bring volume faders down?
Tried it just now on a dnb track and it didn't work for me xD
I think I mix better with my ears, and as I go along.
This method does not work always best to do your mixing by ear, If the mix sounds good on different systems then it’s all good to go.
I think it works best when you have minimal bus layers. Drums, Vocals, FX.. and not each individual instrument
Hej Friend i have seen your first video its great with pink noise. But first i had to do gain staiging bevor pink noise. I have tinitus on the left ear an when i trie mono on master i hear not so lot. I trie stereo pink noise its ok too
Any 1 who disapproves that it works is probably usin it in private...😂😂😂as for me i LUV PINK NOISE..😍😍😍😍😙😚😚😚thankx for lesson i learned it from ur previous vid and helped alot👊👊👊👊
Glad to help!!
What volume should the pink noise itself be sitting at?
Great question! Peaking at -6dB for the pink noise should be alright. Any higher and you'll probably clip on your master.
You had the spectrum mirrored.
Hey EMD Tips, I've got one question. I've played pink noise through both VST and various wave samples and all of them appear "mirrored" on my spectrum while I was using both PRO-Q3 and SPAN, going from low frequency ascending by 3db per octave up to high frequencies. I cannot seem to find the right answer anywhere why is this happening. The logic should be to descend from subs to highs right? Because that's how an average good balanced mix should look like. Halp D:
im having the same issue! i tried 6 different pink noise samples, 3 different plugins (pro-Q3, Span, FL stock eq) and 2 different DAWs (FL Studio 20 & Ableton). The graph is ascending towards the higher frequency, which is strange! The plugin is set to default. If you found the solution, pls do send help. thanks.
Strange fact: i installed Cubase to check once again and it works there!!! the Spectrum Analyser of Cubase accurately shows a pink noise graph as it should be.
I can use my ARP Odyssey... it has a White and Pink noise generator ;-)
Perfect! Nice and easy ;)
Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm new. How does this process work if you have return tracks?
^^^
Turn them off while doing this and then get their levels by ear once you've balanced your main audio/midi tracks.
How loud do you set your pink noise? Unity? Or -6db? Or ??
Found the answer down below. 👍
Do you mix (procesing ,eq,compressing etc..) track induvudaly first, and then leveling with Pink Noise?
Hey Will , I'm going to try this on a new trance track I've just finished putting together, I'll let you know how it comes out! Cheers
Go for it!
@@EDMTips so I did it, and low and behold it does actually work, not 100% but it gets you to 95% there.. I just found drums came out a couple of dB too loud and the bass needed a couple of dB boost.. but I guess it's like everything else, it takes a little bit of time to learn how much should be audible over the pink noise, but thanks to this technique I was able to get a good mix and finally chalk up a full track as finished!! So there goes my new year's resolution haha 😂👍 onwards and upwards ! Thanks to great tips from you will! 🍻
Pink noise lowers 3db per octave across the range from left to right
Wow. Interesting. Thanks for posting!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
I Thought staging done after setting pink noise level to -12db and then set the level of each track ?? Is it not??
To my ancient ears it seems like the vocal track is buried once you do the pink noise levels adjustments. Am I correct in thinking that pink noise leveling is "just a starting point", or are my ears just that bad?
It really is “just a starting point”, yes. Certainly not a final mix, but a very helpful reset if you get stuck
Where is the link for the dynamic mix mentioned at 3:45?
Very interesting, but you forget to add the Pink noise sample to download 😂
Oh damn! Thanks for pointing it out!!! I'll do it now :)
bro u are gud
Me: Mixing a track in 30 seconds
Pensado: So you have chosen death?
😆
I thought that we should bring up volume on tracks from the most important to least (like kick first, bass, Vocal etc.) but all playing together instead of a single track at a time. Maybe it will be easier to hear a stacking frequencies this way 🤔
Two different techniques. Personally when I mix I use the "top-down" mixing approach that you've just alluded to
you can use operator to generate pink nose in ableton :)
Where can i find out the link of "dynamic mixing" lesson??
Oh yeah...I haven't made it yet! Sorry :/
Hip Hop/Drill would be nice
Great suggestion, I will add it to my list :)
Reason’s Maelstrom has a pink noise sample.
When should you not mix with pink noise? Is it good in every situation or is there some situations I should mix other ways instead?
It tends to be better for pop / EDM. I haven't tried it with rock music, but I bet it would work
@@EDMTips Okay thanks!
I prefer to add a free pink noise generator vst to the mix/master bus such as www.credland.net/pink/
i prefer the softer sound of the pink noise generator vst over your audio sample. It's a little softer, fuller sounding.
The noise you show at 00:50 doesn't look like pink noise. Pink noise has a roll-off at the higher frequencies, not a boost.
im having the same issue! i tried 6 different pink noise samples, 3 different plugins (pro-Q3, Span, FL stock eq) and 2 different DAWs (FL Studio 20 & Ableton). The graph is ascending towards the higher frequency, which is strange! The plugin is set to default. If you found the solution, pls do send help. thanks.
Strange fact: i installed Cubase to check once again and it works there!!! the Spectrum Analyser of Cubase accurately shows a pink noise graph as it should be.
It's the spectrum analyser of the plugin used.
It's the spectrum analyser of the plugin used.
did you try it with metal, heavy distorted sounds
No...only pop and EDM. Have you?
@@EDMTips no :)
What's the level of the pink noise?
can you do this with tinnitus?
soo you just turn off all effects on each track before balancing each one with the pink noise?
Well, I was doing it with no effects as an example, but you can also do it again when all the effects are as you like them (if you need or want to). Adding effects will change the balance of levels.
@@EDMTips so is it better to add effects to your vocals first and the balance each layer with pink noise or after you use pink noise?
after this i would master right?
On another video by someone he lowered each tracks so they just dissapeared under the pink noise.
Yep...that would work!
My mix is low after this method. What am I doing wrong?
Nothing. Low is good. You can add a utility to the master channel and add some gain if you need to but in general a low mix is good for exporting to have head room for the mastering process.
I don't even need to put the pink noise...
*Because my Headphones are broken so it's Create noise by itself*
😆
👍👍👍👍♥️
🙏🙏
It doesnt really work and is a slower process than mixing by ear
I can't see it
Appreciate it! 🙌🙏
just like that u cant add pink noise there is few things u have to do , i uploaded one link down please check n follow the instruction here d sample of pink noise it self is d wrong sample volume of the sample itself its too high so how much u mix its goona end up shit ......
That took forever for him to get to the point.
This advice did not help me very much, apparently in my case it does not work
This is not at all how you use pink noise to mix. You will have NO ROOM FOR MASTERING if you do it this way. First of all, you set the pink noise level to either -6 or -12db, or wherever you want the TOTAL volume of the song to be at. NOT 0. You'll have no room if you do that. You're using the pink noise to set the total volume of the song, so if you set it at 0db, your entire song will be 0db and you've ruined your mix. Second, you have to lower your PC audio a shitton, to the point where the pink noise is very very quiet. Not super inaudible, but the kind where it definitely becomes background noise. I usually use 4% on my Windows PC. Third, just because you've already mixed your grouped sounds together at your pre-mix stage, that doesn't mean that they won't sound their best with some pink noise of their own in singular tracks.
And FOURTH, last but DEFINITELY not least: This is not you mixing your track. This is you gainstaging your track, it's just the first step. Your levels at this point will be shitty. They will be 100% FLAT, which means if your song has any kind of complexity to it, it won't sound good at this point. You still need to adjust levels a lot, which is why you set the -12 on the pink noise, so you can safely add some DBs in total across some of your tracks without it ruining the mastering you put on after. Just make sure you leave 4-6DB at least for the mastering.
And another thing, just some small tips now, its better to just solo the pink noise track and then solo the other tracks one by one. No need to fully turn them off, its just more difficult that way. And do this technique BEFORE you flatten your channels, because if not you'll have a very hard time finding those singular samples you added wherever.
Like I said, you do this BEFORE THE REST OF THE MIXING. You still have to tweak a shitton of the audio levels after doing this.
All in all, using pink noise for gain staging is great if you don't really have the ear for this stuff. Personally I like to make sure my audio hardware is set to high enough volume that i'll always be working in -6 - -12db ranges, that way the pink noise isn't all that necessary.
honestly, after this rant i really expected your music to sound better than it does.
@@guycampbell733 Hahah thats fine, I'm not a great music producer, but I do know some things and I absolutely hate misinformation, hense the dumb rants. Forgot to pay my distributor so my latest music isnt on any big service anymore, only Soundcloud O.o
the sample that you've provided isn't a pink noise!
What is it? 🧐
@@EDMTipsI mean it has more harsh high ends just like white noise
Nose and eyes are two different things.
I cannot fault that observation.
The animated red cursor ring is pretty annoying tbh. Consider making it a static smaller one
Thanks for your feedback. I only added it because people complained about not seeing my cursor! 😆 I'll find a happy middle ground for the next vid...
EDM tips Additional feedback: It didn’t bother me. I usually watch production vids on a large tv, but watched this vid on mobile this time and it helped.
@@jaydekaytv Cool...thanks for weighing in!
u just ruined this video
@@billbull4924 How?