Not buying so many plugins because I thought it will make the sound better because the pros used them. Would have stuck with less and mastered those and really learn what they were doing and save money. Those waves deals got me though.
That’s what I use too but recently been using MPC. I was sold on S1 because of the ease of use with the drag and drop feature when it first came out and it seemed like it was going to be the easiest to learn. I wanted a linear workflow like logic but wasn’t able to afford a Mac back then so S1 seemed like the best choice. I mostly just make beats so if I was going to choose a new daw today for making beats knowing what I know now, and had the time to learn a new daw for making beats it will probably be Ableton. Ableton seemed harder to learn back when I tried the demo but if I was to spend more time on it I think it will be the best workflow in a daw to make beats. I feel like you can get super creative with it. Nonetheless, S1 is probably the best overall daw out there and can do everything all the other daws can and more.
To add to the File Management section, this also goes for your sample library. Over time, you'll get a ton of sample packs, drum kits, loops, etc. It will get to a point that browsing them by alphabetical folder name doesn't help much. I recommend setting up parent folders by something like genre or purpose of sound, i.e. trap, RnB, rock, EDM, dubstep, etc. or found sound and foley, breaks and grooves, vocals, etc. This will help you organize your sounds a lot better. Another pro-tip, add a ! or $ or some sort of special character to your favorite packs/kits' folder name to bump them up to the top of the list alphabetically when browsing. This same concept applies for VST/plugin management. Sort and arrange for better and faster browsing/selection in the DAW. Also, setting up a system for backing up your files is critical. It's not a matter of if a hard drive will fail, it's a matter of when. You will have hard drive/computer failures, and you will lose data. These events never wait for you to plan properly, they will happen whenever, and you don't want to lose a few months to a year of data. So while external hard drives and options are nice, I highly recommend investing in cloud storage. A lot of services are typically cheap, only like $2 a month for like 100GB, which is more than enough for music projects. Either make it so your default save location is directly into a cloud space, or go the extra mile. I save locally, but also use a ROBOCOPY script combined with Windows Task Scheduler that kicks it off every morning to copy all my projects to my OneDrive folder. My backups are automated daily and I don't have to stress this anymore. While that's a Windows solution, I'm sure there are Apple equivalents. Take this from someone who's always had extra HDDs and external hard drives, but got complacent with thinking about backing things up, and still having lost a year of my projects due to a HDD crash. Automate this part of your life.
I wasn't keen on hanging a wooden framed acoustic panel above my head, I have them on the walls, and they're heavy! So I got a mattress protector, like a padded fitted sheet, stapled it to the ceiling above my mixing position, and filled it with pillows and cushions (Down filled pillows seem to work very well). It made a huge difference to the clarity of what I'm hearing, and how much more quietly I can mix and still hear everything clearly. It cost next to nothing, as it all came from the 'Dog Bedding' bin at the local charity shop, which are just items they want to throw away really, and being white, it's not very noticeable, although it's easily covered with a bit of fabric if you want to make it look 'cool'.
@@BaddBadgerYeah, it works really well. I do have other treatment, I made my own panels, but that's what made the biggest difference. I did it because Streaky said 'a cloud' above your mixing position would make a big difference, and it certainly does! And if anything falls on my head, it'll just be pillows! Better than a heavy panel. Oh, and you don't have to fix staple or drawing pin holes, paint will fill them, so you haven't really damaged anything. I'm renting a Government owned house, and it's not a problem when we have our yearly inspection, there's no repairing required if we move out, so a landlord should be fine with it.
I bought the Music Production Suite 6.5 the other day thanks to the sale. Just a couple days in, I'm really liking the Assistant. Like Sam said here, it's like a personized preset based on your track. Then you can tweak with some easy controls. I had a mix of a song going before, which I kinda liked but it felt a little off. So, I took all the tracks and put them through Neutron, mostly trusted the Assistant just so I could see what the end result would be. Well, I'm liking it better than my previous mix. It just seems to glue together better, feels more like a song I'd hear on the radio. Anyway, I'm really happy with the plugins (nectar, neutron, ozone i've used) so far. And the more I watch the iZotope videos on this channel, i see some genuine people who really believe in it and know what they're talking about. Figured I'd leave a comment and share my experience so far after a couple of days with iZotope!
I'm somewhat intermediate to advanced, i've learned that if the sound on the eq doesn't push over the 3/4 line then it probably isn't loud enough and so when i eq it .. i make sure that instead of taking away frequencies, i should boost the ones opposite to that which i would have cut, so the gain is raised while the same exact EQ is also made. WIN .. WIN. No frequency cuts or drops, only a boost where i wanted the sound to stand out ( on the sounds that lack volume). With sounds that are loud already, yes i do the regular eq cuts and passes.
If you are new to production - you have limited chance of making a sophisticated DAW choice decision. You are better off picking one that has incredible training and support (so Ableton being a winner here), and reassess later. It is surprisingly straightforward to switch DAWs at a later stage once you know your way around one well (I have recently discovered).
Something I keep doing, despite having learnt better, is not naming the track BEFORE I hit record. So days, weeks, or even months later, if I'm looking for a raw track that was left behind in an early edit, or deleted from the edit version I'm currently working on, instead of looking for 'Lick2 Take three', I have to go through a heap of files named 'Track 44 Take three' 'Track 45 Take three" etc etc. Too often, I just hit T, another numbered empty track appears, already set to input one by default, and I hit record. It's quick, and good for vocals, but later, if you don't rename the clips, and the tracks, you'll have to listen to find out if track 67 is a vocal take or a guitar take. Selecting 'renaming clip renames the source file' in the settings is a good work around though. At least then, if I go back to the early Edits looking for something that was deleted after they were saved, when I find it, I can rename it in the DAW, and easily find it in the Project folder. Just a bit of advice that might save someone some time. 🙂 I should point out, in Waveform, when you make a big change, you can 'Save Edit As' and leave the original Edit intact, so as I progress, unneeded tracks are deleted. If later, you are not happy with the Take or Comp Clip you chose, maybe after processing a mistake stands out, or you've just mis/over processed and want to go back to the raw recordings or a version with less processing, you can go back to an earlier edit and find what you need, but if you've labelled things correctly, you could just find and drop the clip from the project folder into your current session.
If people ask whether you are the guy from Pirate Software, just do a Howard Stern impression and call them Goblins 😅 That way, it'll be funny for both. Nice tips Sam 😀👍
For the DAW choice, something you didn't touch on is how each and every DAW's plugin processes are very different! For instance, Reaper can do 91 instances of Waves Q10 plugins with 1db boost at 1khz, on an Apple Mac with M1 chip and 8 cores. In Cubase 87 instances, in Pro Tools 77 instances, and it goes down from there through the rest of them(Don't think Bitwig was tested though), WAYYY DOWN! Point being the efficiency is very different as well as the workload! IMO, if your not in a Pro studio, you should use REAPER no questions! We always think if it costs more it's better.....THAT IS NOT THE CASE WITH SOFTWARE!!! Especially because you never really OWN software! Ask any mature Studio Engineer if they still use those same plugins they bought in 2003?
Yeah, i'm just converting a lot of old projects over to Reaper now. It opens a poject so fast compared to any other DAW i've tried. But for me, i just don't find it an inspiring DAW to start a project in. But maybe that'll change with more use.
@@michaelgraflmusic I would say underrated if we compare it with the "big names" out there. It's not even mentioned in this video. But it's good to know that's gaining popularity, it deserves it!
Reaper the best daw. I buy all vst and vsti. Like everybody is seing this video also buys 3 party vst. The argument of no instruments or Ugly vst on Reaper really doesn't matter😊😊😊
Fl Studio - Fast and easy creativity, easy to learn.. easy interface, easy stock plugins. Ableton - Easy automation, Awesome stock plugins, easy mixing interface, best looking DAW, ... overwhelming overall interface, learning curve can slow down new users even experienced users. Logic Pro x - Beautiful design and simple interface, .... only for MAC :( NO ABLETON DOES NOT MAKE KICK DRUMS HIT HARDER, THAT'S PARTLY TRUE, ONLY BECAUSE FL STUDIO preset project templates have a limiter on the master which is easily removed with 2-3 clicks and templates can be changed in settings .. permanently removing the limiter from the master on all future FL Studio projects, and so ableton loses their (louder kick drum) myth. Ableton's only selling point to other daw users is (the drums hit harder) based on a lie.
Hey thanks for checking out the video! Mixing with headphones is possible, though not without its challenges. Check out this blog we put together on tips for mixing with headphones: www.izotope.com/en/learn/tips-for-producing-and-mixing-with-headphones.html We also did a full episode on mastering with headphones, if that's of interest too: th-cam.com/video/gArab0zS6mQ/w-d-xo.html
The reality is that most home studios are all about compromise. I have just bought some great speakers, but i have elderly neighbors. So it's headphones 90% of the time here. Just don't be an idiot like me... If you are mixing brutal techno kicks, turn the volume down AND have frequent breaks. I ignored this advice and have lost a huge portion of my hearing in just over a year.
Gosh. how many times have I heard this... logic is the best, noo FL studio is bests and I always replied "you were in the anus and saw shit" Reason is better... and after a while... than eJay hehehe... just out of curiosity Let me ask you, how many square meters do you have in this room? I think I have something similar and I heard from these same guys that "Yamaha's HS8s are too big for such a small room" maybe so, but when I plugged the bassreflexx that is in the back of them, the sponge stopped lying to me in the long end and instead of diffusers and absorbers, decorations made of parties, and a carpet on the floor, of course ;) I will also mention that in tonal balance, when creating your own reference line, I recommend not including the entire song in it, but cutting out a loop at the climax of the song, then it does not take into account the section without bass, for example, thanks to which the reference spectrum is more precisely... greetings from Poland to you, Sam and the whole entire Izotope team😊
Good ones! We've done a few videos on those topics, if you're interested in learning more: th-cam.com/video/9gfDhlhZ2Pc/w-d-xo.html th-cam.com/video/ku2-PkFKb3I/w-d-xo.html
What's a mixing / producing tip that you wish you knew sooner? Let us know in the comments!
Not buying so many plugins because I thought it will make the sound better because the pros used them. Would have stuck with less and mastered those and really learn what they were doing and save money. Those waves deals got me though.
Take breaks. Lot's and often.
That Jagermeister keeps your brain creative? ;-)
I learned a lot on the Pro Audio Essentials Branch from Izotope .. can someone tell me what happened to that?
@@PeterKluge I can’t say I’ve heard about it.
DAW, Studio one is the one that fits best for me
That’s what I use too but recently been using MPC. I was sold on S1 because of the ease of use with the drag and drop feature when it first came out and it seemed like it was going to be the easiest to learn. I wanted a linear workflow like logic but wasn’t able to afford a Mac back then so S1 seemed like the best choice. I mostly just make beats so if I was going to choose a new daw today for making beats knowing what I know now, and had the time to learn a new daw for making beats it will probably be Ableton. Ableton seemed harder to learn back when I tried the demo but if I was to spend more time on it I think it will be the best workflow in a daw to make beats. I feel like you can get super creative with it. Nonetheless, S1 is probably the best overall daw out there and can do everything all the other daws can and more.
S1 is the best.
I don’t mind studio one especially because it’s pretty similar to logic
Big S1 fan for a decade now
To add to the File Management section, this also goes for your sample library. Over time, you'll get a ton of sample packs, drum kits, loops, etc. It will get to a point that browsing them by alphabetical folder name doesn't help much. I recommend setting up parent folders by something like genre or purpose of sound, i.e. trap, RnB, rock, EDM, dubstep, etc. or found sound and foley, breaks and grooves, vocals, etc. This will help you organize your sounds a lot better. Another pro-tip, add a ! or $ or some sort of special character to your favorite packs/kits' folder name to bump them up to the top of the list alphabetically when browsing. This same concept applies for VST/plugin management. Sort and arrange for better and faster browsing/selection in the DAW.
Also, setting up a system for backing up your files is critical. It's not a matter of if a hard drive will fail, it's a matter of when. You will have hard drive/computer failures, and you will lose data. These events never wait for you to plan properly, they will happen whenever, and you don't want to lose a few months to a year of data. So while external hard drives and options are nice, I highly recommend investing in cloud storage. A lot of services are typically cheap, only like $2 a month for like 100GB, which is more than enough for music projects. Either make it so your default save location is directly into a cloud space, or go the extra mile. I save locally, but also use a ROBOCOPY script combined with Windows Task Scheduler that kicks it off every morning to copy all my projects to my OneDrive folder. My backups are automated daily and I don't have to stress this anymore. While that's a Windows solution, I'm sure there are Apple equivalents.
Take this from someone who's always had extra HDDs and external hard drives, but got complacent with thinking about backing things up, and still having lost a year of my projects due to a HDD crash. Automate this part of your life.
Dang, where's the book?
great video and create creator, Sam is amazing
I wasn't keen on hanging a wooden framed acoustic panel above my head, I have them on the walls, and they're heavy! So I got a mattress protector, like a padded fitted sheet, stapled it to the ceiling above my mixing position, and filled it with pillows and cushions (Down filled pillows seem to work very well). It made a huge difference to the clarity of what I'm hearing, and how much more quietly I can mix and still hear everything clearly. It cost next to nothing, as it all came from the 'Dog Bedding' bin at the local charity shop, which are just items they want to throw away really, and being white, it's not very noticeable, although it's easily covered with a bit of fabric if you want to make it look 'cool'.
Genius! I'm totally nicking this idea.
@@BaddBadgerYeah, it works really well. I do have other treatment, I made my own panels, but that's what made the biggest difference. I did it because Streaky said 'a cloud' above your mixing position would make a big difference, and it certainly does! And if anything falls on my head, it'll just be pillows! Better than a heavy panel. Oh, and you don't have to fix staple or drawing pin holes, paint will fill them, so you haven't really damaged anything. I'm renting a Government owned house, and it's not a problem when we have our yearly inspection, there's no repairing required if we move out, so a landlord should be fine with it.
yup all seems so simple now but great tips to remember! I stress reductive EQ and HPF almost more than anything else when working with a new artist
I bought the Music Production Suite 6.5 the other day thanks to the sale. Just a couple days in, I'm really liking the Assistant. Like Sam said here, it's like a personized preset based on your track. Then you can tweak with some easy controls. I had a mix of a song going before, which I kinda liked but it felt a little off. So, I took all the tracks and put them through Neutron, mostly trusted the Assistant just so I could see what the end result would be. Well, I'm liking it better than my previous mix. It just seems to glue together better, feels more like a song I'd hear on the radio. Anyway, I'm really happy with the plugins (nectar, neutron, ozone i've used) so far. And the more I watch the iZotope videos on this channel, i see some genuine people who really believe in it and know what they're talking about. Figured I'd leave a comment and share my experience so far after a couple of days with iZotope!
I'm somewhat intermediate to advanced, i've learned that if the sound on the eq doesn't push over the 3/4 line then it probably isn't loud enough and so when i eq it .. i make sure that instead of taking away frequencies, i should boost the ones opposite to that which i would have cut, so the gain is raised while the same exact EQ is also made. WIN .. WIN. No frequency cuts or drops, only a boost where i wanted the sound to stand out ( on the sounds that lack volume). With sounds that are loud already, yes i do the regular eq cuts and passes.
If you are new to production - you have limited chance of making a sophisticated DAW choice decision. You are better off picking one that has incredible training and support (so Ableton being a winner here), and reassess later. It is surprisingly straightforward to switch DAWs at a later stage once you know your way around one well (I have recently discovered).
Something I keep doing, despite having learnt better, is not naming the track BEFORE I hit record. So days, weeks, or even months later, if I'm looking for a raw track that was left behind in an early edit, or deleted from the edit version I'm currently working on, instead of looking for 'Lick2 Take three', I have to go through a heap of files named 'Track 44 Take three' 'Track 45 Take three" etc etc. Too often, I just hit T, another numbered empty track appears, already set to input one by default, and I hit record. It's quick, and good for vocals, but later, if you don't rename the clips, and the tracks, you'll have to listen to find out if track 67 is a vocal take or a guitar take. Selecting 'renaming clip renames the source file' in the settings is a good work around though. At least then, if I go back to the early Edits looking for something that was deleted after they were saved, when I find it, I can rename it in the DAW, and easily find it in the Project folder.
Just a bit of advice that might save someone some time. 🙂
I should point out, in Waveform, when you make a big change, you can 'Save Edit As' and leave the original Edit intact, so as I progress, unneeded tracks are deleted. If later, you are not happy with the Take or Comp Clip you chose, maybe after processing a mistake stands out, or you've just mis/over processed and want to go back to the raw recordings or a version with less processing, you can go back to an earlier edit and find what you need, but if you've labelled things correctly, you could just find and drop the clip from the project folder into your current session.
Jager! Yeahhhh bro. :-)
Great tips, Sam!
Thanks in advance 💯
If people ask whether you are the guy from Pirate Software, just do a Howard Stern impression and call them Goblins 😅 That way, it'll be funny for both. Nice tips Sam 😀👍
For the DAW choice, something you didn't touch on is how each and every DAW's plugin processes are very different! For instance, Reaper can do 91 instances of Waves Q10 plugins with 1db boost at 1khz, on an Apple Mac with M1 chip and 8 cores. In Cubase 87 instances, in Pro Tools 77 instances, and it goes down from there through the rest of them(Don't think Bitwig was tested though), WAYYY DOWN! Point being the efficiency is very different as well as the workload! IMO, if your not in a Pro studio, you should use REAPER no questions! We always think if it costs more it's better.....THAT IS NOT THE CASE WITH SOFTWARE!!! Especially because you never really OWN software! Ask any mature Studio Engineer if they still use those same plugins they bought in 2003?
Yeah, i'm just converting a lot of old projects over to Reaper now. It opens a poject so fast compared to any other DAW i've tried. But for me, i just don't find it an inspiring DAW to start a project in. But maybe that'll change with more use.
Reaper best underrated DAW
How is it underrated? It's one of the most popular DAWs out there.
@@michaelgraflmusic I would say underrated if we compare it with the "big names" out there. It's not even mentioned in this video. But it's good to know that's gaining popularity, it deserves it!
💯
Reaper the best daw. I buy all vst and vsti. Like everybody is seing this video also buys 3 party vst. The argument of no instruments or Ugly vst on Reaper really doesn't matter😊😊😊
Could you make the subtitles available in Portuguese, please?
Fl Studio - Fast and easy creativity, easy to learn.. easy interface, easy stock plugins.
Ableton - Easy automation, Awesome stock plugins, easy mixing interface, best looking DAW, ... overwhelming overall interface, learning curve can slow down new users even experienced users.
Logic Pro x - Beautiful design and simple interface, .... only for MAC :(
NO ABLETON DOES NOT MAKE KICK DRUMS HIT HARDER, THAT'S PARTLY TRUE, ONLY BECAUSE FL STUDIO preset project templates have a limiter on the master which is easily removed with 2-3 clicks and templates can be changed in settings .. permanently removing the limiter from the master on all future FL Studio projects, and so ableton loses their (louder kick drum) myth.
Ableton's only selling point to other daw users is (the drums hit harder) based on a lie.
btw nice jegermeister behind u :D
is it possible to do right mix with headphones only?
Hey thanks for checking out the video! Mixing with headphones is possible, though not without its challenges. Check out this blog we put together on tips for mixing with headphones: www.izotope.com/en/learn/tips-for-producing-and-mixing-with-headphones.html
We also did a full episode on mastering with headphones, if that's of interest too: th-cam.com/video/gArab0zS6mQ/w-d-xo.html
100% - I only work in headphones now for 3yrs and I am happier with my mixes than ever before.
The reality is that most home studios are all about compromise. I have just bought some great speakers, but i have elderly neighbors. So it's headphones 90% of the time here. Just don't be an idiot like me... If you are mixing brutal techno kicks, turn the volume down AND have frequent breaks. I ignored this advice and have lost a huge portion of my hearing in just over a year.
Gosh. how many times have I heard this... logic is the best, noo FL studio is bests and I always replied "you were in the anus and saw shit" Reason is better... and after a while... than eJay hehehe... just out of curiosity Let me ask you, how many square meters do you have in this room? I think I have something similar and I heard from these same guys that "Yamaha's HS8s are too big for such a small room" maybe so, but when I plugged the bassreflexx that is in the back of them, the sponge stopped lying to me in the long end and instead of diffusers and absorbers, decorations made of parties, and a carpet on the floor, of course ;) I will also mention that in tonal balance, when creating your own reference line, I recommend not including the entire song in it, but cutting out a loop at the climax of the song, then it does not take into account the section without bass, for example, thanks to which the reference spectrum is more precisely... greetings from Poland to you, Sam and the whole entire Izotope team😊
Gain staging and mixing in mono!
Good ones! We've done a few videos on those topics, if you're interested in learning more: th-cam.com/video/9gfDhlhZ2Pc/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/ku2-PkFKb3I/w-d-xo.html
He looks like James Bowen the Bob (cat owner)
9th tip save your project every 5 minutes
10th tip save every ''edit'' like part 1 and part 2 etc
First comment 🎧🎶🎶🎶🔥🔥🔥
Highpassing and turning up a track is not the same as boosting high end. At all.
Second comment 😂
💯