The first tip with compression on the vocals sounding natural I've never heard anyone say before but now that you do explain it, it makes a lot of sense. Thanks as always for the advice!!
It took me years to figure out that in some situations it strangely works. I still have to be careful not to bring up noise, breaths and mouth noise too much when applying that sort of compression but there are amazing tools these days to reduce those noises anyway.
Compression on vocals can harm the intonations and the shaping that the artist is doing. Maybe compression could work well with an automated knob to help shape around the voices decrecendo and Crescendo and paying close attention to the shape the artist is going for. Compression is good. But it's a double edged sword if you're making expression with your voice. But one edge of that sword is definitely hurting more than the other(compression leveling out the volume).
If I see a too big difference in loudness between words, I chop these parts and adjust gain manually. Only after that, I use heavy compression. It works like magic. I figured out it about 6 months ago. The only problem I sometimes encounter is that the higher frequencies become quite annoying after heavy compression.
thank you for bringing up the hearing loss point !! this is something I haven't heard much discussion on really as well, but now with this video feel I should treat with a much greater deal of seriousness you really are providing a great help to this generation and the next generation of musicians, and I very much appreciate this aspect of you and your content
There really needs to be big warning signs in every video to new musicians to mix at low volumes, keep an eye on their levels, and never try to make things more present by just adding more gain. 2 years into making music I discovered I had lost significant hearing in my right ear, all because I was trying to learn FL studio by following trap beat tutorials with loud 808s and loud kicks that just fought for volume and not a single tutorial showed how to mix them together to have them both sound cohesive, it was always just "I added this cymatics distortion to the kick to make it punchier, I added fruity fast distortion to my 808, etc." Now everything I hear in headphones sounds like it's panned to the left because I was just uneducated about what to be careful with and how to handle competing bass frequencies, and it makes me wonder how much of my solo-produced music will be hurt by the fact that I can't accurately hear stereo or right-panned sounds.
Honestly I am so sorry to hear about your issues. I have always tried my best to keep my audio examples relatively low compared to my voice volume to help viewers avoid blasting their ears. I hope your hearing recovers and balances out, maybe try using studio monitors at a lower volume and turn the left one down a little? It might give your ears more rest?
@@inthemix Unfortunately I have very limited space so I have to stick to headphones, I've tried audio balancing but I kept running into issues (I don't remember what they were so I'll try again soon.) Honestly I know nothing about ear damage so I don't know what the chance of recovery is. I've been going easy on my ears for close to a year now and the damage has remained the same.
@@ZachNaI am not an expert on hearing loss. I was told that the damage is permanent, it has to do with a wall of cells in the ear that once weakened by too long an exposure to loud sounds, does not regenerate, leading to tinnitus and the likes. From what I know, this is the reason why construction workers must use ear protectors on the job.
@@ZachNa Have you tried getting your ears checked? I am serious, MAYBE it's just wax buildup. I had this twice, went to a drugstore (or anywhere where they offer it) and they jet a hose of water to push the clog out and it's like stepping out of water. And yes, it can happen in only one ear (mine are always one more than the other). It's not a hygiene issue either
YESS!! Finally, someone with reach seriously addressing hearing protection! I'm in my 30s and last year I came very close to a tinnitus! I was in the club and it was too loud for too long. (I don't go often but when I go I go hard.) I thought it wouldn't matter but it left me with a faint noise in my ears I kept hearing for weeks! Luckily, it's either gone or so insanely faint these days that I'd probably have to be in a totally noise-isolated room and focus hard to identify it. Other than that, my hearing is perfectly fine. Bottom line is don't fucking mess with your ears. You only have to screw them one time too much... Btw, I ordered the earplugs from Eargasm to be protected next time I go clubbing and so far I dig them! I would love reviews on other earplugs that protect you well but still allow for a great experience in the club or at an event. Maybe something that could be considered on this channel in the future! :)
Thank you for sharing your story, others will hear it and learn from it! So true that it only takes 1 loud exposure to mess them up for a while or potentially permanently if you're unlucky. I'm glad you got through it and took the steps to have a better time at your next gig!
Thank you for bringing up hearing loss in the video and dedicating so much of the video to talking about it. Some of the best musicians I've ever had the pleasure of playing and creating with are also people who are suffering from hearing loss simply because they were not properly informed about it when they were young. It was extremely meaningful to hear you say that hearing loss does not make someone less valuable as a musician or as a person.
Dude, if you can still hear up to 18K you're extremely fortunate. Most people in my age range (40s) can't hear anything over 16K. And if you've played in bands or spent a lot of time blasting music like I have, you can't hear anything over 14K. It's one of those things you just have to be aware of while you're mixing. I still feel like my mixes have gotten pretty good, but I have to be sure not to make them super bright.
Top bloke, good on you shining light on the hearing loss issue. Highly professional, consistent high quality content, always. Thank you for your service to the industry 🙏
Fantastic video! I learned some of these the hard way. After being a viewer for a few years just wanted to comment and say thanks for getting such useful information out to people who need it! ✌
It's a bit of an odd concept. I was completely against heavy compression for a couple of years and I don't know where I picked up that idea from. Honestly don't know how that got into my brain but I'm glad that I can see past it now and learn from the mistake.
@@inthemix And I have watched all your compression videos, and it would leave me a little confused when I watch others going for agressive compressor settings, i have seen someone going for 12:1 ratio, 0.1ms attack time and it sounded good
Overhere almost everyone is using earplugs at concerts, when I was young nobody used them and I tell you that our concerts were way louder than 100 db. I still miss it sometimes because I like loud concerts. Be careful with your ears because they can only get worse and never get better. With Atmos coming out I think the loudness target for streaming will probably go to -18 Lufs, so basically all playback devices will be forced to a lower volume. Who knows when it might change. Great video and yes 25 db of compression on vocals can do wonders 😊
09:28 My hearing has been tested and it's perfectly fine. I have, however, always found it difficult to understand people's words when there is background noise or if the room has a high amount of reverberation. Audio Processing Disorder exists, (which is to do with the brain's ability to process sound), and it is unrelated to hearing loss, (which is a result of damage to the hair cells inside the ear).
You are absolutely correct and I could have been more clear. I just listed a few possible signs in the hopes of helping. I know that I can struggle to hear individual voices if I am not paying close attention in loud spaces too.
I've been watching your videos since you've had less then 100K subscriber and I was really young. I always loved music and your videos always inspired me to become an professional/best music editor. Unfortunately, due to financial instability I had to throw my dream felt like I was leaving myself. Till this day your videos brings happiness into my heart thinking people are getting these knowledge for free.❤️
Love all the points made in the video! Glad you addressed the hearing loss issue. As a teenager I used to play super loud music with no ear plugs with my band in my parents shed, and I know it definitely did some damage to my hearing
Back in the early to mid-1990s I was wearing ear plugs to Rock and Metal concerts, and receiving some strange looks from those around me including my own friends; it felt like I was the only one wearing them. However I value my hearing plus I also noticed that wearing plugs helped with cleaning up the sound, and removing that high end distortion from P.A. system monitors being driven too loud and hard. The other benefit was being able to go home after the gig, and not have my hearing ringing and hissing away for days after. These days a few more people wear them but nowhere near enough. I've also been to gigs where the sound was IMHO perfect and no ear plugs required at all, and heard some people complaining it was not loud enough etc.
Your experience os very similar to mime. Some gigs sounds simply awful and sound better with plugs in. It’s insane that this is the state of live sound in 2024… other gigs sound perfect and no need for plugs!
only a few minutes in, but WHAT a fantastically helpful and insightful video this is! Wow, so good to hear someone applying thought and reason to the subjects :)
The biggest thing I could recommend on the hearing point is using references. Not just for comparing your mixes to other’s works but seeing what you can hear. Is there a song out there with more high frequencies and can you hear them? Also with the new AI Splitting tools you can see exactly where the important elements are set. Where does the bass peak? What does the Kick look like on an RTA. Where is its fundamental? Where’s the snare’s fundamental? How loud are the vocals and other elements. It has gotten me to where I want to be so much faster than trying to analyze the whole mix all at once.
There are too many videos about music production on youtube. I would say about 90% is not worth watching because its just clickbait or someone trying to convince the audience to buy something. But watching your videos really help a lot when trying to learn about this topic. Thank you :)
Very nice, thank you for also speaking about less prominent topics, especially hearing less even tho it is important for me and this industry as well I believe
About the hearing loss: I have tinnitus since I started making music with my band 20+ years ago. Yet I don't feel like it hinders me in hearing a lot of details in the music. Dave Grohl said something similar in a late night show, reporting of his ringing in the ears and still being able to mix and master music. That being said if I could turn back time and tell myself to wear earplugs right from the start during rehearsals and loud metal concerts... I'd definitely do that.
Hey Micheal. Absolutely amazing video. The first tip is something I noticed a lot when playing around with compression but I thought I was hearing things. Especially when you have already attained the right tonal balance
Amazing insights as always and please please continue... For me: Education and practice is on the top. If I were to start all over, I would not evet consider looking after all those high end plugins / sample packs in the beginning.
On vocals sounding natural : I usually work on rock songs. Even after a lot of volume automation, i had to go ahead and compress the vocals a lottt to make them cut through the mix. Having learnt music production from youtube, I used to always have a fear that I’m doing something wrong. Finally someone went ahead and said its normal to compress a lot.
Amazing, subscribed! Can you make one on the topic of ear sensitivity? I developed extreme fatigue or sensitiviy to high freq, after spending too many hours mixing with headphones over 10 years. Would love to hear your insight into this topic.
Great video. I carry eargasm ear plugs with me everywhere on my keychain. I even mix live sound with them, after getting the rough mix set up. I’ve yet to have any complaints voiced. In case anyone fears hearing damage, just because you have hearing issues doesn’t mean your career is over. Like many other injuries or disabilities, you can adapt. I have bad tinnitus and still work every day on projects ranging from indie low budget to multi million dollar projects for mega corporations. You can even compensate for frequency loss if you pay attention. I start almost every day by doing a slow frequency sweep to see if I’m having trouble with any frequencies. I find that when I’m congested or sick I have noticeable reduction in hearing around 8.5kHz
Since your last video about hearing loss and a really loud concert that made me question my hearing, I'm wearing ear plugs wherever it's loud: clubs, concerts, small cinemas (they seem to have the volume higher than the big cinemas for some reason),... And people actually find it cool. And if not, then I tell them that I need to protect my hearing because I make music, then they understand. And when we leave and everybody's ears ring except mine, it's the best feeling ever and you realize that you did something good for yourself. All of this to say: Michael, you're so right about ear plugs! 100% recommend them
I would absolutely love to hear you talk more about hearing protection. I’m 18 and have ever since I started making music been protective with my hearing. Nonetheless, there are plenty of times when I experience loud noises and don’t have earplugs available and I spend a long time afterwards worrying about whether it has affected my hearing negatively. Every time you mention something about the topic, it’s of great value for me and I’m sure for a lot of other people as well🙏
Thank you so much for all these advises, these are topics that almost nobody talks about, it's always great to learn something new from you! Keep it going and greetings from Colombia.
Mate, you're bang on with how moving away from the mic affects the volume. I recorded vocals on a track a few weeks back for a song where I am significantly louder in the chorus than the verse, so I took a slight step back (maybe 4-5 inches) from the mic. When I got home and sorted all of the tracks, I found that my chorus vocals were a lot lower than the verses. I was able to fix it with clip gain adjustment and, as you suggest here, fairly strong compression, but it's certainly something I will keep in mind for the future. I was worried about blowing out the mic, but I needn't have been concerned about that.
Thank you. What you have to watch out for is that when you move back, the recording also looses some bass and mids. Sometimes quite a lot to be honest! I'm glad you managed to fix it in post. I am continually surprised by the dynamic range of modern, good quality preamps. The ones in my mix pre 6 (the interface I used to record this video) are almost impossible to clip. When set right they can record whispers without floor noise and shouts/yells without clipping. It's amazing really!
I worked in hearing testing & hearing aids for almost 30 years. In my hearing work, I noted that marked hearing loss so very often shows up at 60 years old....and even 50. So many in the music business are aging baby boomers. I've been hearing talk of adding "air" and I suspect that is frequently a way of compensating for damaged high frequency hearing. As you say, there is rarely a discussion of that possibility. When shopping for a mixing engineer, do artists think to ask for a recent hearing test audiogram illustrating that the engineer has good working hearing?
You raise an important point. I have often thought about publishing an audiogram on my website for clients to see but I don't know if retaining hearing sensitivity definitely relates to better mixes/masters...I wish more research was done to be honest!
if i'm processing close up, quieter vocals, i'll often use a multiband compressor first to even out the bass, so that the compressor that follows isn't being rocked by sudden changes in low end proximity effect, that are less perceptible to the ear but often carry much more gain change information (liable to trigger the compressor and duck the sound more heavily) than higher stuff. i don't know if this is legit, but i find it to be an effective technique. on another note (haha), i have a pro friend who helps me, and the other day he had me go from a quite heavily compressed, soft vocal that sounded great (my work), to a lighter ratio with slightly lower threshold as the later part of the verse vocal began to carry more frustration/urgency. it worked great because the second part now has something a little spikier that can come through, carrying more of that emotionally charged stuff on the sound.
Firstly, that technique with the multiband comp sounds brilliant. I'm going to steal that if you don't mind! Adjusting ratios or using different compressors for different parts is often a great strategy too, I'm glad it worked for you!
The hearing loss, is what I thought about a lot recently. I wonder how a 60+ year old mixing engineer can do a proper mix for a pop song aimed to kids or young adults. Of course there are frequency measures to refer to, but your own ears are the only true tools to decide when you're satisfied with the mix. I often think my mixes are too muffled, but my younger friends doesn't seem to mind. Maybe they pick up frequencies I no longer can. (I'm 64). It's a interesting topic that isn't discussed that much.
I think if a person retains enough up to around 8-10kHz they can probably mix something that will work for most people. I think having some other ears in the studio/label probably helps a tonne to make sure no high frequency noise gets past you. I always load up my masters into a spectrum analyser at the end and see if there is any junk noise from 18kHz-96kHz that I've missed...because I don't have my dogs ears!
The human brain (a very clever thing), based on the experience of being exposed to sounds since birth, are filling in the missing frequencies... Missing frequencies by age (not by damage) that is...This is the true sense of psycho acoustic ;-) But if you damage your hearing in a young age, it will be very destructive compared to the natural way of aging and loosing frequencies from the top end and downwards.
Studio headphones try to present a more balanced and useful sound profile to the listener. This isn’t always pleasant but does help reveal issues in recordings and mixes. Consumer headphones often try to sound as pleasing as possible depending on your preference. Some try to mask issues by boosting bass or smoothing the treble, others use stylised eq profiles to suit a listeners preferences.
As a gigging musician, solo guitar and vox on a blues context, it is hard for me to perform using ear plugs of any sort, (not even in ear monitors are ok for me). I'm aware of probable damage..I think my solution for now is to use smaller guitar amps to push them to the sweet spot that feels good and inspires me. For too long I used the only gigging amplifier I could afford, and it was a bit bigger to accommodate most venues without sounding too "small" or get lost in the mix.
Using your amp like that sounds like a much better solution. Even well adjusted IEMS can sometimes just blast your ears with distortion unless a stage mix is perfect. Things always change during playback so a monitor amp is probably a really safe bet!
@@inthemix Yeah.. I don't use monitors for guitar, I use the amp on stage for that. Stage monitors are basically for vocals or anything I need to get from any of other instruments. The thing is, I mix and master my own stuff (for now at least) and its a bit of a gamble. This DIY age is a pain, but unfortunately that's what lots of musicians can do nowadays. I believe that it's always preferable to leave this stuff for pro engineers for a lot of reasons one of them being the best practices of not mixing our own work.
Some people still want to hear above 12khz or 12000hz it's the same thing, if you know anything about what 1hz is its the amount of times the speaker will vibrate per second or cycles per second ? You won't hear 1hz but it moves, now tell me why you trying to hear over 12000 cycles per second? It's like no instruments live in that frequency range , but yeah if you want tinnitus go ahead.
You are probably correct that no instruments "live" up there, however, almost any mid or treble range instrument will produce a tonne of overtones and harmonic distortion which is present in those upper frequencies. Sometimes this is very pleasant and necessary (cymbals, airy reverbs, guitar treble saturation etc) and sometimes it is just junk (unwanted preamp noise, hiss, static etc).
Applying a live eq curve to a band with a known sound might work but I would strongly advise against using any preset processing irrespective of the sound being processed.
I’ve been following some of the things I learned in your “Sound vs Sanity” video since I watched it a few months back and I can actually, wholeheartedly say that yeah, a lot of stuff in there is solid. It works. I’m more productive in general, not just in music production, but in life.
I wish I protected my ears better in my construction years, tinnitus in one ear is a strange beast. My hearing isn't "lost" I just have to focus through the ringing but can still hear 18 - 20k. I can only figure this is extremely good luck
i just started working in a car workshop, and the impact wrench is so loud i got some hearing protection for myself. at first everyone was like "huh, you have earplugs? haha" but i was like "i dont care, i dont want to suffer from ear damage" thank you for you pov on this, very helpful.
Back to hearing loss, somehow I used to lose a bit of hearing of left ear around 50hz to 150hz, I can't even say from what time this problem appears but firstly i thought it was a gear problems, chagned a lot of headphones (cause only in headphones i clearly can hear that i miss something in bass instrument), untill one day I swapped L/R channel and realized that not a gear - its my ear :d So after medical examination, I got the real reason, which came not really from my work, as such it was a deeper problem of breathing and how nose connected to the ear. Thats provide me a hearing loss of this freq. - (for everyone who want to know how it sounds to me, just load any track with big bass or 808, open Pro-Q3, add a low-shelf ban around 150hz - made it L/R only, and down it around -0.5-1db( add more if you want to have a clear result) - thats how its sounds to me most of the time).Its couldn't be really noticible for someonw of you but for me it really annoying sometimes. Back to making music, mixing etc., I realized that I didn't hear that problem on big systems, like studio monitors - there is sounds for me completly good without any issues, not like it was in my headset. And with time flying I really used to don't take it in mind that I have this trouble, I use some personal corrective EQ by Sonarworks for my headset to regain a bass a bit back to the comfort hearable value. And it still give me a great results, and don't make me sad about this problem. So yeah, hearing loss is a really complicated thing, which should make every single musician,producer take care of their health and when you feel that something is wrong then usuall - don't hesistate to talk about it. Its a part of ours job as a producers, so we can't hide it.
Oh dang, you can actually hear the 18k+ range?? My left ear cuts out around 16k, and my right about 14k... 27 years old, didn't start wearing hearing protection til I was 25! Take it seriously, people!!
i am overhearing sibilant frequencies, and i thought that it is because i have been training my ears for some time now, but now i know it's not because of the ear training. Anyways, these are nice small advices that actually change a lot!
After 20 years, in my opinion, neither incorrect EQ or compressor settings nor aging hearing are real problems. I get up in the morning and want to continue working on something and suddenly the mouse stops working or the audio interface is no longer recognized or something else. Almost every day there is something that can be fixed, ideally with a restart, but often only by reinstalling the OS and all software. Nowadays you can produce music on your computer. But only sometimes in between. 🙄
😩OMG… The EQ one really opened up my ears. All this time I’ve been Eq’ing each sound as a whole, never really thought about Eq’ing the mid/side or left/right information of each sound. I mostly thought of it as just making a sound wide and boy I was wrong. So when I heard you speak of this I was like “bruh… this might help fix some tracks that are layered”, especially the ones like future bass chord stacks where layers sound very different and have different detune sizes (I use Serum), but all come together to create one massive wide supersaw sound (Love😍future bass). This Video bumped up my experience like Ten levels dude. Thanks for always sharing, you’re one of the few TH-camrs I love and trust.🙏🏾❤ Also… this just goes to show how important EQ’s really are you know. I mean it literally shapes your sound.😂 Man…. Thank God for fabfilters Pro Eq.🙌🏾
Thankfully my hearing hasn't gotten much worse since I realized I had a pretty consistent ringing in my ears. Haven't been diagnosed, but probably tinnitus from too many shows and band practices without protection. I definitely wear ear plugs at shows and jams these days. I've always been happy with the hearos, but the clearest ear plugs ive ever had are earasers. They do a good job dropping the overall volume of everything to something more tolerable. Highs aren't muffled but also not ear splitting. Excellent vid!
Hearing has a lot to do with being able to focus and on what as well, so there is listening and then there is listening at least for me that is, if I can't understand someone and they can't speak correctly and loud enough it's usually their fault, just sayin 😁
I wanna say that I coped reviver like 6 months ago and its an absolutely beautiful plugin!
Thank you!
Just woke up, saw this video on my feed, and thought I was in a time loop for a second.
I can imagine!
??
The first tip with compression on the vocals sounding natural I've never heard anyone say before but now that you do explain it, it makes a lot of sense. Thanks as always for the advice!!
It took me years to figure out that in some situations it strangely works. I still have to be careful not to bring up noise, breaths and mouth noise too much when applying that sort of compression but there are amazing tools these days to reduce those noises anyway.
Compression on vocals can harm the intonations and the shaping that the artist is doing. Maybe compression could work well with an automated knob to help shape around the voices decrecendo and Crescendo and paying close attention to the shape the artist is going for. Compression is good. But it's a double edged sword if you're making expression with your voice. But one edge of that sword is definitely hurting more than the other(compression leveling out the volume).
@@inthemixthis is why you’re the goat of yt mixing advice man, thanks as always
If I see a too big difference in loudness between words, I chop these parts and adjust gain manually. Only after that, I use heavy compression. It works like magic. I figured out it about 6 months ago. The only problem I sometimes encounter is that the higher frequencies become quite annoying after heavy compression.
thank you for bringing up the hearing loss point !!
this is something I haven't heard much discussion on really as well, but now with this video feel I should treat with a much greater deal of seriousness
you really are providing a great help to this generation and the next generation of musicians, and I very much appreciate this aspect of you and your content
I wish I’d heard someone talk about it when I was younger. Just doing my part!
AZALI!! i love your music as well :3
You have no idea how much value you're constantly inputting into the world man
He forgot the tip where you need 3 fruity soft clippers on EVERYTHING
I dropped the ball on that one...
You mean Soundgoodizers?
@@NNNNNNNNNN-nnnnnnnnnn multiple soundgoodizers are reserved for the master chain, obviously!
@@inthemixplus 100% wet reverb on the master ofc
@@inthemix😂😂
There really needs to be big warning signs in every video to new musicians to mix at low volumes, keep an eye on their levels, and never try to make things more present by just adding more gain. 2 years into making music I discovered I had lost significant hearing in my right ear, all because I was trying to learn FL studio by following trap beat tutorials with loud 808s and loud kicks that just fought for volume and not a single tutorial showed how to mix them together to have them both sound cohesive, it was always just "I added this cymatics distortion to the kick to make it punchier, I added fruity fast distortion to my 808, etc." Now everything I hear in headphones sounds like it's panned to the left because I was just uneducated about what to be careful with and how to handle competing bass frequencies, and it makes me wonder how much of my solo-produced music will be hurt by the fact that I can't accurately hear stereo or right-panned sounds.
Honestly I am so sorry to hear about your issues. I have always tried my best to keep my audio examples relatively low compared to my voice volume to help viewers avoid blasting their ears. I hope your hearing recovers and balances out, maybe try using studio monitors at a lower volume and turn the left one down a little? It might give your ears more rest?
@@inthemix Unfortunately I have very limited space so I have to stick to headphones, I've tried audio balancing but I kept running into issues (I don't remember what they were so I'll try again soon.) Honestly I know nothing about ear damage so I don't know what the chance of recovery is. I've been going easy on my ears for close to a year now and the damage has remained the same.
@@ZachNaI am not an expert on hearing loss.
I was told that the damage is permanent, it has to do with a wall of cells in the ear that once weakened by too long an exposure to loud sounds, does not regenerate, leading to tinnitus and the likes.
From what I know, this is the reason why construction workers must use ear protectors on the job.
@@ZachNa Have you tried getting your ears checked? I am serious, MAYBE it's just wax buildup. I had this twice, went to a drugstore (or anywhere where they offer it) and they jet a hose of water to push the clog out and it's like stepping out of water. And yes, it can happen in only one ear (mine are always one more than the other). It's not a hygiene issue either
@@neuroxik I've used those before to no effect. I've also got extremely frequent tinnitus so it's likely permanent damage.
YESS!! Finally, someone with reach seriously addressing hearing protection! I'm in my 30s and last year I came very close to a tinnitus! I was in the club and it was too loud for too long. (I don't go often but when I go I go hard.) I thought it wouldn't matter but it left me with a faint noise in my ears I kept hearing for weeks! Luckily, it's either gone or so insanely faint these days that I'd probably have to be in a totally noise-isolated room and focus hard to identify it. Other than that, my hearing is perfectly fine. Bottom line is don't fucking mess with your ears. You only have to screw them one time too much... Btw, I ordered the earplugs from Eargasm to be protected next time I go clubbing and so far I dig them! I would love reviews on other earplugs that protect you well but still allow for a great experience in the club or at an event. Maybe something that could be considered on this channel in the future! :)
Thank you for sharing your story, others will hear it and learn from it! So true that it only takes 1 loud exposure to mess them up for a while or potentially permanently if you're unlucky. I'm glad you got through it and took the steps to have a better time at your next gig!
Thank you for bringing up hearing loss in the video and dedicating so much of the video to talking about it. Some of the best musicians I've ever had the pleasure of playing and creating with are also people who are suffering from hearing loss simply because they were not properly informed about it when they were young. It was extremely meaningful to hear you say that hearing loss does not make someone less valuable as a musician or as a person.
Dude, if you can still hear up to 18K you're extremely fortunate. Most people in my age range (40s) can't hear anything over 16K. And if you've played in bands or spent a lot of time blasting music like I have, you can't hear anything over 14K. It's one of those things you just have to be aware of while you're mixing. I still feel like my mixes have gotten pretty good, but I have to be sure not to make them super bright.
I'm 63 and have a natural LPF at about 8 kHz. Not sure about the dB/octave steepness though. 😉
When I saw a timestamp Windows are better and instantly think What about Mac? but it's actually a window 😭
Top bloke, good on you shining light on the hearing loss issue. Highly professional, consistent high quality content, always. Thank you for your service to the industry 🙏
Fantastic video! I learned some of these the hard way. After being a viewer for a few years just wanted to comment and say thanks for getting such useful information out to people who need it! ✌
I'll admit that I learned all of them the hard way! You're welcome, thanks for sticking with me over the years!
The first is eye opening. First time hearing about it
It's a bit of an odd concept. I was completely against heavy compression for a couple of years and I don't know where I picked up that idea from. Honestly don't know how that got into my brain but I'm glad that I can see past it now and learn from the mistake.
@@inthemix And I have watched all your compression videos, and it would leave me a little confused when I watch others going for agressive compressor settings, i have seen someone going for 12:1 ratio, 0.1ms attack time and it sounded good
The recording quality of your voice is outstanding. As expected from a man of the craft 👏
Given that I recorded and mixed this with a head cold/flu, I am very glad it turned out okay. My ears are toast today!
Always my go to for knowledge! Thank you 🙏
Your videos helped me learn a lot, especially the basics!
Overhere almost everyone is using earplugs at concerts, when I was young nobody used them and I tell you that our concerts were way louder than 100 db. I still miss it sometimes because I like loud concerts. Be careful with your ears because they can only get worse and never get better. With Atmos coming out I think the loudness target for streaming will probably go to -18 Lufs, so basically all playback devices will be forced to a lower volume. Who knows when it might change. Great video and yes 25 db of compression on vocals can do wonders 😊
09:28 My hearing has been tested and it's perfectly fine. I have, however, always found it difficult to understand people's words when there is background noise or if the room has a high amount of reverberation. Audio Processing Disorder exists, (which is to do with the brain's ability to process sound), and it is unrelated to hearing loss, (which is a result of damage to the hair cells inside the ear).
You are absolutely correct and I could have been more clear. I just listed a few possible signs in the hopes of helping. I know that I can struggle to hear individual voices if I am not paying close attention in loud spaces too.
Best tip: hearing protection! At 60, I wear ear plugs at work (noisy place) and let everyone know about that. And why I wear them. Thank you so much!!
I've been watching your videos since you've had less then 100K subscriber and I was really young. I always loved music and your videos always inspired me to become an professional/best music editor. Unfortunately, due to financial instability I had to throw my dream felt like I was leaving myself. Till this day your videos brings happiness into my heart thinking people are getting these knowledge for free.❤️
Love all the points made in the video! Glad you addressed the hearing loss issue. As a teenager I used to play super loud music with no ear plugs with my band in my parents shed, and I know it definitely did some damage to my hearing
Thanks mate! I think we all did some damage back in the day, at least we know better now!
Back in the early to mid-1990s I was wearing ear plugs to Rock and Metal concerts, and receiving some strange looks from those around me including my own friends; it felt like I was the only one wearing them. However I value my hearing plus I also noticed that wearing plugs helped with cleaning up the sound, and removing that high end distortion from P.A. system monitors being driven too loud and hard. The other benefit was being able to go home after the gig, and not have my hearing ringing and hissing away for days after. These days a few more people wear them but nowhere near enough. I've also been to gigs where the sound was IMHO perfect and no ear plugs required at all, and heard some people complaining it was not loud enough etc.
Your experience os very similar to mime. Some gigs sounds simply awful and sound better with plugs in. It’s insane that this is the state of live sound in 2024… other gigs sound perfect and no need for plugs!
michael, you're genuinely an absolute legend, especially for your realness and videos like this! much love 🤍
Thank you, you’re too kind!
We got another 10 years of advice before GTA 6.
I'll probably be at 30 years before GTA 7 too
Was that a Shure sm44a?
It was, very good observation! It's a pretty clean microphone, picks up all the sound /reverb in a room though.
nice advices here again...And yes, REVIVER is really a fantastic plugin ! Big THX !
only a few minutes in, but WHAT a fantastically helpful and insightful video this is! Wow, so good to hear someone applying thought and reason to the subjects :)
The biggest thing I could recommend on the hearing point is using references. Not just for comparing your mixes to other’s works but seeing what you can hear. Is there a song out there with more high frequencies and can you hear them? Also with the new AI Splitting tools you can see exactly where the important elements are set. Where does the bass peak? What does the Kick look like on an RTA. Where is its fundamental? Where’s the snare’s fundamental? How loud are the vocals and other elements. It has gotten me to where I want to be so much faster than trying to analyze the whole mix all at once.
There are too many videos about music production on youtube. I would say about 90% is not worth watching because its just clickbait or someone trying to convince the audience to buy something.
But watching your videos really help a lot when trying to learn about this topic. Thank you :)
Very nice, thank you for also speaking about less prominent topics, especially hearing less even tho it is important for me and this industry as well I believe
Damn bro. Always got a crazy amount of genuine advice. Thanks so much 🙏
About the hearing loss: I have tinnitus since I started making music with my band 20+ years ago. Yet I don't feel like it hinders me in hearing a lot of details in the music. Dave Grohl said something similar in a late night show, reporting of his ringing in the ears and still being able to mix and master music.
That being said if I could turn back time and tell myself to wear earplugs right from the start during rehearsals and loud metal concerts... I'd definitely do that.
Spotless advice as always thanks Michael 👍
Whey heyyyyyy!
Watching your videos is like having a really good friend that cares about you giving you solid advice! Love your videos, always helpful!
I am so happy to hear that. I hope you know that I do genuinely care for anyone watching this. We are all in this together :)
Hey Micheal. Absolutely amazing video. The first tip is something I noticed a lot when playing around with compression but I thought I was hearing things. Especially when you have already attained the right tonal balance
Amazing insights as always and please please continue...
For me: Education and practice is on the top. If I were to start all over, I would not evet consider looking after all those high end plugins / sample packs in the beginning.
On vocals sounding natural : I usually work on rock songs. Even after a lot of volume automation, i had to go ahead and compress the vocals a lottt to make them cut through the mix. Having learnt music production from youtube, I used to always have a fear that I’m doing something wrong. Finally someone went ahead and said its normal to compress a lot.
Thank you Michael!
Amazing, subscribed!
Can you make one on the topic of ear sensitivity? I developed extreme fatigue or sensitiviy to high freq, after spending too many hours mixing with headphones over 10 years.
Would love to hear your insight into this topic.
Great video. I carry eargasm ear plugs with me everywhere on my keychain. I even mix live sound with them, after getting the rough mix set up. I’ve yet to have any complaints voiced. In case anyone fears hearing damage, just because you have hearing issues doesn’t mean your career is over. Like many other injuries or disabilities, you can adapt. I have bad tinnitus and still work every day on projects ranging from indie low budget to multi million dollar projects for mega corporations. You can even compensate for frequency loss if you pay attention. I start almost every day by doing a slow frequency sweep to see if I’m having trouble with any frequencies. I find that when I’m congested or sick I have noticeable reduction in hearing around 8.5kHz
Thank you very much for your content and your clearance towards mixing, mastering and basics of producing.❤
Never regretted to have subbed since 2019
Since your last video about hearing loss and a really loud concert that made me question my hearing, I'm wearing ear plugs wherever it's loud: clubs, concerts, small cinemas (they seem to have the volume higher than the big cinemas for some reason),... And people actually find it cool. And if not, then I tell them that I need to protect my hearing because I make music, then they understand. And when we leave and everybody's ears ring except mine, it's the best feeling ever and you realize that you did something good for yourself.
All of this to say: Michael, you're so right about ear plugs! 100% recommend them
I would absolutely love to hear you talk more about hearing protection. I’m 18 and have ever since I started making music been protective with my hearing. Nonetheless, there are plenty of times when I experience loud noises and don’t have earplugs available and I spend a long time afterwards worrying about whether it has affected my hearing negatively. Every time you mention something about the topic, it’s of great value for me and I’m sure for a lot of other people as well🙏
Brother I use to ignore your videos because I thought you explain too much until i saw some one video that took my production 👌🔥 nw am the biggest fan
Thank you so much for all these advises, these are topics that almost nobody talks about, it's always great to learn something new from you! Keep it going and greetings from Colombia.
A friend of mine also told me that overcompressed vocals were how to make it sound good and I always wondered why, thanks for making sense out of it!
I agree with all the points you made. When I make my own studio will make sure it's filled with some natural light.
Thank you, i learnt a lot watching your videos, and i cannot wait to release my first songs, so thank you very much💜
I grow up watching your videos... most things I learn today its form your channel... big up your self @inthemix
thanks bro
❤❤This is golden! 😢
Thank you so much...
Who else can relate?
thanks for this! :)
My girlfriend was making fun of me at the last concert we went to because i wore ear plugs 😂😂
Well, time to grab an 1176 and do 20db of compression on everything now. You did this
Please no!
@@inthemix just kidding 😁
Love you speaking the truth!
Great video again. Love the way you talk about these topics. Calm. On point and honest ;)
Whats your speakers brand?
Thank you. I am using PSI monitors here.
Mate, you're bang on with how moving away from the mic affects the volume. I recorded vocals on a track a few weeks back for a song where I am significantly louder in the chorus than the verse, so I took a slight step back (maybe 4-5 inches) from the mic. When I got home and sorted all of the tracks, I found that my chorus vocals were a lot lower than the verses. I was able to fix it with clip gain adjustment and, as you suggest here, fairly strong compression, but it's certainly something I will keep in mind for the future. I was worried about blowing out the mic, but I needn't have been concerned about that.
Thank you. What you have to watch out for is that when you move back, the recording also looses some bass and mids. Sometimes quite a lot to be honest! I'm glad you managed to fix it in post.
I am continually surprised by the dynamic range of modern, good quality preamps. The ones in my mix pre 6 (the interface I used to record this video) are almost impossible to clip. When set right they can record whispers without floor noise and shouts/yells without clipping. It's amazing really!
I worked in hearing testing & hearing aids for almost 30 years. In my hearing work, I noted that marked hearing loss so very often shows up at 60 years old....and even 50. So many in the music business are aging baby boomers. I've been hearing talk of adding "air" and I suspect that is frequently a way of compensating for damaged high frequency hearing. As you say, there is rarely a discussion of that possibility. When shopping for a mixing engineer, do artists think to ask for a recent hearing test audiogram illustrating that the engineer has good working hearing?
You raise an important point. I have often thought about publishing an audiogram on my website for clients to see but I don't know if retaining hearing sensitivity definitely relates to better mixes/masters...I wish more research was done to be honest!
On point. Thank you!
if i'm processing close up, quieter vocals, i'll often use a multiband compressor first to even out the bass, so that the compressor that follows isn't being rocked by sudden changes in low end proximity effect, that are less perceptible to the ear but often carry much more gain change information (liable to trigger the compressor and duck the sound more heavily) than higher stuff. i don't know if this is legit, but i find it to be an effective technique.
on another note (haha), i have a pro friend who helps me, and the other day he had me go from a quite heavily compressed, soft vocal that sounded great (my work), to a lighter ratio with slightly lower threshold as the later part of the verse vocal began to carry more frustration/urgency. it worked great because the second part now has something a little spikier that can come through, carrying more of that emotionally charged stuff on the sound.
Firstly, that technique with the multiband comp sounds brilliant. I'm going to steal that if you don't mind!
Adjusting ratios or using different compressors for different parts is often a great strategy too, I'm glad it worked for you!
The hearing loss, is what I thought about a lot recently. I wonder how a 60+ year old mixing engineer can do a proper mix for a pop song aimed to kids or young adults. Of course there are frequency measures to refer to, but your own ears are the only true tools to decide when you're satisfied with the mix. I often think my mixes are too muffled, but my younger friends doesn't seem to mind. Maybe they pick up frequencies I no longer can. (I'm 64). It's a interesting topic that isn't discussed that much.
I think if a person retains enough up to around 8-10kHz they can probably mix something that will work for most people. I think having some other ears in the studio/label probably helps a tonne to make sure no high frequency noise gets past you. I always load up my masters into a spectrum analyser at the end and see if there is any junk noise from 18kHz-96kHz that I've missed...because I don't have my dogs ears!
The human brain (a very clever thing), based on the experience of being exposed to sounds since birth, are filling in the missing frequencies... Missing frequencies by age (not by damage) that is...This is the true sense of psycho acoustic ;-)
But if you damage your hearing in a young age, it will be very destructive compared to the natural way of aging and loosing frequencies from the top end and downwards.
that thumbnail tho 💀
Thank you!
Can you explain to us the difference between Headphone studio and headphone normal
Studio headphones try to present a more balanced and useful sound profile to the listener. This isn’t always pleasant but does help reveal issues in recordings and mixes.
Consumer headphones often try to sound as pleasing as possible depending on your preference. Some try to mask issues by boosting bass or smoothing the treble, others use stylised eq profiles to suit a listeners preferences.
Can I make a beat studio?@@inthemix
As a gigging musician, solo guitar and vox on a blues context, it is hard for me to perform using ear plugs of any sort, (not even in ear monitors are ok for me). I'm aware of probable damage..I think my solution for now is to use smaller guitar amps to push them to the sweet spot that feels good and inspires me. For too long I used the only gigging amplifier I could afford, and it was a bit bigger to accommodate most venues without sounding too "small" or get lost in the mix.
Using your amp like that sounds like a much better solution. Even well adjusted IEMS can sometimes just blast your ears with distortion unless a stage mix is perfect. Things always change during playback so a monitor amp is probably a really safe bet!
@@inthemix Yeah.. I don't use monitors for guitar, I use the amp on stage for that. Stage monitors are basically for vocals or anything I need to get from any of other instruments. The thing is, I mix and master my own stuff (for now at least) and its a bit of a gamble. This DIY age is a pain, but unfortunately that's what lots of musicians can do nowadays. I believe that it's always preferable to leave this stuff for pro engineers for a lot of reasons one of them being the best practices of not mixing our own work.
I think it would be a good idea to discuss tinnitus.
I am going to try and get some audiologists involved. Hopefully I can interview a few and get some good information out.
Some people still want to hear above 12khz or 12000hz it's the same thing, if you know anything about what 1hz is its the amount of times the speaker will vibrate per second or cycles per second ? You won't hear 1hz but it moves, now tell me why you trying to hear over 12000 cycles per second? It's like no instruments live in that frequency range , but yeah if you want tinnitus go ahead.
You are probably correct that no instruments "live" up there, however, almost any mid or treble range instrument will produce a tonne of overtones and harmonic distortion which is present in those upper frequencies. Sometimes this is very pleasant and necessary (cymbals, airy reverbs, guitar treble saturation etc) and sometimes it is just junk (unwanted preamp noise, hiss, static etc).
@@inthemix thanks for the heads up
Hey Michael, what's your opinion on Dave Natale's EQ Curve?
Applying a live eq curve to a band with a known sound might work but I would strongly advise against using any preset processing irrespective of the sound being processed.
@@inthemix Thank you
I’ve been following some of the things I learned in your “Sound vs Sanity” video since I watched it a few months back and I can actually, wholeheartedly say that yeah, a lot of stuff in there is solid. It works. I’m more productive in general, not just in music production, but in life.
I wish I protected my ears better in my construction years, tinnitus in one ear is a strange beast. My hearing isn't "lost" I just have to focus through the ringing but can still hear 18 - 20k. I can only figure this is extremely good luck
22 seconds ago, lets goo
thanks a lot
No worries!
i just started working in a car workshop, and the impact wrench is so loud i got some hearing protection for myself.
at first everyone was like "huh, you have earplugs? haha" but i was like "i dont care, i dont want to suffer from ear damage"
thank you for you pov on this, very helpful.
Back to hearing loss, somehow I used to lose a bit of hearing of left ear around 50hz to 150hz, I can't even say from what time this problem appears but firstly i thought it was a gear problems, chagned a lot of headphones (cause only in headphones i clearly can hear that i miss something in bass instrument), untill one day I swapped L/R channel and realized that not a gear - its my ear :d
So after medical examination, I got the real reason, which came not really from my work, as such it was a deeper problem of breathing and how nose connected to the ear. Thats provide me a hearing loss of this freq. - (for everyone who want to know how it sounds to me, just load any track with big bass or 808, open Pro-Q3, add a low-shelf ban around 150hz - made it L/R only, and down it around -0.5-1db( add more if you want to have a clear result) - thats how its sounds to me most of the time).Its couldn't be really noticible for someonw of you but for me it really annoying sometimes.
Back to making music, mixing etc., I realized that I didn't hear that problem on big systems, like studio monitors - there is sounds for me completly good without any issues, not like it was in my headset. And with time flying I really used to don't take it in mind that I have this trouble, I use some personal corrective EQ by Sonarworks for my headset to regain a bass a bit back to the comfort hearable value. And it still give me a great results, and don't make me sad about this problem. So yeah, hearing loss is a really complicated thing, which should make every single musician,producer take care of their health and when you feel that something is wrong then usuall - don't hesistate to talk about it. Its a part of ours job as a producers, so we can't hide it.
Oh dang, you can actually hear the 18k+ range?? My left ear cuts out around 16k, and my right about 14k... 27 years old, didn't start wearing hearing protection til I was 25! Take it seriously, people!!
i am overhearing sibilant frequencies, and i thought that it is because i have been training my ears for some time now, but now i know it's not because of the ear training. Anyways, these are nice small advices that actually change a lot!
After 20 years, in my opinion, neither incorrect EQ or compressor settings nor aging hearing are real problems. I get up in the morning and want to continue working on something and suddenly the mouse stops working or the audio interface is no longer recognized or something else. Almost every day there is something that can be fixed, ideally with a restart, but often only by reinstalling the OS and all software. Nowadays you can produce music on your computer. But only sometimes in between. 🙄
😩OMG… The EQ one really opened up my ears. All this time I’ve been Eq’ing each sound as a whole, never really thought about Eq’ing the mid/side or left/right information of each sound. I mostly thought of it as just making a sound wide and boy I was wrong. So when I heard you speak of this I was like “bruh… this might help fix some tracks that are layered”, especially the ones like future bass chord stacks where layers sound very different and have different detune sizes (I use Serum), but all come together to create one massive wide supersaw sound (Love😍future bass). This Video bumped up my experience like Ten levels dude. Thanks for always sharing, you’re one of the few TH-camrs I love and trust.🙏🏾❤
Also… this just goes to show how important EQ’s really are you know. I mean it literally shapes your sound.😂 Man…. Thank God for fabfilters Pro Eq.🙌🏾
Thankfully my hearing hasn't gotten much worse since I realized I had a pretty consistent ringing in my ears. Haven't been diagnosed, but probably tinnitus from too many shows and band practices without protection. I definitely wear ear plugs at shows and jams these days. I've always been happy with the hearos, but the clearest ear plugs ive ever had are earasers. They do a good job dropping the overall volume of everything to something more tolerable. Highs aren't muffled but also not ear splitting.
Excellent vid!
Do you not feel any pressure with the mastering engineer present when mixing? I am talking about 4:35
yk what just keep me banned there is no talent there anyway
Once I did 8 decibels of compression on a bass bowl and it sounded amazing, although many people recommended no more than 3-4
Hearing has a lot to do with being able to focus and on what as well, so there is listening and then there is listening at least for me that is, if I can't understand someone and they can't speak correctly and loud enough it's usually their fault, just sayin 😁
Please do make a dedicated video on hearing loss
Words of wisdom. Thank you.
Nothing to add but a smile and a nodd of approval :]
James is the goat he reminds me so much of dan worall
Ear buds have had a big in packet on hearing loss @11:10
what db level can likelly kill our ears
?
Nice decoration and presentation
i hear hissing in your vocals
Great ❤sir ❤
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
this is great !
🔥🔥
🍻 😊
8:58 think im losing some in my right ear i gotta chill
Like it's not bad but after using my ears for 20 years it sounds like stuff bounces different into the right