Produce Like A Pro Ha! As I type this, you are covering it in the video. I had a love affair with compression for a time. I compressed everything because I wanted to, not because I should have. I also compressed too much. Some of my early mixes got super dense but sounded really small. Its been a long learning curve but a necessary journey of experience!
Produce Like A Pro setting up my trigger and gate parameters, and then changing my compression threshold on toms for example. I started to notice missing or very dull sounding Tom hits. I realized I was blocking signal from going into my “Slate Trigger 2” Love these videos man
Just recently fixed a long time mistake. I've been mixing with a subwoofer for years. I decided to take it out of the mixing equation just to see if it would help. Yep! It helped. So much easier to hear the low end and how it should sound in a mix. Getting rid of it has totally sped up things as well. Thank you for your videos Warren!!
The more I've learned about mixing, the messier my recordings have become. I went back yesterday to listen to a few songs from last year and I wondered why they sounded so good compared to my recent tracks. It was mainly because I knew less and mostly left the tracks alone.
Hi Darrell Robinson exactly!! Haha Number 5 do less! There’s far too much confusing information out there! I highly recommend listening to the mix that someone is doing when they recommend techniques!
It is about being bold enough! You need to tie the knot on the package, and decide that this has to be sufficient. All sounds are somehow playing in the ballpark. Diminishing returns.
here's how I see it works. Your mixing is decent when you start, then you search for all this kowneledge and hear so much knowledge that probably doesn't even apply to you, you worry too much about the technical parts, over time you start to learn what works for you based off experiences and your mixes tart to come alive and sound better than ever. But some advice isn't the best, He says in the video "dont compress synths" that's gonna be a hard no for me. I will never ever put out a track with synths that have no saturation or compression on them. Its just needed in my genre
The idea of not everything needing to be stereo had a huge positive impact on my mixes. I've started bringing overheads in to 50/50 and then playing with a mono vs stereo set of room mics on drums lately. In the verse or anywhere where the guitars are smaller or single tracked, I'll use the stereo pair of room mics panned far left/right to give a nice big drum sound where the drums are more exposed, but then in the chorus or any areas where I have big left/right stereo guitars I'll switch to just a mono room mic in the center. The result in the mix is that those stereo guitars suddenly sound much wider simply because the drums sound narrower. For years I struggled with how to make guitars feel wider, and I always felt widening plugins just make stuff sound weird and phasy. Turned out all you really need to do is make everything else in the mix feel narrower than the thing you want to feel widest. It's pretty simple once you realize it. It's all about context and relationships. If everything in the mix is panned wide then the mix SOUNDS narrow, but if your ear can hear the difference between a narrow sound and a wide sound, all of a sudden the stage opens up.
Mistake number 1: picking up my phone too often; 2: scrolling through TH-cam; 3: watching incredibly well made videos of very affable English people doing what I should probably be doing rn instead 😆 4&5: repeat until I feel bad 😂
EQ instruments in solo mode, compression on everything, reverb on everything. These are my major mistakes that I made in the early years of trying to mix music. Through trial and error and a lot of listening to CDs in my wife's car. I figured out that I was doing something wrong what that was unclear to me. One day I took one of my mixes that I had not added compression EQ reverb to and I thought wow this sounds great.
I just recently experienced #4 in person. We were doing one of those quarantine collaborations where we each record separately then I would put them all together. I did my guitar and vocals, then next I got the drums. So since I didn't have the whole track yet I just started tweaking the drums. It was a stereo track of the full kit so I didn't have individual control. The kick drum had a certain resonant frequency I didn't like, so I EQ'd it out and got the kick drum sounding way better to my ears. Then I got the bass part and put the whole song together. At that point, I felt like you couldn't hear the kick enough. I thought maybe I'd try a compressor on the bass sidechained to the kick, so the bass would duck out of the way a bit when the kick hit, but I wasn't happy with how that sounded either. On a whim I took the EQ off the kick, and suddenly everything fell in to place and sounded great. That "ugly" frequency that I didn't like on the soloed kit, was apparently just perfect in the context of the whole mix.
At one point, I gave myself a limit of 2/3 plugins per track, no more. If I got to a point where I couldn't get something sounding right, I would go back and rethink it. It really helps you LEARN your plugins. Suddenly you're not using an EQ, tape emulation AND compression... you're selecting a single compressor based on the tonal changes it gives you.
@@zachary963 I wouldn't go that far! But it forces you to train your ears. I didn't find it a quick process either. I would say I only began to reap the rewards a good year or so in. Totally depends on how many hours you put in to it of course!
Wish I thought of that and had the self discipline, I have resorted to a Tascam DP32 so ALL I can do is basic eq, LCR and volume. I figure I can move to pc for further mixing if necessary. So far I am happy with what I get.
Phenomenal advice. For a complete newcomer, number 5 is almost a relief to hear. The whole world of mixing and music production can be so overwhelming where you feel you have so much to learn just to be able to produce a single track, that it could almost put you off entirely. Hearing that you don’t need to do as much as you think you do is positively refreshing.
Been doing upright mono piano for a long time on denser tracks. Wide stereo piano can sound weird anyway. No one sticks their head inside a piano while someone is playing it, (hopefully lol),. If it was up on stage, most all the stereo would be reflections. So I send a bit of it out to a stereo reverb or space of some kind. Often mono drum overheads too. Solves so many problems and just works. You can always put a pseudo stereo plug on mono sources when it's really needed and that offers yet a different flavor of width. Cheers.
My worst mistake was having everything in at the beginning of the song. Now I wish I had brought the doubled guitar in at the chorus, and the doubled vocal in at the bridge. Maybe waited until the guitar solo to add the extra percussion etc. I always loved the way the Rolling Stones produced "No Expectations". I hope to do better in the future. Thanks for all your tips Warren, they are a big help.
Arrangement is an art! I like to start with the climax of the song, and then work backwards to the intro, taking things away as I go. I find it much easier to take things away than to add them in!
@@OrgChromer Yes, that is easier to do now with digital. I was working with 2" 24-track tape, and really had no idea how production values mattered. Whenever I was dissatisfied, I'd add a guitar track. Hopefully I know a little more now.
This is the only channel I go to to not hear the same old stuff regurgitated over and over again. I don’t know how you make so many videos at the value that they are, but you have a gift sir.
Excellent tips, Warren. I'd add to that, 'avoid song fatigue'. I can get too involved with a track, staying with it for too long and ending up losing perspective - more worryingly, losing the vibe and the initial inspiration. I write, arrange and mix my own music and I love the whole process. I've learned over the years that taking regular short breaks while working on a track is really important, but now I go even further. I'll take a break away from the track altogether, sometimes for several weeks. The moment I do that my creative soul is unleashed and I'm writing new material. When I eventually go back to a previous track I've been working on, fresh ears, I find that I've "done too much" - I definitely need to do less. So, I end up switching off plugins, and going back to the levels and panning. And the track starts to sound like music again. So, song fatigue I suppose is another way of saying, don't spend ages on a track. Get a good mix (not a perfect mix) as soon as you can, then leave it alone. Come back another day and if it still sounds great, trust in that. Which takes me to the other tip I'd add... know when to stop ;-)
Always trust your ears!!! I'm sure we've all made the mistake of making minute adjustments on an equalizer until the instrument sounded perfect! Then discovered it was in bypass! Lol. (More than once)
This man explained these concepts in half an hour. The school I went to took 3 months. It's all about the willingness to spread knowledge. Mixing is an art and we should treat it like its art. You have a like and a sub from my side and hope you get a lot more. I may purchase your yearly subscription soon.
oh how true! im mainly a live enginner and so much of this ive done and also in studio stuff. its so easy in todays age with access to so much processing even live with waves multirack to have these chains and what u think sounds good and controlled is as you say boring, on the flip side. alot of people say cut dont boost. generally that is good advice byt sometimes you dont get that excitment by just cutting the informatiom you dont need. more so when using particular . the engineer who i forget who did some muse albums had some interesting methods of boosting ssl eqs into 1176 comps and his records sound pretty damn good. from what i remember he mentioned about the compressors taming resonances produced by big boosts. like anything audio there are no solid rules. experiment and use your ears. listen to what is happening when you make adjustments. you can make big moves to get your ear focused on what its doing then dial it back. as you get more experienced youll get more sensitive to small changes. most people arnt naturally sensitive to the small details it takes practive to tune you in. thats probably the reason for people over processing stuff because they are just not percieving thos small changes yet. but there is times where you will have to pull sometihing out by 10 plus dB or boost 6dB.'' most people are not that great until they get the basics. them it gets ok then it gets decent. the hard part is going from decent to awesome. the hard part is that sounding good technically and awesome is not the same thing. always great videos. so much to learn. as i said im a live sound engineer and dont do any commercial studio stuff but a good portion of your content has helped massivley in live sound engineering.
This is a fantastic video. Something I’ve found in the digital age of home recording studios: I often treat my initial sort of “mix as i go” plug ins while tracking, the way i would treat any outboard gear i would use when I’m tracking in a bigger studio. I don’t have the ability to EQ and Compress many things i would like to on the way in, so I’ll add those two plug ins (or 1 channel strip type plug in) to each of the tracks I’m recording. If I can avoid latency, ill even track with those plug ins on. When i get the take i like, I’ll take those tracks, PRINT THEM DOWN TO NEW TRACKS, and deactivate the initial recording tracks. Leaving me with new, great sounding “raw” tracks with no plugins on them. I basically use those initial tracks as my “outboard gear”. Another good example of this is when i record drums at home… I’m playing drums in a tiny basement, so room mic’s dont sound great. So, i create “room mic’s” in Pro Tools using the UAD Ocean Way plug in, but I PRINT that Aux down to AUDIO and just treat it like i would real room mic’s in a bigger studio when it comes time to mix. One of the things I’ve learned doing this is to actually COMMIT TO SOUNDS I LIKE. I don’t NEED the “freedom” to change and tweak every single sound forever. If I liked it when i recorded it, I’ve learned to trust myself enough to know that that was probably for good reason.
This is the most comprehensive yet concise giant slap-in-the-face of sensibility every mixer should watch. Probably the most valuable fundamentals right here. awesome, thankyou.
Hi Warren. The more I watch your videos, and others from other musicians, mixers, engineers, producers, etc..., (Graham Cochrane, Joe Gilder, Jacquire King, Rick Beato...), The more it makes sense, to me, that, in the end, it's all relied to 3 principles: -The Pareto principle, aka, "the 80/20 rule" (Less is More) -Self confidence. -Doing what's to be done, without any preconceived idea. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Antoine De Saint-Exupery Anyway, thanx for all your videos. They are the best teachers I've ever had.
I’ve been producing music for nearly 5 years now and this has to be one of the most insightful videos I’ve ever seen. Thank you, Warren. We’re all the richer from your great advice.
16:50 is the most game changing tip for me. I have been mixing for 4 years just in my bedroom and I never got any good mixes although I tried all the tips and tricks around fx etc. But when I started to mix everything together everything changed. Then you will get guided automatically by how everything sounds together instead of trying to figure out instrument by instrument. Mix everything together. Sounds stupid but it helps so much.
I completely agree with the first tip! I've been in situations where a track has been EQ'd by-the-books and it sounds good but then you bump something up or down a little bit in certain places and it gives it such a richer, fuller sound.
When you figure out what & why was better about your go rough mix, which you will find listening too your 12hr mix, then you really become an engineer." Don't let the profoundity of this simple advice pass you by. This wisdom is so important for any creative to learn. It's something called humility.
For me, this is one of your best "5 tips" videos. I think you really outdone yourself here. All is clear and make a lot of sense. Having some experience myself I absolutely confirm everything. It's always with great pleasure that I watch your channel. You're an inspiration, even if you're a little younger than me - anyway does it really matter? I don't think so. With your permission I will quote your 5 - I mean 6 - tips in my last Cubase class next week. I think my students will appreciate. Thanks Warren. And, as usual, have a wonderful time... ;-)
BRILLIANT Warren !!! My biggest mistake was and probably still is, not working in shorter time frames, causing me not to take enough breaks. I always start a mix with my Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro headphones and try to balance everything in MONO before I start panning and eq-ing. Bruce Swedien: "Compression is for kids." Armin Steiner does not compress! Glyn Johns does not compress bass guitars. Al Schmitt only tickles the meter as he says, but uses a Tube-Tech SCMC-2B on the mains, but again, only tickling the meter. I only compress if I think there is a need, or if I want the tonal coloration of a particular compressor on something; or maybe for an effect. I do like limiters at times. I never mix into a compressor; but sometimes I'll put one on the mains stereo buss after I'm more or less done with the mix, or to hear how the mix could sound through any given one and with the most minimum ratio possible. I only gain stage if I can't get a track to sit in the mix using the fader. 99% of my tracks are MONO! Very few are stereo. I'm a big fan of plate reverb: Motown, The Four Seasons; etc.-LOVE IT! Chamber sometimes too: Gold Star comes to mind. Usually a stereo effects track set up, and one or to mono ones; vocals sometimes get there own. We're engin-EARS, not engine-EYES!
Everyone who is starting in the world of music production should watch this video. I think we could add that it's important to work with references. Manny times I found my mix was right when I finished in my room, but when I change the environment of the listening, I could feel a lot of mistakes. So, you could get a better perspective when use references. Greetings from Chile.
The EQ Analyzer/dipping resonated with me a lot. I know a lot of producer/friends and even tutorials on youtube that will immediately just go in and dip everything because it's what the textbook says, sometimes it's good to break some rules and keep the balls in it.
ANOTHER CLASSIC! I highly encourage every producer and mixing engineer, to watch this video quarterly or at least a few times per year. Sure, it's information that many of us have been taught, but it's also information that reminds us to keep it simple, less is often more and don't over complicate a mix, if it's unnecessary. EXCELLENT episode!
I like the philosophy....there is only so much room.....and contrast is important....if everything is big, nothing is big....I think thats why 50s Vox sound so huge....so many of the other instruments were small sounding. Yin-yang / tension-release.....good philosophical principles at the center of the universe. And great tips Warren, as always!
Fantastic advice. I'm currently mixing (as an amateur) my bands first song, and I really wish I had someone to listen to it and give me proper nudges in the right directions. However, I've found your videos to be INVALUABLE.
@@UncleBenjs definitely still tweaking, just getting started really. I dont have any experience or education, I could really use some obvious pointers, major stuff that obviously needs fixed because my ears are nowhere near trained enough yet to grasp it all
Always the BEST advice from Warren,,,, it's not Rocket science it's practical. Still takes experimentation and trial and error ,,, but thinking practically gets 80% of the job done. Your mixes are supreme in clarity and separation while establishing a solid mix. Thanks Warren.
Absolutely priceless tips. Although we may already know all of this, we often tend to forget - working in the box makes it almost impossible NOT to look at the screen, and all those fancy curves and coloured bars, and all those numbers but music is about SOUND, it's a DAW, it's not Photoshop ;) And as for not go overboard with plugins, I think it's an easy trap to fall into. After all, sooner or later it's like with any kind of gear, we may become 'collectors'. We have invested in them - or even when they're free - they are our 'toys', we almost feel obligated to use them. And since we work in stages, doing very little or nothing at all in the mixing stage may lead to one to think we're not really doing our job. The thing is that, just like while tracking, when the 1st take is perfect for what you need, so can be your 'rough mix'. A good song with a good sound isn't always the result of days and days of tweaking 200 parameters on a gazillion VSTs where every note and breath is quantised to a T, and where every instrument sits perfectly in its frequency band, and your levels are perfect to 1/100 of a dB. Just have fun and be happy with what you've got.
Thank you Warren for item 1, eq with your ears and the mind. I'm a live sound engineer for 30 years now. Do a lot of festivals with a nice Midas H2000 analog desk and lots of good outboard like DBX160, Lexicon 300 and Drawmer gear.. Then the youngster turn up, they all ask could you help me? I can't see my eq????? Hahaha. Well done! A
This is all good advice, and at the same time seems so obvious to me. I’m always amazed when I’m in a recording forum and someone asks “what’s the best settings for vocal compression?” I’m always saying “use your ears!” Same with EQ or reverb or whatever. These same people complain that their CPU is overloaded because they have a reverb plug-in on every channel instead of using a bus.
Warren you are so right I have tweaked and fiddled with mixes and thought I CRUSHED it !! Then... played back the original raw recording and found out we lost all of the dynamics. Added too much stuff!!! Great tips Cheers
Hey Warren! Fantastic video as always. One really basic idea that doesn't get enough emphasis when talking about stereo image, is that "mono" in any multi-speaker set up is the same content (frequency, phase) coming from each speaker equally. Super simple idea, Audio 101 stuff. However, that mindset can get lost on some people when they are forming a stereo image with lots of individual elements. The most classic example of this is the stereo doubled guitar. We've all been there, do the left side, duplicate track, repeat performance, pan right. But because they are simply the same source repeated and panned , you're ONLY getting a phase shift, but you still have similar frequency content that is tugging them toward the middle. You can hear this in action by sticking a Mid/Side EQ on the guitar bus and carving all those fundamental midrange frequencies out of the center, pushing your guitars waaay out to the sides. So with this in mind, to your point about starting a mix with leveling and panning, I'd go one more step: Pull up all of the elements, level them a bit, pan them around etc, get the feel of the different parts and how it should all work together, but then dump the whole thing down to mono and listen to everything on top of each other. If I've got a piano fighting with a guitar for frequency space in the mono field, I focus on the MUSICAL frequencies of each element and do subtle cut/boost on each to emphasize what they're saying musically. That way I know that once I go back to stereo and pan them out, their similar frequency content won't build up and meet in the middle. This gets even better when you use something like the Waves F6, and do these kinds of moves dynamically. 😉
I like to shape my sounds making them unique. I'll apply the lessons with one foot in the box and see what happens. I still can't believe we're able to attain this knowledge by this manner. Super greatful!
Loved this video. What it's really made me interested to see is a fly-on-the-wall live mix session. No explaining your moves and theories, just straight-to-it mixing as you would off-camera. Not sure if it's been done already, and could be just me, but the more I learn from you, the more I'd love to see you at work haha
Great video! There's an analogy with landscaping. Instead of evening out everything and creating a boring flat space: enhance and celebrate contrasts or organic shapes!
One big mistake I used to make was simply not learning the plugins I had. By that, I mean getting tons of the latest, greatest plugins and just using them because they were the newest sound or newest effect, so I ended up with so many plugins that I only knew on a surface level instead of just a core few plugins that I knew intimately so could get what I needed much quicker. Hindsight can be so depressing at times...lol. Thank you again Warren, another incredible video, and definitely a case of less is very much more.
Warren you are such an incredible teacher! You present things in their conceptual whole in a way that others sometimes don’t. Thank you for all the amazing content!
IMO, some of your best advice ever in this video. Listen, trust your ears and instincts enough to leave it alone when it doesn't need anything. Thanks mate!
Superb. I've been at this for 30 years, like many of us, when I can, and with what I've had at hand. I am just now confident in what I am hearing, and in my knowledge regarding the tools that I have, that have a clear sense of. Number 4 . . . make it sound simple, and try to get there simply.
Thank you for this........old habits die hard!!.....especially #4. This one point would likely speed up my mix process big time!, and stop me from working in geological time!!. Speaking of Clearmountain,....years ago I mixed a song for a friend and writing partner. Last year she had the opportunity of having a song mixed by Bob. She had been wanting to have that song we did remixed. Listening to my earlier mix and his was very eye opening. Sonicly I expected it to be better....nicer top end sheen, warmer fatter bottom, sweeter midrange.....BUT, the big big change was arrangement. His choices of where to bring in certain gtrs, where to push lead voc dbls, etc....really made me appreciate a fresh perspective with new ideas.
Walking away from a mix and leaving it alone, whether an hour or a week, can help immeasurably. When I come back to it, I can usually hear right away what it needs, or doesn't need. Way back when I first started recording, I was just excited to have music on tape to work with. I think I've made (and learned from) every last common mistake there is to make. Thank you for making these videos, especially for people newer to this. I'm sure that it's helped to lead many folks out of the woods. It also helps the more experienced to see how much they actually know, or affirms that they're on the right path. We don't all have someone whose opinion we trust that we can talk to or bounce ideas off of.
I really related to the tip about removing plugins on the signal chain. Quite easy to keep stacking effects past the point of improvement. Sometimes it's best to remove everything and start again, especially if you've been tracking and mixing at the same time. Gold.
Yet another great video!! I start with my mixing in mono. Took me a while to get used to it, because it sucks and I didn't like the way sounds. Then I really fell in love with it. I just remixed an old song I did 2 years ago with a friend of mine and I got rid of every single plug in, effect and set all of the faders all the way down, then rebuilt the track all the way up in mono first. All in all, I simplified a lot of stuff and the result was night and day. It was a hell of a lot better than my original mix.
You’ve offered so many valuable resources and a legit TH-cam education most Universities couldn’t offer. Definitely worth picking up a mix course or two. Thank You Produce Like A Pro Crew. Much Respect. 🔥🤘🔥
These days I'm mostly Dawless, and what you're saying, actually is working for me. I've already improved by using the "less is more" by not even using a computer. My plug-ins are actual random boxes. And my Tascam model 12 console is a standalone with compression, EQ and reverb. The only thing that I might do is after a mixed down to stereo, I might send the final track through a Daw for some final editing and any volume adjustment. I find it to be a really great way to be close to my music and really capturing the actual sound of my instruments the way they are by not relying on the countless plug-ins and all the EQ options. I know it's not for everyone and sometimes super clean production is really good, but I'll stick with Lofi. So yeah, thanks for the advice and I'll keep watching your videos. Maybe you could do one about Dawless recordings?
I had a very dynamic vocal I was trying to control with compression, to get the compression to effectively control the dynamics it was squeezing the life out of the vocal. I finally got frustrated and did volume automation and it worked great... took a bit more time but was well worth it and now I have a better idea of the type of dynamics that I am not going to waste time trying to compress and just go straight to volume automation.
Fantastic stuff! Ahhh man, not 'doing less' is a hard one not to fall into, occasionally without even realising it's happening. Making plenty of mix notes throughout and regularly referring to them helps. If something sounded great at the start but now doesn't, it's (almost) always an element which has since been added.
I'm in the middle of mixing an album of hawaiian syle acoustic music. Without drums, it's been difficult to make the songs bounce with dynamics. Your techniques are bringing me back to the basics in a genre I haven't mixed before. Thank you.
As a beginning mixer the biggest point I get from this is set levels and panning first. After getting rid of my plugins and do exactly that, it made my mix come together a ton easier.
What a great lesson! #3 answered a LOT of questions for me about panning, especially managing stereo sources. This whole mix concept really makes sense too. Thanks, Warren!
This was good stuff. When I listen to early Beatles recordings I am still amazed how simplistic and rich they sound. I know George Martin used EQ and compression, but the way their vocals sit in the mix is something I still have never been able to master. I am reminded of the phrase in the manual from my first Yamaha EQ that our band bought in the 70's. "He who EQs least EQs best"! :)
Bonus tip is my favorite. Trust your ears and trust yourself. Growing up I never trusted my instincts in music and it always kept me stagnant. Once I stopped putting others ears and musical opinions on a pedestal I really started becoming one with the soundscapes and started growing musically. Good stuff Warren! Cheers!!
wow! incredible stuff. thanks for making me realize that i don’t always need stereo busses for fx returns. i’ve been doing that by rote without questioning it for many years.
This is excellent! Every point made just drove home what Ive been thinking as of late. Another tip- I learned and have been practicing lately. A few years ago when I was just starting out, I had a local engineer who is much more experienced than me; he took a look at one of my mixes, and simply asked- why did you choose that plug in, why did you EQ that out or boost this? The gravity of that little insight did not hit me until years later. Being able to explain why you are adding and plug in and what you are doing- what are you trying to achieve is paramount. Often times we add plug ins or processing because we seen somebody else do it- or because it looks cool. What problem are you trying to solve and why specifically is this your choice? If you cannot answer that - then there is a good chance that you do not need to do anything - or you need to evaluate more closely. As always great video Warren- and thank you!
This video makes me so HAPPY! especially the segment about don't stereo everything! As an amateur with no formal mixing training but plenty of experience in live orchestral performances (where I worked with the conductor of physically moving sections of instruments around the stage seating to "mix" everything), and as someone who is mostly deaf in my right ear since birth, I'm jumping up and down in my studio and pumping my fist in the air! It's happiness that all of the things I've been feeling and doing for years is being corroborated by a professional of this caliber! 😍🎉
Hi Warren, that 's definitely one of your best posts. Very timely advice to hear and spoken about with such passion too. So many of us are trying too hard to get wide mixes using stereo enhancers and triple tracked guitars when often all we really need is strategic panning. Also great to be reminded of spot mono verbs& delays underneath instruments and vocals. Many thanks from Peckham, sarffff London!
Wonderful tips, Warren! I love the tip especially on the stereo effects! As far as Drum overheads, I've found myself always going hard left/right. As far as guitars? That's another story. I'll typically have my two main rhythm guitars (I and II) panned about 55-60% left and 55-60% right for the verses. Typically, in the choruses, there will be two more rhythm tracks (III and IV) panned a bit farther out around 90% let and right, and turned down a bit quieter than the main rhythm guitars. It does add a bit of "clutter," sound wise, by those extra rhythm tracks (only during choruses or bigger outros) flanked towards the outsides and quieter (plus EQ) gets it sounding full. The more I get into mixing, the more I enjoy it. I find myself thinking a lot about numerous ways to get instruments (guitars, vocals, synths, etc) sitting well in the mix. I've noticed that point #4 is the best advice: using panning and gain staging to get everything sitting well on its own. It makes the process of everything else SO much easier. Love the reference of backing sitting around the lead vocals. It's like a harmony line, then the lead would be center, and I'd put the harmonies around 10-20% on either side depending on timbre of vocalist. If it's a choir-like vocal line with "oohs and ahhs," then they go wider, for me.
How has this got 4 thumbs down???? Great advice as always @producelikeapro! Particularly the point about getting a rough balance up before you ump in and start processing. So often I’ve started building a drum sound then added in the other instruments and found I completely need to change direction. Love these tips and tricks videos... thanks so much for always sharing your wisdom. 🎛👍🤩🎸🎼
I'm leaving a comment just because I know that helps with the TH-cam algorithm and it helps push this video to more people. Because you deserve it. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!
all of the things you talked about have been my big mistakes, getting into a frenzy of applying plugins to cure excesses of another plugin, ended up sounding flat, boring and unreal in the visceral adrenaline inducing way. Staring at spectrun analyzers, rushing to apply the same settings I set on the last project - without listening to the song, thinking wide all the time instead of placing the sounds in different places or too much ping pong. Over compressing, multiband limiting, too much air, mixing in the wrong room, not referencing. You nailed them all - it was almost like you were reading my mind - or had data about all my bad mixing decisions. Like you had a webcam on me and a load of data. Great content Warren
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I love to do (or not do) all those things, but live. Making it work is the most beautiful feeling.
I love Vocal Rider which is always my first plugin on vocals. I print the automation then tweak it before applying any compression. Sometimes the compressor is then only used for tone rather than control. Love all your advise Warren. Sound!! Edit: I should add for anyone seeking advice on using Vocal Rider, you should not use one setting for a dynamic vocal performance. Separate the vocal on different tracks according to the dynamics and spend time making sure VR is working well for the whole performance/track, it will save you time tweaking and ultimately compressing
Man, every single word is gold. Thanks for sharing all of these informations for free. Amazing! Big big thanks! But also, you have a big responsibility because you are teaching future mixing and mastering engineers! :D So we trust you as your students :)
You really should make "Magic Cleaning Products". It's amazing how you always "clean out" my own problems with simple logic and clean ideas. You really are an inspiration. Best Regards Thomas
Just your down to earth way of sharing your thoughts and knowledge helps me alot! Sometimes I think to much instead of taking the time to listen closely what happends in my mix. My biggest enemy is that I think that my mix is finished and the next day I enhance the mix with a suttle cut. However, your way of explaining helps me alot. Thanks so much!
What are some mixing mistakes you used to make? How did you fix them?
Produce Like A Pro Ha! As I type this, you are covering it in the video. I had a love affair with compression for a time. I compressed everything because I wanted to, not because I should have. I also compressed too much. Some of my early mixes got super dense but sounded really small. Its been a long learning curve but a necessary journey of experience!
You the best
Produce Like A Pro setting up my trigger and gate parameters, and then changing my compression threshold on toms for example. I started to notice missing or very dull sounding Tom hits. I realized I was blocking signal from going into my “Slate Trigger 2”
Love these videos man
Just recently fixed a long time mistake. I've been mixing with a subwoofer for years. I decided to take it out of the mixing equation just to see if it would help. Yep! It helped. So much easier to hear the low end and how it should sound in a mix. Getting rid of it has totally sped up things as well. Thank you for your videos Warren!!
I use to put plugins on the master track. Lol
The more I've learned about mixing, the messier my recordings have become. I went back yesterday to listen to a few songs from last year and I wondered why they sounded so good compared to my recent tracks. It was mainly because I knew less and mostly left the tracks alone.
Hi Darrell Robinson exactly!! Haha Number 5 do less! There’s far too much confusing information out there! I highly recommend listening to the mix that someone is doing when they recommend techniques!
@Darrell Robinson - Me too!
It is about being bold enough! You need to tie the knot on the package, and decide that this has to be sufficient. All sounds are somehow playing in the ballpark. Diminishing returns.
here's how I see it works. Your mixing is decent when you start, then you search for all this kowneledge and hear so much knowledge that probably doesn't even apply to you, you worry too much about the technical parts, over time you start to learn what works for you based off experiences and your mixes tart to come alive and sound better than ever. But some advice isn't the best, He says in the video "dont compress synths" that's gonna be a hard no for me. I will never ever put out a track with synths that have no saturation or compression on them. Its just needed in my genre
so true!!!!
The idea of not everything needing to be stereo had a huge positive impact on my mixes. I've started bringing overheads in to 50/50 and then playing with a mono vs stereo set of room mics on drums lately. In the verse or anywhere where the guitars are smaller or single tracked, I'll use the stereo pair of room mics panned far left/right to give a nice big drum sound where the drums are more exposed, but then in the chorus or any areas where I have big left/right stereo guitars I'll switch to just a mono room mic in the center. The result in the mix is that those stereo guitars suddenly sound much wider simply because the drums sound narrower. For years I struggled with how to make guitars feel wider, and I always felt widening plugins just make stuff sound weird and phasy. Turned out all you really need to do is make everything else in the mix feel narrower than the thing you want to feel widest. It's pretty simple once you realize it. It's all about context and relationships. If everything in the mix is panned wide then the mix SOUNDS narrow, but if your ear can hear the difference between a narrow sound and a wide sound, all of a sudden the stage opens up.
Mat Abercrombie this is a great point. Thank you
Center panned mono is something I avoid. Unless there is a center speaker.
Mistake number 1: picking up my phone too often; 2: scrolling through TH-cam; 3: watching incredibly well made videos of very affable English people doing what I should probably be doing rn instead 😆 4&5: repeat until I feel bad 😂
Elsif haha we are all guilty of these things my friend!!
I suffer from this too. It's actually a thing in psychology called the "information bias"
It's still amazing to me, how you share all these incredible ideas, carved out of years of experience, FOR FREE on TH-cam... thanks man
EQ instruments in solo mode, compression on everything, reverb on everything. These are my major mistakes that I made in the early years of trying to mix music. Through trial and error and a lot of listening to CDs in my wife's car. I figured out that I was doing something wrong what that was unclear to me. One day I took one of my mixes that I had not added compression EQ reverb to and I thought wow this sounds great.
I just recently experienced #4 in person. We were doing one of those quarantine collaborations where we each record separately then I would put them all together. I did my guitar and vocals, then next I got the drums. So since I didn't have the whole track yet I just started tweaking the drums. It was a stereo track of the full kit so I didn't have individual control. The kick drum had a certain resonant frequency I didn't like, so I EQ'd it out and got the kick drum sounding way better to my ears. Then I got the bass part and put the whole song together. At that point, I felt like you couldn't hear the kick enough. I thought maybe I'd try a compressor on the bass sidechained to the kick, so the bass would duck out of the way a bit when the kick hit, but I wasn't happy with how that sounded either. On a whim I took the EQ off the kick, and suddenly everything fell in to place and sounded great. That "ugly" frequency that I didn't like on the soloed kit, was apparently just perfect in the context of the whole mix.
At one point, I gave myself a limit of 2/3 plugins per track, no more.
If I got to a point where I couldn't get something sounding right, I would go back and rethink it.
It really helps you LEARN your plugins. Suddenly you're not using an EQ, tape emulation AND compression... you're selecting a single compressor based on the tonal changes it gives you.
Chris Norris that is GENIUS! Trying that right away
@@zachary963 I wouldn't go that far! But it forces you to train your ears. I didn't find it a quick process either. I would say I only began to reap the rewards a good year or so in. Totally depends on how many hours you put in to it of course!
Wish I thought of that and had the self discipline, I have resorted to a Tascam DP32 so ALL I can do is basic eq, LCR and volume. I figure I can move to pc for further mixing if necessary. So far I am happy with what I get.
Phenomenal advice. For a complete newcomer, number 5 is almost a relief to hear. The whole world of mixing and music production can be so overwhelming where you feel you have so much to learn just to be able to produce a single track, that it could almost put you off entirely. Hearing that you don’t need to do as much as you think you do is positively refreshing.
this is basic, yet absolutely brilliant advice that is clearly explained. One of the best 'mixing' advice videos I've ever seen
Hi spencechicago thanks ever so much my friend! I’m so glad to be able to help! Have a marvellous time recording, many thanks Warren
always start with a good sound source. instead of EQ, move a mic until you get a better sound
Absolutely!!
@@Producelikeapro sounds like a guy with a few years of live mixing under his belt.
Been doing upright mono piano for a long time on denser tracks. Wide stereo piano can sound weird anyway. No one sticks their head inside a piano while someone is playing it, (hopefully lol),. If it was up on stage, most all the stereo would be reflections. So I send a bit of it out to a stereo reverb or space of some kind. Often mono drum overheads too. Solves so many problems and just works. You can always put a pseudo stereo plug on mono sources when it's really needed and that offers yet a different flavor of width. Cheers.
I need to re visit this video everytime when I start a new mix, thank you Warren
I've been mixing since 1985, and I can tell you this is all really good advice. Nice job man.
My worst mistake was having everything in at the beginning of the song. Now I wish I had brought the doubled guitar in at the chorus, and the doubled vocal in at the bridge. Maybe waited until the guitar solo to add the extra percussion etc. I always loved the way the Rolling Stones produced "No Expectations". I hope to do better in the future. Thanks for all your tips Warren, they are a big help.
Arrangement is an art! I like to start with the climax of the song, and then work backwards to the intro, taking things away as I go. I find it much easier to take things away than to add them in!
@@OrgChromer Yes, that is easier to do now with digital. I was working with 2" 24-track tape, and really had no idea how production values mattered. Whenever I was dissatisfied, I'd add a guitar track. Hopefully I know a little more now.
This is the only channel I go to to not hear the same old stuff regurgitated over and over again. I don’t know how you make so many videos at the value that they are, but you have a gift sir.
Great advice and reminder to keep it simple. Thank you Warren.
Are those 8 tracks of songs in the key of life? stinkin awesome!
Excellent tips, Warren. I'd add to that, 'avoid song fatigue'. I can get too involved with a track, staying with it for too long and ending up losing perspective - more worryingly, losing the vibe and the initial inspiration. I write, arrange and mix my own music and I love the whole process. I've learned over the years that taking regular short breaks while working on a track is really important, but now I go even further. I'll take a break away from the track altogether, sometimes for several weeks. The moment I do that my creative soul is unleashed and I'm writing new material. When I eventually go back to a previous track I've been working on, fresh ears, I find that I've "done too much" - I definitely need to do less. So, I end up switching off plugins, and going back to the levels and panning. And the track starts to sound like music again. So, song fatigue I suppose is another way of saying, don't spend ages on a track. Get a good mix (not a perfect mix) as soon as you can, then leave it alone. Come back another day and if it still sounds great, trust in that. Which takes me to the other tip I'd add... know when to stop ;-)
Always trust your ears!!! I'm sure we've all made the mistake of making minute adjustments on an equalizer until the instrument sounded perfect! Then discovered it was in bypass! Lol. (More than once)
That happened last week
This man explained these concepts in half an hour. The school I went to took 3 months. It's all about the willingness to spread knowledge. Mixing is an art and we should treat it like its art. You have a like and a sub from my side and hope you get a lot more. I may purchase your yearly subscription soon.
oh how true! im mainly a live enginner and so much of this ive done and also in studio stuff. its so easy in todays age with access to so much processing even live with waves multirack to have these chains and what u think sounds good and controlled is as you say boring,
on the flip side. alot of people say cut dont boost. generally that is good advice byt sometimes you dont get that excitment by just cutting the informatiom you dont need. more so when using particular . the engineer who i forget who did some muse albums had some interesting methods of boosting ssl eqs into 1176 comps and his records sound pretty damn good. from what i remember he mentioned about the compressors taming resonances produced by big boosts.
like anything audio there are no solid rules. experiment and use your ears. listen to what is happening when you make adjustments. you can make big moves to get your ear focused on what its doing then dial it back. as you get more experienced youll get more sensitive to small changes. most people arnt naturally sensitive to the small details it takes practive to tune you in. thats probably the reason for people over processing stuff because they are just not percieving thos small changes yet. but there is times where you will have to pull sometihing out by 10 plus dB or boost 6dB.''
most people are not that great until they get the basics. them it gets ok then it gets decent. the hard part is going from decent to awesome. the hard part is that sounding good technically and awesome is not the same thing.
always great videos. so much to learn. as i said im a live sound engineer and dont do any commercial studio stuff but a good portion of your content has helped massivley in live sound engineering.
you are an inexhaustible source of inspiration :)
TNX!
Hi MilosVukelic Official thanks ever so much my friend!!
This is a fantastic video. Something I’ve found in the digital age of home recording studios: I often treat my initial sort of “mix as i go” plug ins while tracking, the way i would treat any outboard gear i would use when I’m tracking in a bigger studio. I don’t have the ability to EQ and Compress many things i would like to on the way in, so I’ll add those two plug ins (or 1 channel strip type plug in) to each of the tracks I’m recording. If I can avoid latency, ill even track with those plug ins on. When i get the take i like, I’ll take those tracks, PRINT THEM DOWN TO NEW TRACKS, and deactivate the initial recording tracks. Leaving me with new, great sounding “raw” tracks with no plugins on them. I basically use those initial tracks as my “outboard gear”. Another good example of this is when i record drums at home… I’m playing drums in a tiny basement, so room mic’s dont sound great. So, i create “room mic’s” in Pro Tools using the UAD Ocean Way plug in, but I PRINT that Aux down to AUDIO and just treat it like i would real room mic’s in a bigger studio when it comes time to mix. One of the things I’ve learned doing this is to actually COMMIT TO SOUNDS I LIKE. I don’t NEED the “freedom” to change and tweak every single sound forever. If I liked it when i recorded it, I’ve learned to trust myself enough to know that that was probably for good reason.
This is the most comprehensive yet concise giant slap-in-the-face of sensibility every mixer should watch.
Probably the most valuable fundamentals right here. awesome, thankyou.
Thanks ever so much! I'm glad to be able to help!
Man, you're a treasure to someone like me just trying to learn about mixing to make my little selfie TH-cam vids sound better. Thanks for what you do!
Hi Warren. The more I watch your videos, and others from other musicians, mixers, engineers, producers, etc..., (Graham Cochrane, Joe Gilder, Jacquire King, Rick Beato...), The more it makes sense, to me, that, in the end, it's all relied to 3 principles:
-The Pareto principle, aka, "the 80/20 rule" (Less is More)
-Self confidence.
-Doing what's to be done, without any preconceived idea.
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Antoine De Saint-Exupery
Anyway, thanx for all your videos. They are the best teachers I've ever had.
I’ve been producing music for nearly 5 years now and this has to be one of the most insightful videos I’ve ever seen. Thank you, Warren. We’re all the richer from your great advice.
200 % agreed.. I've experienced all these aspects for 2 years, this vid confirmed me...
Thanks ever so much!
16:50 is the most game changing tip for me. I have been mixing for 4 years just in my bedroom and I never got any good mixes although I tried all the tips and tricks around fx etc. But when I started to mix everything together everything changed. Then you will get guided automatically by how everything sounds together instead of trying to figure out instrument by instrument. Mix everything together. Sounds stupid but it helps so much.
I completely agree with the first tip! I've been in situations where a track has been EQ'd by-the-books and it sounds good but then you bump something up or down a little bit in certain places and it gives it such a richer, fuller sound.
"Mix that you would be happy with" - what is this holy grail you speak of?
I understand! It something we continually strive for!!
@@Producelikeapro If you shoot for the stars you might only get to Mars.
When you figure out what & why was better about your go rough mix, which you will find listening too your 12hr mix, then you really become an engineer."
Don't let the profoundity of this simple advice pass you by. This wisdom is so important for any creative to learn. It's something called humility.
Master Huart!!! Jedi of all Audio related arts!! This video, as usual, is pure Gold! Thanks again!!!
For me, this is one of your best "5 tips" videos. I think you really outdone yourself here. All is clear and make a lot of sense. Having some experience myself I absolutely confirm everything. It's always with great pleasure that I watch your channel. You're an inspiration, even if you're a little younger than me - anyway does it really matter? I don't think so. With your permission I will quote your 5 - I mean 6 - tips in my last Cubase class next week. I think my students will appreciate. Thanks Warren. And, as usual, have a wonderful time... ;-)
9:52 just love it! 😂👍 Excellent video, thank you! :)
Glad you enjoyed it!
BRILLIANT Warren !!!
My biggest mistake was and probably still is, not working in shorter time frames, causing me not to take enough breaks.
I always start a mix with my Beyerdynamic DT880 Pro headphones and try to balance everything in MONO before I start panning and eq-ing.
Bruce Swedien: "Compression is for kids." Armin Steiner does not compress! Glyn Johns does not compress bass guitars. Al Schmitt only tickles the meter as he says, but uses a Tube-Tech SCMC-2B on the mains, but again, only tickling the meter. I only compress if I think there is a need, or if I want the tonal coloration of a particular compressor on something; or maybe for an effect. I do like limiters at times. I never mix into a compressor; but sometimes I'll put one on the mains stereo buss after I'm more or less done with the mix, or to hear how the mix could sound through any given one and with the most minimum ratio possible.
I only gain stage if I can't get a track to sit in the mix using the fader.
99% of my tracks are MONO! Very few are stereo.
I'm a big fan of plate reverb: Motown, The Four Seasons; etc.-LOVE IT! Chamber sometimes too: Gold Star comes to mind. Usually a stereo effects track set up, and one or to mono ones; vocals sometimes get there own.
We're engin-EARS, not engine-EYES!
Everyone who is starting in the world of music production should watch this video. I think we could add that it's important to work with references. Manny times I found my mix was right when I finished in my room, but when I change the environment of the listening, I could feel a lot of mistakes. So, you could get a better perspective when use references.
Greetings from Chile.
I'm not much of a "commenter" but I have to say-you are a wonderful teacher.
The EQ Analyzer/dipping resonated with me a lot. I know a lot of producer/friends and even tutorials on youtube that will immediately just go in and dip everything because it's what the textbook says, sometimes it's good to break some rules and keep the balls in it.
ANOTHER CLASSIC!
I highly encourage every producer and mixing engineer, to watch this video quarterly or at least a few times per year.
Sure, it's information that many of us have been taught, but it's also information that reminds us to keep it simple, less is often more and don't over complicate a mix, if it's unnecessary.
EXCELLENT episode!
I like the philosophy....there is only so much room.....and contrast is important....if everything is big, nothing is big....I think thats why 50s Vox sound so huge....so many of the other instruments were small sounding. Yin-yang / tension-release.....good philosophical principles at the center of the universe. And great tips Warren, as always!
15:02 This is magic! I think this is where my mixes need to improve.
Fantastic advice. I'm currently mixing (as an amateur) my bands first song, and I really wish I had someone to listen to it and give me proper nudges in the right directions. However, I've found your videos to be INVALUABLE.
I'll listen to it for you also, I have Prismsound ad/da, and some very nice monitoring. I don't mind making some notes for you on what I hear.
Give us a link then.. would love to listen to them and pretend I know what I'm talking about when giving advice :p
I will post a link in a little bit. I appreciate the offers!
@@shoalsofficial9334 Still tweaking? remember don't do too much!
@@UncleBenjs definitely still tweaking, just getting started really. I dont have any experience or education, I could really use some obvious pointers, major stuff that obviously needs fixed because my ears are nowhere near trained enough yet to grasp it all
Always the BEST advice from Warren,,,, it's not Rocket science it's practical. Still takes experimentation and trial and error ,,, but thinking practically gets 80% of the job done. Your mixes are supreme in clarity and separation while establishing a solid mix. Thanks Warren.
Thanks ever so much! I’m happy to be able to help in any way I can
Absolutely priceless tips. Although we may already know all of this, we often tend to forget - working in the box makes it almost impossible NOT to look at the screen, and all those fancy curves and coloured bars, and all those numbers but music is about SOUND, it's a DAW, it's not Photoshop ;) And as for not go overboard with plugins, I think it's an easy trap to fall into. After all, sooner or later it's like with any kind of gear, we may become 'collectors'. We have invested in them - or even when they're free - they are our 'toys', we almost feel obligated to use them. And since we work in stages, doing very little or nothing at all in the mixing stage may lead to one to think we're not really doing our job. The thing is that, just like while tracking, when the 1st take is perfect for what you need, so can be your 'rough mix'. A good song with a good sound isn't always the result of days and days of tweaking 200 parameters on a gazillion VSTs where every note and breath is quantised to a T, and where every instrument sits perfectly in its frequency band, and your levels are perfect to 1/100 of a dB. Just have fun and be happy with what you've got.
Thank you Warren for item 1, eq with your ears and the mind. I'm a live sound engineer for 30 years now. Do a lot of festivals with a nice Midas H2000 analog desk and lots of good outboard like DBX160, Lexicon 300 and Drawmer gear.. Then the youngster turn up, they all ask could you help me? I can't see my eq????? Hahaha. Well done! A
This is all good advice, and at the same time seems so obvious to me.
I’m always amazed when I’m in a recording forum and someone asks “what’s the best settings for vocal compression?” I’m always saying “use your ears!” Same with EQ or reverb or whatever.
These same people complain that their CPU is overloaded because they have a reverb plug-in on every channel instead of using a bus.
Warren you are so right I have tweaked and fiddled with mixes and thought I CRUSHED it !! Then... played back the original raw recording and found out we lost all of the dynamics. Added too much stuff!!! Great tips Cheers
Hey Warren! Fantastic video as always. One really basic idea that doesn't get enough emphasis when talking about stereo image, is that "mono" in any multi-speaker set up is the same content (frequency, phase) coming from each speaker equally. Super simple idea, Audio 101 stuff. However, that mindset can get lost on some people when they are forming a stereo image with lots of individual elements. The most classic example of this is the stereo doubled guitar. We've all been there, do the left side, duplicate track, repeat performance, pan right. But because they are simply the same source repeated and panned , you're ONLY getting a phase shift, but you still have similar frequency content that is tugging them toward the middle. You can hear this in action by sticking a Mid/Side EQ on the guitar bus and carving all those fundamental midrange frequencies out of the center, pushing your guitars waaay out to the sides.
So with this in mind, to your point about starting a mix with leveling and panning, I'd go one more step: Pull up all of the elements, level them a bit, pan them around etc, get the feel of the different parts and how it should all work together, but then dump the whole thing down to mono and listen to everything on top of each other. If I've got a piano fighting with a guitar for frequency space in the mono field, I focus on the MUSICAL frequencies of each element and do subtle cut/boost on each to emphasize what they're saying musically. That way I know that once I go back to stereo and pan them out, their similar frequency content won't build up and meet in the middle. This gets even better when you use something like the Waves F6, and do these kinds of moves dynamically. 😉
This might easily be one of the best and most important videos I've ever seen on the subject. Thank you sir!
I like to shape my sounds making them unique. I'll apply the lessons with one foot in the box and see what happens. I still can't believe we're able to attain this knowledge by this manner. Super greatful!
Thanks ever so much!! You rock
Loved this video. What it's really made me interested to see is a fly-on-the-wall live mix session. No explaining your moves and theories, just straight-to-it mixing as you would off-camera. Not sure if it's been done already, and could be just me, but the more I learn from you, the more I'd love to see you at work haha
Great video! There's an analogy with landscaping. Instead of evening out everything and creating a boring flat space: enhance and celebrate contrasts or organic shapes!
Wonderful analogy Peter!!
One big mistake I used to make was simply not learning the plugins I had. By that, I mean getting tons of the latest, greatest plugins and just using them because they were the newest sound or newest effect, so I ended up with so many plugins that I only knew on a surface level instead of just a core few plugins that I knew intimately so could get what I needed much quicker. Hindsight can be so depressing at times...lol.
Thank you again Warren, another incredible video, and definitely a case of less is very much more.
Warren you are such an incredible teacher! You present things in their conceptual whole in a way that others sometimes don’t. Thank you for all the amazing content!
IMO, some of your best advice ever in this video. Listen, trust your ears and instincts enough to leave it alone when it doesn't need anything. Thanks mate!
Superb. I've been at this for 30 years, like many of us, when I can, and with what I've had at hand. I am just now confident in what I am hearing, and in my knowledge regarding the tools that I have, that have a clear sense of. Number 4 . . . make it sound simple, and try to get there simply.
Thank you for this........old habits die hard!!.....especially #4. This one point would likely speed up my mix process big time!, and stop me from working in geological time!!.
Speaking of Clearmountain,....years ago I mixed a song for a friend and writing partner. Last year she had the opportunity of having a song mixed by Bob. She had been wanting to have that song we did remixed.
Listening to my earlier mix and his was very eye opening. Sonicly I expected it to be better....nicer top end sheen, warmer fatter bottom, sweeter midrange.....BUT, the big big change was arrangement. His choices of where to bring in certain gtrs, where to push lead voc dbls, etc....really made me appreciate a fresh perspective with new ideas.
Walking away from a mix and leaving it alone, whether an hour or a week, can help immeasurably. When I come back to it, I can usually hear right away what it needs, or doesn't need.
Way back when I first started recording, I was just excited to have music on tape to work with. I think I've made (and learned from) every last common mistake there is to make. Thank you for making these videos, especially for people newer to this. I'm sure that it's helped to lead many folks out of the woods. It also helps the more experienced to see how much they actually know, or affirms that they're on the right path. We don't all have someone whose opinion we trust that we can talk to or bounce ideas off of.
this is some of th best mixing advice ive ever heard.
LISTEN TO THE SONG AS A WHOLE
I really related to the tip about removing plugins on the signal chain. Quite easy to keep stacking effects past the point of improvement. Sometimes it's best to remove everything and start again, especially if you've been tracking and mixing at the same time. Gold.
Keeping things simple, amazing how universal this wisdom is.
Yet another great video!! I start with my mixing in mono. Took me a while to get used to it, because it sucks and I didn't like the way sounds. Then I really fell in love with it. I just remixed an old song I did 2 years ago with a friend of mine and I got rid of every single plug in, effect and set all of the faders all the way down, then rebuilt the track all the way up in mono first. All in all, I simplified a lot of stuff and the result was night and day. It was a hell of a lot better than my original mix.
You’ve offered so many valuable resources and a legit TH-cam education most Universities couldn’t offer. Definitely worth picking up a mix course or two. Thank You Produce Like A Pro Crew. Much Respect. 🔥🤘🔥
These days I'm mostly Dawless, and what you're saying, actually is working for me. I've already improved by using the "less is more" by not even using a computer. My plug-ins are actual random boxes. And my Tascam model 12 console is a standalone with compression, EQ and reverb. The only thing that I might do is after a mixed down to stereo, I might send the final track through a Daw for some final editing and any volume adjustment.
I find it to be a really great way to be close to my music and really capturing the actual sound of my instruments the way they are by not relying on the countless plug-ins and all the EQ options.
I know it's not for everyone and sometimes super clean production is really good, but I'll stick with Lofi.
So yeah, thanks for the advice and I'll keep watching your videos. Maybe you could do one about Dawless recordings?
Thank you Warren, I picked up some golden nuggets that will help me in mixing. God bless you.
Thanks ever so much
Thanks ever so much
Volume automation over Compression is a great suggestion. I will definitely make note of my mixes for volume control with this in mind. Thank you.
Mark Nixon absolutely!! Agreed 100%!!
I had a very dynamic vocal I was trying to control with compression, to get the compression to effectively control the dynamics it was squeezing the life out of the vocal. I finally got frustrated and did volume automation and it worked great... took a bit more time but was well worth it and now I have a better idea of the type of dynamics that I am not going to waste time trying to compress and just go straight to volume automation.
@@Producelikeapro If I remember, your advice is clip gain where its obviously needed then fader automation for "fine tuning"?
Fantastic stuff!
Ahhh man, not 'doing less' is a hard one not to fall into, occasionally without even realising it's happening. Making plenty of mix notes throughout and regularly referring to them helps. If something sounded great at the start but now doesn't, it's (almost) always an element which has since been added.
Excellent point about using yer ears not yer eyes. Yes, i'd made that mistake one upon a time. Im glad you mentioned and validated that!
I know this is 3 years old but the information is timeless.
This was the best ever advice on mixing.
Sitting here in sunny Dorset and learning a lot of good stuff. Many thanks.
I'm in the middle of mixing an album of hawaiian syle acoustic music. Without drums, it's been difficult to make the songs bounce with dynamics. Your techniques are bringing me back to the basics in a genre I haven't mixed before. Thank you.
I find I really enjoy parallel compression in electronic genres, it can bring out some of that organic groove that isn't always there naturally
As a beginning mixer the biggest point I get from this is set levels and panning first. After getting rid of my plugins and do exactly that, it made my mix come together a ton easier.
What a great lesson! #3 answered a LOT of questions for me about panning, especially managing stereo sources. This whole mix concept really makes sense too. Thanks, Warren!
The hugiest of huge thanks to you Warren!) Much love from Russia)
I will write every time. Your videos helped me a lot. Thanks.
This was good stuff. When I listen to early Beatles recordings I am still amazed how simplistic and rich they sound. I know George Martin used EQ and compression, but the way their vocals sit in the mix is something I still have never been able to master. I am reminded of the phrase in the manual from my first Yamaha EQ that our band bought in the 70's. "He who EQs least EQs best"! :)
Bonus tip is my favorite. Trust your ears and trust yourself. Growing up I never trusted my instincts in music and it always kept me stagnant. Once I stopped putting others ears and musical opinions on a pedestal I really started becoming one with the soundscapes and started growing musically. Good stuff Warren! Cheers!!
wow! incredible stuff. thanks for making me realize that i don’t always need stereo busses for fx returns. i’ve been doing that by rote without questioning it for many years.
Absolutely brilliant.
Mixing should be a way to clearly convey the existing language of the material itself.
Great Advice!!. I also find putting background vocals to the left or right of the main vocal slightly helps them sound more live.
This is excellent! Every point made just drove home what Ive been thinking as of late. Another tip- I learned and have been practicing lately. A few years ago when I was just starting out, I had a local engineer who is much more experienced than me; he took a look at one of my mixes, and simply asked- why did you choose that plug in, why did you EQ that out or boost this? The gravity of that little insight did not hit me until years later. Being able to explain why you are adding and plug in and what you are doing- what are you trying to achieve is paramount. Often times we add plug ins or processing because we seen somebody else do it- or because it looks cool. What problem are you trying to solve and why specifically is this your choice? If you cannot answer that - then there is a good chance that you do not need to do anything - or you need to evaluate more closely.
As always great video Warren- and thank you!
This video makes me so HAPPY! especially the segment about don't stereo everything! As an amateur with no formal mixing training but plenty of experience in live orchestral performances (where I worked with the conductor of physically moving sections of instruments around the stage seating to "mix" everything), and as someone who is mostly deaf in my right ear since birth, I'm jumping up and down in my studio and pumping my fist in the air! It's happiness that all of the things I've been feeling and doing for years is being corroborated by a professional of this caliber! 😍🎉
Oh, and as a trumpet player, I'm quite familiar with dynamism 😂😂
Hi Warren, that 's definitely one of your best posts. Very timely advice to hear and spoken about with such passion too. So many of us are trying too hard to get wide mixes using stereo enhancers and triple tracked guitars when often all we really need is strategic panning. Also great to be reminded of spot mono verbs& delays underneath instruments and vocals. Many thanks from Peckham, sarffff London!
Wonderful tips, Warren!
I love the tip especially on the stereo effects! As far as Drum overheads, I've found myself always going hard left/right. As far as guitars? That's another story. I'll typically have my two main rhythm guitars (I and II) panned about 55-60% left and 55-60% right for the verses. Typically, in the choruses, there will be two more rhythm tracks (III and IV) panned a bit farther out around 90% let and right, and turned down a bit quieter than the main rhythm guitars. It does add a bit of "clutter," sound wise, by those extra rhythm tracks (only during choruses or bigger outros) flanked towards the outsides and quieter (plus EQ) gets it sounding full.
The more I get into mixing, the more I enjoy it. I find myself thinking a lot about numerous ways to get instruments (guitars, vocals, synths, etc) sitting well in the mix. I've noticed that point #4 is the best advice: using panning and gain staging to get everything sitting well on its own. It makes the process of everything else SO much easier. Love the reference of backing sitting around the lead vocals. It's like a harmony line, then the lead would be center, and I'd put the harmonies around 10-20% on either side depending on timbre of vocalist. If it's a choir-like vocal line with "oohs and ahhs," then they go wider, for me.
How has this got 4 thumbs down???? Great advice as always @producelikeapro! Particularly the point about getting a rough balance up before you ump in and start processing. So often I’ve started building a drum sound then added in the other instruments and found I completely need to change direction. Love these tips and tricks videos... thanks so much for always sharing your wisdom. 🎛👍🤩🎸🎼
I'm leaving a comment just because I know that helps with the TH-cam algorithm and it helps push this video to more people. Because you deserve it. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge!
all of the things you talked about have been my big mistakes, getting into a frenzy of applying plugins to cure excesses of another plugin, ended up sounding flat, boring and unreal in the visceral adrenaline inducing way.
Staring at spectrun analyzers, rushing to apply the same settings I set on the last project - without listening to the song, thinking wide all the time instead of placing the sounds in different places or too much ping pong.
Over compressing, multiband limiting, too much air, mixing in the wrong room, not referencing.
You nailed them all - it was almost like you were reading my mind - or had data about all my bad mixing decisions. Like you had a webcam on me and a load of data.
Great content Warren
I love to do (or not do) all those things, but live. Making it work is the most beautiful feeling.
Another amazing lesson...everything you say makes perfect sense.
Thanks ever so much!!
I like this guys energy.
Learning so much from these videos. Love them!!
Thanks ever so much
I love Vocal Rider which is always my first plugin on vocals. I print the automation then tweak it before applying any compression. Sometimes the compressor is then only used for tone rather than control. Love all your advise Warren. Sound!! Edit: I should add for anyone seeking advice on using Vocal Rider, you should not use one setting for a dynamic vocal performance. Separate the vocal on different tracks according to the dynamics and spend time making sure VR is working well for the whole performance/track, it will save you time tweaking and ultimately compressing
This is my favorite of your videos, so far.
Man, every single word is gold. Thanks for sharing all of these informations for free. Amazing! Big big thanks! But also, you have a big responsibility because you are teaching future mixing and mastering engineers! :D So we trust you as your students :)
You really should make "Magic Cleaning Products".
It's amazing how you always "clean out" my own problems with simple logic and clean ideas.
You really are an inspiration. Best Regards Thomas
Just your down to earth way of sharing your thoughts and knowledge helps me alot! Sometimes I think to much instead of taking the time to listen closely what happends in my mix. My biggest enemy is that I think that my mix is finished and the next day I enhance the mix with a suttle cut.
However, your way of explaining helps me alot. Thanks so much!