The MOST Important Step in Your Mix (GarageBand Mixing Tutorial)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 พ.ย. 2024
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Getting your volume and panning positions right is the MOST important step in your mixing process because everything builds from here. You can continue to tweak it as you go through the other steps but if you don't get it right initially, you're building a house on a crumbling foundation...
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‼ Download the free 6-Step PRO MIX Checklist here: www.thebandguide.com/6stepPROmix ‼
Hands down, this is the best (not just GarageBand) channel, but general music mixing channel that is out there. It’s the little things He talks about (I.e., in this one, adding the Gain plugin to the Master Channel to further control the overall mix) that is simple on its face, but huge time saver for beginners and novices.
That’s SUPER high praise! Thank you 🙏🏼
Thanks so much Colin! All these videos you’ve been putting out lately are perfect timing for me. Starting to mix my 3rd song! Very excited (and nervous lol). Thank you for acknowledging how scary it can be when we go faders down. I thought it was just me that got anxious on this step! 👍🏻
I'm so glad they've been helpful! I avoided faders down FOREVER because it seemed scary and unnecessary but actually doing it REALLY improved my mixes. Excited to hear this next song!
Thank you. This video was perfect for me.
Great tutorial, Colin!
Really enjoying these videos! I'm currently working on recording my own album in Garageband. I used to record on GarageBand on my phone. Because of these video's I made the switch to Mac. A world of possibilities have opened and still trying to figure out what is working for me and what not. But these videos are really helpful!
Very exciting! Stoked to hear the final product
Love your sagely tips! You have been an unimaginable blessing to me. Though I was fiddling with this really powerful DAW for nearly 10 years, I was mostly paying around with it as a child plays with a toy; Only after watching your tutorials and going through your EQ expert and video critique analysis courses have I begun to understand the various processes involved in recording, mixing and mastering songs. Before coming to you, I was as a bird without wings in the music realm, but now, after becoming your student cum fan, you have equipped me with wings to fly and am able to bring out one song after another that are being appreciated by my friends. Only God can repay the debt I owe you Colin.
Damn you Colin! Every time you put out a new video, I learn all the things I am doing wrong! I was almost finished with a 24 track song with lots of automation, but I knew something wasn't right, and this video showed me I was WAY over volume within the channels and it was causing distortion and artifacts. But with your clear steps, I had it remixed and all the automation redone in under 3 hours.
You da Man, man.
That's so awesome. Well done! Excited to hear the finished product!
The gain reduction tip at the end is a great trick. Wish I knew about earlier 👍👍
Yes! Saves a lotttt of headaches
Love the tip about master gain. Been in that place of panic about being too loud after hours of mixing, and this is a big relief. Thanks again, Colin!
Yes! As long as you get the relative balance right and it's below true peak (0db), then you can bring down the output of the total mix and the relative balance will stay intact as you move into the rest of the process. HUGE nightmare saver haha
Colin - thank you so very much for these videos. They are extremely helpful!!! I was very interested in the promotion you offered recently to work on a song together - but I am afraid I still don't know enough to be able and get full value of our time together. I am not sure of even the right questions to ask yet. Again -thank you for everything!
Hey Ben! Happy to be helpful! I've been there. Maybe a one-on-one call would be a better fit because I can help guide you through that early knowledge stage. Shoot me an email and let's discuss!
Yes boss! Sometimes i need to go back to the static mix because my ears have been too tired when i I did it the first time.
The eq and effects can't solve problems with the static mix.
So your tips about taking breaks is really really important! I struggle with that because it's so fun to work with music🤓
Great video as usual! 👍
🙌🏼 You're the man, Tommy! Hope you're doing well!
@@TheBandGuide Same 2 you!
Maybe it's a little off topic for this specific video but I have to say that the idea about distortion on the snare drum is just genius!
As for me, that like a pretty compressed snare sound with a lot of attack, the distortion works perfect as a "snappy" controller.
A lot of compression kind off make the snare lose some of the "buzzing" sound that the snappy create. With distortion it's easy to kind of add just how much of the snappy you want to shine through.
Just genius! 👏😎
I've been doing static mixes since watching the previous 6-step videos, but struggled to get the whole mix down to the target dB level. The new Gain tip will save a lot of effort.
🙌🏼
Hi Colin - thanks for another useful video. Now you've got me curious. How do you decide when to use the Master Track slider, the slider at the top of the page, the Gain plug-in you described in this video, or the volume knob in the VU meter? Would either one of these options provide the same result if you're getting to close to your max level?
Hey Paul! It really matters where they are in the signal chain. What you are looking to do is keep the volume going into your plugins on your master track at that -6ish range. So you need a plugin at the start of that chain. You could definitely do this with the mvmeter2 plugin. The reason I wouldn’t, however, is that I tend to think of plugins in their simplest form so I know exactly what they are doing even if I come back to a session much later. If I see a meter plugin I might forget that it’s adding volume and take it off or move it to the end of the chain to check the RMS level or something- if the meter was doing the gain I could throw things off without realizing it. If I see a gain plugin…. I know exactly what it’s doing haha
The master track volume is after any plugins and the master volume is even after the master track volume. I typically recommend keeping those at 0.
If you haven’t already- definitely check out the video I did laying out the 7 stages of volume.
I'm not sure why the middle part of this is crossed out...
@@TheBandGuide Thanks so much for your reply. Cheers.
Hey man love you videos and I am a GarageBand sucker I love it never want to leave it, but there's still alot I haven't learned being that I just started engineering about 6 months ago. When I creat my melodic rap songs or singing songs I tend to dub my main vocal with a singing voice and my main vocal is more like a deeper more raspy voice, but I'm struggling on getting that perfect blend on the two together. I use it most on a hook or bridge to juice up the song. Any tips or a video explaining? Thank you so much for your time u just got a new subscriber.
Thanks man! I’d bet what you really need is heavy compression on both tracks to really smooth them out and make them really even. Then blend to taste. I tend to mix higher melodies lower because our ears are more sensitive to them, so a lower volume equals the same perceived volume. Hope that all helps!
And finally you put compressor and limiter on a master to get pro Integrated -12dB LUFS and everything sounds louder but tracks balance is totally different and you start to adjust it again :)
Haha the never ending struggle
@@TheBandGuide 😉
The mvMeter2 plugin answered a pressing question. Thank you - very helpful! Anything similar for ios?
Is there a way to get around the 44.1khz sample rate limit in Garageband? (vs 48khz). I'm sure you know what I am referring to.
Hallo Colin!
Thanks! I like your content and already learned a few valuable things from your videos!
One question regarding this video: Why do you insert a Gain-Plugin before the mvMeter2?
I ask this because on the mvMeter2 is also a knob, with which you can change the gain (until now this was my way to change the loudness of my mixes).
Are these two ways to achieve the same thing, or is it better to use the Gain-Plugin instead of the mvMeter2-knob?
I'd appreciate your thoughts on this!
Thank you, Gerhard!
Great question. You definitely can use that volume in the mvmeter to adjust the volume down. They are functionally the same. The reason I don’t do this is that I knowwww I’ll end up forgetting the meter was doing more than just metering and later I might take it off or move it to the end of the signal chain to check RMS or something and throw the mix off. If I see a gain plugin I immediately know exactly what it’s doing!
@@TheBandGuide Thanks a lot! Cheers!
Thanks Colin! Super helpful video going deeper into the static mix. I had 2 questions.
1. Do you think there is any value to starting with 1 main instrument of the song at -6DB and building around that, so everything stays around there to begin with? Or is it better to just set the levels where you want and try to not go above -3?
2. Are there any drawbacks to putting a gain plug in on the master track to make everything quieter? Does it harm the dynamics in any way?
Thanks! Keep going. Your videos are awesome.
Great questions, Robin!
1. I like this conceptually but from my experience there are still occasionally moments when everything will hit at once and it will peak past the loudest part of the loudest source. Might be something I try out more though!
2. Not necessarily! Certainly won't harm the dynamics as long as you do it at the start of your chain at the beginning of the mixing process. Because the sound hasn't hit true peak at the output of the session, it should still maintain any dynamics and relative volume
Hi Colin. Thanks for another informative and useful video. I've not tried the all faders down yet. But I plan to. I usually start with drums around -6db and build the mix around that. I do start with a gain plug at +6db on the master fader, and then drop it to 0 after mixing to keep levels from getting too hot. It's a hack but it's helped me a few times. I'll definitely try your method. Cheers!
Wait, Colin you have a 6 step checklist? When did this happen? Why didn't you tell us?
Oh no! Have I forgot to mention it?! 🤦🏼♂️🤦🏼♂️
but I usually dont use the gain (even though I think now after this video that it can save time). I usually check the meter at the beginning and at the end after I added the channel eq, the compressors, the effects, the automation.. I listen the song the last time and if I see some part at -2.9 or more i will use the automation to that part so it will be not more than -3.1.
Great tip!
hey Colin! is there another meter available, I can´t run the mvmeter as I am still on MacOS Sierra.
I know they have a couple different versions you can download depending on which type of graphics card your computer has- it could be that! If not, VUMT by Klanghelm is also great. It’s not free but it’s really cheap (I think ~$20?)
I always have issues with not being sure how loud the drums should be in the mix..
Great question! I often find drums can be louder than we expect. Referencing against pro mixes, bringing their volume down to match yours, and focusing in on how loud their drums are relative to everything else and trying to match that in your mix is the key
such a pain. why when you are in automation view does select all not select all the automation? such a stupid bit of software. the longer i use it the more frustrating it becomes. anybody know of an easy way to do this? you can't even mouse select all cause it only lets you do one track at a time. is logic any better?
Hmmm. It lets me select multiple automation points across multiple tracks in GarageBand. I have to have set the points on the track I'm selecting but from there I can just click and drag to select any points in a specific region. Maybe this was added in an update on GB?
@@TheBandGuide dang! it's very possible then. older os out of necessity. thank you!
@@TheBandGuide Good morning Colin. I just don't get the hang of what is being discussed here...maybe this can be the basis for another tutorial😀