"All our music sucks and all our music is good, it just depends on who's listening" Those some words of wisdom right there! And for whatever it's worth Ricky, you've had a EDC mainstage-sized impact on my life as a house producer 🙏
Regarding the high pass filter on the kick, here's a pro tip I learned from a Propellerhead tutorial: regardless of how surgical the cut looks like visually in the DAW, there is an inevitable boost right at the cut frequency - think of it as a bit of a resonance hump right at the cutoff point. So, if you set the cutoff at 50 Hz, it will actually boost 50 Hz ever so slightly before sharply cutting off anything below it. I'm sure different EQ plugins will work slightly differently but this is at least the case with the SSL-modeled EQ in Reason. Professional mixers use this to their advantage. So, be sure to place the cutoff point where it sounds the best, at the root frequency of the kick, and use your ears. 👂👌
"All our music sucks and all our music is good, it just depends on who's listening" I think those words might be my first tattoo for a constant reminder😋🙌♥️
@@RickyTinez great video indeed. One question though. Why does the true peak on a kick increase when I highpass around 30hz? Someone mentioned phasing or something.
About the „rules of EQ“, and regarding modular: there is a module by Shakmat which is simply called „Hipass“ which features two pairs of fixed Filters, cutting at 100 and 30 Hz. Ironically that little thing first got my attention to foundations of EQ-usage. Excellent in preparing stuff at the raw sum or whilst tracking.
Hi Ricky! A really good trick on the master channel instead of using Utility for making every bass frequency mono is use EQ Eight with the Mid/Side option where u can sweep the bass frequencies from the stereo field as much as u want or boost higher frequencys to get even a bigger and wider atmosfere!
As someone who gets paid to do the occasional master, the bass thing you're talking about at 38:17 is mostly just the bass getting louder and interacting with some saturation. Not multi-band per se, but distortion acts different at different frequencies depending on how the circuit/plugin works. By the time I get to the part of my workflow where I would consider adding multi-band processing to correct any issues, I've usually gotten the result I wanted with just EQ and broadband compression and saturation. I use multi-band stuff maybe 10% of the time if there's something really poking out only at one frequency and I can't get another mix from the artist to just fix that one thing.
Ricky - just taking a sec here to say that your channel is a breath of fresh air in a world of click bait garbage and I'm so happy to have found it. A friend of mine and I were just talking about YT channels and we both recommended yours to each other unprompted haha
Cut the kick at 80hz with a 6db slope, then boost into saturation at frequency of your choice. Try on the kick / bass together or mix for tight lowend integration.
Great video! Quick tip, the EQ-8 has a built in gain stage on the lower right so if you're already using an EQ-8 you don't really need a utility for additional gain (you might still want it for bass mono.).
Great set of videos, as always. Can’t stress enough how keeping it simple is really key for success. Complicated, multi layered mixes with crazy fx busses and lots of processing will come easier after learning the basics.
Great advice, Ricky! I used to own a nightclub, i've seen most venue Xover subs at somewhere between 125-200HZ. You might take that into consideration, when you're thinking about when you want that sub-bass energy to really hit, in da club.
i EQ pretty much everything except kick and sub out at 200, that makes sure that in MOST venue, zero air will be moving thru the subwoofers, unless you want it to. and all your kick/bass should be in mono.
Watching this at my favorite barrista coffee house, sipping my first morning espresso as your familiar intro comes on (don‘t ever change it!) and leaning back to dig another episode. Loving your channel man, keep it up please!
As someone who's made music for over a decade - but doesn't release anything due to a lack of mixing knowledge...THANK YOU SO FKN MUCH - this is a great great resource I'll be revisiting
I don’t know how I came across this channel but wow this is insane. Every video I’ve learned so much. Your videos are the Grammy winners of videos meaning the advice you give connects every genre just like good music connects all different language speakers. I stick to hip hop and a lot of your videos give me such viable advice, thank you my man
couple of additional tips of mixing low-end 1. Rather highpassing everything to 50, try to sidechain the bass from kick 2. LA-2A (or similar optical compressor) on bass will keep the bass in the mix, since this type of compressors having slow attack and release values, it will provide constant presence for bass (if it needed it song, of course). You can also push LA-2A to the point of "overdrive" to get this REALLY THICK BUTTER ON UR BASS 3. Multiband compression on sub bass frequencies to smooth the transients inside that frequency range. Makes basses very rich sounding, almost buttery 4. Pultec on bass. No other words needed, just try it. 5. Sidechain your kick to some of your pads and mid-frequencies harmonies (mid range elements with long notes) to articulate the click of the kick. Just a touch, dont get it to the electro-house pumping zero years dancefloor anthem sidechain.
Thanks for rounding out this series! Really really helpful! Also, shout out for the sponsor for this week @Landr - nobody's ever mad at a sponsor that is so directly relevant to the subject matter!
I’m sorry but the ”only one thing under 50hz” only makes sense sometimes. For example if you kick’s fundamental is at 40hz, it makes it sound like crap to highpass at 50hz. The real rule should be, ”only one thing at a time under 50hz”. Which is why sidechaining the bass to the kick usually solves the problem without making the kick sound crap.
I agree. It's always about the root note of the kick and also, the key of the track. 40hz (E) might be too low for a kick but for example all the 808, 909 etc are usually at 49hz (G) so you don't want to lose that. For me it makes more sense if you design you kick and bass right, rather than chopping frequencies in the mix. But I understand the tips in the video are not wrong, but maybe it's a bit more complicated and there is no tip that can be applied in every track / kick / bass
Man, even when I’m not trying to learn anything, this is one channel I can always enjoy and count on The vibe is right, every time. Ricky your personality is super comfortable and easy to listen to and I always end your videos feeling just a smidge better about life. Keep it up yo, big respect 🙏
Great video Ricky, very generous of you to share your mixing knowledge with us. One trick I picked up years ago was to compare my track with a professionally mixed and mastered track in the same style. For example, if I am doing a Moby-ish type track, I'll A/B with one of his tracks.
I can’t believe we just got a three episode master class for free. Thank you so much for doing this Ricky! You should have a submission pool for all of those who you inspired and moved through the process.
I’ve been using the hainbach method ever since I’ve heard it on his video, the idea being that there are levels of important that can be represented as volume s separated by 6 decibles. The one I saw he mentioned bass drum or main upfront driving element at -6, thinks of importance like baseline, snare, call and trains elements, etc… andgentle drivers like hi hats, that sample you mentioned, etc… at -18 or below separated roughly by 6ish. It’s made a huge difference in my work too. I like the way you processed it in addition to his, thanks for sharing Ricky
Iv been making beats for over 20 years but mixing and mastering is just something I'm starting to get into so this will be helpful as I usually fiddle about until I think it sounds good but not really knowing what I'm actually doing
how we're doing them big woof basses? well, it's about colouring EQ and Compressors, alongside with saturation. bass mono, up low shelf a little bit with colouring EQ, a touch of vari-mu compressor, saturation on low frequencies range (FF Saturn, Vertigo VSM-3, etc.).
Those hidden bass frequencies are particularly bad on old films, which I sample a lot. Its impossible to hear it, but slap an EQ analyser on it, and theres a ton of bass material taking up headroom. EQ analysers and spectral wave display are a real headache saver!
Wait wait...tip 2. please DON'T just cut "everything below 50 HZ". While you are perfectly right that we need to decide what is the purpose of the track and relationship between bass and a kick (and possibly extra low end information?), we need to have this idea while designing kick and a bass. If your fundamental is at 40HZ and you cut it out, you are going to be left with something that yes, can be sorted out by psyhoacoustic tricks in the mid range and harmonics, but dont just cut kicks. Especially those that you have created by layering multiple different kicks. Same goes for the bass. If you have 3 oscillator bass (say using that Pro 3 in the back) and you set your OSC 3 to Sine and dial it all the way to the left to give your bass a zinging sub, you should consider having a thick yet pitched kick. Quite often my bass is "under" the kick, sonically. But most of that stuff is pre-planned. however, be tactile and smart, dont just cut left and right to open space. You will have more room for your low end to breathe but no need for killing fundamentals. Also, dont go manically sweaping for resonant frequencies in samples that are obviously made with frequency modulation. You are going to remove harmonic content and cripple your sample. Techniquies of resonant sweeping are for guitar/vocals, when lots of harsh content above high mids amass. You will rarely find those on synths, symbly because most synths have gradual trim on low pass filters, 2 or 4 pole - doesn't matter, therefore there will never be disproportionally high resonant content.
haha, I love that little part about engineering school. i went to SAE as well and always think the same way about myself when it comes to mixing... "please dont think im an engineer..."
I’d heard about limiting the bass before but I’d never watched someone actually doing it, had no idea you needed to be that careful about it! I tried applying it as a guide for my current track I’m working on and, sure enough, the track just sounds more concise and, frankly, more danceable. Has more energy too! Probably going to take some learning to apply the technique properly, but this def gave me a new baseline for moving forward. My Auto-Filter now defaults to a 24db ladder HP at 100 hz ;)
Interesting on cutting the Kick at 50hz when you want to feature the bass more. Gonna try that. Thanks for the tip! Definitely the low end is the most unforgiving aspect of music. You gotta get that kick n bass to really dance together.
Great Video, Ricky. I am already applying your EQ and Level rules on a DnB song I’m working on. I found a lot of bass “rumble” on my midrange synth tracks that I’ve applied proper high pass > 100 Hz
I love Ricky's videos. But for the cuts below 100hz I thought this effected phasing unless using a linear/mixed phase eq. Mixed being the best choice to avoid the pre ringing artifacts. Because of this I usually do a slope off rather than a full cut even when using mixed or linear phase cause it seems to effect phase most when it's a cut instead of lesser attenuation.
Your 50hz tip is akin to the US school/UK school of mixing from days of old :) Does the kick live under the bass or the bass live under the kick? Traditionally, it was one way or the other in UK/US productions. Its a top tip, Ricky!
bro, if you tell the guys to set specific eq freq it is worth to mention that your bass should be harmonically related to the key of your track, to get more pleasent results
Baphometrix (and others DnB producers who deal a lot with the lowend) have a totally different view on the use of HPF. Basically what they say is: don't use HPF on anything other than high and mid regions; which means: don't HPF your kick, bass and sub-bass (and even snares). Instead, try and EQ fix everything that is happening in the mid-range, which eventually enters in conflict with lower regions. Quote: "I don't endorse putting an HPF in the sub region or even the low bass region. Nor do I endorse putting it on kicks and snares. And I do explain in many places that putting a pass filter anywhere at all (even up at Nyquist in an anti-aliasing filter) will create new, higher peaks than before in any signal. Still, in certain situations a gentle minimum phase HPF or LPF can be placed in the mids and highs without much problem, as long as the resulting clipped-to-zero signal still sounds fine. [...] My viewpoint is that much of what is discovered/considered as "junk down there" is caused by letting too many things from your midrange instruments conflict and build up with your sub and kick, without understanding or addressing that problem at the real source. Using an HPF down int that region on the Master (or some other higher-level bus) is just slapping a messy, ineffective band-aid on the symptom, not really fixing the actual cause." th-cam.com/video/kmRyWePW9UY/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Baphometrix
She favours the use of: - clipping-to-zero (CZT) method [kind of a mix/mastering technique] - proper sidechaining to avoid conflict in the low region And if you ever have to apply any EQ on the low end, favour the bell EQ (remove one/several frequencies in a specific zone) rather than a linear pass filter which will erase everything else under this freq region.
Regarding high passing the non bass elements - I can’t recall where I saw it but there was this caution against it because it could result in a very thin sounding mix. Have you ever encountered this scenario?
I haven’t. But I have made the mistake of accidentally removing the thickness of a snare or other elements by blindly adding the 100hz cut to everything haha
@@EISERMANN80 it seemed to be a cumulative thing. Maybe one or two elements here and there wouldn’t make a difference but after everything it would be noticeable. It’s like applying tape saturation to every channel just a bit will build up over the whole track. I haven’t experienced this myself it was just something I remember seeing.
@@MrMarcLaflamme Agreed. Maybe HP on a group would be better than on every single instrument. As far as I understand it is also better phase-wise. So you have let’s say four HPs instead of 30.
@@EISERMANN80 Yeah I've seen the phase thing come up in regards to HPF's and I believe Dan Worrall has covered it extensively. Still don't fully understand it but it seems to be one of those "yeah it happens but... it's probably not going to matter for 99% of the occurrences" things. Just make music! :-D
Back in the 90s we were limited to 8, 14 seems like luxury still! I find once I go over 25-35 tracks, you start losing the sound of the original track/idea. This includes a lot of "duplicate" tracks I used to widen the stereo image.
Bonus tipp on organizing for anyone who is just starting out: if you rename a track and you start with a # Ableton Live automatically numbers it. Eg: if you rename track number 4 as say „# Drums“ it automatically becomes „4 Drums“ and when you move it around the number changes accordingly. Speaking of keeping things tidy … :)
I fully concur with technique #1 but I also have my own way of doing this process that can mitigate overdoing things - when attempting to find the offending/superfluous frequency to filter out (lets use the example of HPF on a hi hat) it can be tricky to ascertain what of the lowest frequency retains it's naturalistic sound so I will flip to a LPF to find the lowest most ugly frequency up to the highest point at which the hat is becoming audible, then flip back to HPF and maybe roll it down a tiny bit (to moderate the perceivable effects). Cumulatively this has a massive contribution on cleaning up the signal flow and makes gain staging far more effective - the overall mix is clearer & can create a lot more headroom per channel which helps translate to a louder mix overall because there are fewer rogue frequencies like rumble invisibly eating up the bandwidth. So the TL:DR is - when applying a HP or LP filter, try the opposite filter to check you're not overdoing it.... additional note - you can't put back what you've eliminated but you can repeat the process (filter again) if there's still a little too much left in there and this will be far more subtle than trying to do all the heavy lifting in 1 pass. Much love & respect Ricky. This channel always gets my brain ticking & having it play while doing these arduous processes is almost like having someone else in the room to bounce ideas off of while allowing me to remain antisocial 😅
Great info Ricky. Thanks! One thing I’ve noticed that kinda goes along with this is crazy overuse of fx especially reverb. Just because it’s easy to drop fx on a track doesn’t mean you should. I have seen a number of examples of projects with a different reverb on every track. That kind of approach makes applying this advice difficult. Any thoughts on this Ricky?
Not a newbie per se, but I have a newbie question. Would the second rule apply to kick/bass combo that don't hit at the same time? Like if I have the bass aggressively sidechained or just written to avoid those quarter notes, would you still advocate cutting one or the other at 50hz?
1. @12:00 the bass is overcut IMO. Try it on speakers with a sub. This has a little to do with something important: 2. People today are making house music not just too much by sight instead of by listening, but by listening instead of feeling. Almost no new house music flows/makes me want to dance/is even made for the dancefloor IMO. 3. There are exceptions to #2, and I find clubs with good house very occasionally up here in SF. I'm not sure about the scene in LA but it's been all downhill up here since about 2000, with COVID just about the final nail in the coffin. Still, there are things going on. Afrohouse has brought me back to interest in DJ'ing/Producing House but haven't had a gig since COVID. 4. Thanks for focusing on Ableton stuff a bit Ricky. Everyone remember that you don't actually need any hardware. Period. Just a computer., or tablet, or smart phone. You don't even need to spend any money to make music. I love gear too though.
I got one question is an audio engineering internship worth it if im a music producer?! U said u went to engineering school right? I got offered one and I just don't know..... It's at a major studio
This was an AWESOME video. One thing that has always bothered me is how EVERY virtual instrument under the sun defaults the output at 0db. It’s unbelievably annoying
While I appreciate the need to cut frequencies where they are not necessary, I think too that it is not necessary to cut something that actually isn't there "just in case". i.e. putting a low cut at 100Hz on an instrument/sound that is literally showing nothing at those frequencies anyway. This adds unnecessary load on your CPU and RAM. If you use non-native plugins in the same manner, you are also adding latency to the signal path on that track for no benefit.
Finally moved into an apartment (for the first time in years), where I’ll have space to work on larger (music, art,etc) projects; this video came out just at the right time for me. Thanks Ricky. :D
I love your channel, this is a great series. But the sound of your videos is super flat and there’s a ton of room noise in your mic. Just keep noticing I have turn up your videos compared to others.
"All our music sucks and all our music is good, it just depends on who's listening" Those some words of wisdom right there! And for whatever it's worth Ricky, you've had a EDC mainstage-sized impact on my life as a house producer 🙏
Regarding the high pass filter on the kick, here's a pro tip I learned from a Propellerhead tutorial: regardless of how surgical the cut looks like visually in the DAW, there is an inevitable boost right at the cut frequency - think of it as a bit of a resonance hump right at the cutoff point. So, if you set the cutoff at 50 Hz, it will actually boost 50 Hz ever so slightly before sharply cutting off anything below it. I'm sure different EQ plugins will work slightly differently but this is at least the case with the SSL-modeled EQ in Reason. Professional mixers use this to their advantage. So, be sure to place the cutoff point where it sounds the best, at the root frequency of the kick, and use your ears. 👂👌
excellent advice, i do this a lot!
You're definitely right about the kick cut at 50hz sounding WAY sharper. These are really great tips that I'm going to play with. Thanks :)
"All our music sucks and all our music is good, it just depends on who's listening"
I think those words might be my first tattoo for a constant reminder😋🙌♥️
Aka beauty is in the eye of the beholder 😆
fr
I just saved this video under my “best mixing video” playlist (which doesn’t need any other video than this one)
Hahahah! Thanks George
@@RickyTinez great video indeed. One question though. Why does the true peak on a kick increase when I highpass around 30hz? Someone mentioned phasing or something.
About the „rules of EQ“, and regarding modular: there is a module by Shakmat which is simply called „Hipass“ which features two pairs of fixed Filters, cutting at 100 and 30 Hz. Ironically that little thing first got my attention to foundations of EQ-usage. Excellent in preparing stuff at the raw sum or whilst tracking.
Hi Ricky! A really good trick on the master channel instead of using Utility for making every bass frequency mono is use EQ Eight with the Mid/Side option where u can sweep the bass frequencies from the stereo field as much as u want or boost higher frequencys to get even a bigger and wider atmosfere!
As someone who gets paid to do the occasional master, the bass thing you're talking about at 38:17 is mostly just the bass getting louder and interacting with some saturation. Not multi-band per se, but distortion acts different at different frequencies depending on how the circuit/plugin works. By the time I get to the part of my workflow where I would consider adding multi-band processing to correct any issues, I've usually gotten the result I wanted with just EQ and broadband compression and saturation. I use multi-band stuff maybe 10% of the time if there's something really poking out only at one frequency and I can't get another mix from the artist to just fix that one thing.
Ricky - just taking a sec here to say that your channel is a breath of fresh air in a world of click bait garbage and I'm so happy to have found it. A friend of mine and I were just talking about YT channels and we both recommended yours to each other unprompted haha
Cut the kick at 80hz with a 6db slope, then boost into saturation at frequency of your choice. Try on the kick / bass together or mix for tight lowend integration.
Great video! Quick tip, the EQ-8 has a built in gain stage on the lower right so if you're already using an EQ-8 you don't really need a utility for additional gain (you might still want it for bass mono.).
Thanks!
holy crap thank you! i really appreciate it
Great set of videos, as always. Can’t stress enough how keeping it simple is really key for success. Complicated, multi layered mixes with crazy fx busses and lots of processing will come easier after learning the basics.
Great advice, Ricky!
I used to own a nightclub, i've seen most venue Xover subs at somewhere between 125-200HZ. You might take that into consideration, when you're thinking about when you want that sub-bass energy to really hit, in da club.
i EQ pretty much everything except kick and sub out at 200, that makes sure that in MOST venue, zero air will be moving thru the subwoofers, unless you want it to. and all your kick/bass should be in mono.
i'm trying to find good sub patches for basslines to hit people in the gut around 60-80hz, get your pelvis vibrating.
your sub bass can hit harder at certain freq if the club has 24" or 21" or 18" or 15" subwoofers...
@@isaacanthonydj4124 🤣🤣🤣 wild explanation but I hear ya
12:38 kick indeed sounds cleaner and louder, i guess it's a perfect slope for that kick
Watching this at my favorite barrista coffee house, sipping my first morning espresso as your familiar intro comes on (don‘t ever change it!) and leaning back to dig another episode. Loving your channel man, keep it up please!
I’m loving this start to finish series!
I've been watching your videos for years and hands down these 3 videos are the best tutorial. Awesome as always
Jason I really appreciate you and your time! Happy to see you throughout the years too haha.
@@RickyTinez 2018 seems a lifetime ago, I remember looking for tips about the mono station.
As someone who's made music for over a decade - but doesn't release anything due to a lack of mixing knowledge...THANK YOU SO FKN MUCH - this is a great great resource I'll be revisiting
I don’t know how I came across this channel but wow this is insane. Every video I’ve learned so much. Your videos are the Grammy winners of videos meaning the advice you give connects every genre just like good music connects all different language speakers. I stick to hip hop and a lot of your videos give me such viable advice, thank you my man
couple of additional tips of mixing low-end
1. Rather highpassing everything to 50, try to sidechain the bass from kick
2. LA-2A (or similar optical compressor) on bass will keep the bass in the mix, since this type of compressors having slow attack and release values, it will provide constant presence for bass (if it needed it song, of course). You can also push LA-2A to the point of "overdrive" to get this REALLY THICK BUTTER ON UR BASS
3. Multiband compression on sub bass frequencies to smooth the transients inside that frequency range. Makes basses very rich sounding, almost buttery
4. Pultec on bass. No other words needed, just try it.
5. Sidechain your kick to some of your pads and mid-frequencies harmonies (mid range elements with long notes) to articulate the click of the kick. Just a touch, dont get it to the electro-house pumping zero years dancefloor anthem sidechain.
Thanks for these.
@@42tehfloor my pleasure
Thanks for rounding out this series! Really really helpful! Also, shout out for the sponsor for this week @Landr - nobody's ever mad at a sponsor that is so directly relevant to the subject matter!
I’m sorry but the ”only one thing under 50hz” only makes sense sometimes. For example if you kick’s fundamental is at 40hz, it makes it sound like crap to highpass at 50hz. The real rule should be, ”only one thing at a time under 50hz”. Which is why sidechaining the bass to the kick usually solves the problem without making the kick sound crap.
I like what you're saying here. Great additional tip!
Hundert percent agreed
I agree. It's always about the root note of the kick and also, the key of the track. 40hz (E) might be too low for a kick but for example all the 808, 909 etc are usually at 49hz (G) so you don't want to lose that. For me it makes more sense if you design you kick and bass right, rather than chopping frequencies in the mix. But I understand the tips in the video are not wrong, but maybe it's a bit more complicated and there is no tip that can be applied in every track / kick / bass
Man, even when I’m not trying to learn anything, this is one channel I can always enjoy and count on
The vibe is right, every time.
Ricky your personality is super comfortable and easy to listen to and I always end your videos feeling just a smidge better about life. Keep it up yo, big respect 🙏
Damnn Ricky, these series are soooo helpful!! Amazing content!!!
Thats a huge video with a lot of brain conceptions and ideas...gratefull!
The haas effect 😊🕺❤️
Great video Ricky, very generous of you to share your mixing knowledge with us. One trick I picked up years ago was to compare my track with a professionally mixed and mastered track in the same style. For example, if I am doing a Moby-ish type track, I'll A/B with one of his tracks.
I can’t believe we just got a three episode master class for free. Thank you so much for doing this Ricky! You should have a submission pool for all of those who you inspired and moved through the process.
Super helpful video. Thank you for sharing the knowledge. I’ve been flailing around in the dark trying to mix my songs but these tips shine a light.
That 50Hz cut even on some cheap headphones really brings out the definition, I’m using this tip! Thanks for all your videos 👊
Ricky Tinez is the King!
subtractive EQ techniques refresher. love it sir!
I’ve been using the hainbach method ever since I’ve heard it on his video, the idea being that there are levels of important that can be represented as volume s separated by 6 decibles. The one I saw he mentioned bass drum or main upfront driving element at -6, thinks of importance like baseline, snare, call and trains elements, etc… andgentle drivers like hi hats, that sample you mentioned, etc… at -18 or below separated roughly by 6ish. It’s made a huge difference in my work too. I like the way you processed it in addition to his, thanks for sharing Ricky
The first 25 mins of this video has helped so much!
Found this immensely useful, many thanks bro🙏🏽
Iv been making beats for over 20 years but mixing and mastering is just something I'm starting to get into so this will be helpful as I usually fiddle about until I think it sounds good but not really knowing what I'm actually doing
God Bless you!🙏 You have a new subscriber!
This a great video man, thanks
how we're doing them big woof basses?
well, it's about colouring EQ and Compressors, alongside with saturation.
bass mono, up low shelf a little bit with colouring EQ, a touch of vari-mu compressor, saturation on low frequencies range (FF Saturn, Vertigo VSM-3, etc.).
I have a question regarding the "there can only be one" rule at 10:10. Isnt sidechaining a good alternative to the 50hz cut?
Those hidden bass frequencies are particularly bad on old films, which I sample a lot. Its impossible to hear it, but slap an EQ analyser on it, and theres a ton of bass material taking up headroom. EQ analysers and spectral wave display are a real headache saver!
I think the right word to describe cutting the kick at 50hz is it just sounds a lot tighter, totally agree
Wait wait...tip 2. please DON'T just cut "everything below 50 HZ". While you are perfectly right that we need to decide what is the purpose of the track and relationship between bass and a kick (and possibly extra low end information?), we need to have this idea while designing kick and a bass. If your fundamental is at 40HZ and you cut it out, you are going to be left with something that yes, can be sorted out by psyhoacoustic tricks in the mid range and harmonics, but dont just cut kicks. Especially those that you have created by layering multiple different kicks. Same goes for the bass. If you have 3 oscillator bass (say using that Pro 3 in the back) and you set your OSC 3 to Sine and dial it all the way to the left to give your bass a zinging sub, you should consider having a thick yet pitched kick. Quite often my bass is "under" the kick, sonically. But most of that stuff is pre-planned. however, be tactile and smart, dont just cut left and right to open space. You will have more room for your low end to breathe but no need for killing fundamentals. Also, dont go manically sweaping for resonant frequencies in samples that are obviously made with frequency modulation. You are going to remove harmonic content and cripple your sample. Techniquies of resonant sweeping are for guitar/vocals, when lots of harsh content above high mids amass. You will rarely find those on synths, symbly because most synths have gradual trim on low pass filters, 2 or 4 pole - doesn't matter, therefore there will never be disproportionally high resonant content.
Hi Ricky
Great series, can you add a final episode to show how to take the track and perform live eg on an Octatrack
Cheers
haha, I love that little part about engineering school. i went to SAE as well and always think the same way about myself when it comes to mixing... "please dont think im an engineer..."
Nicely explained. Well done 👍.
I’d heard about limiting the bass before but I’d never watched someone actually doing it, had no idea you needed to be that careful about it! I tried applying it as a guide for my current track I’m working on and, sure enough, the track just sounds more concise and, frankly, more danceable. Has more energy too! Probably going to take some learning to apply the technique properly, but this def gave me a new baseline for moving forward. My Auto-Filter now defaults to a 24db ladder HP at 100 hz ;)
Interesting on cutting the Kick at 50hz when you want to feature the bass more. Gonna try that. Thanks for the tip! Definitely the low end is the most unforgiving aspect of music. You gotta get that kick n bass to really dance together.
Great Video, Ricky. I am already applying your EQ and Level rules on a DnB song I’m working on. I found a lot of bass “rumble” on my midrange synth tracks that I’ve applied proper high pass > 100 Hz
Damn, I feel like I should get some kind of certificate at the end of this. Great stuff
this series has been super helpful
I love Ricky's videos.
But for the cuts below 100hz I thought this effected phasing unless using a linear/mixed phase eq. Mixed being the best choice to avoid the pre ringing artifacts.
Because of this I usually do a slope off rather than a full cut even when using mixed or linear phase cause it seems to effect phase most when it's a cut instead of lesser attenuation.
Very cool video. I am a music producer myself and I know my sh... but I find your videos very inspiring and useful. Great job
Loving this series
Hi Rick. Very interesting and clearly explained. Do you have any tips for DAWless mixing? I guess you then just have to play it by ear, right?
*groups in groups now
Reaper users: I wasn't even born when it was applied in my DAW.
Shoutout to reaper! Great piece of software!
Your 50hz tip is akin to the US school/UK school of mixing from days of old :) Does the kick live under the bass or the bass live under the kick? Traditionally, it was one way or the other in UK/US productions. Its a top tip, Ricky!
And which one was which? :) Is it about house and techno music only? Thanks!
Perfect timing as I'm mastering my first release this very moment. Thanks Ricky!
😂
Bro, i love you! 👌
Great as always sir.
7:13 probably aliasing from EQ eight, try enabling oversampling
bro, if you tell the guys to set specific eq freq it is worth to mention that your bass should be harmonically related to the key of your track, to get more pleasent results
the 50 hz thing probably came from Kush Afterhours :) Very useful tips btw
HP on the kick is a standard trick in modular. Divkid showed me that counterintuitive trick and I've never looked back!
Baphometrix (and others DnB producers who deal a lot with the lowend) have a totally different view on the use of HPF. Basically what they say is: don't use HPF on anything other than high and mid regions; which means: don't HPF your kick, bass and sub-bass (and even snares).
Instead, try and EQ fix everything that is happening in the mid-range, which eventually enters in conflict with lower regions.
Quote: "I don't endorse putting an HPF in the sub region or even the low bass region. Nor do I endorse putting it on kicks and snares. And I do explain in many places that putting a pass filter anywhere at all (even up at Nyquist in an anti-aliasing filter) will create new, higher peaks than before in any signal.
Still, in certain situations a gentle minimum phase HPF or LPF can be placed in the mids and highs without much problem, as long as the resulting clipped-to-zero signal still sounds fine.
[...]
My viewpoint is that much of what is discovered/considered as "junk down there" is caused by letting too many things from your midrange instruments conflict and build up with your sub and kick, without understanding or addressing that problem at the real source. Using an HPF down int that region on the Master (or some other higher-level bus) is just slapping a messy, ineffective band-aid on the symptom, not really fixing the actual cause."
th-cam.com/video/kmRyWePW9UY/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=Baphometrix
She favours the use of:
- clipping-to-zero (CZT) method [kind of a mix/mastering technique]
- proper sidechaining to avoid conflict in the low region
And if you ever have to apply any EQ on the low end, favour the bell EQ (remove one/several frequencies in a specific zone) rather than a linear pass filter which will erase everything else under this freq region.
Great video as always.
Regarding high passing the non bass elements - I can’t recall where I saw it but there was this caution against it because it could result in a very thin sounding mix. Have you ever encountered this scenario?
I haven’t. But I have made the mistake of accidentally removing the thickness of a snare or other elements by blindly adding the 100hz cut to everything haha
There is one simple rule: if it sounds worse after tweaking, don’t do it! 😊
@@EISERMANN80 it seemed to be a cumulative thing. Maybe one or two elements here and there wouldn’t make a difference but after everything it would be noticeable. It’s like applying tape saturation to every channel just a bit will build up over the whole track. I haven’t experienced this myself it was just something I remember seeing.
@@MrMarcLaflamme Agreed. Maybe HP on a group would be better than on every single instrument. As far as I understand it is also better phase-wise. So you have let’s say four HPs instead of 30.
@@EISERMANN80 Yeah I've seen the phase thing come up in regards to HPF's and I believe Dan Worrall has covered it extensively. Still don't fully understand it but it seems to be one of those "yeah it happens but... it's probably not going to matter for 99% of the occurrences" things. Just make music! :-D
I'm doing a totally different genre musick I can landr do ambisonic a and b mastering at decoding stems into amb,, or atmos 7.2...??
Love that its only 14 tracks. it works!!
Back in the 90s we were limited to 8, 14 seems like luxury still! I find once I go over 25-35 tracks, you start losing the sound of the original track/idea. This includes a lot of "duplicate" tracks I used to widen the stereo image.
It's Hainbach's video that starts with "The three level rule..." and he talks about it about 12 min in
"I have a bunch of cool rocks" lmao!
Wait - you're neither The Beatles nor Bruno Mars?! I'm shocked! :D Thanks for this great video tutorial trilogy!
Awesome series, and tips! I've been playing along and already getting some nice results. Will definitely be checking out Landr.
Bonus tipp on organizing for anyone who is just starting out: if you rename a track and you start with a # Ableton Live automatically numbers it. Eg: if you rename track number 4 as say „# Drums“ it automatically becomes „4 Drums“ and when you move it around the number changes accordingly. Speaking of keeping things tidy … :)
Haas Effect: cut an avocado in half, and put one half on each ear. Instant stereo mush ;)))
I fully concur with technique #1 but I also have my own way of doing this process that can mitigate overdoing things - when attempting to find the offending/superfluous frequency to filter out (lets use the example of HPF on a hi hat) it can be tricky to ascertain what of the lowest frequency retains it's naturalistic sound so I will flip to a LPF to find the lowest most ugly frequency up to the highest point at which the hat is becoming audible, then flip back to HPF and maybe roll it down a tiny bit (to moderate the perceivable effects).
Cumulatively this has a massive contribution on cleaning up the signal flow and makes gain staging far more effective - the overall mix is clearer & can create a lot more headroom per channel which helps translate to a louder mix overall because there are fewer rogue frequencies like rumble invisibly eating up the bandwidth.
So the TL:DR is - when applying a HP or LP filter, try the opposite filter to check you're not overdoing it....
additional note - you can't put back what you've eliminated but you can repeat the process (filter again) if there's still a little too much left in there and this will be far more subtle than trying to do all the heavy lifting in 1 pass.
Much love & respect Ricky. This channel always gets my brain ticking & having it play while doing these arduous processes is almost like having someone else in the room to bounce ideas off of while allowing me to remain antisocial 😅
I really prefer your kick without the cut!
Great info Ricky. Thanks! One thing I’ve noticed that kinda goes along with this is crazy overuse of fx especially reverb. Just because it’s easy to drop fx on a track doesn’t mean you should. I have seen a number of examples of projects with a different reverb on every track. That kind of approach makes applying this advice difficult. Any thoughts on this Ricky?
Hey! What camera/cameras do you use?
Very useful info
Kick @ 50! From your loving neighborhood drummer. Unless I'm playing speed metal of course.
Nice skills video dude
Not a newbie per se, but I have a newbie question. Would the second rule apply to kick/bass combo that don't hit at the same time? Like if I have the bass aggressively sidechained or just written to avoid those quarter notes, would you still advocate cutting one or the other at 50hz?
Depends what you want. Also depends on your kick fundamental. And rest of your song
@@arjanpetersen The kick fundamental is a good point. I'm somewhat in the "tune your kicks" camp, so that definitely would vary across pieces
1. @12:00 the bass is overcut IMO. Try it on speakers with a sub.
This has a little to do with something important:
2. People today are making house music not just too much by sight instead of by listening, but by listening instead of feeling. Almost no new house music flows/makes me want to dance/is even made for the dancefloor IMO.
3. There are exceptions to #2, and I find clubs with good house very occasionally up here in SF. I'm not sure about the scene in LA but it's been all downhill up here since about 2000, with COVID just about the final nail in the coffin. Still, there are things going on. Afrohouse has brought me back to interest in DJ'ing/Producing House but haven't had a gig since COVID.
4. Thanks for focusing on Ableton stuff a bit Ricky. Everyone remember that you don't actually need any hardware. Period. Just a computer., or tablet, or smart phone. You don't even need to spend any money to make music. I love gear too though.
I got one question is an audio engineering internship worth it if im a music producer?! U said u went to engineering school right? I got offered one and I just don't know..... It's at a major studio
And dont forget to regularly reset your ears, folks. Take a break and listen to some 'real' music :)
Hello my friend I'm looking for One Thing that is houw Ken I meek mor veelie in mij music lok lijk It is radio music
This was an AWESOME video. One thing that has always bothered me is how EVERY virtual instrument under the sun defaults the output at 0db. It’s unbelievably annoying
sweeeeeet
Good tips - thanks! Tried the 666 rule and it's great - gives you a nice place to start from.
What about the “Drop 6 Method”?
That works too!
While I appreciate the need to cut frequencies where they are not necessary, I think too that it is not necessary to cut something that actually isn't there "just in case". i.e. putting a low cut at 100Hz on an instrument/sound that is literally showing nothing at those frequencies anyway. This adds unnecessary load on your CPU and RAM. If you use non-native plugins in the same manner, you are also adding latency to the signal path on that track for no benefit.
Finally moved into an apartment (for the first time in years), where I’ll have space to work on larger (music, art,etc) projects; this video came out just at the right time for me. Thanks Ricky. :D
If you’re not careful, the Haas effect can cause phase issues. I don’t recommend it.
I just noticed you actually look just like the Lucas brothers. You know them ?
Potato Jet!!!!
HAAS effect
three 6 mixia
i know that was terrible xD
I love your channel, this is a great series. But the sound of your videos is super flat and there’s a ton of room noise in your mic. Just keep noticing I have turn up your videos compared to others.
my music sucks. depending on who listens to it, it might suck just a little more. 😂😂😂