4:34 _"The important thing to think about is: what is the role of this instrument?"_ ... I feel like that little piece of advice is something I'll end up repeating over and over again in my head as I start my little "mixing career". I think that's a great way to think about it.
Graham, just wanted to say that I keep coming back to these tutorials again and again whenever I feel that I am overcooking things and getting way too ahead of myself. This series always helps ground me. Thank you a million times for this.
Will there be a "How To Master A Song..." video series? That would be awesome. Thanks for all your videos and help with mixing. I've been learning a lot from you. Thank you. (:
Graham I can't even begin to express my gratitude towards you sir! I am extremely new to recording and producing my own ideas and such. But I just gotta say, the way you come accross is so helpful and informative, especially to newbies like me who have never dipped a toe in this kind of industry. You're very calm and thorough in every one of these walkthroughs vids. A lot of other people don't give the effort that you did here! And I can gladly say you were my stepping stone into a greater idea if what I want!
These videos are flat amazing. I feel like I am going through a college course and getting truly educated. I have been recording, mixing, and mastering for 20 something years but I am learning many helpful things that I didn’t know from these videos. They are professional and extremely helpful. Thanks for making them!!!
Graham, I've been following you for a few months now. Your recoding series, now this mixing series. Simply awesome man. Very very useful tips. It's so hard to find genuine stuff online. Everything is heavily sponsored (hence biased) or clickbait or something. Hard to find rich useful and genuine content and all this on TH-cam, for free? You are a precious mentor to all of us beginners and intermediates here. Thank you so much.
Hey I'm Adriano :) I live in australia Sydney, and I just wanted to let you know instated in my home studio bought all this expensive gear and plugins with my hard wanted money and you are actually helping me to progress very well :) Basically speaking you mentor me through essentials and I wanted to say thanks :) And let you know that there is a person probably living thousands of kilometers away that you helped with your staff so keep going brother :)
such great videos. I just started studying and was having the hardest time understanding the actual steps in mixing and these videos helped so much and gave me a ton of clarity on the matter. Thanks
This is just what i needed, a beginners guide to EQ:ing and mixing in general. I just got so overwhelmed with all the options in Studio One 3 so i kinda got scared in a sense. It kinda put me off to continue making music because i thought everything sounded like utter crap. But this video series got my courage up to give it another try. Thank you so much!
I think your videos are great! You have a way of being very patient and thorough in explaining things, which is appreciated! Would you please do a similar series explaining the various components of the mixing board, covering what they each do and taking us through the entire signal chain in plain English terms?
anyone else feel like the acoustic EQ really brought out the Bass guitar? Cleaning up that low end just accentuated the Bass and made it more punchy IMO.
That's definitely the impression I got too - didn't hear too big of a difference with the sound of the acoustic guitar but it certainly cleaned up the bass.
Graham, I think your video tutorials are great, and that you have a very patient and thorough way of making things make sense. Would you please do a similar series on explaining the components of the mixing board and us through the entire signal chain, step by step and break the different controls down in plain English terminology?
im an 11 year old artist wanting to learn pro quality music .This has helped me so much because im going to build my own studio and learn how to use pro tools first. i used to us my phone to record on an app called bandlab . it was not a very good sounding way of recording music thats why i want to learn how to use a more advanced way of making music . so thank you
you know what would be great? if you did this with your own professional software and plugins, just to see how the pros do it!! love your channel, may all gods bless you!
Thank you so much for this video, every video you do I learn a little more here and there, this one was really good and the new thing I took from this was the boosting the output after you eq. I never thought of it like that till you mentioned it :D :D Thanks again
Thanks a lot. I have been following your videos since a while. And actually I am learning so much about facts..Really helpful.. And you are really kind and helping millions like us.. Very few help others in growing. Thank you so much for such a nobel work you are doing. Please keep posting the helping hints
wow! I wouldn't EQ an individual track while listening EVERYTHING in context (I would simply freak out!). Instead, I would (for example) listen the RHYTHM GUITARS along with the BASS (and even DRUMS), and vice-versa, and do my EQ/compression moves according to what I'm hearing... Then, I would listen to the BASS with the DRUMS (more specifically, with the KICK) and do the same thing, and THEN yes, I would listen to all the tracks in context... I dunno, that way is a lot easier for me to avoid mistakes... :)
Yep. Creating mix buses and EQing those groupings are how I like to start to organize a mix. Graham gets a good result here IMO, but yeah... It could feel overwhelming to try to situate one thing in the mix by EQing only it while listening to the whole mix.
Every track may not need EQ, but I still always like to use a highness filter on every track. Extra headroom and cleans up rumble. Makes a huge difference for a cleaner mix.
I think this is an easier said than done situation. the real issues for me in this step usually has more to do with planning my overal execution for a multi track mix load. great videos tho appreciate it.
Hi, I don't know if it's mentioned anywhere else but I was listening using dolby music and it must alter your eq adjustments because it sounded the same, so make sure you turn it off and then you can hear the difference, cheers and your doing good friend
I make subtractive EQ in the first phase, removing annoying frequencies in stereo. The mono mixing I am doing only when I want to make them stand better in the mix, with an analog modeled EQ.
Great video and series. Would you still roll off bottom end of acoustic if it was just acoustic guitar and vocal track? Probably not right? Thanks Graham
Great video. When you say not to solo when EQing though, wouldn't you want to solo when identifying which frequencies to cut? Reason being you aren't going to hear those muddy frequencies within the context of a mix, whereas you would hear the frequencies you want to boost within the mix. Just a thought.
Hey Graham, thanks for the tips. Just a fyi, most EQ plugins and stock EQ's for other DAWs don't have that IN/OUT audio feature. How would you recommend using an EQ without that feature? just bypass and see how the output level changes?
@recordingrevolution I was really looking forward for some advice . Thing is if I do a whole piano cover with a piano vst plugin and maybe add a few strings effect on the side but nothing else,no drums ,vocals or any of that.. Would mixing be really necessary for the track itself? . Looking forward for your reply :)
Hi Graham ! I heard you suggest to mix in mono for different reasons with which i totally agree... Can you tell me how am i supposed to do it in Logic Pro X ? Cause i have no button on my audio interface, and neither in its software... And i don't have the plug in Stereo Width in Logic... Thanx by advance !
hey graham, good work! i got a question ... if the acoustic guitar is in the center and not its not panned, does his frequencies compete with the frequencies of the voice?
Eq now this is just one area where logic is better. To see the waveform while eq-ing is a great advantage. Logic hands down has so many more advantages over Pt
hello Graham... I'm a beginner audio engineer and I'm just setting up my basic home studio setup.. I've chosen two audio interfaces... The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and the M-Audio M Track 2x2m.. can you pl suggest me which one is the best option to buy?
do these same eq techniques also apply to vst instruments? i could see how when recording an instrument you'd wanna take out the "unpleasing" elements, but should i sweep when working with vst instruments? some sounds sound great in solo, but when in the context of the mix the instrument loses most of what makes it good, but it seems all the subtractive eq decisions i make, im still unable to bring the sound back in how i like...
Hey everyone, Im having difficulty understanding what the bypass button does, why does Graham keep clicking it? I know its really a basic question. Do you need to click bypass make the EQ take effect?
the bypass just bypasses the effect (i.e. turns it off). He does this to compare the raw sound (before EQ) to what it sounds like with the effect (EQ) - just a comparison technique. Sometimes the difference is very subtle and you may not hear it depending on your speakers/headphones etc.
Hey Michael, thanks for taking the time to help out! I thought that was what the compare button was for?? so am I right in saying, you press the BYPASS button to hear how the EQ changes you make sound in the mix before confirming them?
Wisper cool! I've applied some of these theories to my live mixes and they've helped a lot. I'm getting a new digital mixer today that should let me tweak a little more hopefully.
Sorry, my english isn´t so fluent. I have to ask what is meaning of "settle" (like 2:29)? He use that word a lot but how I have understod of meaning that word, there are no any sense. These videos are very well made and have watched them several times allready. Thanks!
He’s saying the word “subtle”, so basically a small change that’s difficult to notice. For example, “The difference between the words settle and subtle in Graham’s accent is subtle.” I hope that’s helpful!
I would say EQ-ing an acoustic guitar in the mix with everything full on is optimistic. You would change to much cause for you to hear it, it's got to be a lot different. Doing all like this you would end up with a overly manipulated everything.
My problem is that while I can move settings around, I really can't judge when something sounds "better" [except for obvious extremes]. To me it may sound DIFFERENT, but not necessarily "better" or "worse". I mean if I could really tell what will work 'best' in the end, why would I even need someone to show me how - other than how to work some plug-ins - I could just tweek until it sounds great. But we all know that is easier said than done. So relying on how it sounds alone seems useless to me. What I don't know is how to choose settings that will ultimately make room for everything to work together in the best way. So I don't really get much out of videos like this, because I don't know how the author is thinking, or hearing things, and deciding whether they sound better or worse. Like, better or worse than what? OK, so the guitar strum sounds a little more thick/bassy when pushing the point up there -18:07 - but is that better or worse? Is it better for that track to sound more bassy, or do I need it to sound less bassy? To me, pushing that EQ node around just sounds different, not better or worse. Maybe someone likes their guitar with more "substance" or lower end, and someone else prefers it with less. Also, "cheap" [8:16] is meaningless as well, for the same reasons. Because when I listen to professionally mixed tracks, the acoustic guitar is often terribly thin and lacking in lows or body. That to me is, or could be, how a 'cheap' guitar might sound. So all these demonstrations and comments by the author are based on his own perception and ways of defining "good" sound, and there is no way for me to know how he is really judging the sound as good, better, cheap, or any other adjectives he might use. When I listen to professionally mixed tracks, isolated, they usually sound very lacking in something, [like the thin, tinny, toy-like acoustic guitars] but they apparently work well together in the mix.
Listen, i understand your point and your thought towards the content, but man, the point here is the essential in processing which is our fundamental framework throughout the process. He's just showing the blueprint, and it's your job to build your house. Enjoy! :)
"The frequency spectrum means nothing, the numbers mean nothing, the sound means EVERYTHING" - Graham Cochrane (7:31)
That sentence really helped me look over my super annoying OCD. Big eye opener
Biblical.
Transcendental hehe
4:34 _"The important thing to think about is: what is the role of this instrument?"_ ... I feel like that little piece of advice is something I'll end up repeating over and over again in my head as I start my little "mixing career". I think that's a great way to think about it.
Graham, just wanted to say that I keep coming back to these tutorials again and again whenever I feel that I am overcooking things and getting way too ahead of myself. This series always helps ground me. Thank you a million times for this.
12:59 "Solo is when you click the big ass..." oh, wait .. Big S .. I see
Solo is when you click big ass :D
If you didn't, I would have ;)
It's a big ol' ass too.
I tought it was only me hahhaa
13:00
lol!! I thought the same!
Will there be a "How To Master A Song..." video series? That would be awesome. Thanks for all your videos and help with mixing. I've been learning a lot from you. Thank you. (:
+1
Graham I can't even begin to express my gratitude towards you sir! I am extremely new to recording and producing my own ideas and such. But I just gotta say, the way you come accross is so helpful and informative, especially to newbies like me who have never dipped a toe in this kind of industry. You're very calm and thorough in every one of these walkthroughs vids. A lot of other people don't give the effort that you did here! And I can gladly say you were my stepping stone into a greater idea if what I want!
These videos are flat amazing. I feel like I am going through a college course and getting truly educated. I have been recording, mixing, and mastering for 20 something years but I am learning many helpful things that I didn’t know from these videos. They are professional and extremely helpful. Thanks for making them!!!
Graham, I've been following you for a few months now. Your recoding series, now this mixing series. Simply awesome man. Very very useful tips. It's so hard to find genuine stuff online. Everything is heavily sponsored (hence biased) or clickbait or something. Hard to find rich useful and genuine content and all this on TH-cam, for free? You are a precious mentor to all of us beginners and intermediates here.
Thank you so much.
Hey I'm Adriano :)
I live in australia Sydney, and I just wanted to let you know instated in my home studio bought all this expensive gear and plugins with my hard wanted money and you are actually helping me to progress very well :)
Basically speaking you mentor me through essentials and I wanted to say thanks :)
And let you know that there is a person probably living thousands of kilometers away that you helped with your staff so keep going brother :)
Graham is a living legend! Cheers for teaching me more than what I ever learned in High School, Graham!
When you realize that you've been tweaking EQ wrong your entire life. Thanks Graham!
Same here :D
Crazy revelations...
It's easier to do high and low pass filters THEN do the subtle EQing, much much easier and quicker.
Hey man you're just a great teacher. Very very understandable and clear. This is very important.
Super helpful series and so easy to digest! Thank you!!!
such great videos. I just started studying and was having the hardest time understanding the actual steps in mixing and these videos helped so much and gave me a ton of clarity on the matter. Thanks
This is just what i needed, a beginners guide to EQ:ing and mixing in general. I just got so overwhelmed with all the options in Studio One 3 so i kinda got scared in a sense. It kinda put me off to continue making music because i thought everything sounded like utter crap. But this video series got my courage up to give it another try. Thank you so much!
This is the most comprehensive lesson on EQ I've watched. Thank you.
I think your videos are great! You have a way of being very patient and thorough in explaining things, which is appreciated! Would you please do a similar series explaining the various components of the mixing board, covering what they each do and taking us through the entire signal chain in plain English terms?
Thank you. As someone that has sketched out about a 100 tune but never really sat down to mix and finish any of them this is really helpful.
Absolutely brilliant videos. Your explanation is perfect and I've learned SO much. Thank you!!
anyone else feel like the acoustic EQ really brought out the Bass guitar? Cleaning up that low end just accentuated the Bass and made it more punchy IMO.
That's definitely the impression I got too - didn't hear too big of a difference with the sound of the acoustic guitar but it certainly cleaned up the bass.
I started doing songs every week and I mix them by myself, you helped me a lot Graham! No more muddiness!:)
Graham, I think your video tutorials are great, and that you have a very patient and thorough way of making things make sense. Would you please do a similar series on explaining the components of the mixing board and us through the entire signal chain, step by step and break the different controls down in plain English terminology?
Your videos and guides are the best thing I've found online. And it's free, if u charged it'd be worth every penny
im an 11 year old artist wanting to learn pro quality music .This has helped me so much because im going to build my own studio and learn how to use pro tools first. i used to us my phone to record on an app called bandlab . it was not a very good sounding way of recording music thats why i want to learn how to use a more advanced way of making music . so thank you
I'm loving this series! It's a nice refresher from CRAS 10 years ago :)
Record revolution indeed! Your videos are so instructive Graham! Thanks so much!
Great series - learning so much from this even as a seasoned musician 🙏🏻
you know what would be great? if you did this with your own professional software and plugins, just to see how the pros do it!! love your channel, may all gods bless you!
Thank you so much for this video, every video you do I learn a little more here and there, this one was really good and the new thing I took from this was the boosting the output after you eq. I never thought of it like that till you mentioned it :D :D Thanks again
Thanks a lot. I have been following your videos since a while. And actually I am learning so much about facts..Really helpful.. And you are really kind and helping millions like us.. Very few help others in growing. Thank you so much for such a nobel work you are doing. Please keep posting the helping hints
you're just the best... and I've become a huge fan of yours... thank you for all the lesson...
copied the settings exactly, works like a charm! amazing.
This is so helpful! thank you for explaining in such clarity and insight. I love it!
Always love tuning into your tutorials!
wow! I wouldn't EQ an individual track while listening EVERYTHING in context (I would simply freak out!). Instead, I would (for example) listen the RHYTHM GUITARS along with the BASS (and even DRUMS), and vice-versa, and do my EQ/compression moves according to what I'm hearing... Then, I would listen to the BASS with the DRUMS (more specifically, with the KICK) and do the same thing, and THEN yes, I would listen to all the tracks in context... I dunno, that way is a lot easier for me to avoid mistakes... :)
Yep. Creating mix buses and EQing those groupings are how I like to start to organize a mix. Graham gets a good result here IMO, but yeah... It could feel overwhelming to try to situate one thing in the mix by EQing only it while listening to the whole mix.
A great series of helpful tips. Very useful and informative. Thanks!
12:58 Seemed like you paused because it sounded like you said "big ass" haha
Thank you so much for this series :)))
Every track may not need EQ, but I still always like to use a highness filter on every track. Extra headroom and cleans up rumble. Makes a huge difference for a cleaner mix.
i love you dude you are the best! greetings from Costa Rica!
You are such a great teacher, thank you.
Your most important mixing tool are your ears.
(followed by a good set of loudspeakers and good acoustic room treatment if possible)
I love you and appreciate your work. I'm so greatfull for these videos, keep it going!
so touching for an excellent video
The pdf is so great Thanks Graham!
Perfect, just wanted I needed to fine tune my acoustic. Thanks Graham!
I think this is an easier said than done situation. the real issues for me in this step usually has more to do with planning my overal execution for a multi track mix load. great videos tho appreciate it.
Thank you so much for this series. Helped me so much.
Hi, I don't know if it's mentioned anywhere else but I was listening using dolby music and it must alter your eq adjustments because it sounded the same, so make sure you turn it off and then you can hear the difference, cheers and your doing good friend
Thanks for these great tips! do you have any examples of eq'ing the way you actually EQ? as you're listening to everything else and not isolated?
Interesting that Graham @recordingrevolution didn't mention to make everything MONO before starting the EQ'ing process.
I make subtractive EQ in the first phase, removing annoying frequencies in stereo. The mono mixing I am doing only when I want to make them stand better in the mix, with an analog modeled EQ.
he always does, i think he didn't because this is an extremely "first approach ever \ what the heck is eq" kind of video. just imho
True - I'll say that's it!
Great, clear tutorial!
The number one thing I did to see all the stuff at once was to invest in a second screen, ohmygod I will never go back.
Serious song, broda! Big up1
Great video and series. Would you still roll off bottom end of acoustic if it was just acoustic guitar and vocal track? Probably not right? Thanks Graham
Great series! Thank you!
Great video. When you say not to solo when EQing though, wouldn't you want to solo when identifying which frequencies to cut? Reason being you aren't going to hear those muddy frequencies within the context of a mix, whereas you would hear the frequencies you want to boost within the mix. Just a thought.
This song is a banger
seriously man, thankyou for these vids.
"2 cuts 1 boost"
...don't google that
Thanks Graham always a great help
Hey Graham, thanks for the tips. Just a fyi, most EQ plugins and stock EQ's for other DAWs don't have that IN/OUT audio feature. How would you recommend using an EQ without that feature? just bypass and see how the output level changes?
god bless you, graham
Great help, thanks!!
Very helpful! Thanks a lot :)
great video thank you
Thank you Graham!
@recordingrevolution I was really looking forward for some advice . Thing is if I do a whole piano cover with a piano vst plugin and maybe add a few strings effect on the side but nothing else,no drums ,vocals or any of that.. Would mixing be really necessary for the track itself? . Looking forward for your reply :)
Very good tuts. I need this. :)
thank you for your work here
Thanks dude, well done.
Hey I got the money for my vision cause I’m ready for it lol thanks man
this helped me A LOT holy crap haha thank you so much!!
Hi Graham ! I heard you suggest to mix in mono for different reasons with which i totally agree... Can you tell me how am i supposed to do it in Logic Pro X ? Cause i have no button on my audio interface, and neither in its software... And i don't have the plug in Stereo Width in Logic... Thanx by advance !
Do you ever do southern gospel tips
awesome video, thank u
Do you have a CD of your music like this that I could buy? I like this song
Damn catchy mayn! Great lessons
good one. Thx!
Is there a project file for this song out there? I had some ideas for this song while I’ve been listening to these tutorials
hey graham, good work! i got a question ... if the acoustic guitar is in the center and not its not panned, does his frequencies compete with the frequencies of the voice?
Eq now this is just one area where logic is better. To see the waveform while eq-ing is a great advantage. Logic hands down has so many more advantages over Pt
Are your "Mix a Song" videos numbered? I would love to watch them in order. Cheers.
This is so cool.
on logic pro's channel EQ, there is no input/output setting. what do I do?
hello Graham... I'm a beginner audio engineer and I'm just setting up my basic home studio setup.. I've chosen two audio interfaces... The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 and the M-Audio M Track 2x2m.. can you pl suggest me which one is the best option to buy?
does it make anyone else uncomfortable that he says "friend" in the intro now, rather than "friends" like he used to? haha
Not at all - it's like he's talking ONLY to me!
I did have to make sure I wasn't imagining it.
Mr Robot style
Hey Graham, what do you think about Soundtrap? It's an online DAW.
do these same eq techniques also apply to vst instruments? i could see how when recording an instrument you'd wanna take out the "unpleasing" elements, but should i sweep when working with vst instruments? some sounds sound great in solo, but when in the context of the mix the instrument loses most of what makes it good, but it seems all the subtractive eq decisions i make, im still unable to bring the sound back in how i like...
you're such a g thanks bro
Hey everyone, Im having difficulty understanding what the bypass button does, why does Graham keep clicking it? I know its really a basic question. Do you need to click bypass make the EQ take effect?
the bypass just bypasses the effect (i.e. turns it off). He does this to compare the raw sound (before EQ) to what it sounds like with the effect (EQ) - just a comparison technique. Sometimes the difference is very subtle and you may not hear it depending on your speakers/headphones etc.
Hey Michael, thanks for taking the time to help out! I thought that was what the compare button was for?? so am I right in saying, you press the BYPASS button to hear how the EQ changes you make sound in the mix before confirming them?
@recordingrevolution
Would you split the tracks to apply various EQ-settings on the same track (i.e. acoustic guitar)?
Do you think any of these lessons apply to live sound? Surely they do. Do you know any channels that talk like you do about live mixing?
If you know how to mix, then you know how to mix live. It's pretty much the same thing so yes these techniques can apply to live mixing
Wisper cool! I've applied some of these theories to my live mixes and they've helped a lot. I'm getting a new digital mixer today that should let me tweak a little more hopefully.
Sorry, my english isn´t so fluent. I have to ask what is meaning of "settle" (like 2:29)? He use that word a lot but how I have understod of meaning that word, there are no any sense. These videos are very well made and have watched them several times allready. Thanks!
He’s saying the word “subtle”, so basically a small change that’s difficult to notice. For example, “The difference between the words settle and subtle in Graham’s accent is subtle.” I hope that’s helpful!
@@psuedoscience6943 Ok, now I understand. Yes, very helpful, thank you!
I would say EQ-ing an acoustic guitar in the mix with everything full on is optimistic. You would change to much cause for you to hear it, it's got to be a lot different. Doing all like this you would end up with a overly manipulated everything.
Does anyone knw how he's able to zoom in on the screen like the eq ect. ?
nice video but unfortunatly u didnt show how to mix with the other track unmuted witch is the must important thing in my opinion too
Do EQ plugins eat up CPU?
My problem is that while I can move settings around, I really can't judge when something sounds "better" [except for obvious extremes]. To me it may sound DIFFERENT, but not necessarily "better" or "worse". I mean if I could really tell what will work 'best' in the end, why would I even need someone to show me how - other than how to work some plug-ins - I could just tweek until it sounds great. But we all know that is easier said than done. So relying on how it sounds alone seems useless to me.
What I don't know is how to choose settings that will ultimately make room for everything to work together in the best way. So I don't really get much out of videos like this, because I don't know how the author is thinking, or hearing things, and deciding whether they sound better or worse.
Like, better or worse than what?
OK, so the guitar strum sounds a little more thick/bassy when pushing the point up there -18:07 - but is that better or worse? Is it better for that track to sound more bassy, or do I need it to sound less bassy? To me, pushing that EQ node around just sounds different, not better or worse. Maybe someone likes their guitar with more "substance" or lower end, and someone else prefers it with less. Also, "cheap" [8:16] is meaningless as well, for the same reasons.
Because when I listen to professionally mixed tracks, the acoustic guitar is often terribly thin and lacking in lows or body. That to me is, or could be, how a 'cheap' guitar might sound.
So all these demonstrations and comments by the author are based on his own perception and ways of defining "good" sound, and there is no way for me to know how he is really judging the sound as good, better, cheap, or any other adjectives he might use. When I listen to professionally mixed tracks, isolated, they usually sound very lacking in something, [like the thin, tinny, toy-like acoustic guitars] but they apparently work well together in the mix.
Listen, i understand your point and your thought towards the content, but man, the point here is the essential in processing which is our fundamental framework throughout the process. He's just showing the blueprint, and it's your job to build your house. Enjoy! :)
I'm told that you can't load a Pro Tools First file into Pro Tools paid type. True?