Hi Friend, I love being able to give you as much information as I can! As a working Producer, Engineer, Songwriter and Mixer I feel it is my duty to share with you what I do each and every day! Giving back is so important to me! Please download the cheat sheet bit.ly/2FtzVSP and let me know what you do on every mix!
A friend got a Problem with a too present and wide kickbase IT IS Killing some parts of the hihats and its rolling over another I think it has to be shortened somehow Cause If overlaps to the next basekick Typical african bambata Kick But how can you handle this in a 2 track Beat I Dont think you Just use Multiband EQ With this i can make the hihats louder but it Better to adjust the frequencies To shorten IT If kills many Things even the headroom vor the voice IT Sounds Like the vocal has to swim on everything and isnt Part of the inside Soul of the instrumental
I have now started taking notes. Because quite frankly I would be a fool not to take full advantage of this excellent education. Warren, I can't thank you enough.
You're an excellent teacher an communicator, it's never boring and I must say that, even after years of professional practice, I still consider myself in a learning process so I find it important to take time to listen and watch and learn from skilled professionals like yourself. And a few others ;-) Thanks Warren - again ! (and, of course, have a super enjoyable day) Cheers!
+1 on teaching & communication! I watch other pros too, incl. Grammy-winners, but very, very few can match Warren as a teacher/communicator. Some of the best practitioners can be the worst teachers! :D
Hey Warren, bro you are the most generous person I know, giving away these immense pearls of knowledge. Just a suggestion though when you're done teaching, could you please play back the song or even part of it, so we gain a good understanding of what has really happened there. Just a suggestion, it would give us a before and after and a strong perspective. Thanks so much for all the wisdom bro. Muchos love and respect
I've been mixing all morning, saw your vid pop up, and took a break to watch. I feel like a good pupil, I've been watching your videos for long enough that I saw this like a pop quiz checklist, and I passed. You're awesome Warren, as always, I am having a marvelous day.
Everyone says boost the kick at 100 Hz, but as I found out early on, do the opposite of what you hear. Some things you hear lead to the result, but others lead to the opposite. It's all extremely genre and era dependent. Compare and learn, compare and learn. Mixing is like treasure digging. Some things nobody talks about. You discover it by listening closely and analyzing the recordings. These mixing and mastering engineers are refined people, real geniuses, inventing their own plug-ins to achieve a certain effect, spending on hardware like on a house. Those who say mixing is not art, they don't know what art is. There are good mixes and breathtaking mixes, they differ maybe only 2%, but what happens in the 2% is real magic, experience and thinking outside the box. Thank you Warren, it feels good that you are there!
I have to say you are by far the most articulate and easy to understand by way of taking his time to explain things for us beginners. Thanks a tone! Lol
Clear, concise, constructive comments...all delivered with such a positive and gracious style. Warren, you’re a pro and a gentleman. How refreshing. I subscribed.
The amazing thing about all this is despite all the plug-ins available to us today, all the mad sounds we can create with software, a mix is fundamentally 'good' when three things are taken care of properly: EQ, volume and pan. Everything else is icing on the cake.
Warren, I’ve only been recording since June and ever since I discovered your videos at the beginning of October; my songs have grown and improved for the better because of your words of wisdom. I can’t thank you enough and hope one day you can hear something I’ve created and mixed. Happy New Year!!
First time ever watching a Produce like a pro video and thinking "Hey,, I do all these things" Learned a ton from you over the years Warren thanks so much. Your 8 Track full pan pitch shifted vocal thickening trick is my favorite btw. Amazing what it does for harmonics and depth. Cheers and keep it up!!
I did my education as an audio engineer 12 years ago and never checked many video tutorials, just tried a lot of things over time. This video is gold. I agree with everything he says, you really don't need more to get started and make your mixes sound professional if you never learned it. I wish I've had a video like this during my education. Keep up the great work.
Warren, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your training. You talked about some things that I would have never considered. What you recommend makes complete sense according to physics (Low frequency overtones, noise cancellation ect..) Your practical recommendations have opened a whole new world for me. Thank you for openly sharing the things you have learned while mastering your art.
Hi Stan Lyman wow! Thanks ever so much for your wonderfully classy comment my friend! It’s amazing to have such great people as you in our community! Giving back is extremely important to me!!
I bookmarked this and am going to be coming back to it every time I produce. My goal is just to make decent sounding demos at home, but I still have so much to learn.
Nice to know I been doing all ten for a couple of decades. Automation is in fact the biggest fun part and makes the kids with their ear buds pay attention. Thanks and well done!!!
Great video. I’m an architect who plays in a band with friends as a hobby an got into recording and mixing during the pandemic lockdowns. I really enjoy watching your videos and I always learn a lot. Thank you!!!
I really cant thank you enough, you are doing such a great job, and sharing the best tips and tools in the best way. I feel blessed, everytime you have a new video out. I'm learning so much. Thank you so much sir.
You are the University Of Miami Recording Engineering Program i was never able to attend. I have learned so much from you Warren. Your funny, smart and get to the point. And you share. Im just a crotchety old keyboardist now with a home studio, but when your playing on my giant monitor I feel like a kid in a classroom again. Seriously man, thanks for taking the time, and all of the effort and knowledge. Your a gentleman and a scholar, and I'm not using those terms in jest. Thanks mate.
Hey Warren, great stuff and thank you very much for sharing! Just wanted to mention something about the buses/groups that would be good for everybody to consider. I don't know if in PT it happens (normally and theoritically it should), but in cubase I am using, groups and buses need extra care because if you change the overall level of multiple instruments through the group/bus fader you actually change the relation between the instruments themselves with their own send effects like reverb and delay as well! This is because send effects go to their buses without passing through the group/bus channel. Therefore lowering the overall level of the group by let's say 6 db using the group fader will not decrease the send effects accordingly resulting in a difference in the levels of the effects and the dry instruments themselves! Even if you mute the bus/group channel you will still hear the return output of any send effects! Furthermore, any processing on the bus/group (compression EQ etc.) will not pass on the effects! A good solution for this one is to create a DCA (or VCA if you're analog) fader to control all the individual channel's volume instead of using the group bus fader :)
One of your best videos yet Warren! Aha moment for me on low end management. I've been trying to notch out specific frequencies for kick and snare but continue to struggle giving them good isolation. I noticed in this video you didn't notch out the bass, instead you high passed the bass around 60 hz to make a cross-over where the bass would start to become audible past the fundamental of the kick. It that how you typically do it?
Warren, thanks so much!! You can certainly add "educator" to your long list of job titles! God bless you sir, for sharing your knowledge so generously and articulately.
Awesome video Warren! I think the biggest thing for me is in the past I never used a reference track in my mixes because I was a little confused about how the reference track would sound with the plugins I had on the master bus. But now I bypass any plugins on the master bus and use the reference track now. I hope you are having a wonderful day as well!
Thank you Warren. A good recap with nuggets of new information. I'm a fan of the panning to create space. Just wanted to share another tip I use for a chorus. Increasing the BPM slightly in the chorus can give a sense of movement without the listener noticing, but will feel it. For example 120bpm try recording your chorus at 122/123bpm. Simple but effective.
Hi Warren. I hope YOU'RE doing marvelously well. I came to the tip of using multiple compressors on vocals. I immediately had questions pop in my mind... which you proceeded to answer! Yes, the attack and decay times differ between compressors. Now I can press play and watch the rest of this video. Then I will hunt down if you already have a video devoted to how to set vocal compressors. Cheers!
Thank you!!! I’m a long time drummer, but recently got into DAW remixing some of our practice recordings. This short tutorial taught me more in a few minutes than I picked up in the last year!
Man. I've relied heavily on your production advice over the last year. You're a wealth of knowledge and you deliver it in such a clear upbeat manner. My mixes are getting better and better thanks to your help. Thanks so much!
For me 1. Naming conventions 2. Color coding 3. Markers 4. Bussing/grouping/organizing tracks/VCAs 5. Listen through without doing anything, even with the final output clipping, ideally with a rough mix/pre-prod from client to understand what their vision is 6. Basic leveling, make sure everything sits at proper level and no clipping is happening anywhere 7. Checking phase correlations/alignment, especially with instruments recorded with multiple microphones, e.g. drums, acoustic guitars, string sections, even live recordings Then I start processing from there. Without these fundamentals you only encounter more issues built up later.
Very true. I've found of all the people posting educating videos online, Warrens have been by far the most helpful, practical, and have given me the ability to actually implement them into songs.
Just wanted to take a moment out of my day to let you know that I appreciate your knowledge and your willingness to share it with us all. Thank you for making these invaluable videos, Warren! I have learned more from you than I would have at a school for mixing in my area..
Very helpful, not because it’s earlth shattering new info, but because it refocused me to the essentials. I may rewatch this before every mixing session. Thx👍
All my life of recording on and off since the early 80s. Bass has always been the biggest problem. I have just started going down the list of your advise videos and I think you have some more centered around bass/kick etc. Love what you do man, you seem like a totally good dude as well. Thanks for what you do.
Your videos really stand out as quality. Genuine, helpful, quality advice and learning opportunities. You can tell if a tutorial video is gonna be shite if it starts with the words: 'What is up guys its your boy...'
Been recording since 4 track in 1977, your video is full of great solid advice ! I learned all these things the hard way over time (pre internet ) The compression advice is the real gift .
Learning to focus the low end was easily the biggest leap forward in my mixes. It's amazing how much more "credible" your mixes sound when the kick and the bass aren't churning around in a pool of muck. A tight kick and punchy bass really grab the subconscious and keep attention.
This is a marvelous video Warren! I would direct anyone who is just getting started in the world of mixing to watch this video before any other, and to re-watch it frequently. As always, nice work.
Warren your tutorials have turned me into a turff producer..especially vocal mixing n mastering..thanks much..a can't afford even to pay you but may God bless u abundantly.much love from Kenya nairobi
I'm an old school engineer. Good musicians don't need all these plug ins. Period. But u r super smart A good monster preamp neve n good musicians n compression equals heaven
Warren!! You really pulled all the stops on this episode. This was a full on professional mix class! I always learn something or reminded by your lessons. I'm almost speechless. Almost, lol. Thank you very much!
Thanks ever so much my friend! I always try to give as much as I can! I may not be slick with lighting and graphics but I like to give a lot of information! Haha
Love it! Your philosophy of mixing is so aligned with my way of thinking it's scary! Gotta add a couple of things to this great list. Since I graduated from being a ProFools user to be a REAPER, I parallel effect almost everything. REAPER adds a wet/dry knob on every plugin, so it's just a matter of adjusting a knob instead of having to create a buss for every parallel effect. One of the only times I use a separate buss for that is with vocals because I'll use Airwindows' DeEss (by far the best De-esser ever) and completely get rid of all the sibilance so it sounds like a lisp. I'll run this through all the other FX that create sibilance where there is none (almost everything we do to vocals), then mix just enough of the dry signal in to get the natural sibilance back. This produces amazing results! And, I'd like to add to your width and interest methods. FabFilter Pro-MB's free floating side chain trigger makes it so easy to do things like have the area of the spectrum that the snare dominates trigger upward expansion and increased width with it's mid/side feature on a keyboard or guitar part so that every time the snare pops, there's a subtle shift that catches the ear. This can be dramatic with something like a pad, or subtle, but it's powerful. Oh! And I don't understand why people do things like EQ the kick to make room for the bass with a static EQ. This makes no sense to me. Unless I want to alter the sound of something, I only want the unmasking EQ bands to be dynamic and triggered by the thing that they are masking. I only want that part of the kick to duck when the bass is playing, for example. I guess if you're using just channel strips and Waves plugins, there aren't tools like Pro-MB and Pro-Q3 that make it so easy to do really creative things that tickle the ear. I so love the way you use layers and multiple types of plugins to achieve your goals. This is the approach that I love. People will laugh at how I like to do that, but I find it makes that subtle difference that people can't quite finger, but they love it. I've had NDA jobs where the whole rest of the project ended up with me to sweeten with that kind of secret sauce because my client's client had a strong preference for the stuff I did the way you're describing. I'm really excited that I'll have a break from those projects and can do some work on things I can actually share. NDA jobs are cool, but the downside is you can't use them to demo your ideas because they are officially and legally someone else's work.
Hey Warren I love your videos they've been and still are a huge help in my development in music production. As someone who doesn't have a lot of spare time, and as someone who has a short attention span, these top ten and top five videos are awesome as they provide lots of great tips in a short concise video! Would be great if you put the top 10 and 5 videos in a playlist so I can send to peers looking for good videos on music production. Thank you so much for sharing the knowledge!
A tip I would give re: panning and making it sound way better - I wouldn't always use this as it could create problems in some circumstances, but if i'm using reverb on something I don't put it on the track itself but create a send to a bus panned centre with the reverb on it instead. What this does is means that, if something is panned hard-left, you're still getting reverberation coming from the right, just no dry signal, as you would if you were, for instance, standing in an echoey room with someone playing directly to your left. It makes the reverb a lot more realistic. Then you can also suggest the player is nearer to or closer to the ear by varying the track volume and the send volume (i.e. the further away something is, the more reverb volume you're getting relative to the direct sound).
Hi Warren, aside from the undeniable mixing wisdom you constantly gift to us, I'm also amazed by this: I'm Italian, and English is my second language, yet I understand every single word you say! Where are you from? Where do people speak such a fine and clear English? Thanks again.
This video helps so much, just because every song or audio edit feels like a different puzzle but knowing these aspects to watch out and do every time I mix really helps as a 1, 2, 3 instead of wondering where to get started!
Speaking of Reverb / delay / echo, I was reminded of the old CB radio. Going for long distance copies (CQ DX anyone LoL), a "Little" Echo / reverb went a very long way towards your voice being received clearly (radio5, tone 5) when received signal strength was very low or even not registering on the receivers needle. It seemed to wrap your voice in a protective bubble, which helped it "cut through" any interference. Too much reverb, and your voice would be garbled mush, no reverb at all, and your voice was inaudible. But a subtle amount worked wonders. Also learned to speak across the mic, not directly into it, gave a far more even signal, and lowered any distortion. I guess I learned quite a few things from that hobby, even started a hobbyist liking for electronics, repairing my own mics, and CB radios (not always successfully ), in a "bodge it and scarper" or "more luck than judgement" kind of way. ;0)
I've only just seen this, and tho I was aware of most of the topics, I found it helpful, and reassuring. I was a little surprised that two things weren't mentioned, that I believe most folks do, especially when receiving tracks not optimally recorded: pocketing, and vocal tuning. Sometimes a lot of time is spent on those two things. Thanks for your fab channel!
A great tutorial covering a wide range of mixing stages which are key fundamentals to achieving a great sounding mix, thanks ever so much Warren for sharing your knowledge with us to encourage, support and help improve our knowledge.
Unbelievably helpful ... I've been mixing stuff in my home setup for to many years to say, and looked at a myriad of YT stuff, but the way you describe prob's and solves is like a fresh breeze on a clammy day, ish. Many thanks for your help, priceless! ... (also taken on board Mr McKenzie's idea of starting with a sandwich ! ..so all good)
An incredible generosity. Unbelievable amount of important information. You made me listen to what I love all my life in totally different perspective. Thank you for your talent, knowledge and experience! ... and the delivery is full of excitement and energy that comes from your heart. It's a pleasure to know, listen and watch you! Thank you!
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and these tips for the community Warren, all 10 of these are so foundational and you really explain them so clearly to make them easy to digest and understand. Much respect and gratitude!
Dude this has helped me a lot. Some things, like chaining multiple compressors in series, I would never think of coming from Live mixing and this has given me some new insights!
Warren.....i love you. Always have the best insider experienced tips. Things that would take me a very long to figure out on my own through trial and error
I love your communication style-totally works for me! This video in particular was one I needed for the mix I’m working on today! Wow what a difference (especially controlling the low end tips). Thank you!
hey man these were some really great ideas. i have one small bonus to add with series compressors: make sure they are different in their timing settings. if you put two identical-speed (attack/release) compressors in series, they inter-modulate.
Regarding serial compression on vox, I like to have the first one at super low ratios like 1.2:1 or similar, and then as you say, 3-4 dB's of reduction, then the next at perhaps a 2:1 with the same GR. I then tend to control it all with a limiter in the end, again only shaving of a couple o dB's. Works great - not only on vox.
This video is from 2 years ago and I studied music 16 years ago. The fundamentals stay the same. Everything you teach on this channel is the same as what I learnt years ago. It is great to have these vids to remind me of things that I forget. I think there are problems on youtube of shit advice. This channel is one of the only ones I trust. I have seen people review a compressor and say it's a shit compressor because it has no punch on the drums. They had a super fast attack to take away all the striking power and then had a long release that sounded like it was actually going over some of the attacks too. Basically wiping out all transients, then blame the compressor for sounding bad. There really is so much bullshit.
Brilliant lesson. Thank you! When you mentioned about reverbs and delays that maybe you don’t realize them until they are turned off...It reminded me of Pink Floyd’s MONEY after the Guitar Solo. Brilliant.
Hi Warren, so glad I revisited this video session, there is some truly fantastic fundamental info imparted, which when applied judiciously, creates a far superior listening experience for all concerned. I have this in a folder so it can be re-visited as and when required.
![ILLSLICK - KILLSHOT REMIX [FULL VERSION]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RIK8RrqIAzE/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi Friend, I love being able to give you as much information as I can! As a working Producer, Engineer, Songwriter and Mixer I feel it is my duty to share with you what I do each and every day! Giving back is so important to me! Please download the cheat sheet bit.ly/2FtzVSP and let me know what you do on every mix!
Thank you Warren for these priceless tips!
Thanks ever so much Mia!
Thank you Mr Warren, I could not get the cheat sheet to download. May be an old or discontinued link. Thanks for all you do. And the Jolly Attitude!!
A friend got a Problem with a too present and wide kickbase IT IS Killing some parts of the hihats and its rolling over another
I think it has to be shortened somehow
Cause If overlaps to the next basekick
Typical african bambata Kick
But how can you handle this in a 2 track Beat
I Dont think you Just use Multiband EQ
With this i can make the hihats louder but it Better to adjust the frequencies
To shorten IT If kills many Things even the headroom vor the voice
IT Sounds Like the vocal has to swim on everything and isnt Part of the inside Soul of the instrumental
@@bksmith600 rueyjletsye
You are the Elvis of Mixing and Producing. Thank you mister.
I'm from Brazil and when I passed to understand English, followed your channel and other ones, I really growing my abilities! Thank you very much!
Thanks ever so much!
I have now started taking notes. Because quite frankly I would be a fool not to take full advantage of this excellent education. Warren, I can't thank you enough.
You’re very welcome my friend!
To do: watch this everyday.
Thanks ever so much Mikas! Glad to be able to help in any way I can!
Youre the father I always needed.
You're an excellent teacher an communicator, it's never boring and I must say that, even after years of professional practice, I still consider myself in a learning process so I find it important to take time to listen and watch and learn from skilled professionals like yourself. And a few others ;-) Thanks Warren - again ! (and, of course, have a super enjoyable day) Cheers!
Thanks ever so much Claudius! You very kind my friend!! Glad to be able to help in any way I can!
+1 on teaching & communication! I watch other pros too, incl. Grammy-winners, but very, very few can match Warren as a teacher/communicator. Some of the best practitioners can be the worst teachers! :D
Wow! You are very kind my friend! Thanks Tze-chiu Lei!
Pleasure's all mine, Warren! Just callin' it like it is! :)
You are very right Tze! Warren is the best there is!
Thank you Warren! A "Produce Like a Pro" video is like a classic movie, it's never outdated! Loving this one in January 2022.
Hey Warren, bro you are the most generous person I know, giving away these immense pearls of knowledge. Just a suggestion though when you're done teaching, could you please play back the song or even part of it, so we gain a good understanding of what has really happened there. Just a suggestion, it would give us a before and after and a strong perspective. Thanks so much for all the wisdom bro. Muchos love and respect
I've been mixing all morning, saw your vid pop up, and took a break to watch. I feel like a good pupil, I've been watching your videos for long enough that I saw this like a pop quiz checklist, and I passed. You're awesome Warren, as always, I am having a marvelous day.
That's amazing to hear my friend!! Yes, please do have a marvellous day!
Everyone says boost the kick at 100 Hz, but as I found out early on, do the opposite of what you hear. Some things you hear lead to the result, but others lead to the opposite. It's all extremely genre and era dependent. Compare and learn, compare and learn. Mixing is like treasure digging. Some things nobody talks about. You discover it by listening closely and analyzing the recordings. These mixing and mastering engineers are refined people, real geniuses, inventing their own plug-ins to achieve a certain effect, spending on hardware like on a house. Those who say mixing is not art, they don't know what art is. There are good mixes and breathtaking mixes, they differ maybe only 2%, but what happens in the 2% is real magic, experience and thinking outside the box.
Thank you Warren, it feels good that you are there!
I pray that God gives you longer life for your benevolence. You are a great man indeed.
Richard Boateng wow! Thanks ever so much!!
I have to say you are by far the most articulate and easy to understand by way of taking his time to explain things for us beginners. Thanks a tone! Lol
Wow! Thank you ever so much Andy! That really means a lot! I am so glad to be able to help in any way I can!
Produce Like A Pro 😎🍺🍺
Haha thanks Andy!
Clear, concise, constructive comments...all delivered with such a positive and gracious style. Warren, you’re a pro and a gentleman. How refreshing. I subscribed.
Hi cooldaze57 wow! Thanks ever so much my friend! That’s a huge compliment!!
The amazing thing about all this is despite all the plug-ins available to us today, all the mad sounds we can create with software, a mix is fundamentally 'good' when three things are taken care of properly: EQ, volume and pan. Everything else is icing on the cake.
This channel has changed my music for the better. I'm so glad I found it.
Thank you Warren
It's because of people like you that the bedroom producers can thrive😁
Warren, I've been watching your videos for a long time, now. I love, how easy you make the diffcult stuff. Thank you for this! Ride on.
Warren, I’ve only been recording since June and ever since I discovered your videos at the beginning of October; my songs have grown and improved for the better because of your words of wisdom. I can’t thank you enough and hope one day you can hear something I’ve created and mixed. Happy New Year!!
Wow! That's amazing! I'm so glad to be able to help!
First time ever watching a Produce like a pro video and thinking "Hey,, I do all these things" Learned a ton from you over the years Warren thanks so much. Your 8 Track full pan pitch shifted vocal thickening trick is my favorite btw. Amazing what it does for harmonics and depth. Cheers and keep it up!!
That's wonderful to hear Jeff! Glad to be able to help my friend!!
I did my education as an audio engineer 12 years ago and never checked many video tutorials, just tried a lot of things over time. This video is gold. I agree with everything he says, you really don't need more to get started and make your mixes sound professional if you never learned it. I wish I've had a video like this during my education. Keep up the great work.
Thanks Warren, all your videos have helped me immensely the past year!. Much appreciated Happy New Year be safe!
You’re very welcome
Warren, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your training. You talked about some things that I would have never considered. What you recommend makes complete sense according to physics (Low frequency overtones, noise cancellation ect..) Your practical recommendations have opened a whole new world for me. Thank you for openly sharing the things you have learned while mastering your art.
Hi Stan Lyman wow! Thanks ever so much for your wonderfully classy comment my friend! It’s amazing to have such great people as you in our community! Giving back is extremely important to me!!
I bookmarked this and am going to be coming back to it every time I produce. My goal is just to make decent sounding demos at home, but I still have so much to learn.
Nice to know I been doing all ten for a couple of decades. Automation is in fact the biggest fun part and makes the kids with their ear buds pay attention. Thanks and well done!!!
Hi Catdaddysound that’s fantastic to hear!! Glad to be able to help and reaffirm my friend!
Great video. I’m an architect who plays in a band with friends as a hobby an got into recording and mixing during the pandemic lockdowns. I really enjoy watching your videos and I always learn a lot. Thank you!!!
Just found out this channel. I Love every minute and learn every second. Thank you so much
Best production vids on TH-cam
I really cant thank you enough, you are doing such a great job, and sharing the best tips and tools in the best way.
I feel blessed, everytime you have a new video out. I'm learning so much. Thank you so much sir.
Thanks ever so much Thomas! That really means a lot my friend! Glad to be able to help in any way I can!
"Create interest", the most important advice I could ever get, thanks Warren 👍
You are the University Of Miami Recording Engineering Program i was never able to attend. I have learned so much from you Warren. Your funny, smart and get to the point. And you share. Im just a crotchety old keyboardist now with a home studio, but when your playing on my giant monitor I feel like a kid in a classroom again. Seriously man, thanks for taking the time, and all of the effort and knowledge. Your a gentleman and a scholar, and I'm not using those terms in jest. Thanks mate.
Over the last few weeks, you've become my favorite "go-to" music producer for these valuable tips on mixing/engineering. Excellent video !
Thanks ever so much!!
Hey Warren, great stuff and thank you very much for sharing! Just wanted to mention something about the buses/groups that would be good for everybody to consider. I don't know if in PT it happens (normally and theoritically it should), but in cubase I am using, groups and buses need extra care because if you change the overall level of multiple instruments through the group/bus fader you actually change the relation between the instruments themselves with their own send effects like reverb and delay as well! This is because send effects go to their buses without passing through the group/bus channel. Therefore lowering the overall level of the group by let's say 6 db using the group fader will not decrease the send effects accordingly resulting in a difference in the levels of the effects and the dry instruments themselves! Even if you mute the bus/group channel you will still hear the return output of any send effects! Furthermore, any processing on the bus/group (compression EQ etc.) will not pass on the effects! A good solution for this one is to create a DCA (or VCA if you're analog) fader to control all the individual channel's volume instead of using the group bus fader :)
One of your best videos yet Warren! Aha moment for me on low end management. I've been trying to notch out specific frequencies for kick and snare but continue to struggle giving them good isolation. I noticed in this video you didn't notch out the bass, instead you high passed the bass around 60 hz to make a cross-over where the bass would start to become audible past the fundamental of the kick. It that how you typically do it?
Warren, thanks so much!! You can certainly add "educator" to your long list of job titles! God bless you sir, for sharing your knowledge so generously and articulately.
This is pure liquid gold. I feel like I should be paying for this. Top class teacher right here
Awesome video Warren! I think the biggest thing for me is in the past I never used a reference track in my mixes because I was a little confused about how the reference track would sound with the plugins I had on the master bus. But now I bypass any plugins on the master bus and use the reference track now. I hope you are having a wonderful day as well!
Thanks Joseph! Yes, reference tracks are a huge help indeed!! Thanks for the great comment!
Thank you Warren. A good recap with nuggets of new information. I'm a fan of the panning to create space. Just wanted to share another tip I use for a chorus.
Increasing the BPM slightly in the chorus can give a sense of movement without the listener noticing, but will feel it. For example 120bpm try recording your chorus at 122/123bpm.
Simple but effective.
I used your bass trick of splitting highs and lows. Changed my bass control immensely. Many thanks for all the knowledge.
Hi Will, that's fantastic to hear my friend! So glad to be able to help!
Hi Warren. I hope YOU'RE doing marvelously well. I came to the tip of using multiple compressors on vocals. I immediately had questions pop in my mind... which you proceeded to answer! Yes, the attack and decay times differ between compressors. Now I can press play and watch the rest of this video. Then I will hunt down if you already have a video devoted to how to set vocal compressors. Cheers!
Thank you!!! I’m a long time drummer, but recently got into DAW remixing some of our practice recordings. This short tutorial taught me more in a few minutes than I picked up in the last year!
Man. I've relied heavily on your production advice over the last year. You're a wealth of knowledge and you deliver it in such a clear upbeat manner. My mixes are getting better and better thanks to your help. Thanks so much!
I’m a drum and bass producer and this was still very helpful for me. I think the process and workflow is so important, thank you for the vid.
For me
1. Naming conventions
2. Color coding
3. Markers
4. Bussing/grouping/organizing tracks/VCAs
5. Listen through without doing anything, even with the final output clipping, ideally with a rough mix/pre-prod from client to understand what their vision is
6. Basic leveling, make sure everything sits at proper level and no clipping is happening anywhere
7. Checking phase correlations/alignment, especially with instruments recorded with multiple microphones, e.g. drums, acoustic guitars, string sections, even live recordings
Then I start processing from there. Without these fundamentals you only encounter more issues built up later.
This is your best top ten yet Warren! Thank you for all your pearls of wisdom. I've learned more from you than anyone else. Peace be with you.
Very true. I've found of all the people posting educating videos online, Warrens have been by far the most helpful, practical, and have given me the ability to actually implement them into songs.
Wow! Thanks ever so much Bill! Peace be with you too my friend!
Wow! Thanks ever so much Steve! That's so kind of you!
Thanks Meep!
Just wanted to take a moment out of my day to let you know that I appreciate your knowledge and your willingness to share it with us all. Thank you for making these invaluable videos, Warren! I have learned more from you than I would have at a school for mixing in my area..
Very helpful, not because it’s earlth shattering new info, but because it refocused me to the essentials. I may rewatch this before every mixing session. Thx👍
All my life of recording on and off since the early 80s. Bass has always been the biggest problem. I have just started going down the list of your advise videos and I think you have some more centered around bass/kick etc. Love what you do man, you seem like a totally good dude as well. Thanks for what you do.
Automation secret sauce ! I wish Warren was my audio teacher !
Your videos really stand out as quality. Genuine, helpful, quality advice and learning opportunities. You can tell if a tutorial video is gonna be shite if it starts with the words: 'What is up guys its your boy...'
Been recording since 4 track in 1977, your video is full of great solid advice !
I learned all these things the hard way over time (pre internet )
The compression advice is the real gift .
This is one of THE best videos on youtube, ever. Thank you, Warren!
Old but gold!
Haha thanks
Learning to focus the low end was easily the biggest leap forward in my mixes. It's amazing how much more "credible" your mixes sound when the kick and the bass aren't churning around in a pool of muck.
A tight kick and punchy bass really grab the subconscious and keep attention.
Thank you Warren, this is so helpful and clear. I’ve been producing for 20 years but only recently started learning how to mix.
Thanks! Glad to be able to help
I have watched may videos on you tube and I must say I really like the way you come across and give a no nonsense approach.
This is a marvelous video Warren! I would direct anyone who is just getting started in the world of mixing to watch this video before any other, and to re-watch it frequently. As always, nice work.
Warren your tutorials have turned me into a turff producer..especially vocal mixing n mastering..thanks much..a can't afford even to pay you but may God bless u abundantly.much love from Kenya nairobi
Wow! You are far too kind my friend! I am so glad to be able to help! Have a marvellous time recording, many thanks Warren
I'm an old school engineer. Good musicians don't need all these plug ins. Period. But u r super smart
A good monster preamp neve n good musicians n compression equals heaven
You're a gifted instructor Sir. Thank you.
Warren is so down to earth!
Warren!! You really pulled all the stops on this episode. This was a full on professional mix class! I always learn something or reminded by your lessons. I'm almost speechless. Almost, lol. Thank you very much!
Thanks ever so much my friend! I always try to give as much as I can! I may not be slick with lighting and graphics but I like to give a lot of information! Haha
Produce Like A Pro it's all good my friend! Who needs pomp and circumstance when you deliver the goods as you do?!
Love it! Your philosophy of mixing is so aligned with my way of thinking it's scary! Gotta add a couple of things to this great list. Since I graduated from being a ProFools user to be a REAPER, I parallel effect almost everything. REAPER adds a wet/dry knob on every plugin, so it's just a matter of adjusting a knob instead of having to create a buss for every parallel effect. One of the only times I use a separate buss for that is with vocals because I'll use Airwindows' DeEss (by far the best De-esser ever) and completely get rid of all the sibilance so it sounds like a lisp. I'll run this through all the other FX that create sibilance where there is none (almost everything we do to vocals), then mix just enough of the dry signal in to get the natural sibilance back. This produces amazing results! And, I'd like to add to your width and interest methods. FabFilter Pro-MB's free floating side chain trigger makes it so easy to do things like have the area of the spectrum that the snare dominates trigger upward expansion and increased width with it's mid/side feature on a keyboard or guitar part so that every time the snare pops, there's a subtle shift that catches the ear. This can be dramatic with something like a pad, or subtle, but it's powerful. Oh! And I don't understand why people do things like EQ the kick to make room for the bass with a static EQ. This makes no sense to me. Unless I want to alter the sound of something, I only want the unmasking EQ bands to be dynamic and triggered by the thing that they are masking. I only want that part of the kick to duck when the bass is playing, for example. I guess if you're using just channel strips and Waves plugins, there aren't tools like Pro-MB and Pro-Q3 that make it so easy to do really creative things that tickle the ear. I so love the way you use layers and multiple types of plugins to achieve your goals. This is the approach that I love. People will laugh at how I like to do that, but I find it makes that subtle difference that people can't quite finger, but they love it. I've had NDA jobs where the whole rest of the project ended up with me to sweeten with that kind of secret sauce because my client's client had a strong preference for the stuff I did the way you're describing. I'm really excited that I'll have a break from those projects and can do some work on things I can actually share. NDA jobs are cool, but the downside is you can't use them to demo your ideas because they are officially and legally someone else's work.
Thank you so much Warren for this wonderful video !!
Thanks ever so much Mia!! You Rock!!
How is there anyone who thumbs down this information... thanks so much for this and educational thought process of mixing. Helps out a lot.
Hey Warren I love your videos they've been and still are a huge help in my development in music production. As someone who doesn't have a lot of spare time, and as someone who has a short attention span, these top ten and top five videos are awesome as they provide lots of great tips in a short concise video! Would be great if you put the top 10 and 5 videos in a playlist so I can send to peers looking for good videos on music production. Thank you so much for sharing the knowledge!
Mike Jones wow! Thanks ever so much!! I am so glad to be able to help!!
A tip I would give re: panning and making it sound way better - I wouldn't always use this as it could create problems in some circumstances, but if i'm using reverb on something I don't put it on the track itself but create a send to a bus panned centre with the reverb on it instead.
What this does is means that, if something is panned hard-left, you're still getting reverberation coming from the right, just no dry signal, as you would if you were, for instance, standing in an echoey room with someone playing directly to your left. It makes the reverb a lot more realistic. Then you can also suggest the player is nearer to or closer to the ear by varying the track volume and the send volume (i.e. the further away something is, the more reverb volume you're getting relative to the direct sound).
Every time I watch this video I learn more and more!
Hi Warren, aside from the undeniable mixing wisdom you constantly gift to us, I'm also amazed by this: I'm Italian, and English is my second language, yet I understand every single word you say! Where are you from? Where do people speak such a fine and clear English?
Thanks again.
This video helps so much, just because every song or audio edit feels like a different puzzle but knowing these aspects to watch out and do every time I mix really helps as a 1, 2, 3 instead of wondering where to get started!
The compression tip is really helpful. Thank you!
Speaking of Reverb / delay / echo, I was reminded of the old CB radio.
Going for long distance copies (CQ DX anyone LoL), a "Little" Echo / reverb went a very long way towards your voice being received clearly (radio5, tone 5) when received signal strength was very low or even not registering on the receivers needle.
It seemed to wrap your voice in a protective bubble, which helped it "cut through" any interference.
Too much reverb, and your voice would be garbled mush, no reverb at all, and your voice was inaudible.
But a subtle amount worked wonders.
Also learned to speak across the mic, not directly into it, gave a far more even signal, and lowered any distortion.
I guess I learned quite a few things from that hobby, even started a hobbyist liking for electronics, repairing my own mics, and CB radios (not always successfully ), in a "bodge it and scarper" or "more luck than judgement" kind of way. ;0)
The god of YT-Teachers. I love you
I've only just seen this, and tho I was aware of most of the topics, I found it helpful, and reassuring. I was a little surprised that two things weren't mentioned, that I believe most folks do, especially when receiving tracks not optimally recorded: pocketing, and vocal tuning. Sometimes a lot of time is spent on those two things. Thanks for your fab channel!
Warren, this absolutely a terrific video with high quality content. Thank you!
Thanks ever so much Mike! That's very kind of you!
A great tutorial covering a wide range of mixing stages which are key fundamentals to achieving a great sounding mix, thanks ever so much Warren for sharing your knowledge with us to encourage, support and help improve our knowledge.
Agreed, Warren is the best!! Thank you so much from Seattle Produce Like A Pro!!
Thanks ever so much!
All these things are so true. Great video.
Hi Soundcast Studios thanks ever so much!!
Unbelievably helpful ... I've been mixing stuff in my home setup for to many years to say, and looked at a myriad of YT stuff, but the way you describe prob's and solves is like a fresh breeze on a clammy day, ish. Many thanks for your help, priceless! ... (also taken on board Mr McKenzie's idea of starting with a sandwich ! ..so all good)
Bless you Warren!
Thank you so much!
An incredible generosity. Unbelievable amount of important information. You made me listen to what I love all my life in totally different perspective.
Thank you for your talent, knowledge and experience!
... and the delivery is full of excitement and energy that comes from your heart.
It's a pleasure to know, listen and watch you!
Thank you!
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and these tips for the community Warren, all 10 of these are so foundational and you really explain them so clearly to make them easy to digest and understand. Much respect and gratitude!
Thanks warren, you never fail to tell me things I don’t know ;)
You're very welcome!! Thanks ever so much!
You're the man for this one
Thanks ever so much
I swear this channel is like going to a music school for free. Thanks for the content!
Dude this has helped me a lot. Some things, like chaining multiple compressors in series, I would never think of coming from Live mixing and this has given me some new insights!
So helpful. The best mixing channel hands down.
Warren.....i love you. Always have the best insider experienced tips. Things that would take me a very long to figure out on my own through trial and error
Piano has a Robert Lamm flavor! ...I like it!
Thanks! That's cool!
I love your communication style-totally works for me! This video in particular was one I needed for the mix I’m working on today! Wow what a difference (especially controlling the low end tips). Thank you!
hey man these were some really great ideas. i have one small bonus to add with series compressors: make sure they are different in their timing settings. if you put two identical-speed (attack/release) compressors in series, they inter-modulate.
10 ingredients in today's AwesomeSauce :) Cheers mate!!
Thanks ever so much Jonas! Cheers mate!!
Excellent video Warren! Thank you so much!
Thank YOU!! You Rock my friend!!
Regarding serial compression on vox, I like to have the first one at super low ratios like 1.2:1 or similar, and then as you say, 3-4 dB's of reduction, then the next at perhaps a 2:1 with the same GR. I then tend to control it all with a limiter in the end, again only shaving of a couple o dB's. Works great - not only on vox.
This video is from 2 years ago and I studied music 16 years ago. The fundamentals stay the same. Everything you teach on this channel is the same as what I learnt years ago. It is great to have these vids to remind me of things that I forget. I think there are problems on youtube of shit advice. This channel is one of the only ones I trust. I have seen people review a compressor and say it's a shit compressor because it has no punch on the drums. They had a super fast attack to take away all the striking power and then had a long release that sounded like it was actually going over some of the attacks too. Basically wiping out all transients, then blame the compressor for sounding bad. There really is so much bullshit.
super tips, cant wait to try out parallel compression on acoustic guitars
Brilliant lesson. Thank you!
When you mentioned about reverbs and delays that maybe you don’t realize them until they are turned off...It reminded me of Pink Floyd’s MONEY after the Guitar Solo. Brilliant.
Thanks for the reminders and new insights!
This is great info for us home recording musicians, thanks.
Hi Warren, so glad I revisited this video session, there is some truly fantastic fundamental info imparted, which when applied judiciously, creates a far superior listening experience for all concerned. I have this in a folder so it can be re-visited as and when required.