Production process

[Dan Island]

I have recently got back into the whole home recording thing, I have put some songs together before but really was flying by the seat of my pants and didn't really know what I was doing but on the whole they sounded OKish.

This time I would like more polished results.

So question is, once all the tracks are created, what is your process, going by You Tube, everyone does it different so I realise there is no one answer but would be good to get some options to see what works for me.

So far I have got the tracks down for a song and have been messing with EQ, still sounds pretty muddy. I can't hear every instrument as I do in well produced tracks.

Any suggestions or opinions will be gratefully received. Even point me to training or youtube vids worth watching.

cheers

[Big DAW Audio]

Here's some tips to get started:

REFERENCE:

Don't start until you have a proper reference track. This is your goal / objective of what you want to achieve with your mix. Compare your progress to this reference multiple times per hour. NOTE: Throw a limiter on your master channel to bring your mix's level up until it just kisses the limiter here and there. This will ensure the volume of your song can properly be compared to the reference.

PRIORITIZING:

Choose a few instruments to be your "stand out" instruments / tracks. Everything else is background and is mixed around the stand out instruments. Not everything can stand out in every song. You have to pick and choose just a few elements.

GAINSTAGING:

Turn the volume on every track down to zero. Bring your kick up so it peaks around -11dB. Bring in everything else to balance around that kick, starting with the most important elements first. Nothing should hit more than -14dB. You can do this with your eyes closed. You should find that a lot of instruments don't actually need to be as loud as you thought.

FILTERING:

You want to use a filter (EQ) on almost every sound that is not kick or bass, and remove the low end from these sounds. Usually anything below 100-150hz is unnecessary for non-kick or non-bass sounds. Some sounds you can cut even more out. You can do this for the high end as well, cutting out high end from any sounds that do not need it. This process eliminates unnecessary frequencies from the mix and builds you more headroom, so you can push your song louder.

UNMASKING FREQUENCIES:

Going back to those important elements you want to stand out - time to carve out space for them. For example, if you want the vocals to stand out, use an EQ to look at the most important frequencies for the vocals and make a note of these frequencies. Then clear out some some space in other tracks (that are also hitting in the same frequencies) in order to make room for your vocals.

SIDECHAINING:

This can really help. Just look up some videos. You can side chain anything to anything else to create more space in the mix. Just don't over do it.

LISTENING BREAKS:

Take them regularly.

[Dan Island]

Thanks for this, I bought a couple of courses in the BF sales and I am working through those at the moment. I think I will learn a lot cause I an a learn from seeing how others do it kinda guy.

But you confirmed a few things I was kinda aware of but I think I need to see it in action to completely understand.

[Benedict]

Making Records - as a record of that time (& story) - is never a formula process. People will try to tell you that it is with all kinds of fancy technical words and Shoulds n Musts. Don't listen to them. Every record (that matters) is to some extent or other "seat of the pants". You can only be in the moment, the Flow, if you are this way. Mixing is exactly the same. You cannot force it or you break it. While it may seem "perfect" the story itself is broken as the record of that moment in time is no longer about the Story but your obsession (and fears) about Producery stuff. No one wants that record - despite how much they might tell you how perfect it sounds (in 5-second slices).

This is the essential process that I follow when Mixing: https://youtu.be/cyS9CxI7v08?si=uXuS7WiAnBfmsPKn

However, it is not so simplistically rigid in action as you can see in the Mix Walkthroughs: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=P ... mXIauoJraq

[MartinezNL]

Also don't slam on more plugins if something doesn't sound right. Elements should sounds well together with some basic leveling and eq.