How do you mix your tracks?

How to do this, that and the other. Share, learn, teach. How did X do that? How can I sound like Y?
Post Reply New Topic
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Hello everyone,

I produce (well trying at least) electronic dance music and now that I have approached a mixing stage, I have some questions regarding how loud I should mix my track. My goal is to make a label-friendly track.

So should I first mix my track at relatively low levels (peaking at -6 db for example) and then just push everything until 0 db using a limiter on master track (I'd skip using multiband compressor as I am not really familiar how to use it wisely)?

Or should I already tweak each track (drums, basses, leads etc.) in my mixer window separately until it's loud enough (-9db RMS let's say) and use nothing (no limiter) on a master track?

Which of the above is a correct strategy?

Post

Well, like most people, you're probably gonna be starting out on some pretty small labels, so don't assume they're gonna get it professionally mastered for you.
I think the best bet is to get a good analyzer, and use it to match your frequency responses with other popular tracks.
When doing this, remember that the freq curve of a track will also be dependant on how much compression they used, so you may think your mids are ok because they peak at the same level as your fave commercial track, but their track actually has louder mids because it's compressed more. Obviously this works the other way too.
So alongside your analyzer, you can also benefit from a bandpass filter, so you can check the real world volume of specific frequencies against your own (best to do this at very low volume).
And remember, the edm scene is flooded with garbage, so don't stress too much on your first few releases, just get it sounding nice and balanced, and don't forget to lowpass the whole mix to hear how the bass rolls.

Just some stuff i do, hope it helps

Post

When doing this, remember that the freq curve of a track will also be dependant on how much compression they used, so you may think your mids are ok because they peak at the same level as your fave commercial track, but their track actually has louder mids because it's compressed more. Obviously this works the other way too.
So alongside your analyzer, you can also benefit from a bandpass filter, so you can check the real world volume of specific frequencies against your own
You can just use spectrum analyzer with very long integration time. Izotope Tonal Balance Control does exactly that, but any plugin shoudl do.

Multiband compression is essential, and that's one of a few effects I tune by ear. Frequency, volume and panorama balance follow pretty simple rules and must conform to reference tracks.
Blog ------------- YouTube channel
Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)

Post

Recently I decided to get this plugin called Levels from Mastering the mix. It's a good little plugin that makes choices easy. This plugin check the headroom, stereo field, LUFS level, Dynamic space, etc. I found that this little plugin makes mixing and mastering much easier.

It will also tell you the recommended levels for different purposes. Youtube, Soundcloud, CD, mastering, etc, all require different levels. The final stage is the mastering so the mix should have enough headroom for the mastering engineer to do his/her job.

This is a part taken from the user manual,
You want your track to peak at -6dB to give the mastering engineer plenty of headroom
to apply appropriate compression and EQ enhancements. You can change the threshold
at which the bars start going into the red in the settings (cog wheel icon top right corner).
For example, the ‘mastering’ setting will change the threshold to 0dBTP (decibels true
peak). You can reset the section from red back to green by clicking on the readout or by
clicking on the HEADROOM icon.
Win 10 -64bit, CPU i7-7700K, 32Gb, Focusrite 2i2, FL-studio 20, Studio One 4, Reason 10

Post

DJ Warmonger wrote: You can just use spectrum analyzer with very long integration time. Izotope Tonal Balance Control does exactly that, but any plugin shoudl do.
Yeah i use blue cat, so can switch it to RMS mode, but there is still problems that can't be fixed like that.
The problem is that RMS mode can't tell you how busy a track is, so a track that has 3 bongo hits between every kick, is going to appear "louder" in the mids than a track with 1 bongo hit between every kick, so although RMS can be useful, i always feel the need to just bandpass specific areas

@ATN69, hey, you actually answered his question! Good job lol. I kinda forgot :hihi:

Post

Thanks for responses guys but still that doesn't really answer my main dilemma - mix at low level and raise the overall volume with a limiter or make each separate track loud on its own and not use any plugin on a master bus? I'd love to follow the 1st option but my concern is that pushing the overall volume will not doa necessary trick.

My initial goal is to produce a label-friendly track.

Post

It shouldn't matter. If you're working totally digital, then there is no noise floor to worry about.
If you're using analogue then yeah, keep things loud

Post

.edited my post as I was talking bollox, again!! :D
Last edited by Eauson on Mon Jun 18, 2018 10:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Man is least himself when he talks in the first person. Give him a mask, and he'll show you his true face

Post

Ozone 8.
Ive been skeptical about the Ozone line for years until I tried Ozone 8 advanced.

This is what you need to get loud. It's just too bloody hard to do it all manually, I've been trying for years, bought books, watched youtube, experimented, everything. The main problem you have is 1. you're not trained, 2. you dont have the equipment & room treatment. It's that simple. The monitors needed for pro mastering are beyond most our budgets. The only way around this is referencing tracks that have been mastered in such environments.

Those commenting here (and I applaud them for trying :clap: ) are giving you mixed and potentially conflicting opinions based on their experiences. The reality is most people struggle with loudness (probably even those giving advice here).
Try Ozone's referencing features and use the Balance Control plugin that comes with advanced.

Post

Kinh wrote:The reality is most people struggle with loudness
I don't doubt it, but i don't actually think he was asking how to make things louder, he was asking which is the best of his two stated processes.

I would say it's good practice to keep things loud at the source, but personally i don't do that. Sometimes when i turn off my master bus, my kick is peaking at -20db or lower (due to subtractive level balancing), and honestly i don't give a rats ass. The end result is still on par with my reference tracks, so the only time i worry about source volume is when i can actually hear the hiss of my distortion units or white noise generator (don't ask lol) when the song is not playing

Post

Microlab wrote:Thanks for responses guys but still that doesn't really answer my main dilemma - mix at low level and raise the overall volume with a limiter or make each separate track loud on its own and not use any plugin on a master bus? I'd love to follow the 1st option but my concern is that pushing the overall volume will not doa necessary trick.

My initial goal is to produce a label-friendly track.
If you plan to send your track for other people to master it, then stick with the -6db mark. It will do no harm to your song and will give the mastering engineer some headroom to play with. In this case, you can remove the limiter from the master bus, unless you're using it as a mixing effect.

Great are the chances the label will prefer a raw track to be mastered by a professional. Just ask them before send your music.

Post Reply

Return to “Production Techniques”