The Official Mixing Thread

[Myrical Lyfe]

@LauderdaleBoss maybe a sticky? I don't see another thread like this.

So basically, Im at that point in my music progression, that I really need to start learning how to mix. It holds a lot of my tracks back because of the "muddy effect". Basically, lets use this thread for pointers, to help gain knowledge on mixing and mastering.

 

[Wildin]

this is worth $5
Also everyone should know about parallel compression, ie new york compression. Works great on drums also works good on vocals to make them tighter.

If you arent familiar with it, watch this 4 minute video with example of what the drums sound like before and after.

Parallel compression aka New York Compression, is a form of upward compression that is achieved by mixing an unprocessed 'dry', or lightly compressed signal with a heavily compressed version of the same signal.

An easy trick/tip to do in any work flow.

 

[LauderdaleBoss]

@LauderdaleBoss maybe a sticky? I don't see another thread like this.

So basically, Im at that point in my music progression, that I really need to start learning how to mix. It holds a lot of my tracks back because of the "muddy effect". Basically, lets use this thread for pointers, to help gain knowledge on mixing and mastering.

I stickied the thread breh. I don't know how long it'll stay up though.

If you need any tips or pointers in regards to mixing, holla at my Trap Titan breh @DBR

I personally think his mixing game on here is top 3. His beats always sound crisp as hell. Hopefully he can bless this thread with some advice.

Good luck fam.

 

[mortuus est]

tips on how to get wu 36 chamber style mixing on the vocals? LOL that would be a funny start

 

[DBR]

The thing is , before learning about mixing you need the proper tools . You need at least a decent pairs of studio monitors . You should spend at least 400$ for decent monitors . I recommend the yamaha hs50m , they will lack a bit in the low end so if you can afford it get the hs80m , otherwise you can upgrade with a subwoofer later on . Also need a good external sound card , i recommend the roland quad capture , this one is very dope but if you cant afford it the scarlett 2i2 is the best one you can get for this price range .

You will also need good studio headphone . The reason why you need studio monitors is because of the flat responce . If you can make a track sound good on your monitors most of the time it will sound good on any other device wich is why you need studio monitors for the accurate sound . Its not recommend to mix with headphone only but its good to have some to use it a reference see how it sound on it . An other very important thing is to work with high quality sound only . Using the right set of monitors with high quality sound and you can make some pretty decent stuff witthout to much adjustment .

As far as mixing tips , i eq some of my instruments and cut the low end before 100-200 hz to open the mix for my other low end like the kick , bass line , 808 ect . You should learn about the frenquencies to know what frenquencies do what and after that mess around with your eq and try to cut some of the frenquencies and boost some see if you able to make a sound sound better . I also like to use compression on my drums and bass to give them more presence . Learning about compression is def a good thing . I recommend to not use compression on your instruments but on drum and bass only . Using reverb on some of your instruments can also help you beats sound fuller but sometime little bit of reverb can do the job . Trying to put to much reverb on your instruments might just mess things up . Learning about dymamis is also a good thing to so i suggest to check some tutorial about it . Also learning about imager vst can help your sound alot .

That pretty much the tools that i use for mixing , eq , compression , reverb and dymamics and imaging . The komplete bundle got some very good mixing tools so i def recommend to check that out and you will have over 120 g of dope sounds and plugins , Its a standart to have in the music industry today imo . An other thing that is very important in mixing is room treatment . Having good monitors and poor room treatment is useless sometime cause your room gonna give you a sound that is not totally accurate so its gonna sound good on your studio but will sound different on other device so i def recommend to learn about room treatment .

Once you got good mixing skills then you can cop the izotope ozone plugin wich is very good for mastering but before using this plugin you have to be sure your mix is decent cause using this plugin over a track that is not mixed properly might just mess things up even more . Izotope ozone take some time to learn but once you know how to use it this plugin can really do wonder and help the overall sound quality of your tracks .

In the end its all about the tools you use for mixing and to know how to use it cause trying to mix a track without having the right tools will most of the time do more damage on your tracks . If you dont have the money for these tools then leave the job to a professional and your tracks will sound very good . Mixing take years to master so be patient . I forgot to say that checking for some tutorial for training your ears can help you alot so check that out also . Your ears are very important when it come to mixing so training them might help you alot .

Thanks @LauderdaleBoss for refering me on this thread but i dont think im top 3 in here when it come to mixing . I can name at least 10 artists on this site that have similar or even better mixing skills then me here . Im sure @KushSkywalker @MichaelWhite @Chubbs @Kwilu @Todd McPiff @clanarchy can give you some very helpful advice on mixing as their shyt always sound very clean .

If you need some advice on mixing vocals let me know i got some knowledge about it i think as i mix at least 30 tracks in the last years for artists and the people i work with been very happy with the results .

Hope it help and let me know if you have any questions

 

[mortuus est]

The thing is , before learning about mixing you need the proper tools . You need at least a decent pairs of studio monitors . You should spend at least 400$ for decent monitors . I recommend the yamaha hs50m , they will lack a bit in the low end so if you can afford it get the hs80m , otherwise you can upgrade with a subwoofer later on . Also need a good external sound card , i recommend the roland quad capture , this one is very dope but if you cant afford it the scarlett 2i2 is the best one you can get for this price range .

You will also need good studio headphone . The reason why you need studio monitors is because of the flat responce . If you can make a track sound good on your monitors most of the time it will sound good on any other device wich is why you need studio monitors for the accurate sound . Its not recommend to mix with headphone only but its good to have some to use it a reference see how it sound on it . An other very important thing is to work with high quality sound only . Using the right set of monitors with high quality sound and you can make some pretty decent stuff witthout to much adjustment .

As far as mixing tips , i eq some of my instruments and cut the low end before 100-200 hz to open the mix for my other low end like the kick , bass line , 808 ect . You should learn about the frenquencies to know what frenquencies do what and after that mess around with your eq and try to cut some of the frenquencies and boost some see if you able to make a sound sound better . I also like to use compression on my drums and bass to give them more presence . Learning about compression is def a good thing . I recommend to not use compression on your instruments but on drum and bass only . Using reverb on some of your instruments can also help you beats sound fuller but sometime little bit of reverb can do the job . Trying to put to much reverb on your instruments might just mess things up . Learning about dymamis is also a good thing to so i suggest to check some tutorial about it . Also learning about imager vst can help your sound alot .

That pretty much the tools that i use for mixing , eq , compression , reverb and dymamics and imaging . The komplete bundle got some very good mixing tools so i def recommend to check that out and you will have over 120 g of dope sounds and plugins , Its a standart to have in the music industry today imo . An other thing that is very important in mixing is room treatment . Having good monitors and poor room treatment is useless sometime cause your room gonna give you a sound that is not totally accurate so its gonna sound good on your studio but will sound different on other device so i def recommend to learn about room treatment .

Once you got good mixing skills then you can cop the izotope ozone plugin wich is very good for mastering but before using this plugin you have to be sure your mix is decent cause using this plugin over a track that is not mixed properly might just mess things up even more . Izotope ozone take some time to learn but once you know how to use it this plugin can really do wonder and help the overall sound quality of your tracks .

In the end its all about the tools you use for mixing and to know how to use it cause trying to mix a track without having the right tools will most of the time do more damage on your tracks . If you dont have the money for these tools then leave the job to a professional and your tracks will sound very good . Mixing take years to master so be patient . I forgot to say that checking for some tutorial for training your ears can help you alot so check that out also . Your ears are very important when it come to mixing so training them might help you alot .

Thanks @LauderdaleBoss for refering me on this thread but i dont think im top 3 in here when it come to mixing . I can name at least 10 artists on this site that have similar or even better mixing skills then me here . Im sure @KushSkywalker @MichaelWhite @Chubbs @Kwilu @Todd McPiff @clanarchy can give you some very helpful advice on mixing as their shyt always sound very clean .

If you need some advice on mixing vocals let me know i got some knowledge about it i think as i mix at least 30 tracks in the last years for artists and the people i work with been very happy with the results .

Hope it help and let me know if you have any questions

good post but



if rza and lil ugly mane can make classics with shytty equipment than why cant we?

 

[Kwilu]

@DBR I'm looking to buy a new sound card and i'm not sure about taking the 2i2 or the Steinberg Ur22.
What do you think?

 

[DBR]

good post but



if rza and lil ugly mane can make classics with shytty equipment than why cant we?

Thanks breh , Rza is a legend so of course he can make banger with shytty equipment but it can only help your mix to have good monitors with room treatment . Your right though its possible to have a great mix with average equipment if you have good ears and you know your equipment very well .

@DBR I'm looking to buy a new sound card and i'm not sure about taking the 2i2 or the Steinberg Ur22.
What do you think?

Dont know much about the ur22 so i check out the specs online and seem to have better specs than the 2i2 so id probably get the ur22 . Cant go wrong with any of those 2 though .
Check for the roland duo capture also pre amp is top quality on this one .

 

[mortuus est]

Thanks breh , Rza is a legend so of course he can make banger with shytty equipment but it can only help your mix to have good monitors with room treatment . Your right though its possible to have a great mix with average equipment if you have good ears and you know your equipment very well .

i fell u, thanks for answering

also

me and my lady were had a lil back n forth about if all the songs on radio are mastered

 

[ItWasWritten]

I can teach you guys some stuff if you want to learn....



Mixing is very time consuming. But the results are worth it if you know what you are doing...Beginners should expect to spend 8 hours plus on a mix.

Somebody mentioned "Rza had sh1tty equipment but still made bangers" glad you said that, that's so true.


I'll debunk a huge myth in this post.


Mixing is not some wonderful magical thing that turns your sh1tty songs to some next level sh1t. That first wu album was full of bangers, most of the recordings from a technical aspect were awful.....but nobody when playing that sh1t goes "ohh wow the eq is terrible on those drums, his voice is so muffled" because the sh1t bangs b.

Here is the song making process in order of importance.


Songwriting>Beat\Music>Performance>Recording>Mixing>Mastering


If your song is sh1t, mixing will just polish a sh1t song.... and stop the myth of mastering....I just made 2,000 mastering an album and Ill i did was make it louder and a few eq moves, its nothing too it...I will show you guys that too.



Your beat/song should be as close to sounding too the finished record as possible.


I'll post some pictured tutorial's for you guys to follow. I'm a visual person and it really helps me to learn that way as I'm sure it will for most of you.

 

[1/2OfDaBruinz]

I need tips on getting the mud out of bassline samples when using the low end theory. I know how to do everything else, as far as equing the sample and taking out the highs, and adding a duplicate with a high pass on it, and all of that good stuff. But by the time I have the shyt sounding like I want it, it's too muddy.

 

[ItWasWritten]

I need tips on getting the mud out of bassline samples when using the low end theory. I know how to do everything else, as far as equing the sample and taking out the highs, and adding a duplicate with a high pass on it, and all of that good stuff. But by the time I have the shyt sounding like I want it, it's too muddy.

You know about frequencies?

What program are you using?


Mud is between 200-500k I would say.

 

[malbaker86]

Bruhs, i'm having a fight party for the Mayweather fight and have around 150-200 songs I wanna play. What FREE software could I download if I just wanted to create a playlist of all those songs but edit em since I don't wanna play the whole songs and wanna cut it off at a certain part and go to the next song? I'm not a DJ or anything, just a regular average joe who'll be doing this with a mouse and keyboard

 

[6god]

Holla at @Thepowkid dude's a legit engineer who held me down on a few of my artists tapes.
Has a thread somewhere on here

 

[head shots101]

I have the same problem....I can't mix for shyt and I have no clue what i'm doing