We always talk about producers, but did you know top mixing engineers charge $4,000-$5000+ per mix?

[CapitalforCapital]

Best Thread I seen onTheColi.

 

[Mac Casper]

Best Thread I seen onTheColi.

I yearn for technical discussions. It's why I always excited about DJ Quik threads

 

[GrindtooFilthy]

Hmmmm I feel like we should make a thread to discuss mixing and mastering techniques. One I came across recently was to mix your track in mono up to a certain point and see how it is in stereo

 

[Mac Casper]

Hmmmm I feel like we should make a thread to discuss mixing and mastering techniques. One I came across recently was to mix your track in mono up to a certain point and see how it is in stereo

Already got you covered

Rare unreleased Mac Casper song . . see if you can tell which one was mixed on the SSL

 

[CapitalforCapital]

I yearn for technical discussions. It's why I always excited about DJ Quik threads

Question for you though do you believe that having a large budget is necessary to create popular music not just in hip hop but in other genres as well. Because it seems that the stipulation to work with a more talented pool of people is how much money you're willing to spend.

 

[Mac Casper]

Question for you though do you believe that having a large budget is necessary to create popular music not just in hip hop but in other genres as well. Because it seems that the stipulation to work with a more talented pool of people is how much money you're willing to spend.

Particularly in other genres, not so much in hip-hop. You really just need yourself and to be expedient. Hip-Hop gives an outlet to the talentless (not to be confused with skilless) - you can make a song with zero musicianship. Whereas a rapper can go in and get a all vocals down within the first 30 minutes, you can get a decent mix out of a three hour session. If you are working with a band not only is there all of the character issues to deal with but they are using that 30 minutes to set-up and tune their instruments. A large budget is not necessary if you know you're way around the studio process and you have a vision for what you are setting out to achieve. It comes down to studio generalship.

 

[CapitalforCapital]

Particularly in other genres, not so much in hip-hop. You really just need yourself and to be expedient. Hip-Hop gives an outlet to the talentless (not to be confused with skilless) - you can make a song with zero musicianship. Whereas a rapper can go in and get a all vocals down within the first 30 minutes, you can get a decent mix out of a three hour session. If you are working with a band not only is there all of the character issues to deal with but they are using that 30 minutes to set-up and tune their instruments. A large budget is not necessary if you know you're way around the studio process and you have a vision for what you are setting out to achieve. It comes down to studio generalship.

Thanks

 

[Mac Casper]

Thanks

If this is something you have an interest in, you should explore it. Start out with a downloaded copy of Audacity, mess around with some audio. If you like what you're doing get yourself ProTools and begin some YouTube learning videos - all of the information is out there, the people that take to this subject usually don't by coincidence

 

[Majestic]

That's $5,000 for a single song?

A 10 album song would make them 50,000.

Mixed by Ali gotta be eating well when he mixes TDE's albums.

 

[InDePickWest]

Basically there's a studio in LA which houses 3 top-flight mix engineers

This studio expanded while most big studios closed. This studio is basically where the "cool kids" hang out (per say) . . in the sense that at anytime you go you're likely to come across notable figures working there- I'd imagine there's some effort to keep Mr. "I've got a mixtape, check it out" type rappers out of there. Basically there's people that work at companies that own their own studios that will go here for services because they want to be seen at the cool kids table

Record Plant?

 

[Mac Casper]

Here's an example perfect for this thread. One of these was mixed in the box - recorded in a closet of a garage with a $200 mic. The other is recorded on a $10,000 mic and mixed on an SSL K console -

Also this song is available for business if you know any younger rappers that are serious


Since we're getting technical and talking about mixes today. Here's a great example. One is recorded with a $10,000 microphone. The other less than $200. One is recorded in the box. The other on an SSL K console (the pinnacle)




This is from my days in the Bay Area. I hate this song to. It got me an opportunity that held me back a year of my life

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

A lot of engineers do not like RZA's mixing. I've heard this numerous times, it has to do w/ the fact of the unorthodox training RZA has for a mixing board. Somehow they can't handle the quirks in his production. Which just goes to show if you develop Engineer ear, things like RZA's dissonance and muddiness will annoy that person.

it's not that they hate his mixing.. it's that they can't mix his tracks.. he just throws so much shyt in, and might sample one hit of a drum or one toot of a horn.. so you don't even know where shyt goes

RZA Biggie was always pretty cool with me. He liked the Wu-Tang sound. He requested me to be on the album. I didn’t know if everybody in his camp agreed with it, because at one point there was a little bit of tension in the air—with Raekwon’s [Only Built 4] Cuban Linx… album and some of the statements that was made. But we was always cool with each other.

Biggie wrote the verse after his accident. At first we had Cappadonna doing the hook, talking a lot of shyt. In the beginning, you can hear Cappadonna. Then Puff did his thing at the end. I didn’t know it was going to be there but I know how they work. I wasn’t in the studio when they did that. I went in a couple of weeks after he did the verse. They wanted to mix it themselves, but they didn’t even know where to put things at. I had so many sounds in there. They didn’t know what the fukk I was thinking about.

We had about 10 basic musical elements on that track. At the end he’s talking about everybody was fukking with them at that time. He could have even been talking about me [laughs], ’cause there was some cuts at Biggie on the Cuban Linx… album.

Why do rappers with a sidekick engineer prosper though, Drake got 40 , Jay got Guru, Kendrick got Ali , ... Can't be a consistent sonic presence because every mix is different ?? ... Btw brehs headlines by Drake was mixed over laptop speakers with no analogue gear .. So equipment don't mean shyt ...

Headlines absolutely wasn't mixed on laptop speakers. Maybe the beat was originally made on laptop speakers. But the final track with recorded vocals...for a major label album release... would 100% never be mixed simply on laptop speakers. Even most studio monitors roll off or cut off at 60 hz ... and those are good, professional monitors. what do you think the frequency range of the macbook pro speakers are so on top of NOT being mixed on a laptop, it also went to mastering before going to print. making beats on laptop speakers is bad enough but no one would ever ever ever mix a full track off of laptop speakers, especially when it's being done for a major release. but that brings up a good point - a lot of people listen to music on laptops or really shytty headphones like Beats or iBuds ... so using those to REFERENCE a mix isn't a bad idea...

mastering is another thing all together that there are a lot of common misconceptions about. thats where the big $$ is at because there aren't too many great mastering engineers out there

although we're talking about rap in 2017. scratch that...music in general in 2017. dynamics are the last things people care about. loud and brickwalled is how everything is today

yea i think this is where he got it from..... but it leaves out all the rest of the shyt and places he went after that

"I use both Mac and PC, and there's a very important reason for this. I am a laptop guy, because I always want to have the ability to tweak my mixes when I leave a studio, wherever I am, just with my laptop and a set of headphones."

- 40 -




this is an AMAZING article on mixing in general... i would say everyone who loves this thread to take a read... a LONG read.. and you can see why dudes is getting 5k to mix one song

a song like headlines has 40 some tracks on it... each getting about 5 plug ins a piece... with about 3-4 mixes before you even get to the final mix. 40 goes into everything to make the song. from getting the mp3 version from boi 1da, to the final song we hear, which studios he used, which programs, which plug ins, and how he mixed each part


Noah '40' Shebib: Recording Drake's 'Headlines' |

 

[InDePickWest]

Here's an example perfect for this thread. One of these was mixed in the box - recorded in a closet of a garage with a $200 mic. The other is recorded on a $10,000 mic and mixed on an SSL K console -

Also this song is available for business if you know any younger rappers that are serious


Since we're getting technical and talking about mixes today. Here's a great example. One is recorded with a $10,000 microphone. The other less than $200. One is recorded in the box. The other on an SSL K console (the pinnacle)




This is from my days in the Bay Area. I hate this song to. It got me an opportunity that held me back a year of my life

So you ignoring me?

 

[Mac Casper]

So you ignoring me?

I don't ignore anyone, for some reason I can't. I must've not seen your post. Can you repost?

 

[SchrodingersStrapped!]

Headlines absolutely wasn't mixed on laptop speakers. Maybe the beat was originally made on laptop speakers. But the final track with recorded vocals...for a major label album release... would 100% never be mixed simply on laptop speakers. Even most studio monitors roll off or cut off at 60 hz ... and those are good, professional monitors. what do you think the frequency range of the macbook pro speakers are so on top of NOT being mixed on a laptop, it also went to mastering before going to print. making beats on laptop speakers is bad enough but no one would ever ever ever mix a full track off of laptop speakers, especially when it's being done for a major release. but that brings up a good point - a lot of people listen to music on laptops or really shytty headphones like Beats or iBuds ... so using those to REFERENCE a mix isn't a bad idea...

mastering is another thing all together that there are a lot of common misconceptions about. thats where the big $$ is at because there aren't too many great mastering engineers out there

although we're talking about rap in 2017. scratch that...music in general in 2017. dynamics are the last things people care about. loud and brickwalled is how everything is today

ffs here ...He said he did the entire mix in the box, he might have had monitors or headphones....but I remember him talking about using the actual laptop speakers to mix low end.....I might have been wrong, heres the entire interview ....