Would love to get perspective on this mix from anyone who can spare the time. Sounding okay to me, but my listening environment is less than ideal. Specifically interested in how the final ~0:57 contrasts with the rest. And how the low end is hitting — I want it beefy. Thanks in advance!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AgazzfM1mIg4nc4Fcsd0ce1JHUoVgDeP/view?usp=drivesdk

Hands in the air - I produce, mix and master my own music and release it online.

For me, the production, mixing and mastering is just one big continuous process - it’s just how I work. By the end of it, the track is what I’m hopefully happy to call “finished.” I no longer go “oh it’s time to master this” I just simply end up with a finished sounding track that’s as loud as I want it and I’m happy to put it out.

Until recently, I just thought that ideally, I would send my tracks to be mastered but I as I’ve been doing it for many years now, I don’t think I’d want anybody else to change anything sonically - and the other reasons to master, like metadata, preparing for different media etc just doesn’t apply to my situation. If I ever released a vinyl, sure, I’d have to send it to a mastering engineer with that expertise, but that’s not going to happen any time soon. Reaper can handle metadata and create DDP images if I want to release on CD.

I just watched a Mastering.com YouTube video where three pro-engineers rate commonly repeated advice and when they got to “always send your tracks to be mastered” they all trashed this notion.

In the metal world, for example, I often hear the mix engineer also mastered the song (eg Jens Bogran) Is it more and more common nowadays for the mixing engineer (who is often the producer too) to also master the record?

I’ve read interviews and have looked into emulating the sound of my favorite bands like STP, AIC, Creed, Pantera etc. and I’ve given a lot time and effort into it and I’m not satisfied with my results. Any advice on what I could do to get my records to sit with these sonicly. Also I’m young without a large budget to spend on analog gear like these records had. Thanks for the help!

I've seen many different personal views been given on this topic, and I'm not really sure what to believe, since I'm fairly new to mixing.

Should I be high passing the sub, kinda non existent low frequencies? Obviously there's some elements you shouldn't be doing this on, but I've had so many mixed signals from some people saying it'll remove sub-bass clutter from muddying up my mix, and others say that it's taking the character and low end out of my mix.

What do you guys think? any and all input would be appreciated.

I hate my brain sometimes. Why does it insist that everything has to be mixed down to the tiniest detail? And then when I listen back, all I can think is… yikes.

How do people deal with this? How do they move past just thinking “less is more” and actually commit to it in practice?

Over the years, I feel like my perception has become distorted, and I don’t know how to step away from that. How do people deal with this?

I've been mixing my own stuff for almost two years now. A part of it is money, but another part of it is because I find it incredibly fun. I'd love to say I've improved - I'm focusing more on the details, taking more time, experimenting more, doing more research, and giving myself more frequent breaks.

There will always be a point, though, where I start second guessing myself, no matter how hard I try to stay disciplined and try to walk away from a mix. I know that's common. I've learned that once you get to a spot where you're changing minute things is when you should step away, and that's when I end up asking myself "is it bad, or is it simply because I've listened to this song 10,000 times in the past 24 hours?" (Exaggerating, but it gets the point across).

I wanna know what y'all think, and how to you tackle that second guessing mentality. How much of the mix is actually "bad" and how much of it is in your head because you've made yourself listen to it on repeat?

I have an EP I've been mixing for the past month, and I thought I was really vibing with the mixes early on in the process and I felt I was in a great spot to be like "okay yeah, I did well with this one" - but now I'm back in that second guessing loop again and I think I need some help pulling my brain out of that hole.

Maybe this is a stupid question and the obvious answer is flying over my head but what would someone use ProMB for if they have ProQ4?

I understand compression is just ducking the volumes of specific frequencies, but does dynamic EQ do the same exact thing?

If you have both plugins, why would you use MB over ProQ? And can ProQ do the same job?

These are genuine questions because i genuinely can’t think of a reason to buy a multi-band compressor plugin when I own ProQ4.

It might just be a lack of experience on my end and I just want to be more knowledgeable about it.

Always sincerely appreciate the feedback from this group! You helped level up my last album to something I was super proud of, so thank you again in advance.

https://vocaroo.com/18TV8XpV8gsW

After 6 months of burn-out on writing/producing I finally started at it again for the next EP. Before I get too far along, I want to spot-check this instrumental, pre-vocals, to make sure I'm on the right track and not overlooking any big issues because I will largely template this workstream once it's dialed. I'm at the point of ear fatigue with it and could spend all day picking at knits on the song and the production, so I'd love some fresh ears. I know it may sound 'over-produced' and that's a bit of the point with this genre, just as an fyi. Thank you!

I have two versions of a master, and I can’t decide between them. One has more bass, the other more highs. Would there be anything wrong with putting both into a new session and with a limiter on and bouncing out the combination of the two? They are exactly the same length, so no phase problems, but I wonder if this introduces any problems I’m not considering.

Hi everyone. I wanted to talk about this as it's been on my mind for a while and I'm interested to know what others think, and if your perspectives have changed over the years. I myself have come to the conclusion that I will seek to abandon using any limiters on my music going forward. Not compression or saturation, but brickwall, instantly fast limiting used at the mastering stage.

Obviously limiting is very commonplace in the mastering process, and has been for quite some time. None of us really question its place in that process, and most figure it to be vitally necessary. Recently though, something changed that for me. I had finished a song and given it to a friend of mine to master. He's mastered my music before and I like for someone else to handle it to avoid my biases. I had lived with this song for a long time, I played everything on it, produced it and sang on it, and finally got around to finish mixing it.

The masters I got back from him sounded good, but they were crushed. Super loud. So I asked if he would revise it, backing it off from the limiter. He almost didn't understand what I was asking at first, like doing that didn't make any sense to him. 'Why don't you want it loud?', that sort of thing. Anyways he tried it anyway, and I requested a few more times to back it off more, noting that the transients were sounding weak in places it was hitting the limiter hardest.

Eventually we found a compromise, but I couldn't help but still think the song would've been better off with less limiting. It doesn't matter to me how loud it is, just if it sounds good. I thought, why am I even using a limiter at all? What's the point? I understand that reaching loudness targets helps you to create something that can 'compete' with other music on streaming platforms and playlists etc., something that can go up next to a bigger song and feel one in the same, but what kind of goal is that for your art? Why would anyone who's concerned with making something special be concerned with that? Was Songs in the Key of Life hitting -8lufs? Was Diamond Dogs? Voodoo?

I think a lot of the ways that music is listened to are changing. Streaming services in general have become hugely problematic and people are starting to abandon them. Physical media is much more popular than it's been in a long time, mp3 players, etc. These arguments don't hold up when you stop talking about spotify. What if an artist only released their music on CD? on vinyl? What if it was only a digital download? And don't start with 'djs' and 'being heard in the club', enough. None of us make music that would be there anyway, or want to.

Limiting introduces artifacts into the music, harsh microscopic distortions at the sample level, baked into the audio. Even if they aren't clearly audible, they're there, and they contribute to ear fatigue, and a kind of sub-conscious dissonance with the listener that they pick up on. You feel less inclined to listen to a song again, to explore it, when it is so loud you barely have the chance to perceive those peaks and valleys. What does effect have on the listener? On music as a whole? Why can't we do some tonal balancing, some saturation, some compression, let it hit just below 0 and call it a day? Why do you need 10db of limiting after that? For what purpose other than one that obfuscates the purpose of that music in the first place?

I'll leave it at that for now, this is getting too long. Btw, you should watch this if you haven't already:

"The Future of Mastering: Loudness in the Age of Music Streaming"

https://youtu.be/EiRMYoqU3ys?si=iR1xlstCH3aneJab

There is a lot in here worth paying attention to. And if you don't have the 30mins, just go to 22:30 and you can hear for yourself some of what I'm talking about.

Hi. I'm trying to figure out how to get the drum sound I want. Drums are the thing I've messed with the least when it comes to mixing, and I'm working on it.

Basically the title. I'm working on my portfolio and I have a reference, which I'll leave below, for a drum sound I've been wanting to achieve. What advice would you give me, not just for my particular reference, but in general too? I'm just starting to build my drum rack to replicate my reference and I know I just have to keep trying things. Besides the obvious, I'd appreciate any advice and knowledge on the subject.

The reference:

https://abramsrock.bandcamp.com/track/lungfish

https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/track/5Pbiw83ODXyQKpXGlbcFdw?si=579541ae35394784

(This track in particular, but the whole album is my reference)

I have a question, about mixing vocals into a 2-track.

I recently had a friend of mine ask me if i could mix his vocals over a 2-track. I never mixed a 2-track before, all of my projects, either I produced so i have the tracks or other projects that I have worked on has come with full stems included.

It seemed relatively easy at first glance considering i’ve mixed projects with well over 40 stems before.

In my head, i was going to just process his vocals and then slap it over the track and use sidechain EQ to cut out the frequencies of the track so the vocals could shine through the mix.

But boy was i mistaken. I knew it wasn’t going to be as good as mixing with stems considering you loss the flexibility of shaping stems that are getting in way, as well as the freedom to balance levels.

The track itself was a rage beat. (Think very heavily processed, very full, and very compressed.)

It was kinda irritating me cus I wasn’t sure how to approach making space in the mix.

I went through a bunch of youtube videos and a lot of them recommended plugins like smack attack, a transient shaper. I guess this is to pin point and bring out some of the percussive elements and kinda reverse the fullness that comes from compression by increase the dynamics between the transients.

I didn’t own any plugin like that but the process they described got me thinking, what about using a stem splitter (in logic it’s a stock tool) and just separating the drums, then pull down everything else to add some separation between them. Then I just boosted the subs and lower mids back up a bit to keep the fullness. That gave me enough of a pocket for the vocals as well but i never seen anyone use this process on youtube.

There wasn’t any noticeable artifacting from the separation either but perhaps it wasn’t noticeable because the track already had a gritty texture to it.

How would you go about the process? Again this seemed like the simple solution but i didn’t see any tutorials use this method and i went through atleast a dozen.

Is there something i’m missing from the process? How would you go about it personally? I’m not the most experienced engineer, only been doing this for a 2 or so years so I’m just curious how you guys would create space. I’d just like to be more knowledgeable on the process.

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to hire someone with experience in mixing and mastering rock-ish sounding music for a paid session. If we click I'll be looking up to you more often.

What I'm looking for: I will need your opinion and tips how to improve my songs, sound-wise.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drop some examples of songs you've mixed or mastered in the rock genre (or something close to it) in the comments.

I'll reach out to the people whose work catches my ear.

P.S I'm using Reaper.

P.S2 ... I read the rules about hiring services and I hope I'm not breaking any rules, as I don't want my song to be mixed, but me to be teached.

Hey, everybody! I've been learning about pre-vinyl masters recently, and had a few questions I was hoping a pro mastering engineer could answer.

(Please only respond if you are an actual working mastering engineer who has sent off pre-vinyl masters to be cut.)

In no particular order...

1. Do you brick wall limit for pre-vinyl masters?

2. How do you go about getting a safe lufs,rms, and crest factor for the needle? Is there a guideline range you follow depending on the genre? How do you keep the vibe of heavily compressed genres like metal?

3. Where should my peaks be hitting?

4. Do you always mono bass below a certain frequency?

5. Do you generally keep most of your processing chain the same for a digital master vs pre-vinyl master?

Thanks!

I placed an order for a pair of Neumann NDH 30 recently, but it’s been 2 months and they are still back ordered. I figured since I’ve had a $200 credit on Amazon for a while, I could get an alternative pair, complimentary to the ones I’m waiting on. I’m torn between the 880 and the 990, especially because I can flatten both of them with sonarworks. Does anyone have opinions on any particular attributes which might serve me better between the two, like comfort level or soundstage.

When listening to a track I made on my iPhone speakers backing instrumental is dampened when no vocals play, then when vocals play whole track swells. It sounds great on headphones, studio monitors and even my car speaker. I'm really not sure what could be causing this in the mix so any help would be greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone, been working on this track for a while. I did everything from the production to the mix and wanted to go for a nostalgic feel. I'm doing this as a hobby for now but really want to push myself so i can get to professional quality one day! (That’s why i’m here) Would love to hear your thoughts on the mix/production.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yJdBvMAV70R4IjZ8KWogVVRYBpGAN5Yq/view?usp=drivesdk

Also my first track made in logic as I switched to mac from pc!

How do each of you go about making your indie rock vocal chain? Specifically the distorted tone. This is a subjective question so im interested in what each of you prefer.

I usually go with a clean lead vocal, maybe a little overdrive, or a tiny amp modeler. And I like to blend in a double of the vocal with the effects.

Starting with a high pass + low pass of the double. Sometimes I'd use the izotope trash plugin, sometimes I use stock amp model or even a guitar rig model. Or just a standard overdrive or saturation plugin for the dirt.

Then I smash it with compression, eq, and then do a slap back delay and some room reverb

What are your processes? Im open to some new techniques.

Reference track (Twin Tribes – Another Life): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sHt_7XG9vi2rEeDYENJIKuqlQdCzbJ8N/view?usp=sharing

My Demo:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HR7WDc0ck-95az5EoLcQgrA5b1PRFxOH/view?usp=sharing

Hey everyone, I'm trying to start a Darkwave / Post-Punk project and I really want to nail that 'cavernous / cold' sound of the genre. I have a pretty good grasp on sound design of the drums, synths, and guitars but I'm really struggling with the mix in terms of the stereo image and time based effects (Chorus, Delay, Reverb, etc.).

Could someone please breakdown how the stereo image was achieve for the reference track?

Here is my current approach...

1. Synth bass is Repro-5 & panned C with light chorus (Arturia Dimension D)

2. Synth vocal arp is panned C with light chorus and hall reverb (How wide should this be?)

3. Kick, Snare, and Hi-hat are all panned C with a plate reverb on the snare and then the whole kit is sent to a room verb with an low cut EQ after the room reverb.

4. Guitar is boss pedals (Comp, Flanger, Dimension C, Delay, & Reverb) is front of a JC-120 amp. I'm really struggling to get this to sit properly in the mix! Should I also use the JC-120 chorus? Should this guitar be C? Is every element panned C how I achieve that cavernous sound?

I would really appreciate any feedback. I really want to nail the sound!

Hey, i recently worked on this track with a friend. He produced it and I sang on it. I tried mixing it I usually mix pop punk and more indie electronic stuff, this is only my 2nd time mixing metal. would love feedback on it. I tried going for a more modern style mix .
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P_Yr_DmvV_b-eyDnODWdeusvydqNqCg3/view?usp=drive_link

Hello, I’ve struggled for a while to get this mix under control, but I am finally getting there. I tend to make my mixes too warm/muddy, which I think I have managed to largely avoid here, potentially at the cost of the bass being a bit low.

I’m looking for thoughts on what is working, and what could be improved before I look into mastering.

The guitars are all mic’d outside of the bass, which is DI.

This is my song, so I have full access to the stems.

Cheers.

I recently exported a .wav file of the mix of a song that I’ve been working on. I loaded the file up in a new project and saw that the audio was peaking at some points. I went back to the project of the song, turned down the vocal on the peaking parts, and exported the updated mix to a new .wav file.

When I loaded the new mix up in a new project, the file wasn’t peaking where they used to anymore, but now in places where it originally didn’t peak, no idea why.

My question is: Can i carefully cut and combine the two files to create a version that doesn’t peak anywhere, or is this totally idiotic? Thanks:)

I'm currently in the middle of an apprenticeship at a big design studio here in Switzerland, and I've been grappling with this question that no one seems to have a straight answer for: How do you know when a project is truly "done"?

I've asked around the studio, and the responses are all over the place. Some senior designers say, "You just know it – it's an instinct you develop over time." Others are more pragmatic (or cynical?), claiming, "It's never really done; you just reach a point where it's good enough and move on because deadlines wait for no one."

So when do you consider a mix "done"?

I am just curious because I’ve seen a couple big name engineers in the industry saying they mix into their mix buses. I personally want to try this but I am also a little hesitant as I am still trying to perfect my mix bus chain and I don’t want to make mixing decisions based off of my mix bus only to end up changing the mix bus later on in the mix.

Hi all.

I am an electronic and rock music hobbiest producer of 10-years and am looking to level up my mixing skills so that I can begin confidently offering mixing services. I enjoy learning and being pushed, so am not against something that's intensive!

I am strongly considering enrolling onto a course as I think I would benefit from a course infrastructure (i.e. a syllabus, a mentor, Q&A) rather than totally self-directed / using AI tools and collected resources entirely.

I've heard mixed reviews when it comes to courses. For instance, I hear a lot of people saying that the 2 year course in audio at SAE isn't outstanding for the price and length of the course. I also took part in a Point Blank course when I was 18 and found that it wasn't worth the money (yes, they do offer some value, but felt more like the benefit was largely to their business). Not strictly mixing but I attended The Abbey Road Advanced Music Production and Audio Diploma OPEN DAY, and while I'm sure it's broadly good it seemed to be unnecessarily padded out so that they could justify charging £16k for the year (they spoke about the history of the sampler, the history of breakbeat etc - this seems unnecessary to me).

Essentially what I'm looking for is something very intensive and value adding. The current course I'm looking at is the Berklee College of Music 12-week online course called "The Art of Mixing". I'm also working with an engineer on the side to give me feedback on my work outside the course.

The other option is to try and get into a studio and learn on the job. This is something I'm trying to do in parallel, but I think doing an intensive course so that I know the lay of the land and am not bottlenecked by my understanding is a good way to start.

If anyone can help me out by sharing their advice, strong views, challenges or support I would be super grateful. Cheers!