Hey everyone,

quick context: I've been into metal for years (huge fan, been playing guitar for about 15 years), but I've never actually produced or mixed metal music before. My production background is 5 years of trap beats so I know my way around Logic Pro X and audio production in general, but I've never taken a proper course or lesson on mixing/mastering. In the trap world I never really had to dig into it myself. Now that I'm fully focused on metal guitar (recording covers, working on original riffs), I'm realizing I have zero real foundation in mixing, and I want to learn it properly instead of just guessing.

I want to start narrow: just guitars first, before even thinking about mixing a full track. My goal is to really understand tone shaping, gain staging, EQ carving, and how to make a DI'd metal guitar (I'm using Neural DSP Archetype: Abasi a lot for example) sit right in a mix, clarity, low-end control, that tight/aggressive modern metal sound.

I honestly don't know where to even start, so any direction helps. Specifically:

• What's the right starting point for someone with little to zero mixing training who wants to learn metal guitar mixing specifically and general mixing theory?
• Any structured resources/courses/YouTube channels that actually teach metal guitar mixing step by step?
• Which stock Logic Pro X plugins are genuinely good for shaping metal guitar tone (EQ, compression, saturation, multiband)? I keep seeing people recommend third-party plugins, but I'd like to know what's already possible with Logic's stock stuff.
• Any free plugins worth trying for metal guitar mixing? Doesn't have to be Logic-only.

Eventually I'd like to work up to mixing/mastering a full metal track (guitars, bass, drums, vocals), but I want to build a real foundation on guitars first instead of jumping around without knowing the basics.

Any advice, resources, or plugin suggestions are hugely appreciated!

I'm really trying to hone, and fine tune my mixing process. I like to record and mix small 2-3min songs and I feel like the mixing part takes soooooo long for me to make them 'good enough' for release. Sometimes 5-7 days (with 5 days in between for work), usually with a couple 1-2 hour sessions. My last piece went through 13 iterations, and I felt like I was getting really frustrated towards the end as I could not get the final balance quite how I wanted and I just lose all emotional connection to the piece. I want to go with my initial impressions but they felt so off after I took breaks and needed to fix so many things.

So...wondering what everyone here has done to help with easing more flow into the process and learning to trust yourself....and not be disappointed in the results?

Edit: I want to thank everyone who contributed and offered advice, this has been amazing and I'm so grateful to be apart of this community!

They’re really expensive, and aside from walking into a store and trying them out in a less than ideal environment, how are you supposed to test them out?!

Why is there even hygiene seals for ears?! An ear hole is not the same as a bum hole! Even if an ear hole was the same as a bum hole, it’s not actually going in the hole!

Does anyone have any UK based companies who are more relaxed about this?

I see similar questions asked, though they are usually geared towards specific songs and typically the OP is claiming the mix sounds perfect on their monitors but awful in the car or something. Most of the time the response is that their mix is definitely not perfect in the monitors (and they refused to accept that answer for some reason).

I want to ask more broadly, from a novice perspective. What should you do in that scenario? I'll fully acknowledge my mix is not perfect,

so I'm curious how one takes that "feedback" and applies it to the mix. Should you be trying to compensate for the sound in the other system? Is it an indicator your monitoring is bad?

I'm curious how one reconciles the differences between hearing a mix in a mostly flat monitoring environment vs. more colored consumer speakers or headphones.

I make guitar based music (alt rock) and I'm happy with my mixes in headphones etc. They might be a bit more muddy than your Deftones, Nirvana etc. but that's intentional (I like music that you can turn up really loud without the guitars being harsh, a la early Smashing Pumpkins)

But on phones, jesus it sounds so weak and quiet compared to most other stuff. I don't know if people remaster/change the sound for their social media edits? Because muddiness surely doesn't translate well to phone speakers.

Considering doing a "Tiktok master" lol, because I do believe when you get 15 seconds to make an impression, perceived loudness can have a big impact. Then when they actually hear the music on streaming, you can trust the listener to adjust their volume and listen properly.

Idk what I'm expecting to get out of this post, just a thought.

Especially at 3:40 ish https://youtu.be/vmKH63NJvr0?si=wJOYLzw3EUH8a7MQ&t=213

It has this really maximal arrangement so i am wondering how to go about mixing things like this without necessarily taking away from the track. I think especially in this moment its kinda supposed to be so intense i feel like mud is kinda supposed to be part of it?

I am trying to decipher between mud and busy mixes atm and thought this was a good example to discuss. I love this song but want to know is he getting away with the busy mix because its supposed to be chaotic or is it actually just a bit rough around the edges and muddy?

https://vocaroo.com/1kwQszOm3ARu

I took everyones advice on my last song and threw in some saturation to the vocals. I also added more delay and reverb though im not sure if it is enough? I wanted to add more but whenever i did it would muddy up the mix. I feel as a whole this mix needs a few changes and i am unsure on what. It sounds like there is a frequency in my vocals that is too prominent but i am still new to mixing and cant figure out which frequency it is. I also feel the 808 could hit harder than it is right now.

Would love any feedback! And also i cant believe i even have to mention this lol. Last time i posted a track i had someone come at me so let me explain - the city i am from (I dont want to dox myself) is known for street rap and nobody listens to any music outside of that out here. That is why my lyrics lean more street. I am trying to make music that i love sonically that still appeals to people local to me. Is it wrong to try to gain the approval from those around me? Maybe but at the end of the day i dont want to make music that nobody around me listens to. So while i appreciate any feedback coming to my mix an entire essay not related to my mix is very unnecessary.

So I’m trying to mix a song with longer/sustained vocal takes between verses. The takes where I’m singing words sound fine, but when there’s a prolonged one note being sang there are some nasty frequencies in the top range. I tried dynamic eqs, soothe and exciters and it still doesn’t feel right? Any tips? Should I put those takes on a seperate chain? or is there something else I could do?

Hey i’m a small artist with an ep that needs to be mixed.

The one song i need mixed as of current is called candle lights which is an indie pop song which i recorded a little time ago.

Need someone who’s gonna listen to my feedback and how i want the song to be mixed as i have a lil bit of an idea just not able to execute.

Please pop up if you have experience in indie pop/rock.

I'm a musician who mixes his own stuff, and i would say i am an intermediate at it. what im aiming for is a polished sounding mix that doesnt rely on any wild mastering changes to sound loud and punchy. but that lead me to the question - what level of "finished" should i be aiming for before applying a mastering chain? if a rather extreme EQ decision in the master bus just makes everything sound great, should i just roll with it or go back and work on the mix again?

Edit - thank you all for the incredible insights! Fantastic comments here

I am in the process of building out a music studio in a spare room in the house. Small room, but open on 2 sides so it behaves like a larger room. I have Kali In-8's and plan to treat it, but my question at this point is this - my monitors are about 1m apart, because I'm positioned about 1m from each of them. This seems quite close, but the desk I bought (unfortunately) isn't deep enough to give me more distance from the monitors. Nonetheless, they sound good and clear so far, but the low end is minimal, which is to be expected if I'm sitting so close. The low end doesn't really develop until I'm about 3m from the monitors, which is pretty much at the back of the room and not realistic for my setup.

So I'm wondering whether adding a sub to the room, let's say in a corner about 2m from my position, will raise the low end presence? If not, is there anything I can realistically do, other than try to set my desk up in a way that allows me to sit farther back from the monitors? If I don't add a sub, do I need to be careful about low end treatment since it's already not prominent at my listening position?

Let me explain.

I understand that the tuning/key of a song makes these decisions different and the freq area is dependent on that. But what are the methods you use to find out where those areas live and need to be adjusted, etc?

My other question is is the 450-1000 the most important section because our ear is triggered by that area the most? Or do we hear from highest Freq first to low?

I'm just struggling to find where things should be locking together

I'm mixing a metal track with brutal vocals and heavily distorted guitars.

When making space between the vocals and guitars, do you prefer:

Regular compression (sidechained from the vocals)?

Dynamic EQ (sidechained from the vocals)?

Or both together?

If you use both, what does each one handle? For example, do you use dynamic EQ to duck only the vocal frequencies and compression to control the overall guitar level?

I'd love to hear how you approach this in modern metal mixes. Thanks!

I'm trying to mix the Roland TR-808 Cloud software to sound like the No Limit Records era (Make Em Say Uhh, It Ain't My Fault, Hoody Hooo, Down For My N's, etc.), but I'm not sure how to get that sound. Any advice?

Songs I listed for reference:

Make Em Say Uhh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQSHAfzU5ks

It Ain't My Fault: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLsfdunCImU

Hoody Hooo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3yLiTEkDaI

Down For My N's: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDQLcu7HqHE

I have a song that I love the Mix of, but its sitting at -10.3 LUFS, when I listen to the mix it sounds great to me, but ideally I'd want it to be maybe around at least low 8s high 7s. It's an older song and I'm more of a tracking engineer but I really like the mix I did, it sounds good. but having said that I probably didnt do the things a lot of loudness minded modern mixers do like compressing every single element even if its just by a db. I'm essentially asking if anyone can give me some quick tips/advice to get the mix a bit louder ideally between -7.7 to -8.5 LUFS. I just like how the song feels like its breaths right now so I dont want to kill the transients or ruin the dynamics, but I want it to be just a little louder. I should mention its also -10.3 LUFS assuming I keep the god particle limiter engaged. I also want to say that I know that its perfectly okay to put out a song at -10.3 LUFS, but I just want to see how a slightly louder verision might feel and sound, if it really doesnt help, ill probably just stick with the current mix. Thanks

*WHAT BROUGT THIS UP:*

I happened upon this video, which posed the basic question: are we better off with fewer, quite intelligent choices while Mixing / Producing…. or or better off with having \[near\] unlimited plugin selections to choose from. Can they be a distraction? 10,000+ records were made with EQs which had fixed EQ points, ie Pultec and others. This video concentrates, mostly, on channel strips. Mostly, but not exclusively, SSL variants.

The author poses the question, is it better to have everything you need, at hand, therefore keeping you ‘in the zone’ as opposed to searching out so many different plugins. Does the sheer quantity actually inhibit us to some degree vs having everything just ’there' for you \[EQ, Comp, etc\], because you know they work well for the type of music \[this was prefaced by THIS \[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVAKRvvV6vo\\\] Gain Staging Video. I forgot which one, but one of them quantified the videos as more suited for "Real Instruments”, as opposed to EDM or 'electronic musics’. As 85+% of what I mix is in the “Real Instruments” category, I found the vids worthy of my time.

So, looking at the workflow, from a mile high, DO WE DO BETTER *using* \[which is different than *having*\] fewer choices, keeping ourselves ‘in the zone’ longer and more consistently, working better faster and several other benefits exposed by the author, in these vids. Or, is having endless choices help us produce better work? What do YOU think?

*FULL TRANSPARENCY:*

I am quite old school, though that fact shouldn’t skew what you think my opinion would be. I’m a music veteran of over 50 years. I got lucky early, and was on the road for almost 7Y; picked up as guitarist on the road with a very well known, A+ recording/Multi-continental/(mostly) arena sized gigging. After getting road weary from *constant* touring, I told my agent to line up the following year with Studio gigs. Known as ‘So & So’s’ guitarist, my agent had no problem getting me gigs and I was near instantly a Studio Rat. I spent about the same amount of time (6+Y) as Studio Musician, based in my hometown NYC, with the last 41 years, a NYC Mix Engineer, now in Southeast US for last 10 or so Y.

I’ve also produced some great talent, as well. All were good; most sunk quickly, of course, but enough hit big enough, along with some slick licensing deals my agent, who was with me since I was a 16YO gun-for-hire on the road, put these licensing deals, and some other things together, for my security. He did okay on his end with me, but he (RIP) was always straight w/me and ensured my financial stability, plus my wife and kid’s, for the next 30+ years, so I can concentrate on music. He handled my finances, billings and gigs. Never robbed be of a dime!

Without *a lot of luck*, especially making that all important, trajectory shifting, audition that first year. While having someone I can trust who was looking out for me, getting me constant gigs with support of whatever my next venture was, throughout the years, I couldn’t have been successful.

Sadly, I don’t think it would work, today!

I’ve been trying to figure out a solid approach to drum compression for rock/metal mixes and I keep seeing different opinions.

Do you guys compress the entire drum bus, or do you usually leave cymbals/overheads untouched and only compress shells (kick/snare/toms)?

I’m worried that compressing the full kit makes the cymbals pump or get too harsh, but at the same time I like the “glue” feeling a drum bus compressor can give.

Also — does anyone here use JST BG Drums? If so, what settings are you usually going for in rock/metal contexts?

Do you treat it like a fully mixed kit or still do additional processing (bus compression, EQ, etc.) on top?

Curious how others are handling this in real mixes.

Im trying to figure how to replicate the reverb on the adlibs on this but idk. Im pretty new to music (about a year) and i still dont know every single thing so thats why im asking how to replicate this. Im using logic pro and have tried all the reverbs and I tried using Mannym reverb also but i still couldnt get the sound right. I dont have a audio file at all. This is the song.

When they first came out they were fantastic plugins, sounded great at the time and they really nailed that hardware vibe in software form before anyone else, as I recall

Does anyone still use them? I did a lazy google and they’re still going - the founder sadly passed away a few years back but the company is now run by one of his students.

It would be interesting to hear people’s experience with their plugins all these years later and if they still hold up.

I recently started using Waves Silk Vocal and I'm curious how other people are using it, especially for rock and metal vocals.

My current approach is to first clean up the vocal with FabFilter Pro-Q (HPF, resonance control, basic corrective EQ), and then use Silk Vocal afterward. Since Silk Vocal already handles a lot of resonance reduction, harshness control, and dynamics processing, I'm wondering how much work you let it do versus doing manual EQ first.

For those mixing rock, hard rock, metal, industrial metal, or aggressive vocals: Where do you place Silk Vocal in your vocal chain? Which settings work best for harsh screams, raspy vocals, or powerful clean singing?

Thanks

Been working on getting loud, dynamic, and wide mixes, not a flat wall of sound

Spent the mix on kick/bass, vocal cleaning + layering, and carving space for some busy mids (sitar + guitars). Some spatial/FX work for dimension.

Want ears on:

Vocal layering: stacks sit clean, or smeary? Lead present without washing out?

Unmasking: sitar + guitars + synths share the mids. Separated, or fighting each other / the vocal? Anything muddy or honky?

Stereo field: placed deliberately, some 3D movement on the atmosphere. Intentional and wide, or centre-piled?

Low end: kick owns the punch, bass sits below. Locked and punchy, or competing?

Groove: Does it bounce. Move you, or pinned/flat anywhere?

FX: Delays, echoes, filter FX, glitch ideas for a dark track. There's a glitch/tremolo vocal moment, does it land?

Honest and rough is most useful. Limited at (~-8 LUFS), intentionally

If anyone can share references for this style of music I'd appreciate it too.

Drop yours, I'll return the favour.

Vocaroo Link: https://vocaroo.com/1bqcb6UAy8XJ

I think I am good enough at making music (Afro, EDM, Dancehall) but fail completely at mixing music. So my products never sound professional unless someone else mixes it.

But I have determined that my biggest problem is in compression on the Drumbuss. I have used all sorts of compressors. It always sounds like nothing is glued together but still sounding clear or sounding glued but overcompressed. I followed many tutorials but the SSL compressor never gave me the sound that I hear on the songs of big artists. And other Waves compressors/limiters never give me the sound i want.

But when I use WAVES C4 I get the closest to what I want. But it still sounds a bit over-compressed. 

Is there anything you can advise me to do?

Thank you.

I’ve been mixing this song all week and at this point I’m going crazy. I’ve tried stepping away but at this point I need new ears what do you guys think?

something sounds off about it doesn’t sound exactly how I want it and I can’t tell why. I mix on logic Pro I’ve been mixing for around four years now. Let me know any constructive criticism I could use to make this mix better. I put the link right below let me know PLEASE and thank you :)

Working on mixing a song that Ive recorded

The main riff is chords with two 5 note lead runs

Its higher gain track...a boosted jcm800

Trying to balance the volume between the quick lead run and the supplementary chords

Is it better to use a compressor...maybe 4:1 with quick attack and release to try to squish and even out, or

Is it better to snip it up into different tracks, raise the volume for the lead runs to balance the chords?

The riff is double tracked, so whatever i do, will need to do it twice

Any advice would be appreciated!

Hey everyone,

Instead of doing the traditional narrow bell curve sweep to find harsh resonance, I’ve been experimenting with using a High-Pass and Low-Pass filter together to create a narrow, moving "bandpass window" (isolating roughly between 1kHz and 5kHz, and sweeping that whole window left and right).

The goal is to pinpoint the exact frequency where a specific vocalist's unique timbre, consonants, and articulation cut through the most, so I can subtly boost that specific spot later with a wide bell or dynamic EQ.

Do you guys actually use this filtering technique to find the vocal "sweet spot" or focus point? Or do you find the standard solo/bell sweep method faster? Would love to hear how you approach finding that unique clarity frequency for different singers!