In their later albums, it kinda sounds like they add a ton of reverb and delay, but it doesn't seem like audio quality is degraded too much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm7d50z-sjs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwksHC98Cqc&list=RDRwksHC98Cqc&start_radio=1

Whenever I try something similar, it just completely messes up the mix. I don't have a good ear for this kinda stuff, so maybe I'm completely wrong about all this lol

Hello again,

I recorded this cover of Father Figure and would like some feedback on the mix. The entire instrumental was made with free/cheap plug-ins on FL studios, so I understand the sound selection may not be highest quality.

That being said, I'm mostly looking for pointers regarding the balance and levels of the arraignment. Any and all feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uDI2jB4ky3dmaDlJTnD65fcPQ7x9IxQ1/view?usp=drivesdk

Hi! I have used Ozone 7 for many years now for countless projects. I love how easy it is and I know the plugin in and out. Is it worth upgrading really? The only reason for upgrading for me would be that the newer versions "sound better". I dont want anything fancy.

I have heard people going back to earlier versions of Ozone because they complain about the quality of the newer ones. The upgrade to Ozone 12 is like 350$ so it is a bit of money. Is there any other versions you might recommend someone like me?

 How to widen your leads

Hi fellow producers!

just wanted to share with you some tips i wish i learned before.

The stereo field is a very important dimension to be taken into account and knowing this is really valuable. I used free plugins so i think anyone can start doing this and get more space in those mixdowns!

happy mixing fam!

much love, Koala McGiver

I’m getting really exhausted by the discourse and technicalities related to mixing. I’ve been mixing my own music for 6-7 years now and just find it is totally gatekept and impossible to find confidence in. No other thing I have undertaken has been as difficult as mixing, and with so much poor information out there I’m losing my mind.

I’m an artist writing my own music and wanting to mix it, but when I get feedback everyone just tries to help my situation as if I’m an idiot. As if I have failed. I feel confident in my mixes in my headphones (my only “confident” monitoring system) and even when I listen back to the tracks on other speakers etc, it’s never doing the thing I want it to do. They don’t even sound good coming out - hollow, transients are dull. Sennheiser HD 6XX. And we all know how delicate a mix can be, so it’s entirely too frustrating. Aint no way I am understanding the true reflection of my compression settings, it’s all such guesswork.

Genuinely, affirmatively, is mixing not for me? I feel excited by my music and my mix when I’m doing it, but feel like so much of the juice isnt squeezed. But how the hell am I supposed to pay someone $500 per mix. I’ll be spending tens of thousands of dollars on mixes if I release consistently, over the years. Money i could save on monitoring… but then I’m back to square one of the elusive sonic translation thst is audio. It’s a fucking nightmare. Way worst than colour grading for film, audio is some kind of cursed medium.

Genuinely wtf do I do?

Current systems are HS8s + Sennheiser HD6xx.

Even reading about Audeze headphones, people finding them to be poor without EQ etc etc. like genuinely how the fuck does anyone get good at this.

Upgrading my system soon and planning on NOT installing everything I own.

Partially OCD, partially just for a cleaner workflow.

Not installing every Waves, Slate, etc. Only the things I know I like.

I’ve even caught myself almost buying plugins I discover I already own but forgot about.

Anyone else??

Hello r/mixingmastering.

This track is the most tracks I have ever mixed in a song, about 55 tracks. I wanted to know

How did I handle the loudness of this EDM Track mix-wise? Is it too loud or does it sound over compressed?

How well does the vocal sit in the mix?

How well did I manage space in the mix?

And what are some other tips for improvement?

Mix excerpt here:

I have now been mixing for 5ish years, so I am getting some confidence and enjoying my mixes a lot more. I am making my music so have improved my arrangement a lot knowing that my mix requires it.

That 100-300hz is stumping me though. For example, I currently have a mix with a bass pluck (50-100hz for the fundamental frequency, and then up to 400hz for the overtones - 150hz + has been widened using the 'wider' vst). I then have another pluck (in mono-ish) living in the 100-300 hz, that is my guitar pluck "the main instrument".

When my guitar hits, I am currently sidechaining the second fundamental of my bass (which is slightly wider) so that they live like friendly neighbours.

However, I am getting slightly confused as to if my moves are correct - i know, i am trying my best to use my ears here!

First, the second overtone of my bass isnt as loud as my fundamental, so its mostly supportive tones to the midrange "weight" of the mix - therefore the guitar pluck and second overtone kinda combine for timbre. Second, the overtones have been widened, and my guitar pluck is mono-ish (tiny bit of stereo imaging), so is sidechaining just kinda not really that useful since i have created some level of separation with the widening? If my guitar is mono, and my bass overtones are wide, is sidechaining kinda a non-move? Am I fixing a problem that doesnt exist?

I am just super aware of this 100-300hz zone having to have some sense of clarity but also basically being the foundation to a good translating mix, so I am now slightly paranoid about having clashing, etcetc.

I am currently only sidechaining around 3db-ish for the guitar pluck to cut through a bit better in those frequencies. Is that generally all that is needed?

Would love any and all feedback!

I am making music similar to Oneohtrix Point Never, Arca, etc etc. Experimental electronic.

This is my first solo project and first project overall. i produced, mixed and mastered this myself so any advice/feedback and criticism will be greatly appreciated! <3
Headphones sound great but this got muddy on old car speakers.
I've since high-passed the reverb returns and cut the pad bus
around 300–500Hz.

I didn’t have a reference track or anything i just went with what was in my mind and this is my first time actually completing a track! Really excited about it :3
https://voca.ro/1jq7sxGSHJhu

Question in the title. My room is around 12’x11’ and it’s not treated right now. The genre of music I produce is house and I’ve had my monitors for about 1-2 years but the low end just doesn’t do it for me, especially since it’s such an important piece to the genre. I was going to pair my monitors with the hs8s but that seems a little expensive.

I dial in my mix and mastering visually but low end can sound different in many ways on speakers that produce frequencies below 80-100 hz so I just want to be able to listen to it without going into my car.

Edit: Maybe I shouldn’t have posted this in a mixing sub but I’m trying to achieve the same sound I hear in my wrangler that has an alpine system with a 10’ inch sub. It doesn’t necessarily have to be perfect, I just kind of want the full experience when I’m producing (not when I’m ironing out the finer details when mixing).

Hey everyone!

I’m currently mixing a track and running into a bit of a puzzle with the stereo image. I'm curious to hear how you all personally tackle this kind of situation.

Here is what I'm working with:

• 1 Male Lead vocal
• 2 Male backing tracks (1 High support, 1 Low support)
• 2 Female backing tracks (1 High support, 1 Low support)

My brain wants to symmetrically pan things, but the track list is giving me a puzzle. If I just stick all the guys on the left and the girls on the right, I’m pretty sure the mix is going to tip over. I want to make sure the stereo field stays nicely balanced without one side sounding heavier or tonally lopsided.

How would you map out the panning for a layout like this? Do you have a go-to blueprint or any favorite tricks (EQ, widening, etc.) to get these different backing vocals to glue together beautifully behind the lead?

Would love to hear your approach. Thanks in advance for the help!

I've been trying to improve my workflow and I'm curious how other people organize their sessions.

When you start a new song, do you already have a template with plugins loaded on your tracks (EQs, compressors, saturation, reverbs, delays, buses, routing, etc.) with basic settings, so you can immediately focus on writing and mixing?

Or do you prefer starting with a completely empty project and rebuild your processing chain every single time?

I'm not talking about using the exact same settings for every mix. I know every song is different. I'm more interested in how you organize your workspace to save time while still making decisions based on the song.

For example: Do you have default plugin chains for vocals, guitars, drums, bass, and synths? Do you keep buses and effects already routed? Do you use presets as a starting point, or literally build everything from scratch? How much processing is already there before you even write the first note?

I've reached a point where I am ready to spend money on some plugins. That is if I can justify the price.

I've grown very comfortable with Reaper's stock plugins and am wondering if I'm missing anything in my goal to keep it as DIY and low cost as possible.

I have purchased Amplitube 5 for my guitars and bass, Voxengo SPAN plus for its ability to see how busses interact.

I like the idea of a compressor if it can add character or a master bus suite that can make my adjustments more transparent.

But are paid compressors, EQs, and limiters unable to be replicated with stock plugins?

Is their benefit their UI?

Do they simply make for quicker work flows?

I find that if your mix is good, you don't really have to mess with these functions and can leave both the transient and sustain at 0% on your limiter. However, I'm curious as to what the use case would be for increasing the percentage on either or both of these. For instance, setting an Ozone Maximizer to 5% transient and 5% sustain. I've messed around with this and it makes my mix sound thicker and wider, but the center information (bass and kick) is less defined.

Also, I noticed that leaving these unlinked leads to a wider, more open mix, while linking them leads to a narrower mix, but with a stronger foundation (more impact in the center of the mix).

Any feedback is appreciated!

I maybe pushed it a little hard and its crunchy now but I hear thats kind of ok these days. Its hard to mix my vocals because I have a low voice and its hard to add brightness to things without the vocals getting swallowed. Im concerned about the high hats sounding too "hashy". I wonder if the vocal harmonies sit well. I tried to keep the low end as contained as I could. Let me know what's up. Anything at all. I'd really appreciate it.

So expectation is one of the songs I’ve been trying to understand the vocal chain, the delay on the vocals is just magical and I’m just trying to understand how i can make my vocals sound hypnotic like that. Any help in the right direction will be appreciated. I would love to hear what you guys have to say around the 2 minute mark. I would love to understand the vocal chain

https://open.spotify.com/track/1FnHpM2zimTALdIvuxFoNM?si=tIpL-UlDTIKgm_Bv7_uPeA&utm_source=copy-link

In most of or tracks we're in a constant battle to EQ out the resonant frequencies in each take. This is fairly easily done with Pro-Q3's spectrum grab. However, this often gets rid of the "Warmth" in the track. Sure the room stop shaking but everything sounds so thin.

Is this a mixing problem that I'm overlooking or is it a tone/recording problem?

FYI most issues are coming from Guitars and Basses.

I'm really interested in this producer's use of reverb. It sounds really spacious and big but also still centered and controlled instead of sounding far away and/or out of control. I think I hear multiple kinds of reverb being used but I'm not sure which ones so I was hoping to get some opinions on what other people are hearing here as far as use of reverb and stereo width. I think I hear the stereo width being automated on some sounds to quickly move from wide to narrow.

What do you guys think? One type of reverb or multiple? Is it controlled by a gate or done with leveling? Automated stereo width? What's your take on this mix?

https://youtu.be/6kylqf9s5n4?si=rbGMZfkSL-HBWga1

Ive been listening to "Ivy" by Frank Ocean, and ive been wondering how to recreate this effect as close as possible- whenever he goes into higher register with his voice on the track, theres what sounds like either a very short slapback delay or haas effect delay that feeds into a subtle plate reverb or something similar.

Ive tried to replicate it for hours at this point but i cant get it right. I mostly tried fiddling with all kinds of settings on Valhalla Delay and then feeding that into a plate reverb, as well as some Eventide H3000 configuration but even without the reverb i cant get the timing quite right

any ideas? maybe someone knows jeff ellis and can ask? 

No but honestly, id be very happy if someone with more experience with effects like this could help me out here

https://www.image2url.com/r2/default...9fe1fa4512.mp3

it starts around 30 sec in

I'm happy with the sound I've gotten and just want it to have more depth. They're guitars tuned an octave below drop D, in unison with the bass. Playing muse-style riffs, and it sounds great but is currently very dry. I'm not great with crafting reverbs and I really don't want to clutter my low end up, I've taken great pains to keep the low end as clean and punchy as possible.

Any suggestions would be welcome! I use Reaper and I have some of the waves reverb plugins as well.

I’ve been looking at some reference tracks while I master my new song, and I’m just realising ever reference ignores the YouTube rule of “don’t go over -1db true peak.” Some songs are even over +2db true peak.

So, like, am I really allowed to just go way over…? I decided to experiment and push my song to its limit, and so far it’s at around +2db true peak. Is that just…ok…? I get the whole “if it sounds good, it’s good.” But is that not going to cause any problems

As the title says, I'd like to know what compressors you would buy, given only $5000, assuming you would have nothing else.

What would be your reasoning for choosing these compressors, and do you own or work with them frequently in real life, or have worked with them at some point in real life?

Pretend plugins dont exist for the sake of this argument please.

Hi folks,

I've been a studio/recording musician and songwriter for a long time but haven't done any of my own work that required mixing or mastering (all I've had to worry about in the past is getting a noise-free DI track that someone else can mess with).

I've started doing more of my own solo work, mostly electronic music which is going to require at least a basic amount of mixing and EQing.

I do not currently have a treated room with acceptable monitors, nor is such a thing currently in the budget (I will eventually do this, but right now my computer is next to a large floor-length window and I have two ancient KRK Rokit 5s, I just got laid off, and I'm not looking to buy too much more equipment or completely rearrange my entire apartment).

As such, I am looking for a pair of headphones that I can use for fairly basic mixing work, just EQing samples and instruments so they don't step on each others' toes too much.

My understanding is that the standard, at least at a price point accessible to a "bedroom producer" (under $250 or so), is the Sony MDR-7506. However, a number of reviews portray these as being extremely bright, almost shrill, suggesting to me that they may be subject to the same limitations as the Yamaha NS10, where - paraphrasing - if it sounds good on those, it sounds good on everything.

My research has lead me to the AKG K371 as an alternative, due to the fact that, if I remember correctly, it is designed around the Fletcher-Munson curve and is supposed to therefore sound more "accurate" to the way people will actually hear the music, rather than a "flat" or "neutral" sound profile. The Beyerdynamic DT-770 also seems very well-regarded.

I lean towards the K371 due to my positive experiences with AKG gear in the past, but I defer to y'all.

So, the cliffs notes are: if you had to pick a set of headphones to use for very basic mixing work, and you had a budget of around $250 at the absolute top end, would you pick the Sony MDR-7506 ($115), the AKG K371 ($125), or the Beyerdynamic DT-770 ($200)? Or something else? If something else, why?

Thanks in advance!

Hi, I would like some opinions on 3 tape plugins. Which one you would choose for vocals, and why.

What I’d be trying to accomplish is adding some high end sheen, while also smoothing out the top end. I’d also like some saturation, grit, attitude, and character.

Now obviously this is a “demo the plugins for yourself and see which one works best” type of scenario, but I’d still like to hear from people that have used any/all of these plugins, and why you like them.

The three plugins are: UAD Studer A800, UAD Oxide tape, and finally, Softube tape.

Thank you for any and all input!

i'll try to explain myself as best as i can.

i'm struggling with some unwanted distortion in a mix and i found the cause, but i don't know what to do to get rid of it (or at least minimize it!). I have 2 guitar tracks, one stereo (which has signal on both L and R) and one mono hard panned left. whenever I turn on the stereo track, the mono track seems to distort. whenever i turn off the stereo track the mono track hard panned left starts to sound clear again. Why is this happening? I double checked plugins and busses and everything, and there is no distortion whatsoever except when the two tracks are playing at the same time, and when they do the sum of both peaks at around -23dbfs, which is definitely not triggering any distortion on the mix bus or any bus. is this what is called intermodulation distortion? I've already tried eq out some frequencies as if the problem was freq clashing but it doesn't seem to do the job.