Mixing basics

rsvmark

To follow on from my what DAW thread, I am thoroughly enjoying myself being creative and have 3 songs on the go. Mt preferred approach is to think about what I want to acheive, then use AI to help me understand how to create what I want by looking up the manual or finding videos on the topic. 

All the parts are basically done and sketched out so I think my next steps are as follows:

1 Properly track all the guitar parts
2. work on all the midi parts to make them sound more human by varying midi parameters 
3. Overall mix and automation
4. Master

There are loads of yt channels out there I could try but so far I haven’t found much in terms of a consistent tutorial style. Ideally I would like to find a channel that has a series of tutorials covering the above topics. 

Can anyone recommend any channels that would be useful?

Winny_Pooh

Buy the Mike Senior Mixing secrets book and read it then watch old Pensado's Place into the lair episodes. There are probably new things out there but these two are solid. 

AntonHunter

Guerilla Home Recording is a great book for a lot of fundamentals of home recording. Cheap 2nd hand too https://ebay.us/m/fEbZKI

What DAW are you using? Might be easier to just search in YouTube for that specific DAW, with that specific topic rather than using AI to look. Also, search for Steve Albini on there, he has good videos on most aspects of the recording side of things, including tracking guitars. 

rsvmark

Thanks both. @AntonHunter i am using Logic. In the short term I think I am going to use plug ins rather than my actual amps as it removes use of mics and room acoustics from the range of things that influence the outcome

AntonHunter

Fair enough, I've not used amp plugins much, prefer getting the sound in the room first, or with an analogue amp sim. It's worth doing that sometimes anyway, so you can get a sense of what the modeling is aiming for.

Also, if you're micing up amps, if you're into right-on-the-grill tones, chances of the room interfering much are pretty low.

drofluf

Possibly a dumb question but what does "track a part" mean?

Thanks

flying_pie

drofluf said:

Possibly a dumb question but what does "track a part" mean?

Thanks

It simply means to record something, but the context can vary depending on the instrument.

Tracking guitars means recording guitar. In reality usually this will comprise of recording more than one part and as multiple tracks, usually panned

Tracking bass might mean a single track, or a DI and an amped sound recorded from the same take

drofluf

Thanks @flying_pie id erroneously assumed it was something that was done to an already recorded track. 

andy_k

Check out Kenny Gioia's Reaper tutorials, I know they are specifically Reaper, but he did some good basic recording instructionals early on, usually getting very good results from some basic tracks, lots to absorb.
Iwouldn't worry too much about the mastering process at an early stage, just make sure you are gain staging things so nothing is getting too loud at the mixing part, usually better to cut than boost eq's etc etc etc.
Aim for a good mix, that works on different speakers / headphones, sometimes just checking a headphone mix on some larger speakers can be very revealing, trying to fix major issues later in the process can sometimes ruin a good basic mix, IMO, YMMV etc.

PrecisionGuided

There are things to consider when beginning to produce multi-instrument mixed tracks...

It's natural to want to make the guitar sound great, the bass sound great, drums sound great etc. - now mix them all together and the track will sound great... ??

No, no, no...
The 'trick' is to give each instrument it's own band of frequencies, seperate from the other instruments, with littleish overlap. This makes the individual instruments sound 'less' than great when soloed, but they will come together as a full 'big' mixed track and not drown each other.

The other thing to have are accurate monitors and a mixing space free of big peaks and dips - if you're sweeping an EQ or reverb pot and cannot hear much difference you do need more analytical monitors.

The hardest part is getting mixes to translate - sounds fab in the studio but bright or dull or bass-light on other systems.
Headphones are tricky like this...
Take your mixes to other people's houses and replay on their systems.

Keep things simple at first and concentrate on getting a good solid reapeatable sound - avoid too many plugins - too many knobs leads to option overload.

The only way to learn is do it - your ears (brain) soon starts to hear things in a more analytical way... the secret is to really listen.

rsvmark

AntonHunter said:

Guerilla Home Recording is a great book for a lot of fundamentals of home recording. Cheap 2nd hand too https://ebay.us/m/fEbZKI

What DAW are you using? Might be easier to just search in YouTube for that specific DAW, with that specific topic rather than using AI to look. Also, search for Steve Albini on there, he has good videos on most aspects of the recording side of things, including tracking guitars. 

Thanks. Ordered

hollywoodrox

Charles Cleyn -YouTube 

  Why Logic Pro rules - YouTube 
  Music tech help guy YouTube  
  Seids YouTube 

to be honest I had that guerilla guide years ago & it’s not much help with Logic Pro  I’ve also got my old 3d visual mixing 
there are some really good people on YouTube & some of the best are above 
  

hollywoodrox

Ps AI is useful for learning what things do & for different terms & you can get it to quiz you on what you’ve learned
  I learned loads last year ,then had a break & have forgot loads
  

rsvmark

Thx @hollywoodrox ;

the trouble with yt is that as a newb, you don’t know who is any good but those 4 will help. Appreciated 

swiller

Andrew scheps is a good one to learn from. Various channels content but keeps it real. One of the goats, but feet on the ground kind of thing.

Excellent advice from precisionguided above.

My personal tips that worked for me.

• Mix in mono. When you flick it back to stereo after a couple of hours work, it never fails to pleasantly surprise. Just change master out to mono in daw. This method also great for those without good monitoring
• Side chain compression is pretty valuable tool for bass/drum parts to sit well together, but loads of other uses, including taming guitar parts vs vocals for example. Its simply about linking levels of tracks to one another , so one dips if the other one is more prominent. Almost self mixing and well worth learning imho. 
• Using visual frequency displays as part of the eq process. To see where that muddiness is IF things are confusing... and takeaway before boosting anything for eq 100% of the time. 
• Never listen to an individual track on its own when trying to "fix" it. Always in the context of the other instruments. Do listen to it on its own after it is mixed/when it sits as you want it. It will probably sound shit on its own which can be a valuable lesson in terms of ending up with the opposite of what you thought was needed.
• Just have a go.  Its just about whether it sounds good or not. Basic level setting of each track and panning quite often does 90% of the job. But work in mono

Nerine

I disagree with the above post nearly entirely. 

Don’t work in mono. Mix in stereo. It’s not 1950. If you mix in mono your stereo balance WILL be off. 

It’s perfectly acceptable to solo a track to correct a honk or resonance when sweeping an EQ etc. 

And no. You don’t have to cut an EQ 100% of the time before you boost. That’s not good advice. Thats introducing procedure or “rules” for no reason. 

Some actual advice would be to not strictly follow anyone’s advice. Take bits from everywhere and see what resonates with you. 

I’ve done over 1,000 mixes in the past 10-15 years. I’ve had stuff on Radio 1 and tracks I’ve produced and mixed have collectively amassed millions of listens on YouTube. 

***Here are some tips:***

Make sure your listening apparatus and your room is set up as well as it realistically can be. 

Don’t reach for a processor because you feel
you have to. Sometimes a track doesn’t need anything. 

Don’t rush to hi and lo pass everything. It’s dulls and thins full mixes. 

You don’t need hundreds of plugins. They aren’t magic bullets. My advice would be to get a FabFilter bundle. EQ, Comp, Saturation, Reverb, Delay - you can do pretty much everything with that. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. 

There is no strict rule for EQ > Comp or Comp > EQ. Experiment. 

Personally I’ll usually EQ before compression. This is also useful if I want to stick 10dB of 16kHz on my snare top for example. The comp will help to tame that and make it sound more natural. No setting is too extreme if it sounds good. 

Mix with your ears. Not your eyes. 

Absolutely REFERENCE EVERYTHING. Listen to reference tracks OFTEN. Getting a good A/B plugin is really useful and helps to keep you honest. This is probably the most important advice. 

Lastly, have fun and don’t take everything you read or see online as gospel. There is soooo much absolute bullshit and waffle spouted by people who think they know what they’re talking about - especially on YouTube. What they’re actually doing is creating content. Not helping you learn how to mix. 

A good suggestion is to listen to your favourite mixes, find out who mixed it and then research their methods online. 

Some of my favourite mixers (some also produce) include Chris Lord Alge, Randy Staub, Andy Wallace, Kevin Shirley, Mike Shipley, Eric Valentine, Joe Baressi, Steve Albini, Butch Vig, Mutt Lange, Bob Rock. 

octatonic

swiller said:

Andrew scheps is a good one to learn from. Various channels content but keeps it real. One of the goats, but feet on the ground kind of thing.

Excellent advice from precisionguided above.

My personal tips that worked for me.

• Mix in mono. When you flick it back to stereo after a couple of hours work, it never fails to pleasantly surprise. Just change master out to mono in daw. This method also great for those without good monitoring
• Side chain compression is pretty valuable tool for bass/drum parts to sit well together, but loads of other uses, including taming guitar parts vs vocals for example. Its simply about linking levels of tracks to one another , so one dips if the other one is more prominent. Almost self mixing and well worth learning imho. 
• Using visual frequency displays as part of the eq process. To see where that muddiness is IF things are confusing... and takeaway before boosting anything for eq 100% of the time. 
• Never listen to an individual track on its own when trying to "fix" it. Always in the context of the other instruments. Do listen to it on its own after it is mixed/when it sits as you want it. It will probably sound shit on its own which can be a valuable lesson in terms of ending up with the opposite of what you thought was needed.
• Just have a go.  Its just about whether it sounds good or not. Basic level setting of each track and panning quite often does 90% of the job. But work in mono

I understand what you are saying here but I'm afraid I disagree with much of what you are saying- because of where you have emphasised things, not because anything you say is *actually* wrong- let me explain.

1. Mixing in mono. It is fine, and useful to check mono. But virtually no one mixes mostly in mono in 2026.

2. Side chain compression is sometimes useful but I mix entire albums not using it. IMHO sidechain compression is overused and often tries to address problems that people could fix with EQ if they mixed in a room with adequate acoustic treatment.

3. A visual display is fine- but people often mix with their eyes. This can be a trap. Not always, just sometimes.

4 Never working in solo- this is the one I have the most problem with, but it is nuanced. It is useful to mix something in the context of the track and I mostly do that but to say 'never'- I'm sorry but no, this is bad advice. There are plenty of good reasons to monitor in solo but just don't mix entirely that way.  So what you say isn't inherently wrong- you've just put the emphasis in the wrong place.

5. Just have a go- no argument there. People learn much more by doing- and I agree a static mix gets you a long way (maybe not 90% but decently far). Just don't mix in mono. 

octatonic

Nerine said:

Don’t work in mono. Mix in stereo. It’s not 1950. If you mix in mono your stereo balance WILL be off. 

It’s perfectly acceptable to solo a track to correct a honk or resonance when sweeping an EQ etc. 

And no. You don’t have to cut an EQ 100% of the time before you boost. That’s not good advice. Thats introducing procedure or “rules” for no reason. 

Some actual advice would be to not strictly follow anyone’s advice. Take bits from everywhere and see what resonates with you. 

I’ve done over 1,000 mixes in the past 10-15 years. I’ve had stuff on Radio 1 and tracks I’ve produced and mixed have collectively amassed millions of listens on YouTube. 

***Here are some tips:***

Make sure your listening apparatus and your room is set up as well as it realistically can be. 

Don’t reach for a processor because you feel
you have to. Sometimes a track doesn’t need anything. 

Don’t rush to hi and lo pass everything. It’s dulls and thins full mixes. 

You don’t need hundreds of plugins. They aren’t magic bullets. My advice would be to get a FabFilter bundle. EQ, Comp, Saturation, Reverb, Delay - you can do pretty much everything with that. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. 

There is no strict rule for EQ > Comp or Comp > EQ. Experiment. 

Personally I’ll usually EQ before compression. This is also useful if I want to stick 10dB of 16kHz on my snare top for example. The comp will help to tame that and make it sound more natural. No setting is too extreme if it sounds good. 

Mix with your ears. Not your eyes. 

Absolutely REFERENCE EVERYTHING. Listen to reference tracks OFTEN. Getting a good A/B plugin is really useful and helps to keep you honest. This is probably the most important advice. 

Lastly, have fun and don’t take everything you read or see online as gospel. There is soooo much absolute bullshit and waffle spouted by people who think they know what they’re talking about - especially on YouTube. What they’re actually doing is creating content. Not helping you learn how to mix. 

A good suggestion is to listen to your favourite mixes, find out who mixed it and then research their methods online. 

Some of my favourite mixers (some also produce) include Chris Lord Alge, Randy Staub, Andy Wallace, Kevin Shirley, Mike Shipley, Eric Valentine, Joe Baressi, Steve Albini, Butch Vig, Mutt Lange, Bob Rock. 

Agree 100%.

Stuckfast

Also in full agreement with @Nerine here.

I almost never use side-chain compression. It's either a special effect (as in the French house pumping thing, which is better achieved using mix automation anyway) or it's a sticking plaster. And it's not always a very good sticking plaster. If you want the guitars to drop 2dB when the vocal comes in, use the fader. That's what it's for.

Boosting with EQ is fine. The advice never to do it is outdated and comes from a time when people were working on cheap mixers with no headroom.

I actually do check in mono quite a bit but what's vitally important is that mono listening is done on a single speaker.

I would add: most people can instinctively balance the instruments in a mix at roughly the right levels relative to each other. The hard part of mixing is getting the overall balance of frequencies right, so that the mix as a whole is not dull, thin, boomy, honky or otherwise askew. That's where referencing is most important.