- Today, you are going to learn
my 14 most essential mixing tips.
I'm Will from EDM Tips,
and these tips have helped me mix and master music
that has hit the top spot in several download charts,
has worked on Grammy short-listed music
and even music that has hit the top 51
in the global iTunes charts
out of all music, all genres, all of that.
So I know a thing or two about mixing.
Download my free mixing guide below this video,
which has got all of these tips and a whole lot more.
Tip Number One, get the sounds right first.
So, mixing really starts
from the very beginning of the process.
And there's a reason why,
if you are working in a band,
that there is the usual,
there's drum kits, there's a vocalist
and there's a guitarist,
and there might be some keyboards.
It's because these things tend to work well
and complement each other frequency-wise.
So, if you're making electronic dance music,
the best way to getting a good mix
is to start out with sounds that work really well together.
Now, for more tips on that I will make another video,
but that's the first tip.
The second tip is,
check your mix in mono often.
So, what I do is,
I have a plugin on my master chain,
and a keyboard shortcut,
and that plugin in Ableton Live
is just a utility,
and it switches the whole mix from stereo to mono.
And I do this every few seconds,
or every couple of minutes,
just to make sure that there are no phasing issues
and my mix sounds really good in mono as well as stereo.
And it's really important,
because sometimes you can have a great plug-in,
with loads of effects on it,
with great synth presets,
but it doesn't sound that good in mono.
So, always check in mono.
Number Three is check your gain staging.
Again, with plug-ins,
it's very easy for the level to go up and up,
and before you know it,
you're clipping somewhere in your signal path.
So, using trim plugins or game plugins,
just to make sure that you're never actually clipping
at any point in your signal path
is a great way to get a clean mix.
Number Four, check that mix at low levels
and at high levels,
because our ears tend to let us think
that a mix sounds better if it's pumped up really loud,
but it can be confusing.
So, if you turn it down low as well,
make sure that all the most important elements
can still be heard,
and then try it at slightly louder levels as well,
but, of course, be careful not to smash your ears.
'Coz if you mix at really high levels
for a prolonged period of time,
you're going to give yourself hearing damage.
Number Five, mix fast and take breaks.
If you get your mix session all set up,
maybe the night before,
so all of your stems are loaded in,
and then you can then just go in with fresh ears,
just work quickly,
then you are going to have the most objective approach.
If you start mixing for two, three, four hours,
then you lose objectivity,
and it's very hard to, kind of, see.
If your mix is taking a long time,
then at least take breaks.
So, walk away for an hour or two,
come back with fresh ears
and have another go at it.
Number Six is A/B test every move you make.
So, every plugin you put on the chain,
make sure that you bypass it
and then turn it on again,
just to make sure that you are doing it for a reason
and that it's actually adding to the quality of your mix
and not detracting from it.
So, don't just slap loads of plugins in
without testing them against turning them off
and turning them on.
Number Seven is have an intention.
Now, this is kind of similar to Number Six in some ways.
But if you put plugins on just for the hell of it,
then you're going to end up a weird,
washy, muddy, pumpy sound.
So, it's a good idea to develop the ability to hear
what kind of plugin you want to put on.
So, if there's a lack of clarity in the top end,
you might decide to put an additive EQ on,
or you might decide to dip some frequencies
in another elements in your track.
And if it's not loud enough and in your face,
you might add some compression
to tame some of those transients.
But the idea is, basically,
have a reason for putting on each plugin.
Number Eight is check your mix on different systems.
So, it's very easy to make it sound,
well, it's not very easy, but,
you might make it sound really good on your studio monitors
or your headphones,
but test it on your iPhone speakers,
test it in your car,
test it in your mom's crappy stereo,
whatever it is.
If you can test it on three or four systems
that you know,
and you know how music should sound on them,
then it's going to help you do a much better mix overall.
So, it might sound really good
with your big bassy sub-woofer,
but might lose all base frequencies,
or all base energy,
when you listen to it on your iPhone.
So then you know you have to go back to the mix
and do some work on it.
Number Nine is use reference tracks.
This is huge.
So, again, it's very easy to lose objectivity in a mix.
So, if you've got a reference track in a genre
that's very similar to what your mixing in,
then you can A/B test between your mix
and the reference track, as well,
and you can hear, "Okay, well,
"what frequencies have they got
"that I'm lacking?"
And you can use spectrum analyzers on their track
and your track,
and you can reference to help you, guide you, basically.
So, use reference tracks all the time.
I don't know any producers that don't.
Number 10 is loop the loudest section of the track
with the most stuff going on.
So that would usually be the last drop
or the last chorus.
And start your mix there,
because there's the most going on.
So, if you can get that sounding good,
the rest of it's going to be much easier.
Number 11 is top-down mixing.
And this is where you mix the most important elements first.
So it might be the kick, the snare and the vocals.
Or the kick, the baseline, the vocals.
And then bring in all the other elements around it,
once you've got those three sitting really well together.
And that is what I call top-down mixing.
Number 12 is get your levels balanced first,
because EQ and compression and reverb,
and all that good stuff, is great,
but about 70 to 80% of your mix
is just getting those levels
between the different elements balanced correctly.
So, if you can at least get a good measure of that,
and you can use the pink noise technique,
so hit that link, wherever it is, for that,
and that's going to help you get a good,
kind of, rough balance of levels first,
before you start using all the different plugins.
Number 13 is use gain automation on a plugin,
not your channel faders.
So, if you've got an element
that you want louder in the chorus, for instance,
you might have the chorus vocals
two dB louder than the verse vocals.
If you also make the gain plugin,
rather than your channel fader,
then if you need to adjust the global level
of the vocals a bit later on,
you can still slide that channel fader up and down.
Whereas if you've automated it,
then you have to go in and edit all the automation notes,
and, trust me, ain't nobody got time for that.
And Number 14, last but not least,
download my free mixing guide below this video
for these tips and a whole lot more
that you can just refer to.
It's really simple.
You can print it up, stick it on,
like I stick my bits of paper next to my screen,
and that will just help remind you of these tips
that we've gone through today, and a few more,
to help you get the very best mixes possible.
I hope you've enjoyed this video.
It's a bit of a break from the norm,
in terms of format, for me.
But give it a thumbs up and subscribe.
And until next time, cheers and happy producing.
(mellow music)