I am the queen of chaos when it comes to composing and mixing. Unfortunately, I fuck it up the other way and it just becomes and unlistenable cacophony most of the time.
16:55 "Mixes are never finished, they're only abandoned". Oh boy, oh boy, I couldn't agree more. I learned this the hard way after taking three damn years to finish mixing and mastering one of my bands' first 5-track EP. Was it worth the endless wait? Absolutely not. These days I just keep in mind this, that someone once said to me: "finished, not perfect". Great advice!
Dude I feel you sooo much! right now were up to 5 years for our 9 song album, re-recorded multiple times but just in the last year I realised that to even get the results you dream of, you need to mix and write alot of songs in the first place and not overcrowd everything with useless stuff which muddies the mix itself :D
I've almost finished a track, after months, and the other night I accidentally played an old version from a USB. It was a copy I'd exported when I'd "finished" mixing the drums, bass and the main set of rhythm guitars, chucked some reverb on another experimental guitar part and just left most of it raw, straight from the interface, not even amp sims on the tracks. It was great, and I realised that somehow I'd gone down a rabbit hole for a month or so, and lost the sound and feel I had only days after recording the tracks. Now I want to sit down and undo all of the work I've done on it over the last month, it was better before!
that hit hard lol. too many times i’ve duplicated a project file and completely redid all the mixing and effects, only to find out the original version sounded 10x better
Exactly! Imagine that Iron Maiden/Metallica/Whatever band tried to release their first album with the sound of their last/best ones. It's just impossible, everything is just a process, we need to accept the fact that our first works might not be best ones and keep getting better. And if our first record is really best we can do, won't it just mean we are not developing, which is far worse?
But surely there's limits to what this can fix, right? if you don't want most instruments to sound like the reference track, chances are you'll end up with a very different balance nonetheless
@@MoeThermodynamics That comes down to choosing the right reference tracks for the song at hand really. You're not matching it though, it's just that, for instance, if you're worried that your mix sounds too bassy, but the reference track, which you know is mixed how you like it, also sounds too bassy, you know it's the monitors and/or room creating that, so cutting the bass on your mix probably isn't needed.
Only possible to a certain extend! First thing is to try and null out the bass frequencies as much as possible by speaker placement. If you have dips and peaks of 30+-db no reference will ever help you except the bassist plays just the same notes as your song. Try to be atleast in the +-10db range car should be second option. If you do not do this, you can´t properly mix low end at all and paired with no acoustic treatment you will make decision based on your room and not what the mix needs. After countless mix revisionens (even to v88) getting a semi-treated room with enough THICK porous material was the key. Now when I mix, I exactly know what I want to do and it translates well 80-90%.
Back in the old days before internet we had to read articles in industry magazines to try and gleam some useful info about how to use gear we couldn’t afford. Now you have Glen and you’ve just saved at least a hundred bucks by watching this video.
Recently bought a cheap acoustic guitar for my kids. Needs tuning..download an app on the phone! When I was learning guitar, had to buy Practical Electronics magazine with a guitar tuner project schematic. Fill in order form of all the parts from Maplin, take letter to post box. Wait a week for them to arrive by post. Solder all the bits together. Put the box together. Test it, not working, dismantle box, repair bad soldering! Ready!!
12:28 Those collapsible nylon hampers make great bass traps when stuffed tight with random, old clothes. Also the bookshelf idea you mentioned before is great. Can also use a large book case to make a diffuser by pulling all the books out to random points. Works incredibly well.
Videos like this are so damn valueable when you start out with mixing. I haven't tried the snapshot stuff in Reaper yet, but I will definetely give it a try when I mix the EP of my Punk Rock Project. Thanks, Glenn!
I've been recently learning how to mix and play guitar and have been watching you for a little over 6 months. I really appreciate your videos and find you pretty funny. Keep up the awesome work!
since I changed from mixing metal to produce urban music, I'm still using your knoledge and applying it to what I'm doing right now, I'll still be watching your videos cause I love your personality Glenn
I comment as I watch. a huge tip I can give for mixing is listen to you mix on a phone. they are harsh and disgusting. vocals are especially harsh and unforgiving. EQ on monitors and car speakers, but a cellphone will rip apart a mix with a quickness. well mixed tracks sound just as good on a shitty cellphone (level wise) as 1800 dollar speakers.
Yes! I have two computers in my mixing studio... one is my workstation with all the bells and whistles and the other is a 2005 Dell tower that I use to check my email and crap on youtube... Once I'm done with my mixing session, I send the tracks to the guys via Dropbox and go for a quick listen through the shitty computer speakers. Then, once it's online I like to check it in the car with my phone. I've also got a cheezy Chinese tube amp in the shed that drives beat-up speakers and I've noticed it's an actually pretty good setup for listening! And I like to listen to mixes while doing something else. When something either good or bad catches my ear enough to grab my attention away from what I'm doing, it's definitely something I need to fix or I need to take note to apply somewhere else.
this is so true! it´s like the "ns10" trick which says that the midrange defines your whole mix. This is also played by phones. little extra tip: the vocals need to be a bit louder than they should on your phones as it´s focused on that. tip #2 if you want to know if your vocals get through enough and aren´t masked by something. Next time when you shower, listen to your mix at nearly full volume and while you shower, try to understand the lyrics. If it works, your vocals are either too loud or perfect.
@@G60syncro Listening without listening.....this is hard to do but for some people it comes natural. I used to go in the studio when my friend was tracking his guitar parts in his metal band. And I'd listen without listening. I'd read whatever is layng around and just hang. When I'd hear a killer solo track, I'd speak up "....that one's a KEEPER!" This worked great as the engineer will get tired and ear fatigue.....my friend is likely in a bubble and tired too from his job. Me, I could spot the gems for them and cherry pick out the good stuff. Mega pro tip if someone can put their ego aside and trust another person that way!
Glenn, I think this was a fantastic “desert island” reference checklist for recording. Considering that it’s 13 topics in an 18 minute video, there’s a lot of guidance towards worthwhile changes folks can make or look further into. Re: #5 Mix Busses- Aside from the time it saves the human working on the mix, these can be a godsend for folks that got ahold of some brutally resource-heavy plugins or just have a slower computer and want an appropriate way to reduce the number of instances running at once. Sometimes hardware limitations mean you gotta get a bus to solid place and bounce its output so your computer can smoothly process other plugin-heavy tracks/buses.
I often use a mic stand set up like a big T, throw a big blanket over it and you can adjust the height and move it wherever you need. Cymbal stands are great for bigger heavier blankets.
A time-saving workflow I swear by: I’m always mixing LPs and EPs as one DAW session. This saves a lot of time, when you can jump between tracks within the same session and process identical tracks once. No more saving/loading/editing/reloading track templates across projects. You can do some volume, pan and plug-in automation as needed depending on the songs and passages. Track-specific lead guitars, samples and synth and put into track folders to keep everything tidy. I know some people don’t get it, but it suits my workflow perfectly. And with reaper, you can even make 1 region per song and then batch-render your whole project as separate files in one click. Have you ever tried that approach?
Absolutely excellent advice across the board. Mix busses especially changed my life. Also, glad to see you point out fiverr has so many good creators and editors. As a fiverr freelancer, I'm super happy to see people getting work.
Just used this weekend recording demos with the guys i Play with... Now we are Deep in a discussion on how the guitar sound should be. We used his Kemper profiler for making it easy, but the palm mutes could just as well have been with a clean preset the way they sound...
Thanks, Glenn. I always appreciate these kinds of videos. Honestly, I prefer to listen to you talk about studio/mixing tips over the mainstream "top guys" because you are straight with us and don't make EVERYTHING a selling point for some kind of product. You shoot the shit and don't bullshit. Thanks, as always! 🤘😉🤘
Great info as always! Quick tip - try to make your room symetrical - whats on the left should also be on the right. Helps quickly determine any balance issues.
I have one little pet peave in the monitor setup tip. It's not about ear-level height, but the height of the image itself, and that varies with each speaker. The right height of your setup is; when you listen with your eyes closed-> the vocalist is standing(!) in front of you. Translation of reality is key in speaker setup. You should be able to tell the difference of height in any given mix, by ear
I had an issue with mixing when we first started. We used home stereo speakers for monitors. Soon as I got good studio monitors everything came together but it was still missing something. Lately I learned about side chaining the kick and bass. That gives you a few more DB in the final mixdown. One of the most important things I learned was the fact that the tracks have to sound decent to start with!!!! You cant polish a terd. LOL We recorded everything with Class D preamps That gave me a hell of a time trying to fix tracks instead of mixing tracks. Everything I have now, if it was recorded with class A Preamps, it will definitely sound good in the end. With what I've learned over the past 15 years, it takes time and lots of advice if you want to have a professional sounding mix...
Wouldn’t mind seeing more of what you typically use on your mix buss these days. I’ve kinda racked my brain trying to decide if I need this or that plug-in. seeing just a comp and limiter on yours is really telling me I should simplify my approach.
One of your best videos to date Glenn! Some great tips, and I was actually surprised to see a few I was already doing. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us plebs ;)
Awesome. After many years of trial and error I have no intention yet again to use monitors but I learned headphones, a stereo smartphone, my car decent stereo are good reference for guitar, vocals and keyboards. Dealing with real percussion requires more time and equipment for sure so I took the vsti drummer anytime or the virtual orchestra unless drummer is a genius with lot of cash and orchestra is very tight good players.
Recording a great song with well rehearsed musicians always makes mixing easier. I get better results when clients only record and mix one song at a time. Most artists on a budget want to track their whole album in a day and then mix it down for a month.
_I have always had issues double-tracking. Adjusting the volume or having my EQ set right. They come either too loud or too thin/fizzy. 🎵🎸 Old video but straight to the point. Thank you!_
Glenn, been watching a ton of your videos lately. Although I’m not a metal engineer I still find a ton of useful information here. You seem like someone who knows what you are talking about, that being said what are your thoughts on the JBL LSR305 monitors?
Okay Glenn, I will type my Grammy acceptance speech here! Thankyou all for ignoring my favorite music to give me an award, I always wished my favorite metal bands would have recognition like this, but you people have zero taste and that's why I am up here thanking you.
Awesome and funny! 😂 I’m doing almost everything you pointed out. As I’m not only doing mixing and mastering, but I’m involved also in co-writing, recording and producing, I’m still spending way too much time editing drums, bass and vocals, and also adding tracks… the entire process takes me like 2 weeks for one song 😭 I’m taking some advice here and I’ll try to outsource the editing. Thank you Glenn.
Monitors are great. But if your room is too small or your PC is standing against the window, like in my case, get an IEM. If I remember correctly, IEMs don't have that issue when it comes to the room, bending some of the sound in the mixing process, meanwhile your skull being the resonator. Another tip is to get a good sound card. If you have a PC from like 2010, where there's only USB 2.0 ports, get a PCI-E sound card. If you have a laptop, it's going to be an issue when you plug in your 2i2, only to find out that it's out of time when you play guitar for example. If you have USB 3.0 and up, the speed is not going to be an issue.
When I tried to record last, years ago now, I didn't use anything anyone would agree with, I used what I had, I used cheap mics even. I only own 1 SM-57 and paired it with a tom-tom mic for the guitar blend Glenn talks about, I was already doing this through my own experimenting. I just will do what I do, when I ever do record myself again, I will have some idea of what Not to do.
Thats what will make your music stand out! If I recall, the first Tame Impala ep was recorded using a crappy digital DI that was clipping the absolute fuck out of the guitars, giving it a super unique sound. I think the drums were recorded using one single compressed mic as well.
You know what? Having a video explaining specific but common terminology in software or some hardware like LUFS, RMS and other ones that aren't obvious would be really cool. Also explaining how volume scales exponentially while db value scales linearly (since it's not obvious, and the fact that 10 db more equals 2 times louder, 20 db - 4 times louder, 30 db more- 8 times louder, etc...).
Hey Glenn, any chance you can do a video on how to use outboard gear (such as a compressor) with a DAW? I'm just not sure how to rout it. I'm using a normal Focusrite Scarlett.
Between my phone and my earbuds those are probably more important than my monitors as they give me a good reference then I listen on my phone and earphones and I know exactly what stands out and I can go back and adjust it. It has worked quite well so far.
Great tips! Like the idea of mastering at the same time; usually keep in mind that I'll add more high end/compression for the mater, makes sense to just do it as you go I suppose 🤘
Love the videos. They arr a big help in learning! I have to ask who the band is on the "car listening track"? Sounds like a slowed down version of strypers the valley. I was like oooo that sounds sexy.
I know ive mentioned this before but have you used a suspended floor to record and mix in? It acts as a a giant bass trap but it sucks too much out, the highs are my issue so i bought some sound dampening curtains and used some old shirts and tacked it to the ceiling in somewhat of a checkered pattern. Doesnt seem like much but there was a huge difference in the high frequency reverberation. I should probably redo the subfloor and use a little bit thicker wood if possible
For context i bought a mobil home a few years ago with an addition. One of those additions is the room i use for my music stuff. It was built to be on yhe same level which is why i have what i call a suspended floor because theres nothing fully solid under my subfloor
couldn't agree more on the mix buses, it changed my life. glenn, about mix translation: i often get feedback about levels not translating the same. it's not about the botom end, it can be about the vocals (often too loud) for exemple. any clue besides acoustic treatment?
yeaah it helps a shit ton to turn on the master compression and master limiter and then fix that stuff in the mix that sounds weird and wrong. I tend to begin without anything in master FX, when I'm happy with the mix, I'll turn on the master FX and fix the mix. Then it's just turning the master FX on and off and fixing issues as they pop up. It's nice.
Hey Glenn, this was great! It made me wish right away that I had put my comment I put on your last video on this one, because it would've fit better here lol! "I'm a musician and..." DUH! lol!
You say to spend the extra money on quality monitors. Which monitors would you recommend for a room that's about 14 feet by 9 feet? My local store said a room that size needs smaller monitors. The one they have is the Presonus Eris 3.5 Actives. At $230 Australian, they're definitely affordable. (That'd probably be like $150 U.S.) Just not sure if there's a better option at that size. I expect all the really nice monitors are designed for bigger rooms. Thoughts?
Well I learned today I was using way too much gain on my guitars, I originally dialed them at about 4 but discovered it really doesn’t take much at all. Just enough to give it that heavy sound really. The amount of clarity and noise reduction is night and day and just hope that helps some people
Not 100% about mixing but how about proper file/folder structure and hierarchy to make recalls and finding projects/backups etc. easier? My bass player's (who else?) set up is an absolute bombsite with random folders and files and all sorts all over the place. "Hey, check out this cool little part I recorded. Give me 20 minutes while I find the project file" I've got all mine set up with versions and dates added too when I'm working on stuff so I can see what is the most recent or whatever.
Thanks for the tips on bass traps. Am in the process of setting up a mix room in my basement bedroom and am real curious how the room acoustics will pan out. Am a little scared, frankly, ha ha
Great for more than metal! Question- do you tie your hair back when tracking and mixing? I’ve often wondered about the acoustic effects of a big mop of hair over the ears!
Hey, Glenn! Do you have a list of all albums you haver worked on? If there were a cartoon of Spectre Sound Studios on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon, how would the episode be? Would you consider making a video with a cabinet with car speakers as an option for guitar cabinet? Oh, and please, comment on the importance of lyrics vs. music, which is more important. Cheers!
I always check my mixes in my car as the final test lol. If it sounds really good to me, I'm satisfied haha I have a GMC with a good sound system and try to compare my song quality with other bigger artists/bands.
I have the 8" Mackie monitors. I think they sound fantastic for music listening but I have pretty much nothing to compare. They sound good to me. I wish you would explain more about why they suck.
In regards to #5: In Reaper, does putting tracks in the parent-child (or folder) format do the same thing as bussing through the Routing window? I've always assumed a folder was a quicker, more efficient way to create a mix bus, but If I'm wrong, I'd be happy to correct my workflow. Thanks!
A question about #8... do the monitors have to be 5' sides on an equilateral triangle, or can they be closer or further apart, as long as they're still in an equilateral triangle configuration?
Hey Glen, surely many of us couch critics and bedroom Professional heard of Dsoniq Realphones plugin. What are your thoughts on it? Sound too good to be true, but you never know.
Gleeennnn! Can you do a Video on Mastering? Specifically old school metal like Thrash or Prog. I have like 6 or something tracks of Prog/Symphonic Thrash, with Thrash riffs, shouty vox and multitracked Mellotrons, for that Symphonic edge. I need it sounding loud and powerful/Heavy (on every device) and professional. Mixing them was awful enough, but mastering them is just a nightmare, with them either sounding weak and too quiet or lacking dynamics, or peaking. I have no idea how to master and the Internet is just more confusing than helpful as they say that I should master at -14 LUFS, which is godawfully quiet and it is made clear by the fact that these "streaming friendly" attempts (mastered at -14 LUFS) were at least half the volume of other professionally released works in the genre. I listen to Metallica or Slayer or Lich King and they all sound decent and heavy and loud off a mobile phone, then I listen to any song by me and I have to turn the volume up, only to just cringe at the poor sound quality and the whole godawful sound, that resembles something a preschool kid mixed and sounds weak, brittle and just small and pathetic.
I had the "stupidly bass heavy mixes" issue last year, my solution was activating the bass booster of my alesis M1 520 active monitors. Since then the bass quantity is good haha Oh btw do you have an opinion about those alesis?
"In case for rock and metal, a little chaos goes a long way"...aight I am putting this up in a wall on my studio..good one Glenn..
Glenn’s band was named Chaos.
Too true. The reckless abandon of Rock/Metal needs to be respected so the chaos shines through in the mix
I am the queen of chaos when it comes to composing and mixing. Unfortunately, I fuck it up the other way and it just becomes and unlistenable cacophony most of the time.
"It's not that you're bad at what you do, you just lack experience", I really needed to hear that.
Been there, but getting better. Learning to mix (and master) is a craft and an art. These things take time and hours. You will get there.
Im currently 13 years experience and I think my mixes sounds shit hahaha
Me too!
No two ways - hands down some of the best fast-track mix tips I've heard on UA-cam!
Nice to see you here, dude! =)
Holy shit what's up Geebz?!?!
gotta leave this at 69 likes. 🤷🏻♂🤣
16:55 "Mixes are never finished, they're only abandoned".
Oh boy, oh boy, I couldn't agree more. I learned this the hard way after taking three damn years to finish mixing and mastering one of my bands' first 5-track EP.
Was it worth the endless wait? Absolutely not.
These days I just keep in mind this, that someone once said to me: "finished, not perfect". Great advice!
Dude I feel you sooo much! right now were up to 5 years for our 9 song album, re-recorded multiple times but just in the last year I realised that to even get the results you dream of, you need to mix and write alot of songs in the first place and not overcrowd everything with useless stuff which muddies the mix itself :D
I've almost finished a track, after months, and the other night I accidentally played an old version from a USB. It was a copy I'd exported when I'd "finished" mixing the drums, bass and the main set of rhythm guitars, chucked some reverb on another experimental guitar part and just left most of it raw, straight from the interface, not even amp sims on the tracks. It was great, and I realised that somehow I'd gone down a rabbit hole for a month or so, and lost the sound and feel I had only days after recording the tracks. Now I want to sit down and undo all of the work I've done on it over the last month, it was better before!
Yup the best way is to make quick decisions, mix fast and play good.
that hit hard lol. too many times i’ve duplicated a project file and completely redid all the mixing and effects, only to find out the original version sounded 10x better
Exactly! Imagine that Iron Maiden/Metallica/Whatever band tried to release their first album with the sound of their last/best ones. It's just impossible, everything is just a process, we need to accept the fact that our first works might not be best ones and keep getting better. And if our first record is really best we can do, won't it just mean we are not developing, which is far worse?
If you have crappy room acoustics, listen to how a killer recording translates on your system in your room and use that as a reference.
But surely there's limits to what this can fix, right? if you don't want most instruments to sound like the reference track, chances are you'll end up with a very different balance nonetheless
@@MoeThermodynamics That comes down to choosing the right reference tracks for the song at hand really. You're not matching it though, it's just that, for instance, if you're worried that your mix sounds too bassy, but the reference track, which you know is mixed how you like it, also sounds too bassy, you know it's the monitors and/or room creating that, so cutting the bass on your mix probably isn't needed.
Only possible to a certain extend! First thing is to try and null out the bass frequencies as much as possible by speaker placement.
If you have dips and peaks of 30+-db no reference will ever help you except the bassist plays just the same notes as your song. Try to be atleast in the +-10db range
car should be second option.
If you do not do this, you can´t properly mix low end at all and paired with no acoustic treatment you will make decision based on your room and not what the mix needs.
After countless mix revisionens (even to v88) getting a semi-treated room with enough THICK porous material was the key.
Now when I mix, I exactly know what I want to do and it translates well 80-90%.
" In case for rock and metal, a little Chaos goes a long way" Glenn, put that on a t shirt
I would definitely buy it
Yea. I would be all over that
Golden tips! Personal favorite is using templates (this has been a HUGE time saver!)
O hey Jason, nice to see you here :)
For future reference:
#1 0:59 Turn Off Your Phone
#2 2:12 Templates
#3 3:18 Top Down Mastering
#4 4:56 Mix As You Track
#5 6:09 Mix Busses
#6 7:11 Outsource the Drum Edits
#7 8:17 Cockblocker Plug-in
#8 9:17 Monitors
#9 10:52 Room Treatment
#10 12:48 Check Your Mix Everywhere
#11 15:38 Batch Processing
#12 16:08 The One Recall Policy
#13 16:53 Mixes Are Never Finished
Like my audio engineer professors always said... The song is never done, you just eventually throw your hands up and say fuck it, good enough.
Back in the old days before internet we had to read articles in industry magazines to try and gleam some useful info about how to use gear we couldn’t afford. Now you have Glen and you’ve just saved at least a hundred bucks by watching this video.
Recently bought a cheap acoustic guitar for my kids. Needs tuning..download an app on the phone! When I was learning guitar, had to buy Practical Electronics magazine with a guitar tuner project schematic. Fill in order form of all the parts from Maplin, take letter to post box. Wait a week for them to arrive by post. Solder all the bits together. Put the box together. Test it, not working, dismantle box, repair bad soldering! Ready!!
@@bri_in_brum Lol. Oh yeah, everything took months.
This is one of your best videos.
Much needed info for the uneducated mixing masses
I wish... it's in last place compared to the last ten :(
@@SpectreSoundStudios Unfortunately, the bests usually don't top the charts... 🤦
Yes
12:28 Those collapsible nylon hampers make great bass traps when stuffed tight with random, old clothes. Also the bookshelf idea you mentioned before is great. Can also use a large book case to make a diffuser by pulling all the books out to random points. Works incredibly well.
Great suggestions!!
Finally, an excuse to no do my laundry /s
I love that the delivery is METAL too! Nothing fake here....just real talk....to the point and helpful! Glenn rules!
Videos like this are so damn valueable when you start out with mixing. I haven't tried the snapshot stuff in Reaper yet, but I will definetely give it a try when I mix the EP of my Punk Rock Project. Thanks, Glenn!
Checking your mix in the car? I can't believe I've never thought of that. Thanks Glenn and keep killing it.
I always use the car. It's the only way to surround myself with speakers :)
This was absolutely one of the best and most insightful videos I think you’ve ever posted. Incredibly useful advice, thanks, Glenn
I’ve been loving your latest videos Glenn!! Lots of quality info🤘🏾🤘🏾
I've been recently learning how to mix and play guitar and have been watching you for a little over 6 months. I really appreciate your videos and find you pretty funny. Keep up the awesome work!
I check the highs on earbuds
Check the lows in cars. One advantage of working as a mechanic is I have access to multiple cars to check everything on.
I do the same thing. The car speakers are very unforgiving. I always have no bottom end
since I changed from mixing metal to produce urban music, I'm still using your knoledge and applying it to what I'm doing right now, I'll still be watching your videos cause I love your personality Glenn
I comment as I watch. a huge tip I can give for mixing is listen to you mix on a phone. they are harsh and disgusting. vocals are especially harsh and unforgiving. EQ on monitors and car speakers, but a cellphone will rip apart a mix with a quickness. well mixed tracks sound just as good on a shitty cellphone (level wise) as 1800 dollar speakers.
Yes! I have two computers in my mixing studio... one is my workstation with all the bells and whistles and the other is a 2005 Dell tower that I use to check my email and crap on youtube... Once I'm done with my mixing session, I send the tracks to the guys via Dropbox and go for a quick listen through the shitty computer speakers. Then, once it's online I like to check it in the car with my phone. I've also got a cheezy Chinese tube amp in the shed that drives beat-up speakers and I've noticed it's an actually pretty good setup for listening! And I like to listen to mixes while doing something else. When something either good or bad catches my ear enough to grab my attention away from what I'm doing, it's definitely something I need to fix or I need to take note to apply somewhere else.
this is so true! it´s like the "ns10" trick which says that the midrange defines your whole mix. This is also played by phones.
little extra tip: the vocals need to be a bit louder than they should on your phones as it´s focused on that.
tip #2 if you want to know if your vocals get through enough and aren´t masked by something. Next time when you shower, listen to your mix at nearly full volume and while you shower, try to understand the lyrics. If it works, your vocals are either too loud or perfect.
@@G60syncro Listening without listening.....this is hard to do but for some people it comes natural. I used to go in the studio when my friend was tracking his guitar parts in his metal band. And I'd listen without listening. I'd read whatever is layng around and just hang. When I'd hear a killer solo track, I'd speak up "....that one's a KEEPER!" This worked great as the engineer will get tired and ear fatigue.....my friend is likely in a bubble and tired too from his job. Me, I could spot the gems for them and cherry pick out the good stuff. Mega pro tip if someone can put their ego aside and trust another person that way!
Thanks for the tip about the rolls of insulation! I had never thought of that before. Heck you, Glenn.
Despite all the hate and shit talk you take on all the time, you never stop sharing the knowledge. I'm so grateful you never stopped. 🤘🤘🤘
Glenn, I think this was a fantastic “desert island” reference checklist for recording. Considering that it’s 13 topics in an 18 minute video, there’s a lot of guidance towards worthwhile changes folks can make or look further into.
Re: #5 Mix Busses- Aside from the time it saves the human working on the mix, these can be a godsend for folks that got ahold of some brutally resource-heavy plugins or just have a slower computer and want an appropriate way to reduce the number of instances running at once. Sometimes hardware limitations mean you gotta get a bus to solid place and bounce its output so your computer can smoothly process other plugin-heavy tracks/buses.
I often use a mic stand set up like a big T, throw a big blanket over it and you can adjust the height and move it wherever you need. Cymbal stands are great for bigger heavier blankets.
A time-saving workflow I swear by: I’m always mixing LPs and EPs as one DAW session.
This saves a lot of time, when you can jump between tracks within the same session and process identical tracks once. No more saving/loading/editing/reloading track templates across projects.
You can do some volume, pan and plug-in automation as needed depending on the songs and passages.
Track-specific lead guitars, samples and synth and put into track folders to keep everything tidy.
I know some people don’t get it, but it suits my workflow perfectly. And with reaper, you can even make 1 region per song and then batch-render your whole project as separate files in one click.
Have you ever tried that approach?
Absolutely excellent advice across the board. Mix busses especially changed my life. Also, glad to see you point out fiverr has so many good creators and editors. As a fiverr freelancer, I'm super happy to see people getting work.
Favorite channel on UA-cam, hands down. I love this guy
Just used this weekend recording demos with the guys i Play with... Now we are Deep in a discussion on how the guitar sound should be.
We used his Kemper profiler for making it easy, but the palm mutes could just as well have been with a clean preset the way they sound...
Thanks, Glenn. I always appreciate these kinds of videos. Honestly, I prefer to listen to you talk about studio/mixing tips over the mainstream "top guys" because you are straight with us and don't make EVERYTHING a selling point for some kind of product. You shoot the shit and don't bullshit. Thanks, as always! 🤘😉🤘
I'm mixing right now LOL!
And the lack of experience is shining bright!
Just know your not alone!!!!!
Great info as always! Quick tip - try to make your room symetrical - whats on the left should also be on the right. Helps quickly determine any balance issues.
I only just realised I've been watching your videos non stop for 5 years and totally forgot that I'm sitting in my studio.
I have one little pet peave in the monitor setup tip. It's not about ear-level height, but the height of the image itself, and that varies with each speaker. The right height of your setup is; when you listen with your eyes closed-> the vocalist is standing(!) in front of you. Translation of reality is key in speaker setup. You should be able to tell the difference of height in any given mix, by ear
I love that I'm not alone on labeling my mixes, final, super final, final 1, ect haha
Right?!
I had an issue with mixing when we first started. We used home stereo speakers for monitors. Soon as I got good studio monitors everything came together but it was still missing something. Lately I learned about side chaining the kick and bass. That gives you a few more DB in the final mixdown. One of the most important things I learned was the fact that the tracks have to sound decent to start with!!!! You cant polish a terd. LOL We recorded everything with Class D preamps That gave me a hell of a time trying to fix tracks instead of mixing tracks. Everything I have now, if it was recorded with class A Preamps, it will definitely sound good in the end. With what I've learned over the past 15 years, it takes time and lots of advice if you want to have a professional sounding mix...
This man is pure gold. Thanks Glenn for this video and all the usefull information!
This is THE most entertaining metal explaining video, I love it!
Wouldn’t mind seeing more of what you typically use on your mix buss these days. I’ve kinda racked my brain trying to decide if I need this or that plug-in. seeing just a comp and limiter on yours is really telling me I should simplify my approach.
One of your best videos to date Glenn! Some great tips, and I was actually surprised to see a few I was already doing. Thanks for sharing your knowledge with us plebs ;)
interesting to hear you are a top down mixer g, ive been doing it thinking im lazy, but after many years doing it my works starting to belt, cool
Awesome. After many years of trial and error I have no intention yet again to use monitors but I learned headphones, a stereo smartphone, my car decent stereo are good reference for guitar, vocals and keyboards. Dealing with real percussion requires more time and equipment for sure so I took the vsti drummer anytime or the virtual orchestra unless drummer is a genius with lot of cash and orchestra is very tight good players.
Recording a great song with well rehearsed musicians always makes mixing easier. I get better results when clients only record and mix one song at a time. Most artists on a budget want to track their whole album in a day and then mix it down for a month.
_I have always had issues double-tracking. Adjusting the volume or having my EQ set right. They come either too loud or too thin/fizzy. 🎵🎸 Old video but straight to the point. Thank you!_
Gotta love those compressed screams...
Thanks for the great reminders! I mainly produce hip hop and every single one of these tips applies.
This is gold
REW, EqualizerAPO, & a MiNi DSP Mic helped me a lot with room correction.
Glenn, been watching a ton of your videos lately. Although I’m not a metal engineer I still find a ton of useful information here. You seem like someone who knows what you are talking about, that being said what are your thoughts on the JBL LSR305 monitors?
On point as always. Thanks for this video, Glenn!
Okay Glenn, I will type my Grammy acceptance speech here! Thankyou all for ignoring my favorite music to give me an award, I always wished my favorite metal bands would have recognition like this, but you people have zero taste and that's why I am up here thanking you.
Awesome and funny! 😂 I’m doing almost everything you pointed out. As I’m not only doing mixing and mastering, but I’m involved also in co-writing, recording and producing, I’m still spending way too much time editing drums, bass and vocals, and also adding tracks… the entire process takes me like 2 weeks for one song 😭 I’m taking some advice here and I’ll try to outsource the editing. Thank you Glenn.
Monitors are great. But if your room is too small or your PC is standing against the window, like in my case, get an IEM. If I remember correctly, IEMs don't have that issue when it comes to the room, bending some of the sound in the mixing process, meanwhile your skull being the resonator.
Another tip is to get a good sound card.
If you have a PC from like 2010, where there's only USB 2.0 ports, get a PCI-E sound card. If you have a laptop, it's going to be an issue when you plug in your 2i2, only to find out that it's out of time when you play guitar for example. If you have USB 3.0 and up, the speed is not going to be an issue.
Glenn being hilarious and informative, nice info. The drummer jokes actually got me this time.
awesome video. very helpful
When I tried to record last, years ago now, I didn't use anything anyone would agree with, I used what I had, I used cheap mics even. I only own 1 SM-57 and paired it with a tom-tom mic for the guitar blend Glenn talks about, I was already doing this through my own experimenting. I just will do what I do, when I ever do record myself again, I will have some idea of what Not to do.
Thats what will make your music stand out! If I recall, the first Tame Impala ep was recorded using a crappy digital DI that was clipping the absolute fuck out of the guitars, giving it a super unique sound. I think the drums were recorded using one single compressed mic as well.
Four minutes in.... and this is f**King GOLD.
Best One yet Glen...great video
You know what? Having a video explaining specific but common terminology in software or some hardware like LUFS, RMS and other ones that aren't obvious would be really cool. Also explaining how volume scales exponentially while db value scales linearly (since it's not obvious, and the fact that 10 db more equals 2 times louder, 20 db - 4 times louder, 30 db more- 8 times louder, etc...).
Ok. The Tip with a 4:1 Ratio on the Compressor helped a lot :O Never considered that before. Thanks Glenn!
thank you for everything you do man...
Hey Glenn, any chance you can do a video on how to use outboard gear (such as a compressor) with a DAW?
I'm just not sure how to rout it. I'm using a normal Focusrite Scarlett.
Between my phone and my earbuds those are probably more important than my monitors as they give me a good reference then I listen on my phone and earphones and I know exactly what stands out and I can go back and adjust it. It has worked quite well so far.
Great tips! Like the idea of mastering at the same time; usually keep in mind that I'll add more high end/compression for the mater, makes sense to just do it as you go I suppose 🤘
No matter how I try I find my way to the same old jam. Jimmy Page knew
Great stuff, thanks Glenn
To 3:40. No need today. You dont need that much of master compression/limiting today that changes you balance.
Glenn: *brings up all those mastering plug-ins*
Me: *laughs in Ozone 9 elements*
Love the videos. They arr a big help in learning! I have to ask who the band is on the "car listening track"? Sounds like a slowed down version of strypers the valley. I was like oooo that sounds sexy.
A little chaos goes a long way! 🤘
I know ive mentioned this before but have you used a suspended floor to record and mix in? It acts as a a giant bass trap but it sucks too much out, the highs are my issue so i bought some sound dampening curtains and used some old shirts and tacked it to the ceiling in somewhat of a checkered pattern. Doesnt seem like much but there was a huge difference in the high frequency reverberation. I should probably redo the subfloor and use a little bit thicker wood if possible
For context i bought a mobil home a few years ago with an addition. One of those additions is the room i use for my music stuff. It was built to be on yhe same level which is why i have what i call a suspended floor because theres nothing fully solid under my subfloor
couldn't agree more on the mix buses, it changed my life. glenn, about mix translation: i often get feedback about levels not translating the same. it's not about the botom end, it can be about the vocals (often too loud) for exemple. any clue besides acoustic treatment?
yeaah it helps a shit ton to turn on the master compression and master limiter and then fix that stuff in the mix that sounds weird and wrong. I tend to begin without anything in master FX, when I'm happy with the mix, I'll turn on the master FX and fix the mix. Then it's just turning the master FX on and off and fixing issues as they pop up. It's nice.
Awesome tutorial, great tips and the Zilla cab is awesome.
Thanks so much!
Hey Glenn, this was great! It made me wish right away that I had put my comment I put on your last video on this one, because it would've fit better here lol! "I'm a musician and..." DUH! lol!
So I just put the damn rolls in the corner ... genius! xD
Thanks for the good advice!
You say to spend the extra money on quality monitors. Which monitors would you recommend for a room that's about 14 feet by 9 feet? My local store said a room that size needs smaller monitors. The one they have is the Presonus Eris 3.5 Actives. At $230 Australian, they're definitely affordable. (That'd probably be like $150 U.S.) Just not sure if there's a better option at that size. I expect all the really nice monitors are designed for bigger rooms.
Thoughts?
Well I learned today I was using way too much gain on my guitars, I originally dialed them at about 4 but discovered it really doesn’t take much at all. Just enough to give it that heavy sound really. The amount of clarity and noise reduction is night and day and just hope that helps some people
I feel like its extremely important that a mix sounds good through phone speakers. Thats likely the 1st time lots of folks will hear it.
Not 100% about mixing but how about proper file/folder structure and hierarchy to make recalls and finding projects/backups etc. easier?
My bass player's (who else?) set up is an absolute bombsite with random folders and files and all sorts all over the place.
"Hey, check out this cool little part I recorded. Give me 20 minutes while I find the project file"
I've got all mine set up with versions and dates added too when I'm working on stuff so I can see what is the most recent or whatever.
Thanks for the tips on bass traps. Am in the process of setting up a mix room in my basement bedroom and am real curious how the room acoustics will pan out. Am a little scared, frankly, ha ha
Great for more than metal!
Question- do you tie your hair back when tracking and mixing? I’ve often wondered about the acoustic effects of a big mop of hair over the ears!
Hey could you tell us how much income do you get out of UA-cam ?👍💥 nice channel and content! Love listening you while I'm working by the mornings!
Hey, Glenn!
Do you have a list of all albums you haver worked on?
If there were a cartoon of Spectre Sound Studios on Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon, how would the episode be?
Would you consider making a video with a cabinet with car speakers as an option for guitar cabinet?
Oh, and please, comment on the importance of lyrics vs. music, which is more important.
Cheers!
I always check my mixes in my car as the final test lol. If it sounds really good to me, I'm satisfied haha I have a GMC with a good sound system and try to compare my song quality with other bigger artists/bands.
I have the 8" Mackie monitors. I think they sound fantastic for music listening but I have pretty much nothing to compare. They sound good to me. I wish you would explain more about why they suck.
Creating Templates and Grouping tracks saved my life.👍awesome video!!!🤘🤘🤘
I've honestly left my phone upstairs and was working on a track for 2 plus hours. Didn't even think about my phone because I was so into it.
In regards to #5:
In Reaper, does putting tracks in the parent-child (or folder) format do the same thing as bussing through the Routing window? I've always assumed a folder was a quicker, more efficient way to create a mix bus, but If I'm wrong, I'd be happy to correct my workflow.
Thanks!
A question about #8... do the monitors have to be 5' sides on an equilateral triangle, or can they be closer or further apart, as long as they're still in an equilateral triangle configuration?
Like that Skull Squadron Shirt. Macross? Or Robotech??
please add chapters to these videos! Much appreciated video series!
Awesome, informative video mate. Good shit
Holy shit, you worked on Woods of Ypres stuff? Had mad respect for you already but that blew my mind. Cool shit dude.
Hey Glen, surely many of us couch critics and bedroom Professional heard of Dsoniq Realphones plugin. What are your thoughts on it? Sound too good to be true, but you never know.
Gleeennnn! Can you do a Video on Mastering? Specifically old school metal like Thrash or Prog. I have like 6 or something tracks of Prog/Symphonic Thrash, with Thrash riffs, shouty vox and multitracked Mellotrons, for that Symphonic edge. I need it sounding loud and powerful/Heavy (on every device) and professional. Mixing them was awful enough, but mastering them is just a nightmare, with them either sounding weak and too quiet or lacking dynamics, or peaking. I have no idea how to master and the Internet is just more confusing than helpful as they say that I should master at -14 LUFS, which is godawfully quiet and it is made clear by the fact that these "streaming friendly" attempts (mastered at -14 LUFS) were at least half the volume of other professionally released works in the genre. I listen to Metallica or Slayer or Lich King and they all sound decent and heavy and loud off a mobile phone, then I listen to any song by me and I have to turn the volume up, only to just cringe at the poor sound quality and the whole godawful sound, that resembles something a preschool kid mixed and sounds weak, brittle and just small and pathetic.
Best content on the tube 😀 Great stuff!!
A little chaos goes a long way! ... I think I got that covered.
I had the "stupidly bass heavy mixes" issue last year, my solution was activating the bass booster of my alesis M1 520 active monitors. Since then the bass quantity is good haha
Oh btw do you have an opinion about those alesis?