4 Amateur Mixing Mistakes You Should AVOID At All Costs
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- Опубліковано 28 тра 2024
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There are 4 MASSIVE mistakes that new (and even semi-experienced) mixers ALWAYS seem to make…
And all 4 will (without fail) hold you back from achieving the pro-grade results that you're really after.
I’ve put together this simple and to-the-point tutorial to make you aware of these mistakes and help you avoid making them at all costs.
Watch my latest tutorial, 4 Amateur Mixing Mistakes You Should AVOID At All Costs.
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Hi, up yours.
Can we get a video on explaining sound selection and mixing synths and pianos for metal songs
Stay tuned!
@@FrightboxRecording I greatly appreciate it!! Thank you for everything you do!
I recommend just don't. Metal with synth is like ice cream with pickles in it
@@Ninjametal yeah, this is a super opinionated topic haha
I second this!
A lot of mix problems can also come from even earlier in the process: let each instrument have sonic room! Two or more instruments fighting for the same piece of audio spectrum is always going to cause problems. Get that right when you're laying down the tracks in the first place and the EQing later will be easy. I learnt live audio mixing years ago and I'm still amazed at how useful that skill is.
Been working really hard lately at getting it right at the source, and my mixes are suddenly getting a lot easier now that I no longer need to do science experiments with EQ lol.
With a previous video you pushed me into believing in myself, and shortly after that I found my very first client. Recording and mixing them went great and the guys from the band were superhappy with the product I delivered. I could not believe myself and that achievement.
After seeing this video I am closing my first mix with stock Reaper plugins/free alternatives and it is going to be one of the best mixes I have ever done, because I am forcing myself into working with my ears and not fancy looking plugins with wonderful UIs.
Thank you sir. You are a true inspiration to us all aspiring audio engineers.
So happy to have been a help!!
I recently had a big breakthrough involving balancing. Specifically, balancing things with faders/panning before ever touching an EQ (aside from basic HPF/LPF) compressor or anything else. It instantly made my life 1000% easier.
REAPER looks good on you, you should wear it more!
I love reaper! Its stock plugins dont look sexy but surely they work and i stopped downloading and purchasing new plugins because they have all any producer would need. These are all great advice bobby thank you!
Thank you for teaching that people should stop looking for a magic bullet to make the mix, its all in the simple things. and only upgrade from stock when you know for a fact WHY you want a different flavor.
Watching this and when I got to number one, my first thought was, I AM AN AMATEUR THOUGH!. That's why I'm here. :) I'll get better. I'm on my first attempt at a good quality recording in a long time, very long. Got a Volt 276 and it came with Ableton Lite so I'm trying that, which is quite a process, cause it's way different then pro tools. Gonna try Reaper too soon. Just wanted to say thanks for the vids and tips.
Bobby, i know you say not to drink while mixing, but a couple beers and a shot of Malört really chills the engineer the F out, and they can just focus on making them sweet, sweet tunes
😂✅
I've always been using free plugins and the only things I bought that genuinely made a big difference in my production was a behringer audio interface and Steven Slate Drums, no longer I have to spend hours EQing muddy guitar DIs or free drum samples that sound bad, get it right at the source guys.
with Bogren Drums, Bass and Guitar IRs I only overcomplicate Eq on vocals or synths, if there are any lol
thanks for helping us noobs your tips are always super appreciated. Mixing metal i find is the hardest thing to mix now. I find mixing orchestra even easier. yea i'm weird.
After all this time, regarding eq phylosophy, I just look at old gear and ask myself why it only has around 4 frequency adjustments nobs?
I'm thinking Neve figured it out in the 1970s.
Exactly!
Mr Neve figured out everything except the bandwidth control. Which he did implement in later designs.
Great video!
It proves that most have in their reach enough tools to achieve good sound, its just matter of understanding. Im still learning but I definitely can see progress.
Personally I avoid downloading plugins as much as I can and your philosophy is actually really comforting for me. Im using Reaper and whenever I can, Im using stock plugins like: ReaEQ, ReaComp, ReaXComp, ReaVerbate etc. Maybe Im just a cheap f*** :D.
Dan Worrall completely changed my mixing by a simple concept. Drum Bus should be -23 LUFS… anchor that and mix everything else to get that balance you mentioned. Then you stop fiddling making stuff louder, now I can’t hear XYZ, make drums louder, now I can’t hear ABC etc.
Oh man I love Reaper so much! Unfortunately most people still use Pro Tools, so if you want to work with more people you do have to use Pro tools, but yeah, I used to obsess about plugins too, at the end of the day it's like real life stuff, the cab plays a huge part, and you can get good results with stock plugins.
Funny thing, when I finally manage to work with some real pros, they're all using stock plugins almost all the time. That was a huge disappointment, I definitely wanted some magic, and the best guys just get right at the source, and that's it.
All great advice that was obvious to me but I may perhaps obsess over "loudness" and find myself mixing well into the red on the master... like +15db. I know that's probably way too hot but it usually only starts clipping when I go OVER that point. If I don't mix to that loudness my mix sounds too weak when comparing to most metal songs recorded from 2000 and above. Am I nuts for mixing THAT hot? It seems to sound good to me but I know in theory, you probably shouldn't go into the red that much?
You shouldn’t mix that hot, you wil loose your headroom and dynamic range. When you add processing you end up clipping and need to lower your faders loosing the balance of the mix. Hit for -8dBfs before mastering. You could try mixing into a limiter but don’t push it to hot otherwise this will also reduce your dynamic range. Note that normally a mix is being mastered after mixing to get higher levels. If you want to do the mastering yourself do it after bouncing to 2-track or learn topdown mixing technique.
Any chance you would make an EZDrummer 3 mix template and sell it? I would be happy to pay for this. I'm looking all over the internet for a decent template for drums to get started with. Thanks!
Solid advise and info , can we get the band/song name , that riff got me hooked
Voidscape: voidscapenj.bandcamp.com/track/drifting-purpose
Not gonna lie, this stuff is really useful. I make synth music and was having MAJOR trouble with it. You've inspired me to give it another go. Thanks
THANKS JEFF GORDON
You must be someone I know well 😂
It’s Tony’s bro Hanad hahaha , good to see you buddy! Actually wasn’t aware of LCR so gonna try to simplify some of my stuff with it and see how it turns out.
@@zoomiboomi Oh man long time..hope you're doing well!
How can I submit my mix for critique?
Any tips on mixing acoustic drums? My drum tracks always sound waaay too quiet. The only thing that sounds clear are the overheads. I close-mic the snare toms and kick. But they sound super quiet even though the levels are almost peaking. If I increase the volume they start to clip
I’ve had decent luck throwing a limiter on some acoustic drum tracks. Gives it a decent boost without clipping.
Sounds like you need to utilize basic compression to get more smack out of them. Learn my basic compression and EQ techniques here for free: frightboxrecordingacademy.com/heavy-mix-formula/
I'm assuming you record your drum tracks "raw" without any hardware processing? That explains why they are "quiet".
Professional studios have outboard gear that processes live inputs, the main one being a compressor/limiter and back in the day tape would also offer a little compression on the way in. Be it a dbx 160, 1176, LA-2A, Distressor or the lesser known RCA BA-6a (Acustica Audio 's El Rey emulates this).
Bass instruments are inherently very dynamic so compressing on the way in is certainly ideal. But if you can't do that, then extra compression while mixing is what you'll have to do to make up for that lack of recorded compression.
Thanks everyone, definitely gonna try these tips! 🤘
This is good advice but I wouldnt worry about the mix as much as the quality of the recording, is it in tune? does it jive with the rest of the instruments. Make a rough demo and send it out to your friends who might have connections to someone important that will think it's worth their time recording it professionally. That's what I am doing right now. I dont know how to bus, I just record, EQ, Compress and mix so that you can hear everything. Dont make this shit harder than it is
thanks !
the link is down though.
it's back up and running!
The same things all of these you are doing it wrong vids have in common is the recorded content. Everything is usually recorded really well and we all know as mixers you don't always get that perfectly recorded track.
I recently watched a Dan Worrall video about his keys to a good mix.
ua-cam.com/video/QSvdhuu2orQ/v-deo.html
Most of it echos your sentiments, but his fourth point is about ambience. My mixes always sounded like his "without ambience" example and sounded dead until I got EZMix and slapped one of the "Air" plugins on my mixes. I can't for the life of me figure out how to get a good master bus reverb setup but it seems crucial to sounding real. But I've never really seen you talk about this much. Do you have a different philosophy on master reverb/ambience?
I don't ever use any form of ambiance or reverb on my master bus. All of my ambiances are done using send FX within the mix itself. You have way more control that way.
1. Mixing too clinically, carving out every track so you can hear everything equally. 2. Not mixing with the mindset of finding and keeping the vibe.
Don’t forget gain staging.
Outside of avoiding clipping, gain staging is complete BS and completely overblown on the internet. Don't worry about it.
@@FrightboxRecording I don’t agree with that, gain staging is important to get good levels into your plugins and for the mixbus.
I mix analog so gain staging is very important. If you mix itb and use analog emulation plugins you also need gain staging. How hard you hit the input of let’s say a LA2A totally change the behavior of the compressor.
So saying gain staging is bs doesn’t sound like a good advice imo.
Another mistake is not using automation to it's full potential
Agreed!
Step 1 is unfair😂 most cubase stock-plugins are shit
I interned at a pro studio that produced bigger bands like Paramore and Breaking Benjamin...and the head mixer used a TON of stock Cubase plugins in those mixes.
@@FrightboxRecording David Bendeth’s studio?
@@freda.dubeau8855 Yes, the studio was called The House Of Loud. Unfortunately, like many other big studios, it no longer exists. I remember seeing Kato and Dan using the stock Steinberg stuff in the box all of the time and it really surprised me back then.
@@FrightboxRecording oh man, you interned at David Bendeth’s House of Loud!...
it must have been such a great experience
@@freda.dubeau8855 I really was. It completely changed the way that I approached production and from then on out I started focusing on what matters most.