AMATEUR MIX MISTAKES - AVOID THESE
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- Опубліковано 10 лис 2021
- Things the pros do
IN DEPTH MIX TUTORIALS, Music Business advice, Live Q&A, Awesome Merch
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I learn something from every Colt video I watch. Thank you Colt Capperrune.
Great tips, Colt as always. You're so right. Love the part about emotion. That's the thing there isn't a magic button for. When I used to mix live cover bands, my "joke" would be (when asked if i could make the singer sound better) is that i would reach for the "Elton John" button and everything will be great.
Colt I just saw this video. NO button for emotion! SOOO TRUE!
the best teacher,you are handpicked among many,I understood you completely and Im from Kenya,you are the first english speaking producer who explains in pure english
your videos are amazing. always so helpful and most importantly, to the point. I've learned so much as a young person getting into the world of mixing. thank you!!!
Man..just watched so many vids..
Thank you for being real💯
And explaining facits of the business as easy as you do..dope💯
I'm a new sub, just stumbled upon your channel and am happy to have done so - have watched a handful of your mixing and mastering videos today already and they're all great. Lots of helpful advice. Keepup the great work - looking forward to more videos - Great work!!
Such a cool smart and humble person. Thanx bro for your time🙏
Such great recommendations. I come from the customer home users perspective. You exactly explained the difference myself and every music enthusiast I know are experiencing. Take something like Freddie Mercury's voice for example. He doesn't hit notes 100 percent exact but it's a part of the emotion that draws the listener in and makes you appreciate the meaning behind the music. A track like Dire Straits - Love Over Gold starts up quiet and build towards getting powerful towards the end. If this was compressed to heck I think it would be boring and you would probably be of listening to something else
Thank you for this. Packed full of value!
Thank you Colt 🙏🏻
Loved this!!!
Good stuff, Colt.
Such a great video. Very helpful!
Colt, Super review !! I will keep your recommendations posted somewhere close by. Regards! Tony
Great stuff, tons of good info
Great advice for mixing and producing. 🎹
Thank You so much for the great information.
Always great !!!! Thank you.
you're straight up and to the point, so i'm hitting subscribe
great advice. thanks!
This was really helpful, thanks!
Great advice Colt! 🤘
Thanks for watching!
Just tell people to use your outro as a reference track!!! It sells itself man.
It must be fate seeing this today... I've been learning the hard way on many of these factors and needed the advice. Thank you sir!
I'm just setting up a 20 channel 8 buss console and 8 track tape machine and these are good tips still. I have no serious studio experience, so this is gonna be a big step up but I plan on being really consciousof bass build up and mixing songs section by section (mix intro to 2 track, splice with verse mix, splice with chorus exc. In the steve albini method).
We love you x
I recently dipped my toes into the country song writing world. While creating "demo" mixes of the songs, the fact that I am a songwriter and not a professional singer became even more painfully obvious: country vocals are usually right there in your face.
Of course, Colt is correct: Getting vocal tracks to sound professional is one of the most difficult tasks in song production. I spent hours trying to Melodyne one of my vocal traks, only to be totally shot out of the sky by the producer because they were not tuned correctly. They were in tune chromatically, but words that would slide up or down to a note didn't hit the end tuning with the correct timing. I completely missed that little nuance. Embarrassing.
Writing an amazing song is hard. Writing amazing lyrics is hard. Mixing music at a really high level is REALLY f**king hard. To make matters even worse...someone will always be better than you. To the folks who are just getting started in this biz, don't get discouraged. Persevere and learn from videos like this.
Totally agree with everything you said here, for timing I've found comping vocal phrases helps, also on the in your face vocal thing try an 1176 with all the buttons in. Cheers
@@satch72 Hello snatch72. Thanks for the reply. The vocal timing I'm referring to was on words in the melody that might slide up from one note to another. Like say, an A up to an A sharp. They wanted me to use Melodyne to move that one word so that when the A sharp was reached it was in perfect time with the instrumentation. It's a tiny difference, but that's the kind of thing that separates the pros from regular folks....like me. 😁
@@laynehoward2870 I see what you mean. And it's regular folks.... like us haha
seems like a fear based hobby/business. It's just music... supposed to sound good and feel good..all the other stuff ...well ...
Correct!
You forgot to tell them: it's mandatory to use group channel tracks to get faster in mixing.
Love the 2:1 aspect ratio, more creators need to move that direction, always enjoy your videos
Takes a little bit more time to edit the videos, but I think it’s worth it!
Great video. Would be cool to see a video from an amateur who has these issues and you working on these methods to make it better
I just discovered you… Glad I did. Philosophically you are fantastic. We’re talking about doing something and then showing us how to actually do it are different sides of the spectrum. I’m new to logic pro 10 and though I’m gaining knowledge by the day… It’s just very difficult to make a great sounding mix. I’m slowly getting there. And yes vocals are the hardest part. But I’m watching a lot of tutorials and doing my best. Do you have any logic pro 10 tutorials?
Just started watching you, great advice. Would you consider doing a video on how to use automation? Thanks again!
I do the same thing with the timing and tuning the vocal before I put any auto tune on it. I also have 19 years in the mixing field.
Wow I couldn’t have said it any better! One of my pet peeves is when an artist will record audio with auto tune on the vocal bus.
It’s a Colt World, Facts !
Thx Colt ! :)
Very useful.
Would be interesting for you to do a video comparing a whole song with and without full automation. Like you talked about here. Just to see how much of a difference it makes.
Hey man, I watched your monitor shootout video so many times. How do you get along with the Focals? I consider buying a pair this year. Thank you so much for the video. Cheers!
I agree with everything you say here colt! But as someone who has had about 2 years of experience (an amateur) mixing for people that have also only been artists for a few years, sometimes their budget just doesn’t allow for a lot of these things to happen. Specifically pocketing the vocal and bgv (unless they are distractingly really out of time) and automating absolutely everything. If I am getting paid $150 to mix a song, I have 5 hours to do everything and mix notes to make a decent wage. Not saying I won’t do it if I truly believe in the music, but I think a lot of these things signify an armature mix because they are. But I would say most times it’s due to financial circumstances of the artist and engineer. If I’m getting paid 500 per song to mix a song because I am a professional, I can absolutely spend that much time on a mix. So while yes these are some mix “mistakes” that show an amateur mix, it’s not necessarily because engineers don’t want to be doing these things.
You should think more about your portfolio and word of mouth advertising than making sure you limit what lower paying customers get (or don't get). If your mix sounds bad, you won't get more business from it. If someone listens to your mix they won't call you and ask why the vocals don't sound good; you don't get an opportunity to explain the shortcomings AT ALL. They won't call you at all if there are questionable parts of your mix.
i get what you’re saying. it’s like using soothe 2 on a client who pays 100 vs doing it manually for someone who pays 600
It sounds like you need to improve your workflow. I think as an engineer you need to include anything you think will improve the quality of the mix. Obviously don't include anything that the client doesn't want, but you need to use your critical listening skills to determine whether what you're doing (or planning on doing) will genuinely enhance the mix or just cause problems or waste time. Just like Daniel said, you can't just not do something like time aligning vocals just because you aren't getting paid $500 to mix a song. Treat all work the same no matter the price point, otherwise, don't accept gigs for less than what you deem is an acceptable price to do all these things, or just have a bunch of subpar mixes in your portfolio.
@@danielpool2039 It’s not necessarily that I am short on business or other engineers charging a similar rate are as well, it’s just that I think the artist and engineer have lower expectations depending on how much they can / want to spend (time and money) on a mix. Obviously fixing glaringly bad issues is a must but perfectly timing 50 background vocals when the artist didn’t have the ability or care to get it right, will probably be the first thing that is overlooked at that price point.
@@ryang9529 Well i agree with you but I think you’re missing the point. I am still an amateur and my skills don’t let me melodyne, time align vocals, mix and master a 120 track song in in an amount of time that makes 150 for a mix worth it. Can I raise my prices, sure. Will that drive away a lot of my clients who are college musicians yes. I’m just saying that it’s an amateur mix bc as an amateur engineer, I am working with amateur clients who don’t have the budgets. Yes building a portfolio will and has helped, and if I could pay rent, eat, and upgrade the studio while spending as much time as possible perfecting every mix than I would. Don’t get me wrong, I try very hard to do everything that is necessary but there’s a point of diminishing return on what you can do to make a mix that much better and still have it be worth your time. And that’s even if the client cares or notices.
Just joined patreon hoping to pick up more tips :)
Please make a full video on vocal comping,tuning and editing plss
All key points!!!
I don't really have any of these problems, but my mixes still suck. I think at this point I've overcorrected, and now I'm trying to go back in the other direction a bit. For example, my mixes tend to be too bright and thin. This means you can hear all the instruments well, but they still lack something. Now I need to reintroduce some of that low end I've been shying away from.
Chris Lord Alge - check him out...he doesn't cut, he only boosts. He has no fear...
For me compressor plugins will do this quickly. I found using a outboard compressor i dont eq myself to tears.
Valuable tips and reminders! Thank you!
(But please turn down that background music. It‘s exhausting to really listen to the content. I‘m not here to be entertained but to listen to your insight. I‘ll be here until the end of the video. So do many others I‘m sure.)
Your the best
BEST TEACHER ,,,, HOW I WISH I CAN SPEAK TO U,,, I BELIEVE YOU CAN SOLVE MY PROBLEM,,,,,, BUT I DONT KNOW IF YOU CAN GIVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEAK TO YOU ,,, BECAUSE I KNOW MY MISTAKES BUT I CANT SOLVE IT,, I BELIEVE YOU CAN HELP ME OUT,, PLS HELP ME,,, THE MOST IMPORTANT THING U SAID IS THESE DAYS PEOPLE SPOIL THEIR MIX WITH LOW END AND ,, TOO MUCH 808 BASS ON SONGS THESE DAYS,,, AND I HATE IT
Too much low end! This 100%. I struggle with this consistently. I started using Mastering the Mix's Bassroom plugin to help me with this. I don't always bake the plugin to a song, but just getting that reference is a real eye opener.
What do you mean 'bake'?
@@kikiu2619 I don't always use that plug in when I export a final mix.
Wjat does the plugin in do? I have to run to my car to hear overly resonant frequencies.
Vocals being in-tune is a responsibility of the Act, not the Mix Engineer. Rushing into tuning is also a bad call if you want a human feel as the more processed, the less human it feels. I feel like even tiny movements, really change the feel of the song so while the singer may be lazy and think tuning will fix it, if they can't grab me by the gizzards, no processing will help solve that. Later Johnny Cash records, his voice was pretty busted, but his ability to tell the story, was there in spades. I would far rather mix that than someone thinking that it is my job to make the performance.
Sadly clients still want too much low end and too much limiting so again, as a Mix Engineer, I can say This is the right way to feel like a real record (think Springsteen or George Strait or Sex Pistols) but if they insist they know better...
I just did a couple of tracks where all the original EQ and processing was massive overkill. One came to me with many tracks having 3x7-band EQs into OTT paralleled with more brutal compression. They wondered why it was hard to make their mix shine. I took it all off, then got knifed for being too "clean" with the vocal too loud. Like all songs should be Lead Kick Drum with some buried pitch-shifted mumbling. Sigh.
:-)
I feel your pain. But in the end, as a mix engineer it's our job to make the "Act" happy with the final result. If that means we are not happy with the mix, but they are (even if we've pitched our best mix in our opinion) doesn't that mean we've done our job? There are very different roles between band, producer and engineer after all. There can be some grey lines if the mix engineer is either the producer or in the band, but those come down to band dynamics.
@@MikeCashin I approach it on that I am here to serve the Song. If the song is beautiful, that should please the act seeing that reflects back on them. 🌻
@@BenedictRoffMarsh While I agree I also disagree. The client is the act...not the song. I understand that in your creative opinion you may want to go a certain way to serve the song, but as a mix engineer (if that's what you are hired as) the band hired you to make their vision come forth.
If you were an auto painter, and the car owner wanted their car painted purple, you would have to paint their car purple. You may put your creative vision forth, but it's their decision in the end. While you colour selection may serve as a better choice...it's their car and decision, regardless what colour looks better on the car. The same applies to any creative decisions if you are the creator.
Now, if you contributed to the creation...that's a different matter...
@@MikeCashin I get this "please the client at all costs" approach. I have learned to differentiate between clients who have a vision they can articulate and those who say grand but bland things like "make it great" then proceed to use more than the revisions they paid for to try to covert their (usually poorly created) song into a clone of whatever is trending on Spotifry this month. Where there is an articulated vision that I feel I can help with, I will do all I can to deliver that. If changes are necessary to deliver that vision I will do them without argument (discussion maybe but not argument).
I used to sell cars, where I saw a disconnect between what the customer said they wanted and what they needed, I tried to move them to their deeper needs as there is little worse than having that customer at your desk on first inspection lamenting their decision ;-) I do however understand fully that those days when people were open and honest about themselves seem behind us now. So I no longer sell cars. Yet I do make a living as a Mix Engineer with some very happy clients when they realize that I look past the trivial things to make the Story of their Song shine.
This is a great example where the Guide Mix was trying to be safe but the subject is safe at all so I mixed it this way, as there should be no safety in this, and got this feedback: "Benedict finds my inner self and brings it out in my songs - he finds ways to express what I want or meant to express - absolutely brilliant work!" To be honest, I did two mixes, the first I tried to make like his but it was boring and forgettable. I took it on myself to do what the song was calling to me for all along. Scott Free soundcloud.com/benedictroff-marsh/scott-free-cop-souls-benedict-roff-marsh-mix
:-)
@@BenedictRoffMarsh I like both yours and Mike's ideas. Here's my input: please the client up until the point you think something being added is affecting the integrity of your mix. I will always be honest with the client about certain aspects of a mix that they want to change that I feel will ruin the entire mix. It doesn't typically happen with vocal tuning, but you get the picture. After you politely educate the client as to why you don't feel this is a good choice moving forward, then allow them to make the decision. A little bit of an informed suggestion can go a long way, but they're paying you at the end of the day so make them happy!
Hey there..... Still absolutely love and appreciate your videos and advice, BUT I'VE STILL NEVER RECEIVED MY T-SHIRT FROM A FEW MONTHS AGO?! WAS SUPER STOKED, YEAH I'M A DORK SOMETIMES BUT I WON LOL🤟🤟
As a patreon, how much do you teach the tricks?
just saw you posted this and realized i wasnt subscribed, thanks for all the useful tips!
How did we ever make records in the anolog days... as much I love todays technology. Too many crutches to fall back on . This sentence drives me nuts "can't you fix it in the mix" sure can butt..can't we just get it right at that source
Im not even pro.. but i always fix vocals before mixing .. I can’t stand a song with detuned vocals !
I know a HardRock band who just released an album and had a pro- producer with the best audio gear ..
there was a lot of out of tuned vocals on that record .. and he was pro 😬
Check the record breaking Adel single "Easy On Me". Thank goodness Tom Elmhirst did not go ahead and tune those vocals...!
Perfect example of what I’m talking about. She’s an incredible singer, and it’s what is appropriate for the song. A lesser singer would not have been able to do that
i never understood why it's called automation when it's done manually. what is the difference between automation and adjustments? kinda confusing really.
Facts
Yo what kind of camera did u record this with?
first on a colt vid let’s goo
Haha appreciate it!!
#goals
What about bad reverbs? :D
COLT CAPPERRUNE COME TO MY RESCUE PLS
I agree with most of what you say especially the idea the using reference songs from various genre to compare your mixes. As I am mixing I drag a song two from my "Reference Song" file that I created using a number of my favorite songs. They vary scope and highlight various issues of balance, overall tonal ranges and volume (though that is another subject). The best investment any fledging home studio owner make is to get the best monitors you can afford. That for me is the most important item in your studio.
The only thing I don't agree with is moving vocal parts to align with instruments or grids. As an engineering solution to a technical issue I can see it, but as a producer isn't that a lazy way to not making them get it right in the first place. As for Autotune, I think of it in two ways. It can be used as a tool or used as an effect. I hate Autotune when it used as an effect on a vocal but I love it for gentle non destructive fixing of minor pitch issues. If I can hear it being used on a final vocal mix, I hate it. When used as a tool to subtly fix a note or two that has pitch issues on an otherwise well done performance, it's a great . Thanks for sharing. Great video.
I am guilty of automation and organization
The general UA-cam narrative around "amateur' and 'pro' bothers me. These words are not a replacement for 'bad' and 'good'. The word amateur is derived from the french word that means 'for the love of'. In other words, you do it because you love it and not just because it's your profession. Amateur is not a level of capability, but an indicator of your situation with regards to monetising that skill.
I know some killer amateur mix engineers. It's just that their lives didn't allow them to become professional and do it all the time, or they have another full time job, etc. They do it for the love of it. The only difference is that they don't get paid a sustainable wage, and in no way means that they have failed to become capable at their art.
The info in this video is valuable however, and I generally love the content in your videos. Just don't agree with the framing on this occasion, and felt compelled to stand up for the amazing amateur artists that keep turning up every day and making our lives that little bit better.
All the best x
By definition the word amateur means "done in an incompetent or inept way" so in the context he's talking about it he is using it correctly.
@@SoundcastStudios I realise that definition exists too. I understand rereading my first comment that I did not make that clear.
What I was trying to get at, is that I don't feel it is an entirely useful metric to use within education. This is because it has more than one meaning.
It can come across a bit click-baity at times online and within UA-cam more generally. That's just my opinion however. I'm genuinely curious what other people think about this.
@@ganderson87 I came into the comment section for the same reason, Usually I enjoy Colt's videos, but in this one I noticed the same thing you did. The amateur title does not mean lack of ability as far as I'm concerned, or as far as the Olympic Committee is concerned. it is the differentiantion between commercial or endorsed or compensated ability vs. skill. There are still skills invovled, even if you are not considered a "professional" at your trade. I was a "professional" in audio until I made the decision to go another route. That does not mean that my skills are not at that "professional" level. There are a great number of people who are not compensated commmercially for their craft, but are still professionals. I'm with you on this.
@@MikeCashin Agreed. Most creatives are often underpaid for their work and are therefore regarded as amateur.
I also don't understand the 'Do this like a PRO!!' trend on UA-cam. Again, it just feels click-baity to me.
I also want to reiterate that I felt the points made, with regards to improving a mix, were good in this video. I have just noticed a bit of a trend on UA-cam with regards to using terms like 'amateur' and 'pro' that didn't sit right with me, and was curious what other people thought. I understand that creators on UA-cam have to do what they need to create titles that will engage their audience however.
Colt's channel is great resource ❤️
that is an American thing...labeling themselves a "pro" or "professional", to validate themselves.....it's arrogance....Marc Rebillet has a great song making fun of it "I'm a professional" he yells....... What does that even mean...a bar singer in Vegas is a professional, a DJ at a slovakian polka wedding is a professional, some guy mixing music for Amazon online internet browser commercials is a professional, a prostitute is a professional....the mailman is a professional driver, 16 year olds at McDonalds are professional cooks......you can slap that word onto anything.... but do you want to be a professional or do you want to be Sting? Those are artists..nobody ever thought of Sting as a "professionaL......you wouldn't say that to his face.... Well maybe there is a "professional" Sting impersonator out there....if he does it often enough....and convinces himself,...its a profession...
Tip 1 the answer is Melodyne lol
And also being able to effectively use Melodyne. I've mangled stuff badly with Melodyne, and I've also pulled off some miracles with Melodyne. You really need to set aside a good chunk of time to become familiar with it and how to get the most out of it.
When I get my studio finished, There is one UNCOMPROMISING philosophy that will rule it with an iron fist, GET IT RIGHT ON THE WAY IT, OR GTFO OF MY STUDIO! I'm willing to do hundreds of Takes to capture the golden performance, but if you haven't already Nailed it 1000 times before even thinking about the studio, your wasting my time. Adding effects, automation, Eq Fine, but Auto tune or Pitch correction of ANY Kind will have no place here. Same goes for everyone else, if your a drummer NO I'm not Time aligning your Sloppy performance( Same goes for Bass), or "enhancing" the kit by adding Samples under it to make it sound bigger, if you want that consistent Rimshot that sounds like a cannon, DO IT PROPERLY, And learn how to control your dynamic's while your at it. And guitar Learn to control your strings, if something isn't supposed to ring out Learn better string control and MUTE IT PROPERLY, the Gate is there to cleanup what is unavoidable NOT to save your lazy ass.
Our Job as Studio Engineers is to Capture a great performance, Not to attempt to polish a shit one.
PLS LET ME KNOW IF YTOU CAN TEACH ME SOMETHING
Do you always wear a cap because your name is 'Cap'perrune? ;)
no hair.
Before Pro Tools there were pros.
... me, :) ...
Amateur mixtakes. Haha. Sorry.
Utter rubbish...you're telling every mixer to take the individuality out of a performance so they'll sound more business bland. Next week: how to use Isotope for mastering?
Nope. I’m telling you to be particular. To pay attention to the smallest of details. I never said you should grid the vocals. I said you should make sure they are what you think they should be. I will purposely move vocals out of time if it enhances the vibe and emotion of the song. Thanks for watching.