Mixing

Gain Staging: 4 Tips You Need To Know To Make Great Mixes

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Have you ever experienced this before?

You start working on a mix, throw the faders up, add some eq and compression, you’ve got the track feeling good…

…But then you look at your master levels…

… You’re clipping the master buss.

…So you pull all of the channels down to prevent it from going in the red.

…But now everything just sounds… different.  Your compressors aren’t quite reacting to the signal the same way, the mix feels different, your mind feels like it’s playing tricks with you, and it takes you some time to adjust to the new overall level.

Does this sound like something you’ve gone through? We’ve all been there at one point.

It’s frustrating and time consuming to have to reset your mix after putting in so much time.

But what if there was a simple way to prevent this from happening before starting the mix?

There is.  And it all has to do with gain staging

I recently put together a video with 4 simple tips to help you with gain-staging so that you can get the best results out of your tracks and save you tons of time and frustrations as you work.

Check it out here….

Gain-staging doesn’t need to be a super technical, difficult process. A lot of people over-think it. If you follow these 4 tips as you work, you will eliminate a lot of back-and-forth in your workflow. They’ll also help you prevent clipping and ensure that you get the cleanest results out of your mix.

Mike

 

Looking for more tips on how to create better recordings and mixes from your home studio?

Check out The Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: A free guide on how to use EQ and compression across a variety of instruments so that you can create great mixes quickly.

Make Your Own DIY Acoustic Panels

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Recently, I moved into a new condo.

As exciting as the move was, one thing that absolutely terrified me was how my new mix room was going to sound.

For years, I had been working out of a small bedroom to do the majority of my mixing and mastering work. Since I listened to/worked on so much music in there, I knew exactly how my mixes were supposed to sound in order to make them translate properly.

With moving all my gear into a new space, I had no idea whether it was going to be a smooth transition.

When I moved into my new condo, the first thing I did was set up my speakers in my new mix room and just listened to music.

(My girlfriend deserves a Girlfriend-Of-The-Year Award because she did the majority of the unpacking while I just listened to music for hours).

My new mix room SUCKED!!!

It sounded nothing like my old one. It was very boxy sounding and with the concrete ceilings, it was SUPER reflective. I felt like I was constantly hearing 30ms delay on everything. It was driving me crazy.

I knew that I needed to take control of the room and get some acoustic panels on the walls ASAP to fix this nightmare.

As I started to look into commercial acoustic products, I quickly realized it was going to cost me a small fortune to treat my room.

Luckily, I had some experience building my own panels in the past; so I decided to take matters into my own hands.

While I was at it, I decided to document the whole process so that you too can learn how easy it is to make your own acoustic panels.

Check out this video to learn how:

Building your own panels is very easy and can save you a ton of money. Rather than spending thousands of dollars to to get my room to sound good, it only cost me about $300 Canadian to build 10 panels.

After hanging them up on my walls, the results were phenomenal. I was able to get rid of the reflections that were driving me mad, and my room sounded so much more even and controlled.

Already, I’ve been making some of my favorite mixes I’ve ever done.

If your mix room is giving you problems, I HIGHLY recommend you look into building your own acoustic panels.

Mike

 

Looking for more tips on how to get better recordings and mixes from your home studio?

Check out The Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: A free guide on how to use EQ and compression across a variety of instruments so that you can create great mixes quickly.

Mixing Bass Guitar – Getting Balanced Low End

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Getting a balanced low end while mixing bass guitar is one of the biggest challenges most engineers face.

It can be extremely difficult to get your bass  tracks to cut through your mix without overpowering everything else and making your mix sound really muddy.

EQ and compression can be your best friends for correcting this but sometimes you need to take some extra steps to get the results you need.

In this video, I’m going to show you a technique that I frequently use to really gain control of the low end so that you can get it consistent. I’ll show you how to find that sweet spot of having the bass sit right while keeping the dynamics and attitude of the mid-range.

Check it out:

Gaining control of your low end doesn’t need to be so difficult. Sometimes it just requires a little outside-of-the-box thinking.

What techniques do you frequently use when mixing bass guitar?  I’d love to know.  Make sure to leave a comment below.

Until next time,

Mike

 

Looking for more tips on how to get the low-end in your mixes sounding big and polished?

Check out The Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: A free guide on how to use EQ and compression across a variety of instruments so that you can create great mixes quickly.

How To EQ Vocals To Sit Right

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Vocals are the most important element in your mix. They’re the thing that listeners will pay the closest attention to. Because of that, you need your vocals to be nice and present so that your listeners can learn every single word and sing along.

It’s very easy for vocals to get swallowed up amongst the other instruments in your mixes. Sometimes you may only have one vocal that is surrounded by 30 tracks of instruments.

In order to make your vocals stand above the rest, you need to pay special attention to how you EQ them.

So I’ve created a video to show you the 6 frequency ranges that you need to always pay attention to when mixing vocals.

Check it out here:

As always, I love learning what you found helpful in this video and what other topics you’d like me to cover next.

Do me a favour… Leave me a comment below

Thanks!

– Mike

 

Looking for more mixing tips on how to get your vocals to sound polished?

Check out The Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: A free guide on how to use EQ and compression across a variety of instruments so that you can create great mixes quickly.

Mixing Vocals: How To Add Energy To A Dull Performance

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Have you ever had to mix a vocal performance that just sounded dull?

Maybe the singer didn’t put enough energy or attitude into it and now you’re left with a mediocre take that doesn’t quite match the excitement of the music.

Ideally, you’d get the singer to redo the take; but sometimes, it’s too late and it’s up to you to figure out how to make it sound better in the mix.

Luckily, you’re not completely screwed and there are some techniques to use that can help.

I’ve made a video to show you one of my favourite tricks for adding some aggression and energy back into a poor performance. It’s something that every time I add into a session, my clients think I’m crazy for trying. But it really does work wonders…

Check it out:

Mixing Vocals – Why Reverb Is The Wrong Choice

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Do you find that your vocals often sound buried in your tracks?

Do you have trouble getting them to stand out so that every word is heard?

Vocals are THE most important element of every mix. Every detail needs to be carefully considered so that they are heard clearly.

Most engineers will spend the bulk of their time carefully carving out EQ and dialling in compression settings; however, so many amateur engineers seem to rush through one last very important step:

Adding effects

For a lot amateur engineers, it seems like reverb is a default effect to put on vocals. Sure, it can sound nice and lush, and it can even be quick way to make vocals sound “better”; but while reverb has it’s place, it is often the wrong choice for vocals.

I’ve created a video to show you an alternative effect that can be much more efficient to use.

In this video, I’ll show you my go-to effects settings for vocals and how you can avoid creating muddy mixes simply by choosing not to use reverb

Are you mixing with too much reverb?

 

Looking for more mixing tips on how to get your vocals to sound polished?

Check out The Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: A free guide on how to use EQ and compression across a variety of instruments so that you can create great mixes quickly.

Making Your Own Drum Samples

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If you were to turn on the radio and listen to the top 20 songs right now, I’d guarantee that 19 out of 20 of them are loaded with drum samples that were used to enhance the overall size and tone of the drums.

Are you using samples in your mixes? If not, why?

There are tons of sample libraries in the market that are full of great samples; however, one of the easiest ways to grow your sample library is to make your own.

In fact, there are many advantages to using your own samples.

I’ve made a video to show you exactly how create your own and when/how to use them in your mixes.

Check It out…

Do you make your own samples? What are some of your favorite sample libraries?

– Mike

 

Looking for more tips on how to create pro-sounding mixes from your home studio?

Check out The Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: A free guide on how to use EQ and compression across a variety of instruments so that you can create great mixes quickly.

The Secret Weapon For Mixing Snare

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Do you struggle with getting your snares to sound big and punchy in dense mixes?

Maybe you’re constantly fighting to get enough volume out of your snares to make them sound like they’re right in your face.

If so, you have to check out this new video I made on mixing snare for rock music.

In the video, I’m not only going to show you how to use EQ and compression on your tracks; but I’ll also let you in on a plugin that many pros consider to be their secret weapon for getting big, loud snares.

 

Looking for more mixing tips on how to create big, polished sounding drums?

Check out The Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: A free guide on how to use EQ and compression across a variety of instruments so that you can create great mixes quickly.

Create Separation Between Kick And Bass

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One question I often get asked is:

“How do you create separation between the kick and bass?”

I’ve decided to make a video to show one technique that I often use to create a tighter pocket for my kicks.

In this video, I’m going to show you how to use sidechain compression in order to make your kick and bass parts work with each other so that you can:

  • Create more energy/movement in the low end
  • Make your drums stand out more
  • Prevent your kick and bass parts from masking each other

Whether you’re working with rock, pop, dance, or metal, this technique is really useful.

Check it out, give it a like, and feel free to comment on it.

– Mike

 

Looking for more tips on how to get the low-end right in your mixes?

Check out The Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: A free guide on how to use EQ and compression across a variety of instruments so that you can create great mixes quickly.

When Do You Know Your Mix Is Done?

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One of the biggest questions I get asked is “how do you know your mix is done?”

This is a dilemma that every mixing engineer has encountered at some point in their lives; and depending on your workflow, it can have a major effect on your skill level, income and sanity.

I remember asking a Grammy award-winning engineer how I could improve my speed and get great mixes done faster; his response was:

“Stop being a perfectionist… No one is perfect. No mix is perfect. And everyone listens to songs differently.  That last 5% that you struggle to get perfect in your mix, means nothing to your client. Chances are they won’t hear it and you’re just going to waste hours trying to please your own ego – which you’ll never achieve because perfection doesn’t exist”

It can be a hard reality to face – but it is so true.  There are so many times engineers find themselves trying to make “one last change” or asking themselves “what if I try this?” only to find they’ve wasted their time and/or have actually made their mixes worse.

The biggest mixing engineers in the world work fast! Some of them including Chris Lord-Alge (Green Day, Black Eyed Peas, U2) make some of the best sounding mixes in a 3hr timeframe.

So how can you tell when your mix is done? Here are a couple techniques I use:

Before you start mixing:

Set a deadline

  • Give yourself a few hours to complete the mix
  • Setting a deadline will make you work faster
  • It forces you to commit to the work you’ve done
  • It allows you to keep a clear vision for how the mix should sound. The more time you spend second-guessing things, the more you will lose sight of what you should be doing

At the end of that deadline:

1. Listen to the mix as a listener (not an engineer)

  • Turn off your computer screen
  • Don’t make any adjustments to the mix during this listen
  • Listen for things a fan might find distracting. Are there any big volume jumps? Can you hear the instruments clearly?
  • Remember, your goal by this stage, is to have a song that sounds nice and complete. You don’t want to “hear” the mix.
  • If after listening, there aren’t any major changes that really stick out, consider your mix done.
  • If there are some changes, set another (much shorter) deadline to complete them

2. Ask yourself, “Am I just tinkering with plugins/faders without having an objective?”

  • Don’t change things just because you have the ability to
  • If you find yourself guessing what to do next; most likely, you’re all done the mix.

3. Ask your client

  • Don’t be afraid to ask them how they feel about the mix
  • They’ll let you know if they’d like any changes
  • There’s no harm in letting them hear something you might consider “an incomplete mix”. For all you know, they might actually think it sounds great and is done already
  • Remember, your job is to give them what they want – not what you want

4. Bring in a third party

  • When you think you’ve got your mix in a good spot, bring in someone who has never heard the song before and get their opinion
  • Preferably, try to choose someone who isn’t an engineer so they can give you a “fan” perspective
  • If they don’t point anything out to you that needs fixing, you’re done the mix

By personally implementing these steps, I’ve saved myself many headaches and hundreds of hours of mixing time.

Sure, it can be hard to let go of a mix; but if you’re constantly chasing perfection, you’ll never get anything done.

Think of how many more clients you can have; or how many songs you can release with all of that free time saved by no longer nitpicking.

I’d love to know what techniques you use to determine when your mixes are done.

– Mike

 

Looking for more tips on how to create pro-sounding mixes from your home studio?

Check out The Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: A free guide on how to use EQ and compression across a variety of instruments so that you can create great mixes quickly.

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