Looking for TIPS on Mixing & Mastering technique... Sound gurus gather!

willmarinbeats

willmarinbeats
Hi everyone, this is my first post so go easy... :P - I tend to produce by myself so I figured this would be a great way to start interacting with other producers.

I recently figured out that EQing makes beats sound MUCH better. Before I would almost NEVER use the EQ feature in FL Studio... Now I use it on almost every single track in the mixer...

Anyways, this epiphany has made my beats sound much crisper on all different outputs. However, I'm still pretty new to the game of mixing. Like I said, not long ago I wasn't mixing my beats AT ALL... I just threw the melodies and drums in and exported...
fIJBdUshvBfk2v6HFNWS8-pnzbdYxtqFtt65ytRto7CLQvJXdrEy2I8Vq_vxcqOHtQO00FjCsGf4ZylMSJlNZO0yvsfYttRspQkod1_t0pTNHXPP=s0-d-e1-ft
fIJBdUshvBfk2v6HFNWS8-pnzbdYxtqFtt65ytRto7CLQvJXdrEy2I8Vq_vxcqOHtQO00FjCsGf4ZylMSJlNZO0yvsfYttRspQkod1_t0pTNHXPP=s0-d-e1-ft
fIJBdUshvBfk2v6HFNWS8-pnzbdYxtqFtt65ytRto7CLQvJXdrEy2I8Vq_vxcqOHtQO00FjCsGf4ZylMSJlNZO0yvsfYttRspQkod1_t0pTNHXPP=s0-d-e1-ft
LOL, I'm sure many of you can relate to those beginning stages.

I have beats featured all over the place but the best places to listen are either my website (www.willmarin.com) or my SoundCloud (www.soundcloud.com/willmarinbeats)!

Please give me ANY advice you have about how to MIX and MASTER better. I've definitely improved but I still think I can improve.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice/support,

'willmarinbeats
 
If you're in that early stage in learning the craft of mixing, I'd rather suggest you go rent a book abount mixing, read Sound On Sound articles, and watch mixing tutorials - to get an idea of the different common mixing tools, different techniques and hacks, and good mixing philosophy.

Any specific question to ask? Sure. But asking about "things about mixing" is a pretty broad question, which answers might as well just confuse you at the moment.
 
Hi everyone, this is my first post so go easy... :P - I tend to produce by myself so I figured this would be a great way to start interacting with other producers.

I recently figured out that EQing makes beats sound MUCH better. Before I would almost NEVER use the EQ feature in FL Studio... Now I use it on almost every single track in the mixer...

Anyways, this epiphany has made my beats sound much crisper on all different outputs. However, I'm still pretty new to the game of mixing. Like I said, not long ago I wasn't mixing my beats AT ALL... I just threw the melodies and drums in and exported...
fIJBdUshvBfk2v6HFNWS8-pnzbdYxtqFtt65ytRto7CLQvJXdrEy2I8Vq_vxcqOHtQO00FjCsGf4ZylMSJlNZO0yvsfYttRspQkod1_t0pTNHXPP=s0-d-e1-ft
fIJBdUshvBfk2v6HFNWS8-pnzbdYxtqFtt65ytRto7CLQvJXdrEy2I8Vq_vxcqOHtQO00FjCsGf4ZylMSJlNZO0yvsfYttRspQkod1_t0pTNHXPP=s0-d-e1-ft
fIJBdUshvBfk2v6HFNWS8-pnzbdYxtqFtt65ytRto7CLQvJXdrEy2I8Vq_vxcqOHtQO00FjCsGf4ZylMSJlNZO0yvsfYttRspQkod1_t0pTNHXPP=s0-d-e1-ft
LOL, I'm sure many of you can relate to those beginning stages.

I have beats featured all over the place but the best places to listen are either my website (www.willmarin.com) or my SoundCloud (www.soundcloud.com/willmarinbeats)!

Please give me ANY advice you have about how to MIX and MASTER better. I've definitely improved but I still think I can improve.

Thanks in advance for any and all advice/support,

'willmarinbeats

Steffeeh is right about the SoS articles and everything he said.

What I would suggest you do is to create a new track inside your DAW, and add a commercial song
with the same or similar genre you're producing.

When your ears start to get tired and mix like a maniac with "blind" moves just shift the mix and
listen to the commercial song.

Your ears (and brain) will snap out of the "downhill" and keep you on the right track.

You'll notice differences you wouldn't be able otherwise to the point that you may say "wtf was I doing???"

If your mix is too dark. You'll notice it. Too bright that hurts the ears? You'll notice it.

Use it and let me know if it works. I am sure it will :D
 
Steffeeh is right about the SoS articles and everything he said.

What I would suggest you do is to create a new track inside your DAW, and add a commercial song
with the same or similar genre you're producing.

When your ears start to get tired and mix like a maniac with "blind" moves just shift the mix and
listen to the commercial song.

Your ears (and brain) will snap out of the "downhill" and keep you on the right track.

You'll notice differences you wouldn't be able otherwise to the point that you may say "wtf was I doing???"

If your mix is too dark. You'll notice it. Too bright that hurts the ears? You'll notice it.

Use it and let me know if it works. I am sure it will :D

Wow, great advice. I've never thought of it that way. Yeah after a lot of mixing our ears definitely get used to the track and we hear things differently.

Thanks!!!
 
^^ I'm not sure if I fully agree about mixing being more important than the actual song itself, although I do understand where you're coming from. I think that mixing BEST compliments an already great sounding song with regards to its production elements, performance, and creativity. If a song isn't that good to begin with, the MIX will not make it any better. But to the OP, my advice is TUTORIALS, Read How to Blogs and articles, and of course PRACTICE! Im sure there are lots of forums on here you could search for also that have great technical advice. You just have to know what you are looking for since MIXING involves so many technical elements such as how to use EQ properly, compression, automation, reverb and delay effects, and the list goes on. Also, every song/genre should have a different approach with regards to mixing. It's an ongoing learning experience. even for the pros.
 
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The best mastering advice I or anyone else could ever give you is to have someone else master it for you. It is an unbiased objective person whose job is specifically to make your music sound best on all systems. I am a mastering engineer and I never master my own music unless it's for a demo.
 
Just like with production - Keep it simple, maintain your vision of the song and don't think too much while doing it, just make one decision after the other :)
 
you can read bob katz he is model for me

next i will recomand you before you doing mix is to organize the project
you need to know put the puch part first then the melow and you need to know which one is lead the kick or the base and so on

and extra tip take a sound and start explore eq before going with big track
to build your ears make sure to bypass if you feel the sound is dead mean you did it worng

and there is alot more about mix and mastering those are just the beginning good luck =D
 
Each one of these songs seems to go overboard on a sonic quality.

Not in any specific order, they are either
1. way too boomy
2. too much bass
3. too bright in parts
4. distortion too hot in parts

Each song has one of these problems.

This video will help you A/B compare you mixes to commercial songs.

YouTube
 
Your instruments should be distinct from each other and should not create a fuzz, especially when you use delay/reverb modules. Use frequencies in EQ wise, no more no less. Learn about compressor, limiter, expander, gate, which are mastering plugins too. Each genre, maybe track too, is different and requires different attention when it comes to mastering. Youtube/Wiki/Google is your encyclopedia, get material from many different sources, experiment and you can always post your work here so we can help you out.

Cheers
 
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Learn what gain staging is. Learn when to EQ and when not to. Learn how to properly use reverb and delay by using send channels, this also works with parallel compression.

There are some starters for you!
 
Hey guys new here. One book i picked up that of course made it simple was The Complete Idiot Guide to "Music Mixing". Its great and gave a lot of helpful stuff.
 
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