GFunkEra408
HipHop
Hey All,
So in the last year I have learned a lot about mixing my beats and songs. I went through of few online courses, but now I'm just scratching my head as to what technique is better and why ... Maybe this might help others as well with selecting a mixing course.
1st course - Ok, The first course is strict on gain staging and keeping healthy levels to a nominal level through-out the whole entire mix, and making sure that the plug-ins that I'm using are not hit too '"hot". Also, keeping at least 6DB of headroom and so forth ... I have gotten great mixes, yet they don't compete with other mixes -RMS wise (I believe this is done in the mastering stage to get stronger RMS levels?)
2nd course - The other online course that I'm going through now doesn't go through any of the gain staging stuff and basically uses a more aggressive approach to mixing beats/songs. For instance the instructor likes to put a limiter on the stereo bus and really push the faders (I.e Kick, Snare) before clipping. The ideology behind this method is to get the mix nice and loud, so during mastering there really not much more to be done. I'm still practicing, but I like the approach as I can see my mix now has a stronger RMS level and I find that it's just hitting a bit better.
Now, I'd like to know which of these two I should be following. I know music is about feel and sound, and there is no rules. Ok, I get that ... Yet I want to know which is better in the long run and what approach to you guys take for mixing?
BTW I make hip hop/RnB so I like to have my drums punchy as hell. I feel like I can't obtain that correctly with the first course. Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!
So in the last year I have learned a lot about mixing my beats and songs. I went through of few online courses, but now I'm just scratching my head as to what technique is better and why ... Maybe this might help others as well with selecting a mixing course.
1st course - Ok, The first course is strict on gain staging and keeping healthy levels to a nominal level through-out the whole entire mix, and making sure that the plug-ins that I'm using are not hit too '"hot". Also, keeping at least 6DB of headroom and so forth ... I have gotten great mixes, yet they don't compete with other mixes -RMS wise (I believe this is done in the mastering stage to get stronger RMS levels?)
2nd course - The other online course that I'm going through now doesn't go through any of the gain staging stuff and basically uses a more aggressive approach to mixing beats/songs. For instance the instructor likes to put a limiter on the stereo bus and really push the faders (I.e Kick, Snare) before clipping. The ideology behind this method is to get the mix nice and loud, so during mastering there really not much more to be done. I'm still practicing, but I like the approach as I can see my mix now has a stronger RMS level and I find that it's just hitting a bit better.
Now, I'd like to know which of these two I should be following. I know music is about feel and sound, and there is no rules. Ok, I get that ... Yet I want to know which is better in the long run and what approach to you guys take for mixing?
BTW I make hip hop/RnB so I like to have my drums punchy as hell. I feel like I can't obtain that correctly with the first course. Any advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!