I filmed this video a few months ago but never got around to posting it! The next few video topics will cover : Saturation Advanced Delay techniques More Free VSTs ▶ Support the channel and get early access to these videos www.patreon.com/inthemix ▶Our Patrons - Kristopher Gage Andrew Glenny Craig Taylor Clint Hughes Dewayne Jackson Jack Austin Laurent Paret Alex Bella Kevyn Cooling Jonathan Bjornson Louis Jans Salahadin Luchito Harsh Shivansh Gabriel
I'd look for something with a minimum of 8GB RAM and a decent processor (i5 - i7 range) Make sure that you get a cooling stand, that will be absolutely essential or your laptop will under perform and eventually break sooner than it should. Even a cheap £10 cooling stand to raise it off the desk will make a big performance and noise difference. Try to get an SSD if possible, I have 250GB ssd and I wish it was a bit bigger but it really is enough for me. I also have 1TB of back up and I'm not even close to filling that. Also try to avoid features you don't need such as touch screens and special hypes speakers that are branded because you wont really be using that and it will have taken money (performance) away from the CPU and RAM. Good luck :)
Another good little trick when using reference tracks is to solo different frequency bands, (Eg. The lows, mids and highs) and compare them with the reference track. This helps hone into elements which are out of place. It's also really handy to see how your kick and bass compare to your reference track :)
Hey man! I've followed you for about a month now and I must say that almost every video that I've seen from you have been very helpful. I've produced music for a couple of years now but every time I'm watching your tutorials, I learn something new. Thanks Mike!
I would add one thing, if it hasn’t been covered already. When you assign the reference track to the mixer do not route that track to the master or 2 bus, where it will be affected by whatever plugins you have there. Instead, route the reference directly out to one and two (shown at the bottom of the effects rack for that mixer track). Otherwise, great advice.
So I just started using reference tracks and its a good track by a respected producer, however in my DAW all my meters go into the red the LUFS are to high, the VU meters go +10 etc. even when the volume is turned down. So how does that work?
Is it safe to say if I use a not-so-flat-frequency headphones to mix, as long as I mix it towards the way my reference tracks sounded like through that particular headphones, I'll be good to go?
You brother , you are amazing, I always search something for learning and I see your video and I jump onto it, thank you so much for all your advices, I really appreciate you for helping artist like us thank you so much
Question on this - do engineers feel "insulted" if artists send reference tracks alongside the mix stems for the engineer to reference? i.e. do most engineers prefer not to receive a reference track to influence the way they mix vs mixing the song to their own ability and finding their own reference tracks if/as needed? i.e. i.e. is it the artists job to supply a reference track or do most engineers usually prefer to be the one to decide for themselves if they need a reference track at all and then subsequently find it themselves if they do? Edit: When I am asking with respect to engineers preference I'm referring to more highly experienced engineers who know their studio set up and have a lot of experience in their selected genre space they are being hired to mix in by an artist.
You've done so much for me with learning FL and mixing. Thanks a bunch dude! Even though we make vastly different music, your tips are always helpful! Me I'm mostly making retro themed and styled remakes of old Amiga tracks.
The problem is most of the musicians I look up to have mixes that sound so full compare to mine Nujabes logic Ariana grande I want to give up some days.. I've even gone as far as to get alot of my room treatment and it helped but I just want to make a commercial sounding mix
Cool video man? Where did you learn all this stuff? Did you study audio / sound engineering in uni? Thanks for giving something back to others and helping. Useful video.
Great video. I noticed you have a Focusrite Scarlett Solo. I was thinking about getting a pair of headphones, and I was considering 250 ohms models, so my question is: do you think the Scarlett Solo is enough for 250 ohms headphones? And what about the 80 ohms ones?
Good question, I use the white ones 95% of the time. I have actually been testing out the two smaller ones and I now have the yellow rokits on top of the black ones (not like in this video). These smaller speakers I use when editing videos and checking mixes for a second reference. I use the black ones as stands for the yellow ones to raise them up closer to ear height :)
Where is everyone finding the file references and where are they downloading it from? No one seems to say that they just say they just open Ableton and then pull a reference track from I don’t know where and how it got into Ableton can you please help
Metalgear Tac I'm testing live streams, I'm actually planning another one tomorrow. I'm going to figure out a way to get submissions if I did something like that
Probably a dumb question but where does one download high quality mix vs master files? Does websites like Beatport offer final mix options? Or is that just the final master. Im wondering for trying to learn edm production
I have a important question. Im comparing my MIX with someones MASTER. But I want be the one who will also MASTER my own track. So if im understanding it right: Should I firstly, level match the tracks in mix session, then when Im finished with mix, export it to new session, (this time with no decreased volume of the mastered track) where I will try to reach same (original) level as reference track with limiter? (and some other final details fixing with tools like StageOne, DynOne, OZone Imager) Sry for my bad English, hope its understandable.
Thanks for your good explanation but i would just add one vital part to this if you are going to use a reference track. ALWAYS use a reference track which is in the SAME key. Because the eq is going to differ and it will vibrate at an other level. From the thickness to the overal sound. Waveforms played at another note scale can remove or add extra loudness and give your track not the results you wanna have. This is the major error people make when using other tracks for reference. My 2 important cents.
So indirectly it is teaching us to mix and master. What if i put a limiter on the reference track and lower it to -8db and then use that as a set point for my kick to mix around? Because you just said that we should lower the volume of the reference track but no instruction as to how
I would lower the reference track to 0 then slowly bring it up to match your mix track . Some limiters add color so I would advise against that. Remember to also have your reference track completely unaffected by any effects - whether that be on your Master fader (or wherever you are listening to the reference track output)
The thing is back in the day's of Abbey Road they would never do this because of he obvious. No wonder most songs now sound very naff with no soul but it sound radio friendly.
i have been following for one month i have learned a lot of things form your videos the one i got stuck i have been trying to fix it up but cannot do that i have gotten stuck in vocal recording i do start vocal recording there was beep sounds came from the back. Also dubbling the vocal quality if you can help me to sort it out please i will be much appreciated and if i record the vocal with headphones is it the good way to do that i am beginner
nick dua recording with headphones to hear the music is good but you want to make sure you are singing into a microphone, usually a cheap condenser is all you need to get started :)
Ghosts Mix 707 No worries,I use Adobe Premiere Pro to edit my videos, it's become increasingly slower with the new windows updates though, which is disappointing
Mike bro.. Now I have a 'rider' microphone with me For connecting it to my PC, Is the Audio interface important?? Or can we connect in any other ways???
Good video, thanks. In most other videos or articles I've seen about using reference tracks, they mention to try to only use .WAV files, not .MP3's. What do you think about this? It's obviously much easy to get hold of .MP3's, and well mixed ones sound very good. Do you think it's OK to use them for reference tracks? Thanks.
Hello. I have a question. To prevent the clipping of my reference track in the project from affecting the stereo out, is it enough to change the routing and direct it to "no output"?
Well I guess so? Just remember that these tracks have been mastered and will be in a lower bit rate/compressed by RU-vid etc. Overall they will sound good
Try to reduce the number of plugins, wav files and vsts you are using or look to upgrade your RAM. We all struggle with computer drawbacks but try to look at the positives and all that is possible with your computer, You've got a machine that people would be dreaming of over 10 years ago :)
Making a kick and bassline work in mono? Or actually showing how to make a bassline? A good way to ensure mono compatibility is to avoid any stereo widening on any of the low frequencies of the kick or bass :)
Agreed. Use reference tracks if you want your mixes to sound just like everyone else's. If you are just a song writer and you want your work heard then by all means use whatever tricks you can to get a half way o.k. mix to whomever. If it works who am I to knock it? If you are calling yourself a professional studio and you are mixing for clients then you need to know how to mix. And the most important thing is your room. Just $150 worth of acoustic treatment is all you need. And then you want a full range monitor system. Or close to it anyway. A pair of KRK ROCKET 5 with a KRK subwoofer (set to 80hz at least 24db / octave). Despite what you might have heard the rockets are fine when played in a room properly treated. Now you have a system that is 30 - 20 000 hz. You will be able to hear all of the bass properly and you won't need reference tracks.
I get your point, but the problem is that the human ear is used to certain frequencies from music these days. if you deviate too much from that, it automatically sounds less good. that's why references are so important
Would it be possible for you to show how to set up Span to compare to the reference track? Thank you for all your tutorials. I've learned a lot from you!
