Bro, there are SO MANY Insta accounts where people have tens of thousands of followers just sharing absolute TERRIBLE information. Thanks foe clearing these up!
I’m not a pop nerd, more all over the place, but I constantly coming back to your channel, you are so meticulous, competent and tasteful, and wise!! Thanks!
This video is SO important. I've watched thousands of tutorials by now about every topic I could think of and every time I come across a rule that would very much change something in my workflow. For the last year I've been starting to visit older ways and older techniques and I just felt that all these rules I've been learning have just been capping my production skills. It's good to have someone tell me that I really don't have to listen to all of these rules all the time if at all. Thank you!
First of all, GREAT video!! I would like to add to conversation about LUFs... With Dolby Atmos mixing on the rise, there is a standard (-18 Integrated LUFs). And the only reason for this is because there is no good way for Limiting with the Dolby Renderer. When you fold-down from 7.1.4 to 5.1 or even Stereo, the integrated LUFs change significantly, typically increased. Without limiting, you can't control your volume as well. Most producers have a Stereo mix and a separate Atmos mix, and I think that is great. Let's see a Part 2!!
Great influencer! Been following you for some time. I want to add one thing that you've missed to mention. Tip 5. Is correct apart from one thing. Some external plugins internally can't handle over 0db while going IN (Distortion/clipping might occur) so when going into them it's a good idea to be below 0db for that occasion. Agreed otherwise with everything.
Yeah! We mention that in our gain staging video. I strongly recommend reading the manual and understanding how ever plugin operates and what it wants for input levels / output levels to work "ideally"
Thank you for debunking the -14 LUFS as like the first thing!!! I always aimed for that and then basically cry when I stream my tracks compared to like Ariana Grande because the big pop records are so much louder. Also thanks for clarifying the bass mono cause that was driving me nuts on my latest mix, I felt like it was fine in stereo 😅
I love this video because I went to Full Sail where they taught a lot of “Industry Standard” stuff and when I left there and went into the real world of mixing, I learned that everything is subjective and there are no OFFICIAL rules. Do what you feel and what sounds good. Enjoy the music🙏🏽🔥
the "less is more" thing got me become insecure about my shit for the longest time, cuz MOSTTTTTT of my shit surpass 210 tracks, cuz of the ear candies and details and all, but always felt that im doing it wrong cuz im not doing it under 100 tracks or whatever.. ART IS SUBJECTIVE and don't let people bash a rule for whatever reason lol, just have fun, use ears and there's a high chance you'll end up sounding better than the people who constantly follow these mindless rules
The less is more is actually one of the most important guidelines of music production. But you gotta apply it the right way. A pop song can get ruined if there's too many ideas and melodies for the listener to take in. And a production can get boring if too many layers dilute the soundscape. If you can delete tracks and still keep the vibe intact than it's more often than not a good idea to do so. But in the end how many tracks you end up with is very irrelevant!
100% on that point on mastering! I've mastered a fair few albums and my clients have watched a couple tiktok posts on mastering music, and suddenly they're the mastering expert telling me that how I master my music to -10/-9 LUFS makes me bad at my job.
i do the mono bass thing.. for phase compatibility like you mentioned, but I only do it to the sub frequencies. the higher more audible parts are left stereo so I still get the width.
Thanks Austin. I love the way that over the years, some of the most iconic songs broke the rules of the day! Agree wholeheartedly that guides can be useful, but do what the production needs.
Absolutely love your style and thought process. I couldn’t agree more. I think some of the bs rules were created back when bs producers needed to justify their extreme prices or to impress their customers who didn’t know any better. Thanks for your videos and great content!!
The -14 dB LUFS advise lived shortly and spread before the advise was abandoned. You can push your mix as hard as you like and decide for yourself if it breaks up too much when normalized. It's very much material dependent.
yeah the whole -14 lufs just comes from the idea that Spotify will readjust it if its louder or quieter. But seriously I've seen Skrillex tracks -4 and -3 db and it sounds normal.
@@rebirth4119 I would have to say from a technical standpoint it has to do with lack of harmonics taking up the mix space for electronic mixes. So yeah that wouldn't surprise me
I think the point of gainstaging is usually less about thinking that you can't go above 0db for some reason, but more about convenience. cause when your mixer is not near 0db yet it gives you more room to work with when mixing. you can freely try going louder or quieter to taste
I feel like it's important to make a differentiation between making your bass mono versus making your sub bass mono. I know people may just hear the term bass and expand it too much, but the concept of making your bass mono really should apply to the sub bass region. Sub bass is more 20-60Hz, and bass goes all the way up to 300Hz. I think the Taylor Swift - Maroon song is a good option to showcase that it's okay to have some side information in the bass, but it's important to point out that the side information is like 10dB quieter in the sub range 20-60Hz (over 3x quieter than center information) than in the bass range 60-300Hz, where it's about 0-6dB quieter, so much closer mid-side ratio. The importance of monoing the sub bass comes from the concept that anything under 60Hz generally is only going to be replicated through a subwoofer, which is by design a mono playback device. So if you want your subs to really exist in things like cars or club systems, it's just not even worth having a lot of the mix focused on the sides down there, and helps to keep things focused, tight and impactful on the subs. Just think it's worth differentiating sub bass from bass on that specific point, to better clear up why there is a loose 'rule' regarding that, since there are real world physics that explain why that rule mathematically makes sense. I agree you don't need to brickwall cut all side information out of the subs, but it still helps for a stronger mix on subwoofer playback to keep the focus in the mids.
I totally agree. But I think it gets more important at larger audiosystems. Sub has to be mono if you are making electronic music which is played in clubs or on festivals. If the sub is not mono the audiosystem probably cuts one channel and the track will loose important parts of the low-end. As there are different audiosystems with different setups you should probably go for everything under 80-100Hz to be safe. I can only speak for clubmusic like house or techno but here it easily can kill a track if some important parts of the low-end get lost.
@@co5inus It's also more than just club systems. It could be a mall, or gym, or restaurant or store. It's a lot more playback systems than just crappy phones and Bluetooth speakers. There are a lot of places that have mono playback setups. Not all of these really are going to have subs producing 20-60Hz, but it just strengthens the concept of making sure your mix translates to mono and important elements don't get too lost when flipping stereo to mono.
Great video, but I'd be tempted to add... No. 6. - "Because N famous engineer does it means it's the right way" - I see this being thrown around excessively often, despite the objective faults the method being propagated has on the overall mix (squashed peaks and dulled transients when you mix into a limiter, phase shift when using parallel EQ). They believe some engineer's name is a magic repellent for reasonable and sound arguments against those methods, which is completely off the mark.
Totally agree etc that beside subjectivity, there are some acoustic concepts that help a lot when you understand it. And, the headroom for the mastering engineer is just a mater of leaving space for the mastering engineer to work and a lot of actual big mastering engineer said that they prefer to have headroom. However if your mastering engineer don't care about it, then it's ok of course. And thanks a lot for reminding that gain staging everything with VU at -18 or whatever is mostly a lost of time.
"Vet the sources" great tip. Reference your tracks People. Definitely this video bares repeating. Some EDM tracks are -4 LUFS but much of that level is achieved in the actual mixing process so its comical when anyone suggests -14Lufs 😂
another popular misconception: you have to always tune your kick to the key of the song(or a note in the scale) Reality: unless it tonally sounds off(most of the time its not very audibly tonal) that it creates unnecessary dissonance, its totally useless to retune it. it does not make the kick and sub gel any better together and it only comes down to sidechain(not an audible pumping sidechain but multiband so its subtle) and phase alignment. Retuning your kick in your DAW will actually result in quality loss(frequency shifters are better tbh) because pitching algorithms aren't perfect.
Hey Austin, I've been a fan of your channel for a couple years now. I do the songwriting, production, mixing, etc with my band Foreign Figures and you've given me a lot of good thoughts even for a more alt pop rock band. I don't think I've stumbled across a MPM vid that covers the minimal production style that a lot of pop music has adopted where elements are so bold and minimal that everything needs to be really intentional. Teeth by 5SOS, Enemy by Imagine Dragons and Unholy by Sam Smith are a few songs that come to mind in this world. Would you have any interest in making a vid on this topic? I'd be curious what your thoughts are. Many thanks dude. Hope we get to work together someday.
Do one of these thats more entry level. I don’t know enough about mastering and stuff to even know what this stuff means haha. So more basic “rules” that may be bs
Really awesome and needed video. The ''problem'' with all those rules is that nowadays producers are trying to get pro mastering with a couple of clicks and methods that could make them skip from listening to the song and actually working with their ears on what sounds good and what doesn't. For me, that's all about being lazy and trying to avoid the work for the art. And of course: RUclipsrs giving ''advice'' for whatever that could bring views and likes.
I think people confuse producing with mixing. Producing means the sound sounds as it needs to, no matter how much fx are being used. Since it is baked in and it fits you won't need to do much at mixing because the sound was shaped before enough.
I tell you what... -14 LUFS but the DR is 8 or 9. So is it "too dynamic"? About the low end in mono would be make sense for vinyl to not take over much physical space. About the -6 db peak for premasters well you don't have to since it'll peak all over the place without any master processing. Sometimes I can go -9 or -6 peak but it's best to export in 24 bit I guess. "Less is More" is an phrase to avoid yourself from getting overwhelmed. There's no limit on how you can add something in your project. I don't use VU meter personally.
@@MakePopMusicI know most of the tips already but mono sub bass thing was new and interesting. I always keep bass mojo and cut 100hz from every other track lol
Disagree with the first point. You are not "leaving so much loudness on the table" mastering at -14 Lufs, because streaming services normalize the perceived loudness, so it literally doesn't matter whether your master is louder or not: It will be turned down. Turning that feature off makes no sense and I wouldn't advise anyone to do it. Also, people have a volume knob on their speakers so if they want it louder, they can turn it up. Digital audio is linear, so volume does not affect tone. However, you are losing headroom and dynamic range when squishing your mix like that. All you are doing is increasing ear fatigue and reducing clarity. And the more you squish it, the more you destroy your mix. I can't imagine any scenario where clipping your audio actually improves it (It's just louder, not better). If the audible difference the master limiter makes is preferable to you, fine, but aim for that difference and ignore loudness. Mastering at -14 lufs is a good idea. Whether pro-mastering engineers do that or not does not matter. They do it because the client expects it, so they apply their skills fighting against that master limiter so it wouldn't destroy the mix enough to make an audible difference. You do not have to participate in the loudness war. It's over. It ended a long time ago. 7:43 "The only thing that the mastering engineer should do, is trying to get your mix as loud as possible". Fuck that. I wouldn't want to work with a mastering engineer if that's all they did. Normally, if your mix is good enough, all it needs is a master limiter and that's it. The job of the mastering engineer is to make your mix sound better as a whole and make it translate better on different speakers. Whether it's louder or not (As long as it's at least -14 lufs) does not matter anymore.
The difference is whether you master for streaming only or for cd. Big releases are always for the latter, thus -6 to -9, or if metal -1. Why bothering to master a mix (-32/-16) to -6 if it will be turned down to -14?
So much more goes into mastering then just achieving the LUFS. If you like the way a song sounds at -14, then leave it. Most pop mastering engineers want much more compression, glue, and even saturation and that almost always pushes it past -14. So to make it back down to -14 would essentially just take away perceived loudness and would ruin the balance of the transients and low end information. I’ve had stuffed mastered by the biggest mastering engineers in the world. They always do one master because I normally just send to streaming, and they’ve literally all been -8.5 to -6.5 LUFS.
i saw a 2 years old video on your channel about making pop music like olivia rodrigo like something,i just wanna know that what mic you used for vocal recording. pls reply because in whole video i just see a collar mic.
I am sharing a professional insight that I also discussed with a Platinum producer. Two masters is wise, why? The louder master for platforms like Apple Music, BeatPort and Juno Download. Why? They show the true loudness. Why not Spotify and RUclips then? A louder master at these two can be quieter than a -12 LUFS master. Less is more in the cases of Spotify and RUclips. There shall be no clever reason to stick to one master, and if that will compromise one of the mentioned platform to the worse.
It’ll sound completely different though. A -7 and -14 LUFS master is gonna have a completely different feel. I would only do a separate master for physical printing
@@MakePopMusic Yes, but I am purposing on -11 vs. -8.5 LUFS, for instance. It hugely depends on the song, but many are similar at these. I hate that -5 LUFS hype, or louder which can harm a lot of mixes (sides are swelling up etc.).
Yeah… I’m curious about this idea… because making a mix that sounds great on the phone versus literally EVERYTHING ELSE is annoying me just a little. I have a mix that sounds WONDERFUL on very cheap buds… and the vehicle, and the computer, and the monitors, and the headphones, and anything - except for on cheap phones like the LG Stylo4+… but - you can listen to OLD STUFF like AiC Unplugged or new stuff like Talk and it sounds fair enough. It’s grinding my gears, mayne. I mean, I’ve worked it out and redone the whole thing and got it sounding even better and it’ll probably do well on the phone now… but many were proposing two different masters for this scenario… then I got it sounding decent on the phone and then RUclips demolished it. What’s… going on. If I wasn’t such a stubborn loser, I would have quit by now with the HUNDREDS OF HOURS I’ve poured into working on this stupid song that I feel like slapping the artist (me) for existing. I’m getting there… I’m just stupid.
@@TarzanHedgepeth depending on your budget I would just get slate VSX and be done with it. There are too many variables regarding speakers and room quality that make such a system better than most solutions out there. I've been through IK multimedia ARC and sonar works but VSX seems like the best option in 2023. Hornet VHS and Acustica Sienna being cheaper alternatives.
On the "amount of fx per track" thing.......what would be your rule of thumb as far as deciding whether to add more than 10 fx (needing to route to a separate insert in FL) vs going back and starting fresh?
more than 10 fx could be excessive, but print the sound at different stages and keep tweaking if you want! Just make sure every insert or FX has a purpose
could you do an alt. Pop/Experimental pop in the style of Jean Dawson tutorial. I feel like his kind of style is pretty versatile and he's one of my favorites out right now.
Lol guess I preach against 10,000s peoples. I always feel I don’t need to cover this in my videos but I’m glad there are people like you I can send others too for confirmation 🎉
I’m trying to mix and master a trap song, I’m using reference mixing and I noticed that most trap songs low end are mono. There most be a reason for this. Do you think this is because of the nature of 808s???
Bass= mono instrument. Even if you pan a sub, you won’t be able to detect the direction of that sub so it will appear mono anyway in all situations apart from on headphones or large near-field speakers. The reasons to use mono are purely from a loudness and efficiency aspect. If you were to pan a sub sound it’s volume would not be able to increase in the speaker it’s panned to, so would be half the volume. Therefore any panning is just a change in volume of perceived sub and not useful at all. It can also be very unpleasant in headphones.
Headphones are the #1 way people listen to music now. You don’t actually get any extras headroom if you make a stereo sub into mono. I’m simply saying if stereo low end is part of the sound or sound design, don’t just automatically cut the sides or make it mono because it won’t really do anything good for the mix, but may take away from the actual individual element (especially for things like wide Reese basses, big stereo kicks, etc.
Not anymore really. You can turn off loudness check. Also, the amount of glue and dynamics is different so I master for sound and not just loudness. You can’t ever get the vibe I want at -14 LUFS
Awesome vids !! I would actually like to see how you achieve -4LUFS on a hip hop beat still being punchy. And a part two of this vid would be nice of course !! THX FAM !!
@@MakePopMusic Thx for replying bruh. What I meant was, if you could actually show the process on how to achieve such loudness, without sacrifying punch. GREETZ
I was talking with Chris Lord Alge and he says he never has to go higher than -12LUFS when limiting....I just use my ears but that's the advice I got from a way more successful guy than I have been so far.
I mean mastering to -14 LUFS is of course not required. But if a song sounds good at -9 LUFS than in todays word there is no need to fight the loudness war anymore.
I agree to a point. The thing about driving a limiter harder is that you can get perceived loudness so even if a -6 master gets normalized to -14, it'll still FEEL bigger because it's more compressed, you don't have these small pokey transients, etc. Some stuff sounds amazing really soft. Like jazz, or dynamic orchestra stuff, or soft acoustic ballads. But if I hear a Lil Baby song at -14, it's just gonna be a pokey kick and a loudddd ass vocal 😂
@@MakePopMusic I think it depends on what you want. You can compress very hard at -14 as well, but then you can have in addition to that snare hits for instance that go over the compression and create even more impact. This potential is just not used at the moment, since noone trusts the end customer really listens at -14. :D
Would love to hear you break down Joan - "Nervous" as an example of how something that sounds like "less is more" is actually an "insane amount of shit" 😂...seriously though, that would be a sweet tutorial.
Bro, there are SO MANY Insta accounts where people have tens of thousands of followers just sharing absolute TERRIBLE information. Thanks foe clearing these up!
LITERALLY. Gives me a stroke when I see an infographic on IG at this point. Hahaha
@@MakePopMusic YES! I’m not gonna drop any names but there are some REALLY bad ones out there. Really. Really
Bad hah
I’m not a pop nerd, more all over the place, but I constantly coming back to your channel, you are so meticulous, competent and tasteful, and wise!! Thanks!
This video is SO important. I've watched thousands of tutorials by now about every topic I could think of and every time I come across a rule that would very much change something in my workflow. For the last year I've been starting to visit older ways and older techniques and I just felt that all these rules I've been learning have just been capping my production skills. It's good to have someone tell me that I really don't have to listen to all of these rules all the time if at all. Thank you!
This video is well appreciated, thank you! Part 2 would be awesome!
First of all, GREAT video!! I would like to add to conversation about LUFs... With Dolby Atmos mixing on the rise, there is a standard (-18 Integrated LUFs). And the only reason for this is because there is no good way for Limiting with the Dolby Renderer. When you fold-down from 7.1.4 to 5.1 or even Stereo, the integrated LUFs change significantly, typically increased. Without limiting, you can't control your volume as well. Most producers have a Stereo mix and a separate Atmos mix, and I think that is great.
Let's see a Part 2!!
Holy hell. Thanks for putting me on Joan. Been listening all afternoon. My little early 2000's heart is so hapyyyy.
They’re THE BESTTT
Great influencer! Been following you for some time. I want to add one thing that you've missed to mention. Tip 5. Is correct apart from one thing. Some external plugins internally can't handle over 0db while going IN (Distortion/clipping might occur) so when going into them it's a good idea to be below 0db for that occasion. Agreed otherwise with everything.
Yeah! We mention that in our gain staging video. I strongly recommend reading the manual and understanding how ever plugin operates and what it wants for input levels / output levels to work "ideally"
Thank you for debunking the -14 LUFS as like the first thing!!! I always aimed for that and then basically cry when I stream my tracks compared to like Ariana Grande because the big pop records are so much louder. Also thanks for clarifying the bass mono cause that was driving me nuts on my latest mix, I felt like it was fine in stereo 😅
Finally 😅 thanks a lot
A lot of valuable information in this. Thank you so much!!!!
I would love a part two! Thanks for the breakdown!
Wait until people find out that
"The best mixes don't even need mastering" - Bob Katz
absolutely needs part 2! :)
I love this video because I went to Full Sail where they taught a lot of “Industry Standard” stuff and when I left there and went into the real world of mixing, I learned that everything is subjective and there are no OFFICIAL rules. Do what you feel and what sounds good. Enjoy the music🙏🏽🔥
Amon brother, rock on!
the "less is more" thing got me become insecure about my shit for the longest time, cuz MOSTTTTTT of my shit surpass 210 tracks, cuz of the ear candies and details and all, but always felt that im doing it wrong cuz im not doing it under 100 tracks or whatever.. ART IS SUBJECTIVE and don't let people bash a rule for whatever reason lol, just have fun, use ears and there's a high chance you'll end up sounding better than the people who constantly follow these mindless rules
Ayyyyy you’re here
The less is more is actually one of the most important guidelines of music production. But you gotta apply it the right way. A pop song can get ruined if there's too many ideas and melodies for the listener to take in. And a production can get boring if too many layers dilute the soundscape. If you can delete tracks and still keep the vibe intact than it's more often than not a good idea to do so. But in the end how many tracks you end up with is very irrelevant!
@@martinthe3rd664 exactly lol, dont care about track numbers, fx numbers etc, the result matters the most, no matter what the process is lol
@@alexzehnmusik hi :)
These aren't bs but outdated, innovation changes everything so its good that we can have these conversations and evolve.
Would love to see a part 2!
100% on that point on mastering! I've mastered a fair few albums and my clients have watched a couple tiktok posts on mastering music, and suddenly they're the mastering expert telling me that how I master my music to -10/-9 LUFS makes me bad at my job.
One of my fav vids of 2023!!! Thanks for pointing all this out!!! Agree with everything you've pointed out here!
Yeah, I want part 2! It is never bad to know or analyze better these tips or rules!
i do the mono bass thing.. for phase compatibility like you mentioned, but I only do it to the sub frequencies. the higher more audible parts are left stereo so I still get the width.
Thanks Austin. I love the way that over the years, some of the most iconic songs broke the rules of the day! Agree wholeheartedly that guides can be useful, but do what the production needs.
Absolutely love your style and thought process. I couldn’t agree more. I think some of the bs rules were created back when bs producers needed to justify their extreme prices or to impress their customers who didn’t know any better. Thanks for your videos and great content!!
Honestly, this might be your best content. Super helpful. Getting into the weeds on the finer points but keeping digestible. Great stuff!!
Let's see how many fights I start in the comments. Hahaha
@@MakePopMusic All the best content is a little controversial 😊
"I want people to fear how much they love me" - Michael Scott
The -14 dB LUFS advise lived shortly and spread before the advise was abandoned. You can push your mix as hard as you like and decide for yourself if it breaks up too much when normalized. It's very much material dependent.
Thank you man
Agreed on -14.LUFS being too dynamic for most music genres. -10 is my compromise loudness number....plus it's easy to remember!
yeah the whole -14 lufs just comes from the idea that Spotify will readjust it if its louder or quieter. But seriously I've seen Skrillex tracks -4 and -3 db and it sounds normal.
@@rebirth4119 I would have to say from a technical standpoint it has to do with lack of harmonics taking up the mix space for electronic mixes. So yeah that wouldn't surprise me
Thank you for your effort A . love the info and your website.
I think the point of gainstaging is usually less about thinking that you can't go above 0db for some reason, but more about convenience. cause when your mixer is not near 0db yet it gives you more room to work with when mixing. you can freely try going louder or quieter to taste
I feel like it's important to make a differentiation between making your bass mono versus making your sub bass mono. I know people may just hear the term bass and expand it too much, but the concept of making your bass mono really should apply to the sub bass region. Sub bass is more 20-60Hz, and bass goes all the way up to 300Hz. I think the Taylor Swift - Maroon song is a good option to showcase that it's okay to have some side information in the bass, but it's important to point out that the side information is like 10dB quieter in the sub range 20-60Hz (over 3x quieter than center information) than in the bass range 60-300Hz, where it's about 0-6dB quieter, so much closer mid-side ratio.
The importance of monoing the sub bass comes from the concept that anything under 60Hz generally is only going to be replicated through a subwoofer, which is by design a mono playback device. So if you want your subs to really exist in things like cars or club systems, it's just not even worth having a lot of the mix focused on the sides down there, and helps to keep things focused, tight and impactful on the subs.
Just think it's worth differentiating sub bass from bass on that specific point, to better clear up why there is a loose 'rule' regarding that, since there are real world physics that explain why that rule mathematically makes sense. I agree you don't need to brickwall cut all side information out of the subs, but it still helps for a stronger mix on subwoofer playback to keep the focus in the mids.
I totally agree. But I think it gets more important at larger audiosystems. Sub has to be mono if you are making electronic music which is played in clubs or on festivals. If the sub is not mono the audiosystem probably cuts one channel and the track will loose important parts of the low-end. As there are different audiosystems with different setups you should probably go for everything under 80-100Hz to be safe. I can only speak for clubmusic like house or techno but here it easily can kill a track if some important parts of the low-end get lost.
@@co5inus It's also more than just club systems. It could be a mall, or gym, or restaurant or store. It's a lot more playback systems than just crappy phones and Bluetooth speakers. There are a lot of places that have mono playback setups. Not all of these really are going to have subs producing 20-60Hz, but it just strengthens the concept of making sure your mix translates to mono and important elements don't get too lost when flipping stereo to mono.
@@LETTMusic True. You really should avoid running into phasingproblems in the bassarea.
It’s been a while since I’ve watched a video.. I go in and out of binge phases but I’m glad to be back!
Great video, but I'd be tempted to add...
No. 6. - "Because N famous engineer does it means it's the right way" - I see this being thrown around excessively often, despite the objective faults the method being propagated has on the overall mix (squashed peaks and dulled transients when you mix into a limiter, phase shift when using parallel EQ). They believe some engineer's name is a magic repellent for reasonable and sound arguments against those methods, which is completely off the mark.
Totally agree etc that beside subjectivity, there are some acoustic concepts that help a lot when you understand it. And, the headroom for the mastering engineer is just a mater of leaving space for the mastering engineer to work and a lot of actual big mastering engineer said that they prefer to have headroom. However if your mastering engineer don't care about it, then it's ok of course. And thanks a lot for reminding that gain staging everything with VU at -18 or whatever is mostly a lost of time.
THE BEST VIDEO ON THE INTERNET! Thanks for this Austin
Excellent vidoe Austin thx for addressing this stuff.
"Vet the sources" great tip. Reference your tracks People. Definitely this video bares repeating. Some EDM tracks are -4 LUFS but much of that level is achieved in the actual mixing process so its comical when anyone suggests -14Lufs 😂
Thanks I learn from your videos lots thanks man
Appreciate youuuu
another popular misconception: you have to always tune your kick to the key of the song(or a note in the scale)
Reality: unless it tonally sounds off(most of the time its not very audibly tonal) that it creates unnecessary dissonance, its totally useless to retune it. it does not make the kick and sub gel any better together and it only comes down to sidechain(not an audible pumping sidechain but multiband so its subtle) and phase alignment. Retuning your kick in your DAW will actually result in quality loss(frequency shifters are better tbh) because pitching algorithms aren't perfect.
Hey Austin, I've been a fan of your channel for a couple years now. I do the songwriting, production, mixing, etc with my band Foreign Figures and you've given me a lot of good thoughts even for a more alt pop rock band. I don't think I've stumbled across a MPM vid that covers the minimal production style that a lot of pop music has adopted where elements are so bold and minimal that everything needs to be really intentional. Teeth by 5SOS, Enemy by Imagine Dragons and Unholy by Sam Smith are a few songs that come to mind in this world. Would you have any interest in making a vid on this topic? I'd be curious what your thoughts are. Many thanks dude. Hope we get to work together someday.
Best Music channel for sure❤
Great video
I rarely post comments on RUclips, but I must say, this is your best video so far.
Do one of these thats more entry level. I don’t know enough about mastering and stuff to even know what this stuff means haha. So more basic “rules” that may be bs
Really awesome and needed video.
The ''problem'' with all those rules is that nowadays producers are trying to get pro mastering with a couple of clicks and methods that could make them skip from listening to the song and actually working with their ears on what sounds good and what doesn't. For me, that's all about being lazy and trying to avoid the work for the art. And of course: RUclipsrs giving ''advice'' for whatever that could bring views and likes.
I think people confuse producing with mixing. Producing means the sound sounds as it needs to, no matter how much fx are being used. Since it is baked in and it fits you won't need to do much at mixing because the sound was shaped before enough.
I tell you what...
-14 LUFS but the DR is 8 or 9. So is it "too dynamic"?
About the low end in mono would be make sense for vinyl to not take over much physical space.
About the -6 db peak for premasters well you don't have to since it'll peak all over the place without any master processing. Sometimes I can go -9 or -6 peak but it's best to export in 24 bit I guess.
"Less is More" is an phrase to avoid yourself from getting overwhelmed. There's no limit on how you can add something in your project.
I don't use VU meter personally.
Part 2 will be great
Had to subscribe after watching this video! 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Great tips!!! Learned something new ❤
Let's GOOOO!
@@MakePopMusicI know most of the tips already but mono sub bass thing was new and interesting. I always keep bass mojo and cut 100hz from every other track lol
I can totally agree with the -14db LUFS!
I literally can't understand who made that a thing online hahaha
Do you love your RME, austin ? can you maybe explain why you changed to RME ? i love mine UFX2
These are 100% correct. Thanks for sharing!
You're wise !❤
Disagree with the first point.
You are not "leaving so much loudness on the table" mastering at -14 Lufs, because streaming services normalize the perceived loudness, so it literally doesn't matter whether your master is louder or not: It will be turned down. Turning that feature off makes no sense and I wouldn't advise anyone to do it. Also, people have a volume knob on their speakers so if they want it louder, they can turn it up. Digital audio is linear, so volume does not affect tone. However, you are losing headroom and dynamic range when squishing your mix like that. All you are doing is increasing ear fatigue and reducing clarity. And the more you squish it, the more you destroy your mix. I can't imagine any scenario where clipping your audio actually improves it (It's just louder, not better). If the audible difference the master limiter makes is preferable to you, fine, but aim for that difference and ignore loudness.
Mastering at -14 lufs is a good idea. Whether pro-mastering engineers do that or not does not matter. They do it because the client expects it, so they apply their skills fighting against that master limiter so it wouldn't destroy the mix enough to make an audible difference. You do not have to participate in the loudness war. It's over. It ended a long time ago.
7:43 "The only thing that the mastering engineer should do, is trying to get your mix as loud as possible".
Fuck that. I wouldn't want to work with a mastering engineer if that's all they did. Normally, if your mix is good enough, all it needs is a master limiter and that's it. The job of the mastering engineer is to make your mix sound better as a whole and make it translate better on different speakers. Whether it's louder or not (As long as it's at least -14 lufs) does not matter anymore.
this is your best thumbnail yet lmao. also listening to the maroon part on my laptop was hilarious
Definitely need part 2
Great video! Looking forward to part 2 😉
*I* could be bullshitting you, lmao. Great video thanks!!
I learned all these rules at school and I learned how to break them dirige my career ! Thanks for thay good video
BRILLIANT and very original video dude! Pls do a Part 2.
The difference is whether you master for streaming only or for cd. Big releases are always for the latter, thus -6 to -9, or if metal -1. Why bothering to master a mix (-32/-16) to -6 if it will be turned down to -14?
So much more goes into mastering then just achieving the LUFS. If you like the way a song sounds at -14, then leave it. Most pop mastering engineers want much more compression, glue, and even saturation and that almost always pushes it past -14. So to make it back down to -14 would essentially just take away perceived loudness and would ruin the balance of the transients and low end information.
I’ve had stuffed mastered by the biggest mastering engineers in the world. They always do one master because I normally just send to streaming, and they’ve literally all been -8.5 to -6.5 LUFS.
Love you one of the best content on youtube
This video is totally a GEM, thank you
So true and helpful video thanks 🙏
Thank you Thank you Thank you
i saw a 2 years old video on your channel about making pop music like olivia rodrigo like something,i just wanna know that what mic you used for vocal recording. pls reply because in whole video i just see a collar mic.
It was the Advanced Audio 251!
Best video Ever …❤❤❤
I am sharing a professional insight that I also discussed with a Platinum producer. Two masters is wise, why? The louder master for platforms like Apple Music, BeatPort and Juno Download. Why? They show the true loudness. Why not Spotify and RUclips then? A louder master at these two can be quieter than a -12 LUFS master. Less is more in the cases of Spotify and RUclips. There shall be no clever reason to stick to one master, and if that will compromise one of the mentioned platform to the worse.
It’ll sound completely different though. A -7 and -14 LUFS master is gonna have a completely different feel. I would only do a separate master for physical printing
@@MakePopMusic-7 LUFS sounds like butt cheese.
@@MakePopMusic Yes, but I am purposing on -11 vs. -8.5 LUFS, for instance. It hugely depends on the song, but many are similar at these. I hate that -5 LUFS hype, or louder which can harm a lot of mixes (sides are swelling up etc.).
Yeah… I’m curious about this idea… because making a mix that sounds great on the phone versus literally EVERYTHING ELSE is annoying me just a little. I have a mix that sounds WONDERFUL on very cheap buds… and the vehicle, and the computer, and the monitors, and the headphones, and anything - except for on cheap phones like the LG Stylo4+… but - you can listen to OLD STUFF like AiC Unplugged or new stuff like Talk and it sounds fair enough. It’s grinding my gears, mayne.
I mean, I’ve worked it out and redone the whole thing and got it sounding even better and it’ll probably do well on the phone now… but many were proposing two different masters for this scenario… then I got it sounding decent on the phone and then RUclips demolished it. What’s… going on. If I wasn’t such a stubborn loser, I would have quit by now with the HUNDREDS OF HOURS I’ve poured into working on this stupid song that I feel like slapping the artist (me) for existing.
I’m getting there… I’m just stupid.
@@TarzanHedgepeth depending on your budget I would just get slate VSX and be done with it. There are too many variables regarding speakers and room quality that make such a system better than most solutions out there.
I've been through IK multimedia ARC and sonar works but VSX seems like the best option in 2023. Hornet VHS and Acustica Sienna being cheaper alternatives.
On the "amount of fx per track" thing.......what would be your rule of thumb as far as deciding whether to add more than 10 fx (needing to route to a separate insert in FL) vs going back and starting fresh?
more than 10 fx could be excessive, but print the sound at different stages and keep tweaking if you want! Just make sure every insert or FX has a purpose
If it sounds right.. it’s right. Done
could you do an alt. Pop/Experimental pop in the style of Jean Dawson tutorial. I feel like his kind of style is pretty versatile and he's one of my favorites out right now.
What is that meter you're using for the LUFs?
Supervision in Cubase!
Really Informative Video
Rule 3 is really helpful for me, I was worried coz some of my tracks hit - 2 db (no Clip)
Thanks ❤🙏😊
Yeah!
💯💯
Thank you!
Lol guess I preach against 10,000s peoples. I always feel I don’t need to cover this in my videos but I’m glad there are people like you I can send others too for confirmation 🎉
Thanks! Interesting!
Thanks king ❤
Would be dope if you made like a serie if this really enjoyed it and i think these are things no one really talks about!
I’m trying to mix and master a trap song, I’m using reference mixing and I noticed that most trap songs low end are mono. There most be a reason for this. Do you think this is because of the nature of 808s???
Lots of 808s are mono! No need to make it stereo if it doesn't need to be!
would love more videos like this
Bass= mono instrument. Even if you pan a sub, you won’t be able to detect the direction of that sub so it will appear mono anyway in all situations apart from on headphones or large near-field speakers. The reasons to use mono are purely from a loudness and efficiency aspect. If you were to pan a sub sound it’s volume would not be able to increase in the speaker it’s panned to, so would be half the volume. Therefore any panning is just a change in volume of perceived sub and not useful at all. It can also be very unpleasant in headphones.
Headphones are the #1 way people listen to music now. You don’t actually get any extras headroom if you make a stereo sub into mono.
I’m simply saying if stereo low end is part of the sound or sound design, don’t just automatically cut the sides or make it mono because it won’t really do anything good for the mix, but may take away from the actual individual element (especially for things like wide Reese basses, big stereo kicks, etc.
Lufs comes from streaming services limiting and pumping volumes to that level. You can master it at -6 but it's going to be streamed at -14.
Not anymore really. You can turn off loudness check. Also, the amount of glue and dynamics is different so I master for sound and not just loudness. You can’t ever get the vibe I want at -14 LUFS
“I could be bullshitting you” 😂😂
The code is more what you’d call ‘guidelines’ than actual rules.
You are clever and funny! Thanks Auston! :)
do people still wear von dutch hats?
Oh yeahhhhhh the VD is back like it never left
Chair on the door to make sure no-one runs in from the internet and spears him WWE style for breaking such rules! :)
that's how I keep the demons locked in there
Awesome vids !! I would actually like to see how you achieve -4LUFS on a hip hop beat still being punchy. And a part two of this vid would be nice of course !! THX FAM !!
I produced, mixed, and mastered a song Space by Riley and Lil Brows that is -4.8 LUFS. It's out now!
@@MakePopMusic Thx for replying bruh. What I meant was, if you could actually show the process on how to achieve such loudness, without sacrifying punch. GREETZ
Your videos is like x1,25
And I like that
plzzzzzz part 2
I was talking with Chris Lord Alge and he says he never has to go higher than -12LUFS when limiting....I just use my ears but that's the advice I got from a way more successful guy than I have been so far.
Is he mastering? I thought CLA was almost exclusively just mixing. In which case, LUFS wouldn’t be a target because the song isn’t done.
😌
Amen
I mean mastering to -14 LUFS is of course not required. But if a song sounds good at -9 LUFS than in todays word there is no need to fight the loudness war anymore.
I agree to a point. The thing about driving a limiter harder is that you can get perceived loudness so even if a -6 master gets normalized to -14, it'll still FEEL bigger because it's more compressed, you don't have these small pokey transients, etc.
Some stuff sounds amazing really soft. Like jazz, or dynamic orchestra stuff, or soft acoustic ballads. But if I hear a Lil Baby song at -14, it's just gonna be a pokey kick and a loudddd ass vocal 😂
@@MakePopMusic I think it depends on what you want. You can compress very hard at -14 as well, but then you can have in addition to that snare hits for instance that go over the compression and create even more impact. This potential is just not used at the moment, since noone trusts the end customer really listens at -14. :D
Would love to hear you break down Joan - "Nervous" as an example of how something that sounds like "less is more" is actually an "insane amount of shit" 😂...seriously though, that would be a sweet tutorial.
Working on getting them to come on the channel so we can break it down for you 😁
@@MakePopMusic Awesome! Def looking forward to that!
#3 is a strange one. The mastering engineer can simply turn it down if they need to.
Rule #2 is true, if you are mastering for vinyl. Nowhere else.
Yep! And you need -18LUFS for spatial audio! But that’s it.