Can we just take a moment to acknowledge how underrated this channel and nathan is, i mean, he has absolutely no business giving all these information away for free, and yet, even without a huge level of audience, he still manages to stay consistent here in youtube, hats off nathan
In my experience, nobody cares about EQ'ing or mixing or mastering, except the pro's and audiophiles. 99% of my clients and audience don't even notice a difference when I offer different EQ'ed, mixed, mastered mixes. So I stepped a bit back from that and concentrate much more again on composing and arranging. Because it's about good melodies, harmonies, chords etc. It's about the music! All the rest is just nice to have bonus.
I feel like producing is the most important part, you can make a top song with some basic chords and a simple catchy melody. I also include sound designing in production, some pple call it mixing, but I think using things like reverb/saturation and stuff like sidechain is part of production, not the final mix.
I hope this video brought you some insight into mixing and even some of WHY you mix - all of this is why I created Producer Accelerator - to teach ALL of this in one place. We are running our holiday sale now - you can join here: www.produceracceleratorcourse.com/black-friday-sale
I appreciate how the bass guitar is actually distinctly audible in your productions, unlike a lot of others where it's just kinda hidden behind everything else. Gives the song a lot more feel. It's easier to get into something where the rhythm and groove are easier to hear.
Nate thanks for the advice, your suggestions are seriously enlightening ! Getting a place soon, building a home studio, have most the gear I will need as a producer to pump some next level music out there. Gave up at the public studio with garageband plugins lol, invested in a bunch of wave ones, going to get soundtoys too soon, & melodyne or auto tune. Excited to take a bunch of the knowledge I learnt and utilize it on my next project. Been writing A TON to prepare for then. In fact have around 5 albums worth of material including instrumentals to record. So stoked, and hope to get you in on future projects someday. Much respect buddy ! Love that Cloud 9 song too, I could see that being used for a move/TV show.
Dude Nathan James Larsen. What you're saying is so important. It may not make people happy, but whatever. As a famous musician once said, "you can't polish a turd." Here is the chain of importance, imo: . Writing. . Tracking. This applies to all music, whether it has live guitars, drums, bass, keys or only software instruments. . Mixing. . Mastering. Sound on Sound magazine once ran a double-blind test on mastered music. The listeners were everyone from non-musicians to top pros. Almost everyone preferred the non-mastered mixes. Not to say mastering has no value, just thought I'd put that out there. I love that you played your raw mix with just relative volume adjustments - maybe panning, too. Thanks.
A great mix is something that feels right. If it's done wrong (which is very easy) it's noticeable, and some extreme cases could ruin the whole listening experience. That's why mixing engineering is still a job, and you won't hear commercial releases mixed on a potato. Yes there are badly mixed songs that performed good on the charts... you can have a restaurant with the worst design, not painted or maintained properly and still make money with it because of the location or good food, it's just nice to give attention to the aesthetics.
Well I learned sound selection is way more important than mixing.. This is what that will drive you to mix a track in a certain way.. Now knowing how to choose the right sounds is my new problem.. Lol.
When Nirvana released Nevermind...sounds like teen spirit had been completely changed from what the band wanted...you can go back and listen to butch Vigs original version. It has a grungy tone that the released version steered clear of. So it might be a small part of the song, but it could be the difference between successful...or multi platinum successful ...
According to Vig, Cobaine hated double-tracking vocals and essentially refused to do so. Vig ended up lying to him saying to drop another take for whatever reason and then added them all up in the mix afterwards. Lol. But yes, one could argue that if Kurt had his way and kept the production minimal, raw and punk (like In Utero) Nevermind would have never been as successful.
While mixing is very important, it's not the most important aspect of making a song. I always say that there is a threshold on how "bad" a mix can be on a track before it becomes unlistenable. Adversely, there is a threshold on how "bad" a production can be or how "bad" writing can be. I would personally go as far that everything is equally important. Then again this whole discussion is genre dependant to a degree as some genres have a lot more room for innovation, or may need a different set of tools and skills than others.
I love your videos and I agree with what your saying here but I think you should talk about the fact that when you’re writing your own music you’re “mixing” almost immediately. It’s intuitive to set levels as you go and often adding plugins and what might be considered mixing moves. Great videos keep up the great work.
Thanks. I don't do much mix training stuff as my songwriting and production still suck. I think by the time I'm getting the hang of it the mixing techniques will have been pulled along on their own. The way to gain skills is first to mimic so recreating great songs is essential.
Nathan. To be honest. Mixing was not even a thing in my brain until I started watching your videos. But thank god I don’t have to worry about that too much. And thank god we have mixing engineers who will do it for us if we need them too 😁
Maybe it depends on the type of music is being made. EDM music may need a lot more mixing than accoustic-based music. Idk tho, but good stuffs as always Nathan.
Tegenwoordig produceer ik nog voor als hobby en ben vooral op zoek naar werk omdat ik dit toch niet meer kan worden ziet er ook geen nut in om het verder op in te gaan
Great advice! Side note: Is it just me or is the frame rate of this specific video kinda low? Looks like it's like 15-20fps or something rather than 24 or 30.
Oh God So it seems I'll just throw most of Udemy Mixing tutorials 🙆. Thanks a lot for such . I'm now well set and stable about production . Black Friday seams okay now
What notes are being played and in what order. Is by far the most important thing. If it is a well written piece of music it will sound good on an 8 bit game, through crap speakers, played on a stylaphone. Mixing is like buffing a car. You can buff it all you want and make it shine all you want but if the car is trash now you just have a really shiny trash car. Also.. you can gold plate a turd… it’s still a turd.
This depends on your audience and how often you're releasing tracks since you also have to weigh out the time it takes. It doesn't matter as much for an oldschool or underground sound if you're doing genres like jungle, garage, "lo-fi hiphop beats", phonk, etc. but more mainstream and modern EDM genres by artists like Skrillex tend to focus more on better mixing and mastering.
It's true. Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" is one of the most terrible mixes for such a hugely successful song. It sounds like an instrumental playing at fairly low volume in your car and she's int the passenger seat belting the vocals in your ear. If a mix makes or breaks a song, that would be a very broken song. Lol
That all good and all but I for example have an amazing song with a lot of editing, but I don't have enough expirience in mixing to make it sound cohesive. Last vid on my channel. It does sound but people say it could be way better.
if the song is beautiful and interesting enough it would sound amazing with only one instrument but these days there are lots of music genres (trap, hip hop, Lofi, house, EDM....) that require production and mixing skills...so I guess it depends what kind of music you are making...in the end, every element is equally important since a terrible production or mix could easily destroy a good song
Well, if you watch the whole video he says Mixing is important to sound professional...but it can't magically fix crappy performances. Or to put it another way, if you're only recording one take, and aren't making the effort to find the problem areas and rerecord comps to fix them, then mixing can't save the song.
Garbage in is garbage out. If you give me shit produced and performed song(let's just forget about writing, it is the most important by far) Doesn't matter how hard I try I can make it sound good. It may sound good on a technical point, good low end, wide instrumental, upfront vocals, but none of it would feel good. We cannot make a bad written, produced and performed song sound enjoyable with mixing.
Garbage in is garbage out. If you give me shit produced and performed song(let's just forget about writing, it is the most important by far) Doesn't matter how hard I try I can make it sound good. It may sound good on a technical point, good low end, wide instrumental, upfront vocals, but none of it would feel good. We cannot make a bad written, produced and performed song sound enjoyable with mixing.
Can we just take a moment to acknowledge how underrated this channel and nathan is, i mean, he has absolutely no business giving all these information away for free, and yet, even without a huge level of audience, he still manages to stay consistent here in youtube, hats off nathan
Hell yeah bless this guy
In my experience, nobody cares about EQ'ing or mixing or mastering, except the pro's and audiophiles. 99% of my clients and audience don't even notice a difference when I offer different EQ'ed, mixed, mastered mixes. So I stepped a bit back from that and concentrate much more again on composing and arranging. Because it's about good melodies, harmonies, chords etc. It's about the music! All the rest is just nice to have bonus.
I feel like producing is the most important part, you can make a top song with some basic chords and a simple catchy melody. I also include sound designing in production, some pple call it mixing, but I think using things like reverb/saturation and stuff like sidechain is part of production, not the final mix.
I hope this video brought you some insight into mixing and even some of WHY you mix - all of this is why I created Producer Accelerator - to teach ALL of this in one place. We are running our holiday sale now - you can join here: www.produceracceleratorcourse.com/black-friday-sale
Can you maybe pin this? :)
I appreciate how the bass guitar is actually distinctly audible in your productions, unlike a lot of others where it's just kinda hidden behind everything else. Gives the song a lot more feel. It's easier to get into something where the rhythm and groove are easier to hear.
I agree. Great song, great performances, great production then good mixing.
A great mix com from foundation. Which is great writing...
Nate thanks for the advice, your suggestions are seriously enlightening ! Getting a place soon, building a home studio, have most the gear I will need as a producer to pump some next level music out there. Gave up at the public studio with garageband plugins lol, invested in a bunch of wave ones, going to get soundtoys too soon, & melodyne or auto tune. Excited to take a bunch of the knowledge I learnt and utilize it on my next project. Been writing A TON to prepare for then. In fact have around 5 albums worth of material including instrumentals to record. So stoked, and hope to get you in on future projects someday. Much respect buddy ! Love that Cloud 9 song too, I could see that being used for a move/TV show.
What a worthwhile and clear enquiry. Can’t beat a good song. Thanks
The mixed version just enhances the good stuff
Your so right because 95% people dont say that mix is amazing they say that's awesome song
Dude Nathan James Larsen. What you're saying is so important. It may not make people happy, but whatever. As a famous musician once said, "you can't polish a turd."
Here is the chain of importance, imo:
. Writing.
. Tracking. This applies to all music, whether it has live guitars, drums, bass, keys or only software instruments.
. Mixing.
. Mastering. Sound on Sound magazine once ran a double-blind test on mastered music. The listeners were everyone from non-musicians to top pros. Almost everyone preferred the non-mastered mixes. Not to say mastering has no value, just thought I'd put that out there.
I love that you played your raw mix with just relative volume adjustments - maybe panning, too.
Thanks.
A great mix is something that feels right. If it's done wrong (which is very easy) it's noticeable, and some extreme cases could ruin the whole listening experience. That's why mixing engineering is still a job, and you won't hear commercial releases mixed on a potato. Yes there are badly mixed songs that performed good on the charts... you can have a restaurant with the worst design, not painted or maintained properly and still make money with it because of the location or good food, it's just nice to give attention to the aesthetics.
Well I learned sound selection is way more important than mixing.. This is what that will drive you to mix a track in a certain way.. Now knowing how to choose the right sounds is my new problem.. Lol.
Bro - you're on point!!
When Nirvana released Nevermind...sounds like teen spirit had been completely changed from what the band wanted...you can go back and listen to butch Vigs original version. It has a grungy tone that the released version steered clear of. So it might be a small part of the song, but it could be the difference between successful...or multi platinum successful ...
According to Vig, Cobaine hated double-tracking vocals and essentially refused to do so. Vig ended up lying to him saying to drop another take for whatever reason and then added them all up in the mix afterwards. Lol. But yes, one could argue that if Kurt had his way and kept the production minimal, raw and punk (like In Utero) Nevermind would have never been as successful.
@@jeffreyhanc1711 yeah and maybe he would still be alive today...
While mixing is very important, it's not the most important aspect of making a song. I always say that there is a threshold on how "bad" a mix can be on a track before it becomes unlistenable. Adversely, there is a threshold on how "bad" a production can be or how "bad" writing can be. I would personally go as far that everything is equally important. Then again this whole discussion is genre dependant to a degree as some genres have a lot more room for innovation, or may need a different set of tools and skills than others.
Real Stuff Realest 🔥
Hey bro What kind of plugins do you use?
I love your videos and I agree with what your saying here but I think you should talk about the fact that when you’re writing your own music you’re “mixing” almost immediately. It’s intuitive to set levels as you go and often adding plugins and what might be considered mixing moves. Great videos keep up the great work.
Great video Nathan! So helpful. Quality in quality out is what its about. Love learning from you. Thanks man!🎵 Also, that is a killer track!
Thanks. I don't do much mix training stuff as my songwriting and production still suck. I think by the time I'm getting the hang of it the mixing techniques will have been pulled along on their own. The way to gain skills is first to mimic so recreating great songs is essential.
Nathan. To be honest. Mixing was not even a thing in my brain until I started watching your videos. But thank god I don’t have to worry about that too much. And thank god we have mixing engineers who will do it for us if we need them too 😁
Maybe it depends on the type of music is being made. EDM music may need a lot more mixing than accoustic-based music. Idk tho, but good stuffs as always Nathan.
Really useful information, also is there something wrong with the camera's framerate or is it just my eyes?
Hey Nethan! Big Fan!, A question : I want to share something I have created, how can I share it to you?
Tegenwoordig produceer ik nog voor als hobby en ben vooral op zoek naar werk omdat ik dit toch niet meer kan worden ziet er ook geen nut in om het verder op in te gaan
Great advice!
Side note: Is it just me or is the frame rate of this specific video kinda low? Looks like it's like 15-20fps or something rather than 24 or 30.
Oh God
So it seems I'll just throw most of Udemy Mixing tutorials 🙆.
Thanks a lot for such .
I'm now well set and stable about production .
Black Friday seams okay now
Mixing is most important when it comes to baking
Ngl, this opens a new door in my head
You shouldn’t need to lie about that anyway!!
@@SproutyPottedPlant ?
Great hat.
2:51 that's the point. Most newbies' mixes sound as intended on only 1 output device because they don't know how to mix. It's not rocket science.
What notes are being played and in what order. Is by far the most important thing. If it is a well written piece of music it will sound good on an 8 bit game, through crap speakers, played on a stylaphone. Mixing is like buffing a car. You can buff it all you want and make it shine all you want but if the car is trash now you just have a really shiny trash car. Also.. you can gold plate a turd… it’s still a turd.
Does these also apply to all the EDMs ?
This depends on your audience and how often you're releasing tracks since you also have to weigh out the time it takes.
It doesn't matter as much for an oldschool or underground sound if you're doing genres like jungle, garage, "lo-fi hiphop beats", phonk, etc. but more mainstream and modern EDM genres by artists like Skrillex tend to focus more on better mixing and mastering.
okay, this probably explains why I don't enjoy some songs that my non-music* friends enjoy
It's true. Shakira's "Hips Don't Lie" is one of the most terrible mixes for such a hugely successful song. It sounds like an instrumental playing at fairly low volume in your car and she's int the passenger seat belting the vocals in your ear.
If a mix makes or breaks a song, that would be a very broken song. Lol
That all good and all but I for example have an amazing song with a lot of editing, but I don't have enough expirience in mixing to make it sound cohesive. Last vid on my channel. It does sound but people say it could be way better.
Just keep practicing mixing bro. If your song is a killer, the mixing doesn't matter as much
@@ColdStarr ty I will, just feel like the song is a killer but mixing could really help. U can find it on my channel Blow me Away - uploaded today.
@@ColdStarr More so freaking instagram reals ruin the sound !_!
if the song is beautiful and interesting enough it would sound amazing with only one instrument but these days there are lots of music genres (trap, hip hop, Lofi, house, EDM....) that require production and mixing skills...so I guess it depends what kind of music you are making...in the end, every element is equally important since a terrible production or mix could easily destroy a good song
Juist wat jij zegt dat is wat ik zoek
good points you made about the music production but I'm dizzy watching your video with zooming in/out every 5 seconds
Jacob Collier caught in the crossfire. 😅
Well, if you watch the whole video he says Mixing is important to sound professional...but it can't magically fix crappy performances. Or to put it another way, if you're only recording one take, and aren't making the effort to find the problem areas and rerecord comps to fix them, then mixing can't save the song.
Can’t believe people think Mixing is the most important 😂
Garbage in is garbage out.
If you give me shit produced and performed song(let's just forget about writing, it is the most important by far)
Doesn't matter how hard I try I can make it sound good. It may sound good on a technical point, good low end, wide instrumental, upfront vocals, but none of it would feel good.
We cannot make a bad written, produced and performed song sound enjoyable with mixing.
@@RaviRomana absolutely, exactly what I’m saying 💯
What happened to your laptop?!
Garbage in is garbage out.
If you give me shit produced and performed song(let's just forget about writing, it is the most important by far)
Doesn't matter how hard I try I can make it sound good. It may sound good on a technical point, good low end, wide instrumental, upfront vocals, but none of it would feel good.
We cannot make a bad written, produced and performed song sound enjoyable with mixing.
To me, mixing is just the final process. Of the shit you should have already gotten right. To begin with. 🤷🏻♂️
You should fix this on your site: "Let's Recap What You'll Get Instantly Get When You Join Right Now:"
I am a rapper and I like that song lol because sometimes I have melodies in my head that keep me awake. Also good stuff.🫡🫡🫡