The "duplicate track, inverse, put on compressor" - noise gate trick is on top of my list! You made a video about it. Fantastic on drums with a lot of bleed.
The Only Guy worth Listening about music production to in my opinion ....... and i do Electronic Music which goes to show, what Warren talks about is the key and good true advice ...
I can't understand for the life of me how there would be any thumbs down on any of Warren's videos. All his experience and generosity speaks for itself. Not to mention his great personality. You thumbs down guys are a bunch of "Nowhere Men". Thank you Warren for all that you are, all that you do and frankly all that you've done and been through in your past. You are a true gentleman. 👍
Couple things that have helped me over the years: learn about phase/polarity and how to adjust it for the best punch. Makes a bigger difference than any eq/comp will. If it’s not right plugins won’t save you. On taking breaks: turn up the music, play the song beginning to end and leave the room, keeping the door open. You will hear how everything blends together since it’s no longer a real stereo image (just one sound wave coming through a doorway) and what’s working or not because you’re listening to the song as a whole, and can’t distract yourself by trying to fix something. While it plays I make notes. After resting your ears you can get back into mixing with a plan to follow that generally speeds up the finishing process.
This comment/advice I can attest to 100%. The nuances of the mixes when heard via non traditional listening environments definitely resonates. Kudos to thebr0wnhornet for recognizing/bringing that up.
I can add: First, get the sound right during the tracking phase of the project' change microphones, distance, placement etc...Set the monitors in mono at the beginning
Mixing: I worked in animation and visual effects for film and TV for 25 years. I've also worked on set and if I ever hear the phrase "Aah, we'll fix it in post" I say "Well I'm not doing it, why not solve it now?!" As Charles Babbage said "Garbage In, Garbage Out!" - also known as 'GIGO'
Yep I have heard that from so called professional mixers - Utter BS!! I am a sound designer as well as engineer and number one is to make sure that you have a great recording before any mixing takes place!!
Loving this video and the minimalistic approach. I started doing this work in 1987. On an MCI 16/24 -2" Tape machine. Mixing Rock and roll music can be done with 5 tools. A great source/musician/performance. A decent mic. A good compressor. A decent equalizer and a decent reverb. It's all about the performance/source. Really impressed with your work Warren and grateful for the info you pass on. Cheers!
I think all of us have spent a couple of hours mixing and at the end we noticed that the raw version was better and more “alive” more “natural” and less “too perfect”. Golden tips! Cheers from Brazil!!!!!!
Regarding your question, "What are your top free mixing tips?"; I have learned that when I hate my mix or am not sure to trust my ears at the end of a long session, I don't change it until I hear it the next day. Many times I like it with a fresh set of ears and a rested mindset. That happened to me just this week. On the other hand, when I love the mix, as you said, Warren, I sleep on it and revisit it later. More times than not, I end up revising the mix. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call to get me back on track. Just that brief interruption forces my mind to let go and make better mix decisions when the phone call is over. The better we know our strengths and weaknesses, the more we can improve and utilize our potential. Warren, I always look forward to your advice, your wit and wisdom, and the excellent interviews you do with other engineers. Thank you for this channel and for giving of yourself. I so appreciate it. I needed your channel years ago when I had nothing to lean on except trial and error - mostly error.
Thanks Warren. Great info as usual. I learned a great FREE trick from a great Nashville engineer Mr. Ed Seay. He explained to me that after sitting in front of the monitors a while you can get fooled by some sound levels of elements that are panned left and right vs center. So getting up and walking out the studio door and into the hallway lets you hear the stereo mix all blended together at once in what he referred to as "Big Mono". I use this technique during breaks as you explained. Go get a cup of tea or coffee and listen in the background at a lower level down the hall. It's quite revealing. - Viva PLAP
So much great advice in one video. I watch too many videos that take half the time to explain nothing and the other half for one obvious bit of advice. You, on the other hand make videos packed with gems and minimal fluff and bull. I, for one really appreciate it. Thanks a lot.
Great advice. Less normally is more. Warren really hits the nail on the head. While I mix with a template, I start with everything turned off. Then judiciously select which plug ins I want to use to augment the production. When I'm done, I turn everything back off and verify I've made improvements with my processing changes.
Your videos are full of so many little gems - "skinnying" out the bass a little bit to save it for the chorus is such a great tip! Thanks again for all the wisdom!
Oh man! It is really joyful to learn not just about mixing but also the english language (Portuguese is my mother tongue) with you Warren. Much appreciated for all of this knowledge you share with us. Thank you very much and my very best to you.
Amazing Warren! Thank you. My wife doesn't do anything with music and she loves listening to your videos. She says a lot of what you say can even be applied to normal human interaction. For example the listen to the song before going through your process is the same as listen to what people are trying to tell you before you put your two cents in.
I had some really shitty speakers my grandpa gave me that were made in the 90s. I listened to all kinds of music on them, and although they were shitty speakers, I knew how songs sounded on them. When I took it to my music production about 8 years ago I was able to still make good sounding stuff because I knew how really well mixed songs sounded on them. My mixes back then were still not great because I was still new at it, but they weren’t all that bad cuz some of my most viewed and liked songs are from back then. It does matter what speakers you have, but it sometimes doesn’t. No need to stress about spending $1000+ on speakers when you can learn how to use the ones you got right there in front of you
Queen Purple these speakers had some good bass. Good enough at least. I love me some bass in all my songs. I sometimes shouldn’t use it in all my songs and some of them can do without it, but I love me some sub bass and 808s lol
" The bass guitar had low end on it, some grit 3k, a bit of distortion, it was massive! " You made my day Warren haha! Thank you so much for your passion and your generous wisdom.
Damn, I love your honesty and talking through your struggles in mixing and recording and the pitfalls you fell into is humbling. So many producers and other musicians only speak of their successes, where you show your success and ability through your journey. It's inspiring. I'm joining the Academy today. It's time to take this seriously and stop struggling and mixing a song for 2 weeks only for it to sound exactly how you're describing all these "wall of noise" sounds. Edit: Okay, I've officially joined!
Warren, First, Thank you for this video on your Six Free Mixing Tricks, because for me as a beginner and novice it was both educational and inspiring. And at this time in my musical life, essential. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You! After a 30 year pause in playing music I began again three years ago; relearning how to play...guitar, piano, drums, banjo. Two years ago I started writing songs again and began recording myself. I have in the past 16 months been watching you, Rick Beato, Chris Selim (I am a Cubase pro 10.5 user) to learn how to play, record, and mix. All of you have helped me get better at it. Essentially what I am saying here is I have been at this long enough now to realize how vitally important your message on the six tips is. The last two days I have been working on (and as you have said obsessing on) a new song. Yesterday at the end of the day I made the fourth trial mix mp3. When I compared it to the first one from day one it was lifeless, mush. While all the time thinking, and I even said to my wife before I played it for her last night...Oh this is it! The first trial mix had almost no plug ins, the fourth mix had one to six plugins per track. I agree with you when one obsesses, doesn't take breaks, and begins randomly processing tracks it is a recipe for achieving mediocrity. For great sounding recordings...I will follow your six tips, record more, mix less! And when at mixing stage to be extremely tactical. Again, thanks!
These are the very first and most important mixing techniques and will do most of the mix for you. Then it’s just tickle this and tweak that to finish. Well done!
It is so wonderful to hear you share your broad life experiences. The honesty is refreshing and most welcome. I always look forward to your releases and try and make time to watch as many as I can. I am fortunate to have invested the time for this session and will embrace your wisdom! Thank you!
You're a genius. Short story. I've never used reference tracks. But just recently I decided to do a cover songs CD and wanted to get the songs as close to the originals as possible. Well, now I had no choice. Only chance I had to pull this off was to use reference tracks. Short of my vocals (I obviously don't sound like these singers) the tracks were, in many cases, almost identical to the originals. The compliments I got on this project were surprising. So now, for my own songs, I will use reference tracks if I'm trying to emulate a certain genre and want to get it just right. So yes, reference tracks are very important if not critical to getting yourself in the right ballpark. Otherwise, you're mixing in the dark. Thank you Warren.
Thank you for this video - lots of great advice. For what it's worth, I also think it can be very helpful (and free!) to start the mixing process in mono. By bringing all instruments to center, it can help you make quick/good decisions about how the frequencies fit and what issues need to be addressed. Once you have carved out the sonic space needed in a mono mix, your songs will sound that much better once you start the EQ and panning processes.
Great points! I was just mixing a song few days ago trying to get the distorted guitars sound right (I also made a mistake of doing stuff the guitar player/head of the band requested), and at one point realized I have 3 equalizers, MB compressor, compressor, a bunch of stuff on the track... removed everything, put Scheps omni channel and did everything there. Got a great sound by simplifying. And when it comes to reference tracks... can't tell how many times I had to explain to the band that they serve a purpose of a general sound and balance we aim for, while they often expect to get that exact sound with totally different raw tracks.
Dear Warren! I think you are speaking with a lot of wisdom. I completely agree with you. Again. These tricks are more than guidelines - "Bible" would be more appropriate.. Seriously, we have to take really good care not losing ourselves in our work. And we absolutely have everything to gain by applying these simples "rules". Whenever I'm a little bit at lost, I take some time off and watch your videos. There's always some good that will come out of it. So I thank you again. And, by the way, I'm a new academy member. Not very active yet because I was toi busy recording but I will, in the future. I really like to feel like I'm part of the community. I'm very very far from L.A. (Magdalen Islands! Gosh that's far.... lol!) but there's good music everywhere, hey? Take care! And have a wonderful time..... of course. ;-)
I'm revisiting this video after a year, the advice couldn't seem more relevant today! I have a lot of my mixes on my phone, when I export them as I'm working on them, I put them on the phone so I can listen in the car. Also on three different systems at home at the time, but when I do my fairly regular 6 hour drives, I shuffle everything on my phone and play it in the car via Bluetooth. I never know what will come up on a 6 hour trip, there's enough music on my phone to last for days, but now and then, an early export of a mix will come on, and I'll think "What happened? I've been working on this song for months, and the export from the first few days sounds better than the one now, after 6 months of 'refining and improving it!". Waveform is the only DAW I'm familiar with, and it allows you to save edits as you go. I usually do this when I take a big step, like declaring the drums 'done', or applying a processing chain to an element. So you end up with a list of different saved edits for each song. It's interesting, and enlightening, to go from Edit 7, back to edit 2 or 3, and see whether you've lost your way, and hopefully, where you disappeared down the rabbit hole! Great advice here Warren, I think I need to watch this again every year! 😁👍
I've been mixing my music for 10 yrs... Today I was looking at my console view on my DAW (Cakewalk by BandLabs (free)) and noticed I have way less plugins than I had from years ago. Probably thanks to CLA's plugins and SSL Channel Strips!
My kids got me a turntable for my 51st b-day and that runs through my studio set-up. On the rare occasions when I get to just simply listen, that's how I listen.
Probably the one tip that had improved mine tremendously is mixing at a quiet level. It costs nothing and not only will it save your hearing in the long run, but you will have a more consistent picture of your mix as you know what needs better balance. You'll hear the more precise changes and have better perspective on what needs a little automation to draw in the listener's attention to the performance of a part or of the part is great left alone, whether adjustments need to be subtle or more apparent. I hope that helps. Great topic! I made me reflect on the times I've heard my favorite songs for the first time and how they got my attention without anyone needing to talk it up!
This is very true, more time listening, using less plugins, using only really necessary instruments or number of instruments in a section, and using automation to draw a picture can drastically make a track sound amazing without overworking it or destroying the initial idea of the track. Good recordings will need much less processing and are likely to result in a more natural pleasing sound that is not over processed
Great tips! Yeah less is more. Get the best sounds into the mic and sweeten things up after. I like your advice to just get up and take breaks often and come back fresh.
Great video mate. I have the advantage of writing and producing a lot of the mixes I work on but I would say that arrangement is key. A great arrangement will make the mix so much easier. I get sounds to work pretty well before I even work on a mix. Like you say automation is key Warren. It separates the men from the boys so to speak. I think that the most important key I could bring up is to mix in mono! Hit the mono button on the stereo buss and adjust levels and panning and when the levels are right put the mix into stereo and voila it will just open up and sound good. this should be done before putting any plugins on tracks. Cheers.
Just something that helps me. When you think you've got your final mix sorted, have a break and then come back and shift your listening position around a bit. This can be quite revealing.
"Everything goes through my compressors...cut, compress, boost, cut, compress" Brilliant! Thanks for pointing out some super common practices... Warren, it's awesome when someone as respected as you admits that they do these things too... Excellent advice with a tinge of humor-- (the best kind of advice). My tip is one that I just recently started doing again--fairly obvious but I'd gotten out of the habit... Once you're doing mixdowns, Save a version (Save as w/unique file name/date) of your project each time you do a mix... this allows me to easily recall the version of my mix that actually sounded better than the 10th mix with all of the things I've done to make it "better"
Warren, all those words are so true! I am guilty of all you mentioned so thanks for the pointers. How you think of the subject and explain so well makes me respect you so much because you truly care about the music and want us to as well. I'm getting better and as I say have been guilty of many things mainly I suppose staying too long on a mix. Now I tend to do it in smaller time frames and I think it is always a good thing apart from frequent breaks is to load another song in and work on that for a while and then go back to the previous track with renewed vigour and direction. Thank you Warren for your inspiration.
I really like these tips! Thanks Warren! And yes: It is really really important, what you play and how you capture it. This couldn't be more true today, as everything is virtually possible in a DAW.
Excellent list of tips. I think tip #6 is also applicable to any task requiring an elevated level of competence, concentration and low margin for errors that aren’t necessarily artistic in nature. Taking a break often frees the mind from the insidious, fuzzy tunnel vision that seems to weasel its way into intense, time constrained or not, tasks.
Adding on to “Listen more” and “reference mixes,” I have found that the more I ask questions and listen to the artist, manager, and others, the more I am prepared before I even power up the system. If I recorded, I also take time to listen to their instrument. They chose it, built it, or set it up that way for a reason. Ifi didn’t record, I then listen to each channel, instrument, part, and vocal with little to no modification. I might even listen to previous music from the artist. They may have a particular style and sound that defines them. While they want my take and vision, or want to expand or go in a new direction, I can ruin it if I try to make it something that it wasn’t meant to be. Remember that they have a sound that they and their fans love. I have heard albums that are mixed technically well but made my beloved band or artist seem like someone else entirely. You likely can think of examples as well.
Great video! Made notes. Just one tip to add since this is so relevant to the listening part of the whole process. Set up your monitors in your space properly. What you hear can change so much if you happen to have them at the wrong height, or yourself in the wrong place. Cheers
About reference mixes- I like to use them for the volume of my bass. I'll be in my car & I'll listen to songs of the same genre & then listen to mine. My current song had the bass too loud, and it was actually giving me a headache. I couldn't tell it was too loud on my computer speakers, even with my bass booster on the floor. I adjusted it a little bit & listened to the updated version in the car the next day. It sounded so much better at a more proper level.
thankyou so much for the video! i was aware of a few things you talked about but never saw it with the perspective that you showed, and never known them in that depth.
My best top tip is for those breaks... if you can go to the ocean and let the waves crashing re-set your ears. Works like a charm. I guess running water like a river might help too but the ocean is so much more powerful.
Such brilliant advice, and even though I consider myself a beginner at mixing & mastering, I really can confirm exactly what you're saying about overdoing and not resting and adding too much - all of that. I really appreciate the fact you are admitting to having made these mistakes yourself. Fantastic presentation, loved this video, big like & shared! Thank you!!
#4, method I'm going to practice. Warren thank you so much for all you do. In the 6 months I have learned mixing, I have progressed so much with yours and Glenn's videos. I'm almost ready to share my mixes.
Thank you Warren , awesome tips, like you said about the mute button, it,s funny how silence in the mix seems almost forbidden these days, rather than just having a lovely piano and a vocal or something it ends up being 5 pads,synth sounds, virtual strings and a doubled guitar. it's remarkable just how much space or least amount of instruments are in older songs, more is not always better, but never say never, thanks again, all the best.
thank you so much for this- I am a musician trying to learn mixing and audio engineering and recording. This is really refreshing to hear that basic arranging skills, balancing levels, etc are actually the most important. I will trust my instincts while also trying to learn about the elements that are not yet familiar. Many thanks!
Wanting to feel important is just human nature, but it can be trouble when we unload that burden on the song. I think it's quite obvious when we get something that's been beautifully recorded. The thing almost mixes itself and the less you do the better it sounds. Good stuff, Warren.
I just did the wipe all plugins and tried doing less this week trust Warren it really does work width, volume and depth really improved. love the Chanel thanks for the tips
1. 1:19 familiarize with your equipments 2. 2:45 listen more do less 3. 6:42 don't be afraid to use Mute 4. 11:15 Automation 5. 15:11 use reference mixes 6. 18:04 take frequent breaks
What are your top free mixing tips?
Play it again! Cheers Warren!!
@Стефан Дянков thanks ever so much!
@@TheFeelButton haha indeed!
watch Warren Huart 's channel, nice chap and great tips
The "duplicate track, inverse, put on compressor" - noise gate trick is on top of my list! You made a video about it. Fantastic on drums with a lot of bleed.
I'm taking all of this to heart. My greatest free mixing tip: Listen to Warren Huart's every word.
Thanks ever so much Bobby!!
Well said!
The Only Guy worth Listening about music production to in my opinion ....... and i do Electronic Music which goes to show, what Warren talks about is the key and good true advice ...
I can't understand for the life of me how there would be any thumbs down on any of Warren's videos. All his experience and generosity speaks for itself. Not to mention his great personality. You thumbs down guys are a bunch of "Nowhere Men".
Thank you Warren for all that you are, all that you do and frankly all that you've done and been through in your past. You are a true gentleman. 👍
Couple things that have helped me over the years: learn about phase/polarity and how to adjust it for the best punch. Makes a bigger difference than any eq/comp will. If it’s not right plugins won’t save you. On taking breaks: turn up the music, play the song beginning to end and leave the room, keeping the door open. You will hear how everything blends together since it’s no longer a real stereo image (just one sound wave coming through a doorway) and what’s working or not because you’re listening to the song as a whole, and can’t distract yourself by trying to fix something. While it plays I make notes. After resting your ears you can get back into mixing with a plan to follow that generally speeds up the finishing process.
Wow, I really like that idea about leaving the room while the mix is playing. Brilliant!
I also do this. It really helps me to find things that are too loud or too quiet.
This comment/advice I can attest to 100%. The nuances of the mixes when heard via non traditional listening environments definitely resonates. Kudos to thebr0wnhornet for recognizing/bringing that up.
Yes! Also mixing in Mono from time to time tells you if there's any phasing going on.
I can add: First, get the sound right during the tracking phase of the project' change microphones, distance, placement etc...Set the monitors in mono at the beginning
"Listen more, do less"... As a live engineer, this tip fits there just as easily as in the studio.
Fantastic! Thanks ever so much Alan!
Mixing: I worked in animation and visual effects for film and TV for 25 years. I've also worked on set and if I ever hear the phrase "Aah, we'll fix it in post" I say "Well I'm not doing it, why not solve it now?!"
As Charles Babbage said "Garbage In, Garbage Out!" - also known as 'GIGO'
Very well said Prince!! Thanks for the great comment!
After asking for different fixes and cover effects to “fix” a bad take I received the best advice I got from an engineer was “ just play it right!”.
@@PooNinja Haha yes! That works if you're recording it! Obviously Mixers don't often get that choice!
i hear that to much on these movie sets
Yep I have heard that from so called professional mixers - Utter BS!!
I am a sound designer as well as engineer and number one is to make sure that you have a great recording before any mixing takes place!!
Loving the new atmosphere......much more intimate!
Thanks ever so much Mark!!
I agree, the look and atmosphere of this video is exactly right!
Same, feels like a big upgrade
Loving this video and the minimalistic approach. I started doing this work in 1987. On an MCI 16/24 -2" Tape machine.
Mixing Rock and roll music can be done with 5 tools. A great source/musician/performance. A decent mic. A good compressor. A decent equalizer and a decent reverb.
It's all about the performance/source.
Really impressed with your work Warren and grateful for the info you pass on. Cheers!
I think all of us have spent a couple of hours mixing and at the end we noticed that the raw version was better and more “alive” more “natural” and less “too perfect”. Golden tips! Cheers from Brazil!!!!!!
Regarding your question, "What are your top free mixing tips?"; I have learned that when I hate my mix or am not sure to trust my ears at the end of a long session, I don't change it until I hear it the next day. Many times I like it with a fresh set of ears and a rested mindset. That happened to me just this week. On the other hand, when I love the mix, as you said, Warren, I sleep on it and revisit it later. More times than not, I end up revising the mix. Sometimes all it takes is a phone call to get me back on track. Just that brief interruption forces my mind to let go and make better mix decisions when the phone call is over. The better we know our strengths and weaknesses, the more we can improve and utilize our potential.
Warren, I always look forward to your advice, your wit and wisdom, and the excellent interviews you do with other engineers. Thank you for this channel and for giving of yourself. I so appreciate it. I needed your channel years ago when I had nothing to lean on except trial and error - mostly error.
Thanks Warren. Great info as usual. I learned a great FREE trick from a great Nashville engineer Mr. Ed Seay. He explained to me that after sitting in front of the monitors a while you can get fooled by some sound levels of elements that are panned left and right vs center. So getting up and walking out the studio door and into the hallway lets you hear the stereo mix all blended together at once in what he referred to as "Big Mono". I use this technique during breaks as you explained. Go get a cup of tea or coffee and listen in the background at a lower level down the hall. It's quite revealing. - Viva PLAP
So much great advice in one video. I watch too many videos that take half the time to explain nothing and the other half for one obvious bit of advice.
You, on the other hand make videos packed with gems and minimal fluff and bull. I, for one really appreciate it. Thanks a lot.
Great advice. Less normally is more. Warren really hits the nail on the head. While I mix with a template, I start with everything turned off. Then judiciously select which plug ins I want to use to augment the production. When I'm done, I turn everything back off and verify I've made improvements with my processing changes.
Your videos are full of so many little gems - "skinnying" out the bass a little bit to save it for the chorus is such a great tip! Thanks again for all the wisdom!
You're very welcome! Glad to be able to help!
Oh man! It is really joyful to learn not just about mixing but also the english language (Portuguese is my mother tongue) with you Warren. Much appreciated for all of this knowledge you share with us. Thank you very much and my very best to you.
Amazing Warren! Thank you. My wife doesn't do anything with music and she loves listening to your videos. She says a lot of what you say can even be applied to normal human interaction. For example the listen to the song before going through your process is the same as listen to what people are trying to tell you before you put your two cents in.
Wow! Thank you ever so much for the extremely kind words my friend! That means a lot and please thank your wife as well!
Wise wife!
I had some really shitty speakers my grandpa gave me that were made in the 90s. I listened to all kinds of music on them, and although they were shitty speakers, I knew how songs sounded on them. When I took it to my music production about 8 years ago I was able to still make good sounding stuff because I knew how really well mixed songs sounded on them.
My mixes back then were still not great because I was still new at it, but they weren’t all that bad cuz some of my most viewed and liked songs are from back then.
It does matter what speakers you have, but it sometimes doesn’t. No need to stress about spending $1000+ on speakers when you can learn how to use the ones you got right there in front of you
As long as you still have a way to hear sub energy yes
Queen Purple these speakers had some good bass. Good enough at least.
I love me some bass in all my songs. I sometimes shouldn’t use it in all my songs and some of them can do without it, but I love me some sub bass and 808s lol
Hi Kampsy, Knowing your speakers in your room is the most important thing! Thanks ever so much for sharing
Yamaha hs 7 are great.
Pacific Base id love to get one of those when I got the money to buy them!
I have been preaching this for 30+ years! Well done, Sir! :)
Thanks ever so much
Possibly the most sensible and useful video on mixing I’ve ever watched on RUclips.
" The bass guitar had low end on it, some grit 3k, a bit of distortion, it was massive! " You made my day Warren haha! Thank you so much for your passion and your generous wisdom.
Warren, the look on your face of that thumbnail is absolutely priceless and thus, deserving of a thumbs up on its own!...
Damn, I love your honesty and talking through your struggles in mixing and recording and the pitfalls you fell into is humbling. So many producers and other musicians only speak of their successes, where you show your success and ability through your journey. It's inspiring. I'm joining the Academy today. It's time to take this seriously and stop struggling and mixing a song for 2 weeks only for it to sound exactly how you're describing all these "wall of noise" sounds.
Edit: Okay, I've officially joined!
Good luck on your journey as well man
Warren,
First, Thank you for this video on your Six Free Mixing Tricks, because for me as a beginner and novice it was both educational and inspiring. And at this time in my musical life, essential. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!
After a 30 year pause in playing music I began again three years ago; relearning how to play...guitar, piano, drums, banjo. Two years ago I started writing songs again and began recording myself. I have in the past 16 months been watching you, Rick Beato, Chris Selim (I am a Cubase pro 10.5 user) to learn how to play, record, and mix. All of you have helped me get better at it.
Essentially what I am saying here is I have been at this long enough now to realize how vitally important your message on the six tips is.
The last two days I have been working on (and as you have said obsessing on) a new song. Yesterday at the end of the day I made the fourth trial mix mp3. When I compared it to the first one from day one it was lifeless, mush. While all the time thinking, and I even said to my wife before I played it for her last night...Oh this is it!
The first trial mix had almost no plug ins, the fourth mix had one to six plugins per track. I agree with you when one obsesses, doesn't take breaks, and begins randomly processing tracks it is a recipe for achieving mediocrity. For great sounding recordings...I will follow your six tips, record more, mix less! And when at mixing stage to be extremely tactical.
Again, thanks!
I chuckled all the way through this - we've all been there! Excellent advice as always
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks ever so much
These are the very first and most important mixing techniques and will do most of the mix for you. Then it’s just tickle this and tweak that to finish. Well done!
Six is the number…! It’s easy to overlook these simple tenets and it’s great to be reminded of them.
Love your channel warren!
Thanks ever so much my friend!
Numbers 1,5,6 are invaluable and cannot be stressed enough. I've only been at this for a few months and this is a priceless tryptich
Amazing free tricks, thanks for sharing your experience with us Warren 🤘
It is so wonderful to hear you share your broad life experiences. The honesty is refreshing and most welcome. I always look forward to your releases and try and make time to watch as many as I can. I am fortunate to have invested the time for this session and will embrace your wisdom! Thank you!
You're a genius. Short story. I've never used reference tracks. But just recently I decided to do a cover songs CD and wanted to get the songs as close to the originals as possible. Well, now I had no choice. Only chance I had to pull this off was to use reference tracks. Short of my vocals (I obviously don't sound like these singers) the tracks were, in many cases, almost identical to the originals. The compliments I got on this project were surprising. So now, for my own songs, I will use reference tracks if I'm trying to emulate a certain genre and want to get it just right. So yes, reference tracks are very important if not critical to getting yourself in the right ballpark. Otherwise, you're mixing in the dark. Thank you Warren.
Thank you for this video - lots of great advice. For what it's worth, I also think it can be very helpful (and free!) to start the mixing process in mono. By bringing all instruments to center, it can help you make quick/good decisions about how the frequencies fit and what issues need to be addressed. Once you have carved out the sonic space needed in a mono mix, your songs will sound that much better once you start the EQ and panning processes.
These free tips & tricks are worth a million. Thanks!
Thanks ever so much!
Great points! I was just mixing a song few days ago trying to get the distorted guitars sound right (I also made a mistake of doing stuff the guitar player/head of the band requested), and at one point realized I have 3 equalizers, MB compressor, compressor, a bunch of stuff on the track... removed everything, put Scheps omni channel and did everything there. Got a great sound by simplifying.
And when it comes to reference tracks... can't tell how many times I had to explain to the band that they serve a purpose of a general sound and balance we aim for, while they often expect to get that exact sound with totally different raw tracks.
I cant thank for more for sharing your pure Passion Warren! Thank you. Regards from Austria
Wow! Thanks ever so much! Danke
Fantastic Warren my lovely.
I all to often make the mistake of complicating things. Thanks mate and
May the funk be with you
More excellent advice Warren thanks!
Thanks ever so much Ace!!
Thanks for what you do!
Can’t wait to release more music!
Thanks ever so much Jonny
Timeless. Thanks for sharing your wonderful wisdom. Also, thank you for sharing your passion and kindness. Always positive and inspiring!
#3 is one of the best mixing and production tips ever, it's crazy helpful. Thank you!
Dear Warren! I think you are speaking with a lot of wisdom. I completely agree with you. Again. These tricks are more than guidelines - "Bible" would be more appropriate.. Seriously, we have to take really good care not losing ourselves in our work. And we absolutely have everything to gain by applying these simples "rules". Whenever I'm a little bit at lost, I take some time off and watch your videos. There's always some good that will come out of it. So I thank you again. And, by the way, I'm a new academy member. Not very active yet because I was toi busy recording but I will, in the future. I really like to feel like I'm part of the community. I'm very very far from L.A. (Magdalen Islands! Gosh that's far.... lol!) but there's good music everywhere, hey? Take care! And have a wonderful time..... of course. ;-)
I'm revisiting this video after a year, the advice couldn't seem more relevant today!
I have a lot of my mixes on my phone, when I export them as I'm working on them, I put them on the phone so I can listen in the car. Also on three different systems at home at the time, but when I do my fairly regular 6 hour drives, I shuffle everything on my phone and play it in the car via Bluetooth. I never know what will come up on a 6 hour trip, there's enough music on my phone to last for days, but now and then, an early export of a mix will come on, and I'll think "What happened? I've been working on this song for months, and the export from the first few days sounds better than the one now, after 6 months of 'refining and improving it!".
Waveform is the only DAW I'm familiar with, and it allows you to save edits as you go. I usually do this when I take a big step, like declaring the drums 'done', or applying a processing chain to an element. So you end up with a list of different saved edits for each song. It's interesting, and enlightening, to go from Edit 7, back to edit 2 or 3, and see whether you've lost your way, and hopefully, where you disappeared down the rabbit hole!
Great advice here Warren, I think I need to watch this again every year! 😁👍
The gift that keeps on giving! thanks Warren for the awesome tips
I've been mixing my music for 10 yrs...
Today I was looking at my console view on my DAW (Cakewalk by BandLabs (free)) and noticed I have way less plugins than I had from years ago.
Probably thanks to CLA's plugins and SSL Channel Strips!
This channel is a gem! Thank you so much for your nuggets of wisdom. Reference mixes are a great idea :)
Thanks ever so much Jobe, I really appreciate it!
My kids got me a turntable for my 51st b-day and that runs through my studio set-up. On the rare occasions when I get to just simply listen, that's how I listen.
Probably the one tip that had improved mine tremendously is mixing at a quiet level. It costs nothing and not only will it save your hearing in the long run, but you will have a more consistent picture of your mix as you know what needs better balance. You'll hear the more precise changes and have better perspective on what needs a little automation to draw in the listener's attention to the performance of a part or of the part is great left alone, whether adjustments need to be subtle or more apparent. I hope that helps.
Great topic! I made me reflect on the times I've heard my favorite songs for the first time and how they got my attention without anyone needing to talk it up!
Your channel just changed my life
You’re very kind! Thanks ever so much
This is very true, more time listening, using less plugins, using only really necessary instruments or number of instruments in a section, and using automation to draw a picture can drastically make a track sound amazing without overworking it or destroying the initial idea of the track. Good recordings will need much less processing and are likely to result in a more natural pleasing sound that is not over processed
Golden tips and tricks!! Thank you mr. Huart!
Priceless spot on advise and wisdom, thanks Warren.
You just changed my view on mixing. You truly opened my eyes to my mistakes. Thank you. Hope to make you proud. Love and light from South Africa 🇿🇦
Another fine one Warren. Thank you for your insight!
Great tips! Yeah less is more. Get the best sounds into the mic and sweeten things up after. I like your advice to just get up and take breaks often and come back fresh.
Thanks ever so much
i like your style Warren. i learn so much from you, you are maybe the best on RUclips to learn about mixing & producing. thanks a bunch!
"Listen more, do less" is fantastic advice. My drum mixes really took off when I quit doing so much crap to what was an already good sound.
Great video mate. I have the advantage of writing and producing a lot of the mixes I work on but I would say that arrangement is key. A great arrangement will make the mix so much easier. I get sounds to work pretty well before I even work on a mix. Like you say automation is key Warren. It separates the men from the boys so to speak. I think that the most important key I could bring up is to mix in mono! Hit the mono button on the stereo buss and adjust levels and panning and when the levels are right put the mix into stereo and voila it will just open up and sound good. this should be done before putting any plugins on tracks. Cheers.
Just something that helps me. When you think you've got your final mix sorted, have a break and then come back and shift your listening position around a bit. This can be quite revealing.
Very helpful video..we must think with this way every time we start a song
Thanks ever so much my friend
"Everything goes through my compressors...cut, compress, boost, cut, compress" Brilliant! Thanks for pointing out some super common practices... Warren, it's awesome when someone as respected as you admits that they do these things too... Excellent advice with a tinge of humor-- (the best kind of advice). My tip is one that I just recently started doing again--fairly obvious but I'd gotten out of the habit... Once you're doing mixdowns, Save a version (Save as w/unique file name/date) of your project each time you do a mix... this allows me to easily recall the version of my mix that actually sounded better than the 10th mix with all of the things I've done to make it "better"
Wow this is solid foundation mindset right here.. have to make sure to absorb this.. thnx much Warren
Warren, all those words are so true! I am guilty of all you mentioned so thanks for the pointers.
How you think of the subject and explain so well makes me respect you so much because you
truly care about the music and want us to as well. I'm getting better and as I say have been guilty
of many things mainly I suppose staying too long on a mix. Now I tend to do it in smaller time
frames and I think it is always a good thing apart from frequent breaks is to load another song in
and work on that for a while and then go back to the previous track with renewed vigour and direction.
Thank you Warren for your inspiration.
I really like these tips! Thanks Warren! And yes: It is really really important, what you play and how you capture it. This couldn't be more true today, as everything is virtually possible in a DAW.
Thanks Warren! always good info!
Thanks ever so much Mike!!
one of your best videos for sure
Thanks ever so much Mario!
Wow what a great great talk in this video Warren, thank you!
Thanks Warren. Great stuff there 😎👍🎸🥁
I love the lighting on this video
Thanks ever so much Chris!!
Wow! You really animatedly made me think in a bunch of different simple ways. Thank you much.✊🏼✨😀🙏🏼
You the man Warren, thxs 😎
"Boy! Did it rock!!" - direct quote from Glenn!!! Amazing video!!
Thanks ever so much Alexey!
Love the lighting on this video, looks very "posh" 👌😊
Excellent list of tips. I think tip #6 is also applicable to any task requiring an elevated level of competence, concentration and low margin for errors that aren’t necessarily artistic in nature. Taking a break often frees the mind from the insidious, fuzzy tunnel vision that seems to weasel its way into intense, time constrained or not, tasks.
Thanks ever so much! I’m glad to be able to help!
Adding on to “Listen more” and “reference mixes,” I have found that the more I ask questions and listen to the artist, manager, and others, the more I am prepared before I even power up the system. If I recorded, I also take time to listen to their instrument. They chose it, built it, or set it up that way for a reason. Ifi didn’t record, I then listen to each channel, instrument, part, and vocal with little to no modification. I might even listen to previous music from the artist. They may have a particular style and sound that defines them. While they want my take and vision, or want to expand or go in a new direction, I can ruin it if I try to make it something that it wasn’t meant to be. Remember that they have a sound that they and their fans love. I have heard albums that are mixed technically well but made my beloved band or artist seem like someone else entirely. You likely can think of examples as well.
Great video! Made notes.
Just one tip to add since this is so relevant to the listening part of the whole process.
Set up your monitors in your space properly. What you hear can change so much if you happen to have them at the wrong height, or yourself in the wrong place.
Cheers
About reference mixes- I like to use them for the volume of my bass. I'll be in my car & I'll listen to songs of the same genre & then listen to mine. My current song had the bass too loud, and it was actually giving me a headache. I couldn't tell it was too loud on my computer speakers, even with my bass booster on the floor. I adjusted it a little bit & listened to the updated version in the car the next day. It sounded so much better at a more proper level.
thankyou so much for the video! i was aware of a few things you talked about but never saw it with the perspective that you showed, and never known them in that depth.
Amazing and very helpful tips thank you so much Warren!
My best top tip is for those breaks... if you can go to the ocean and let the waves crashing re-set your ears. Works like a charm. I guess running water like a river might help too but the ocean is so much more powerful.
Just Warren with the most awesome information as usual. 🖤 Thank you Sir.
Thanks for yet another inspiring video.
Not only are those tips free but they dont cost anything thata incredible
Thanks ever so much
Great tips Warren. Peace from Poland :)
Thanks ever so much!
Such brilliant advice, and even though I consider myself a beginner at mixing & mastering, I really can confirm exactly what you're saying about overdoing and not resting and adding too much - all of that. I really appreciate the fact you are admitting to having made these mistakes yourself. Fantastic presentation, loved this video, big like & shared! Thank you!!
#4, method I'm going to practice. Warren thank you so much for all you do. In the 6 months I have learned mixing, I have progressed so much with yours and Glenn's videos. I'm almost ready to share my mixes.
Excellent video. Your absolute best..on Point!!
As always great tips!
Thanks ever so much Nick!!
Thank you Warren , awesome tips, like you said about the mute button, it,s funny how silence in the mix seems almost forbidden these days, rather than just having a lovely piano and a vocal or something it ends up being 5 pads,synth sounds, virtual strings and a doubled guitar.
it's remarkable just how much space or least amount of instruments are in older songs, more is not always better, but never say never, thanks again, all the best.
Warren - you're a wonderfully generous man. Many thanks always.
Thanks ever so much John!!
I'm learning mixing. And you are the brightest star on my list of teachers. Hope you're doing marvelously well 😊
One of my favourite vids on this channel! Thanks, Warren!
Thanks ever so much Adrián!!
More great stuff. Thanks so much.
Thanks Warren, awesome tips!
thank you so much for this- I am a musician trying to learn mixing and audio engineering and recording. This is really refreshing to hear that basic arranging skills, balancing levels, etc are actually the most important. I will trust my instincts while also trying to learn about the elements that are not yet familiar. Many thanks!
Wanting to feel important is just human nature, but it can be trouble when we unload that burden on the song. I think it's quite obvious when we get something that's been beautifully recorded. The thing almost mixes itself and the less you do the better it sounds. Good stuff, Warren.
Warren, thank you for bringing your passion for music and mixing to RUclips! Awesome stuff!
I just did the wipe all plugins and tried doing less this week trust Warren it really does work width, volume and depth really improved. love the Chanel thanks for the tips
1. 1:19 familiarize with your equipments
2. 2:45 listen more do less
3. 6:42 don't be afraid to use Mute
4. 11:15 Automation
5. 15:11 use reference mixes
6. 18:04 take frequent breaks
I knew there was gonna be a Time-Stamp Champion around here... Thanks!!!
Always appreciate and enjoy the knowledge bestowed by you! Your channel is one of a kind!
I loved this one it was the best one yet, very honest and very helpful thank you