@@cocvhecvit makes sense on a horizontal surface like a mixing desk. Wouldn’t make any sense on a vertical surface like volume and eq sliders found on radios. It is a better way of thinking about it for sure!
MY NOTES: BEDA: Balance - EQ - Dynamics -Ambience Most important factor of mixing = volume faders. Controls front-and-back depth. Common beginner mistakes: vocals & drums too quiet while bass too loud. EQ: corrects mistakes made while recording, shapes tone of part to your liking, controls balance of each frequency band of mix independently. Takes ear training and practice to get right. EQ helps prevent frequency masking. Instruments that poke out in the mix more = more emphasis. Dynamics: Macro: difference between loud vs quiet. Volume automation in the mix. Done throughout the arrangement in a storytelling way. Micro: high peak to average ratio where transients are very prominent. Main tool to control this is compression. Gives the listener the subliminal feeling of having drums pop in your face. Ambience: all the reverb and delay effects in the mix, especially the ones that are subliminal where you don't notice until it's missing.
It took me about ten years to find out all of the info Dan gives in this video by myself. This video should be THE very first thing a person wanting to learn to mix watches. It doesn't bedazzle you with plug in features and things that are useless until you know what the fundamental things a mix should be trying to achieve are, and how to approach them. This video somehow condenses "what is a mix" into less than 30 mins. A job well done I say!
I could not agree more. Focus is all important. Then train your ears through practice. Review mixes with others, discussing will cement your hearing experience. It will help your ability to understand and judge. This concept is valid for many topics from mixing music to 'mastering' your understanding the taste of wine and food (more my field of expertise). I have no knowledge of mixing. I do understand quite a bit of what I hear and why it sounds that way. To understand more is why I'm viewing this and other mixing channels. Stay curious ❤
Definitely. Not ten years for me, but after I've read 2 books on the matter (and finally getting a clue), I find this which sums up the most important things I read there. First RUclips video I've seen that does this, the countless others I've seen just focus on some detail, as the speaker himself says. I never overpraise videos or stuff in general, but this deserves.
@@atwinchester If you ever have any questions about it, feel free to drop them here and I'll try to help you out if you need. I doubt I'll be as graceful as Dan at explaining it tho heh.
In the late 2000s/early 2010s, I used to lull myself to sleep replaying fabfilter tutorials on repeat, listening to Dan's articulate voice describing techniques as I drift off into dreaming about the next studio session. To this day, every video I've seen from him significantly helps my workflow and approach to visualizing the mix. If the technical parts are over my head, he still breaks it down with philosophical concepts which plant seeds for when I revisit again later. Brilliant, as always Dan. You're truly a legend. And Kyle, I was really pleased to see that you had Dan on as a guest. I've been following your vids for quite some time too, and you're out here doing the lord's work. Keep it up. We need more channels like yours out here.
I felt compelled to respond by two personal experiences. First, as an engineer at MCI 1975-76, I worked on three custom consoles - JH500 series - that we built for Atlantic Records’ recording studios in NYC for which inverted faders were specified. It wasn’t nearly as simple as we hoped as the faders mounting points did not permit a simple flip. Instead the fader’s mechanical mounting was retained but the resistive track element inside was inverted. Even that required some drilling and some amount of time to confirm. Second, I enjoyed a friendship with Tom Dowd and later his wonderful daughter, Dana, who generously shared her experiences with Dad. Tom had an office right at the front door of Criteria Studios, just 10 steps from Studio D where he made a home for awhile. I grew to know him just from walking through the front door, as he seemed to prefer the social construct over any quiet space and was a great conversationalist. That is very much missed. Tom and I did a remote recording for an artist in which we both shared an interest. He produced, I engineered; the irony did not escape me. He was the perfect collaborator in a musical project, with a keen ear, an open mind, and an always ready good idea. I wish we could have done more. It seems everyone I still regularly see from those days has a beautiful story to relate about Tom. That, more than anything else, is a legacy I want to leave when it’s time for me.
Hey Brotha, first I just want to say Thank You for sharing all of that. Obviously Tom Dowd was/is a legend that far too many of us give credit to. Every time an engineer moves a fader, he should get a penny added to his Dowd estate. But your first experience is why I'M compelled to respond! Though the irony that you have both a personal relationship with the inventor of the fader, AND a personal experience with Re-Installing them "the Right Way" or the Dowd way, is incredible! My question is this: Did you actually get to mix on those boards, and if so, Was it indeed more intuitive, or were you already so conditioned that moving the faders in reverse just broke your brain? Here's the thing, when I first started learning (in the late eighties early nineties), and really started developing my understanding of a 3-dimensional sound stage, I immediately questioned Why the faders go the wrong way. I had a debate with (not quite a mentor) about it as a teenager that resulted in, "that's just how it is". So if Frequencies are Up & Down, Panning is Left & Right, and Levels are Front & Back, why am I pushing the fader Up to bring the sound Forward? I have a Lot more I could say, but Thank You for sparking these thoughts! G. (Last seemingly random question: Are you a Reaper user by chance?)
This video is the undeniable proof that, i don't know how, they can read your mind thru your phone because just yesterday i was thinking "I need a video about general concept of mixing by Dan Worrall, it would be so useful to me now". And here we are...
The creepiest thing is that I'm subscribed to this channel and Dan's, but RUclips has recommended me about 38 other videos that don't feature Kyle or Dan. It must be reading thoughts that I'm not even aware of. Or maybe it's just an algorithm based on my previous viewing habits.
After so many years of mixing by ear and playing with so many different plug ins, I’ve found that doing the least possible gives the best results. Just having a solid sound to start with and small adjustments go such a long way
I’ve made a similar discovery. Just little small incremental changes eventually lead to a great mix. Not that I’m against large sweeping changes but usually it doesn’t accomplish what you need
@@karlludwigsenmusic982 yeah I think nowadays depending on your genre alot if samples/sounds/synths we use are already clean cut and solid, you can eliminate a lot of the mixing issues by simply changing you’re sound to a better one rather than trying too hard to fit it into the mix
You knows what's really crazy? The same applies to images. It's crazy similar both are. 1. Record to a raw format that has no/minimal amount of processing to the signal after the analog to digital stage. 2. Get the cleanest analog signal with the least amount of noise. Make sure everything is technically good on set rather than fix it later. 2. If all wen't well the only thing you might have to do is fix contrast, exposure and fix the color balance slightly. 4. Voila you're done
I tend to be quite skeptical of youtube audio people, but featuring Dan Worrall on this channel may have been the biggest thing you could do to persuade me of your legitimacy. I've seen a lot of people be like "tips and tricks won't help you, you just need this mindset" and while I definitely agree that tips and tricks won't help if you've got the wrong mindset (and also a great deal of tips and tricks videos are useless), Dan's tips and tricks have probably done more for my mixes than any of those guys' videos except for the one that outlined the principles in this video.
VOLUMES: - Balance front-to-back depth based on the importance of each element at every stage of the song to direct the focus of the listener. EQ: - Can be used to clean and shape tones - Make sure FQ aren't masking eachother (esp. low end) - Have a Kick poke through the mix at 50Hz and 5kHz to sound huge while dipping the intermediate FQ a bit. Have the bass fundamental at 100Hz to hear it clearly - Each FQ range has a certain quality (warmth, boxy, precence, aggresive, air...). Poke the elements out where you need that quality to shine. - Train your ears to recognise different FQs COMPRESSION: - Macrodynamics: changes in volume at different parts of the song - Microdynamics: changes in volume within one element Ambience: - Our brain substracts the room to hear the sounds clearly - In modern pop the lead vocal sounds dry but it still has early reflections
At sound school they made us submit our first mix using only faders and eq (and panning which is also a fader). I feel as we as engineers advance with daws, vsts, production etc, we forget how powerful are these tools and how everything builds on top of them :)
And like he pointed out in this video, EQ is also a fader. It's just frequency specific. Almost everything comes down to levels. I mean, compression is a fader too, since it's turning down the loudest parts.
Reminds me of my own experience in college. They had us mix on consoles first to appreciate the fundamentals with no option for excessive plugins or digital tweaking. Made us really focus on nailing the basics.
This Absolutely on point, im a self taught amateur, the moment i got this concept in my head my mixes improved, people underestimate how importante to the sound stage is the ground work
this is actually the best introduction to mixing I have ever seen, accessible, clear, precise and exhaustive. That's very hard to do with a subject as dispersive as mixing. Worrall is great.
Maybe one of the most informative and to the point videos about the next steps after getting it right at the source. He not only knows what he is talking about; he is extraordinary at explaining it.
Great video as usual from Dan Worrall! By far the best audio teacher on RUclips. No name dropping, deep philosophical 'get in the head' of an engineer reasoning, examples to show benefits, reasons WHY things are helpful and HOW they can be used, etc. No one compares. And best of all, no name dropping and filling up time with bs and beating around the bush.
You got to respect a man who won the loudness war ;) =] In all seriousness, I've come to define mixing as "bringing together the separate elements in order to form a cohesive whole". You have a solid composition/song, a solid arrangement, and a solid set of recordings, then the mixing is really about making sure they "get along together". If you can achieve this with just the faders and pan pots, you are most of the way there. Additional processing - especially EQ and compression - should be used either to address technical issues (frequency masking, addressing tonal balance) or for creative purposes.
Indeed, but unfortunately there are hundreds of RUclips channels are victims of the clickbait war that bombard users with tips on "How to perfect your mix to get that last 10% bit of polish like Grammy winners", when most of us don't know how to do the first 90%. Generally speaking, videos about fundamental skills don't get the clicks. Everyone's looking for the shiny "extra" bit that for most viewers and newbies is basically irrelevant.
Excellent primer. I've never heard a better summation of building a mix. Your emphasis on the difference between visual levels (metering) and perceived levels is a great call-out. Thank you for keeping it real in a sea of...
Wow, wow, wow, as a keyboardist and home recording artist, the conceptual nature of this presentation was just what I needed. I'm learning to do my own mixes and Mr. Worrall, you sir, are a blessing to my future philosophy to music and soundscapes. Thank you Kyle and Dan!!!
Outstanding. I've been following Dan for a while now and I think he's the most eloquent audio educator I've ever encountered. Delighted that you hosted him for this!
It's so heartwarmingly cute how proud you are to have Dan on your show. Beaming from one ear to the other! Brilliant advice through and through as well!
Great video! These fundamentals don’t sit as top-of-mind for me as they should 😅 The latest “soundgoodizer” plugins on the other hand… (Wavesfactory has a new one out today and this video made me think twice about it lol)
Those soundgoodizer thingies can work, this is why people keep on trying them and hoping they will give them the sound they want. But by the end of the day it much better to know how to do things on a lower level so you can actually have control of what you're doing and have a basic understanding of why it works, instead of just rolling a knob 😂
I’ve been hobby producing for about 6 years and you called out my noob tendencies. The way you then explained the fundamentals of pushing things back was so elegant and understandable that I know things will be different moving forward. Thanks a ton
Had a moment of "whoa..." at 4:45, realizing there was a much simpler way to think of faders than what I've been doing... Had to pause the video and reflect before continuing. Top notch info, very happy to have come across it
Best video I've watched on youtube for months. Had to take a break from music production to work up money for building a studio, and this got me really fired up to finally continue making music.
By far the best video I have seen about mixing❤ Most tutorials on youtube are for those who already knows about mixing. They shows their mixing workflow rather than explaining what's a good mix and what they are trying to achieve with all those plug-ins. This video answers lot of the questions I had in mind. Thanks.
18:42 Great analogy. And frankly, the entire elements of the breakdown of this video really sets the tone, needs to get one to train their ears to capture these nuances for the technical elements to sound 'right' to the listener. Subscribed to Worrall's channel too.
Thank you for this. The explanation by Dan was simple and effective. The principles of a good mix were explained with clarity and depth. Thank you very much for this. Your generosity as a channel ad for Dan is much appreciated for those of us, who have never gone to school for audio engineering.
'Bass too loud' was a problem I faced a lot in the past. Since my monitoring system back then (only 2x KRK Rokit 6) couldn't represent the bass I wanted to have in my track. So I pushed it to the limit to feel it the way I wanted it. Since I added a KRK Subwoofer to my monitoring I really feel the -10 db bassline and don't have to push it to -3 db~
Getting the bass sorted is one of _the_ primary challenges in any mix that isn't just a remake or following somebody's hit-maker formulae. In most genres t's a key skill which separates the disciplined learner from the perpetually clueless. It's no different from being a painter that understands how to use the first layer of underpainting to establish and convey weight, 3 dimensional depth, momentum and balance of figures in motion, perhaps also time passing - and cram it all into a single 2D image... without bringing attention to the fact that you are. _Take care of the foundation, and all that goes on and around it does better at their 'job", too._ Anyway, A couple years ago I started making a habit of checking my mixes in both a) a car system (or two) and b) a small-med size portable bluetooth speaker - or anything comparable weighing no more than 5 lbs so it struggles to stay loud under 50-70 Hz Since then my mixes have been consistently _far less cringe-inducing in regard to_ how balance and energy translates on any other system from cel phone to 100+ kWatt club systems.... in much fewer attempts. Now my guitars are often _thin as hell_ when soloed, but with complimentary bass part mixed in the guitars sound better than ever.
I feel you need a different system that can better reproduce bass. I have a stereo system that I plugged an old bass cabinet, it's not great for mixing mid range because it's not that clear and sharp (I mostly use Senheiser headphones for that), but it's great for judging the overall balance of the mix, specially the bass and the rest. Most speakers that are great for "mixing" (mid range), as NS10s, have almost no bass
Love the down-to-earth approach to the video. It is easy to get lost in all the details of mixing, so it's nice to zoom out get back to resolving the core problems.
Always great content on your channel Kyle and respect to you for introducing Dan to those of your audience that weren't aware of him. Both of you have a great understanding of the technical side of recording (and I've learned so much from both of you) and explain it really well. One of the points made that might slip past a lot of people is that the best mix starts with the arrangement. An individual has it easy limited only be their ability to play or program an instrument but when you're working with a band then that's a whole new dimension. Them triangle players always want to be higher in the mix!
When Dan was talking about how a recording of a concert or something sounds bad compared to it sounding good in person, it occurred to me that it must be for that reason that binaural, head-shaped microphone setups exist. So the recording will contain all of the cues we normally get in person from the shape of our head and such, so that when listened back to on headphones, our brain is able to correct for the room reverb/eq and hear the mix as it would be in person.
I don't normally comment on videos unless absolutely neccessary. I just wanted to thank you for creating this video. Of course everyone and their brother has their beliefs on what makes a good mix. And with opinions being like assh0les, there are plenty of them. I've been producing going on 30 years now and whereas my need for tutorial videos regarding audio related subject matter is little these days, I still don't claim to be the repository of all knowledge. I just wanted to say kudos for posting what I think to be the most concise explanation of these fundamentals for attaining a good mix. Of course thank you @DanWorrall for explaining these fundamentals so eloquently. These are not just your opinion but truly at the core of mixing and mastering. Truly well worth my time and should be the first video up and coming engineers should be clicking.
6:41 "singing with some exciting stuff behind it" makes me so sad😭🤣 It's like thinking McDonald's is the height of cooking, or an average sitcom is peak writing and acting lol. There's so much beauty to be had from all the senses we're given
I Loved how you didn't disregard some of the more nitty gritty stuff just because it's complicated, sure you didn't go into depth about it which is great for people like me, but you also told people who didn't know about it that they should learn about it and know why. This is the approach I take to many things not just audio, learn how it works on the most fundamental level that you can give your own bounds, knowing it on such a small level let's you conseptulize what your doing much better and will help you problem solve when an issue does occur.
Damn that was excellent! I just had to sit down and really listen. Just really good advice here that has been in the back of my mind lately as I go deeper into mixing and mastering.
Indeed. I think for me coming up through 4 track, then 8 track , then 16track I had no compressors other than what the cassette tape provided. Just basic eq. And then maybe a reverb or something. It taught me the basics
My simple and very straight question is that ,Can we make a release ready track by using only digital things like DAW,VST's and mixing and mastering within DAW only .(without using any hardware studio stuffs)
Mad respect for this kind of "free" content. I'm blown away by the quality you guys deliver for such a small return. True dedication for the people. Bravo. Keep what you're doing as long as it makes you happy, we'll be there to take all your wisdom with unended gratitude. ❤️ Thank you!
_"I'm blown away by the quality you guys deliver for such a small return"_ goes to show you what has become of youtube, you see youtube was never about the money, fame, succes, it was a tool to broadcast yourself without expecting things in return.... it a persons own choice to broadcast himself but not a *right* to become succesfull. Dont get me wrong, the comment has a good intention, but it a distorted view based on how social media is nowadays
@@amosamwig8394 I think you need reevaluate my comment and our current society, not just social media, our society, they are clearly trying to live of what they are doing like a lot of other people. Yeah capitalism might be a terrible system but it's what we have to work with for now. So yeah I sincerely wanted to thanks them for their dedication cause they could be making more money going an easier way of locking down their wisdom but they choose to give us a lot without waiting for something in return like a lot would have otherwisely done in their place. From the beginning RUclips was thought a business.. Founded by ex PayPal employees, a business man and 2 entrepreneurs.. Nothing "twisted" about our view, that's our current reality after all.. I don't really understand your comment sorry.. But I hope you're not struggling in your life and still wish you the better.
Well, that was phenomenal. I can tell when I'm going to listen to something 10 times through again and enjoy it every time. Dan might be the David Attenborough of music.
This is exactly what I needed to hear! I’m just a home studio nut, and have too many plugins for my own good. I’ve tried just about every YT tip, trick, and tutorial out there. My mixes still sound dull and lifeless! I’m definitely going to apply this method. Thanks for making this video!
A key takeaway from this lecture is just how important it is to listen start to finish when engineers like Mr Worrall address a particular topic, as opposed to cherry picking a presented strategy and ignoring the entire context of the lecture. It’s a key mistake many aspiring engineers make- and in combination with being self taught it can be futile trying to apply any strategy if the underlying problem is not listening completely. This channel marriage is a great offering for deciphering the skewed world of YT amateurs who make tutorial videos without having the first clue as to what they are even talking about. Thanks Kyle and Dan for your part in setting the world of YT audio lectures on its proper axis. Efficient informative effective content. ✌️
Hooray it’s Dan! Can’t tell you how important ambience is in making any track sound alive. I read many many years ago about Depeche Mode tracking in Hansa in Berlin, using the building as FX sends. And since then i have always taken ambience very seriously. The level is very important of course. Just a taste creates depth. Too much creates a mess.
It's incredible how little ambiance is needed more often than not. Put a reverb on a track, dial in a tone, turn the level so low I can't even hear it, but when I bypass it the track just dies.
Fabulous video! Especially for Novices (like me). This is the first time that I actually understood what a sound engineer was talking about. That's NOT a knock on the Engineers not being able to Dumb down this Art to my level of understanding. It IS a knock on my technical naivety. The point is that you guys made sense of this process (mixing) to even an Engineering Dork like me and I am incredibly grateful.
That was awesome. Very comprehensive and filled with yes and a ha moments, plenty of new insights plus some of those things you didn't know that you knew. Nicely narrated!
Great philosophical advice from Dan. When I'm putting a track together, I don't touch any eq or reverb as I'm going along except for filtering out with low and high pass filters. If something is not sitting in that monitor mix I'll change the sound, for example if the kick is lacking low end, I'll layer in a sample to add it in. When I get to mixing, I find I don't even have to eq some parts and the mixes sound more natural.
I honestly have no idea who Kyle is nor have heard of this channel before. But if you got the legendary Dan Worrall to pay a visit, you must be doing something right - and know a thing or 2 about mixing! Nicely done:)
Top notch. I've been struggling with clear mixes, despite having minimal inputs to begin with. I think I need to start again from the basics, and this certainly delivered.
Watched around 350 Videos in the past 40 Days...all about mixing and mastering, this field was always my enemy of musicproduction (compared to texting, rapping, making beats etc) . Believe it or not, of 350 Videos YOU are the ONLY one who makes it clear and structured and shows THIS 1:55. That was all i needed from beginning on...A structure, which stuff do first and what bases on what! To all other people that want to make Vids about musicproduction like this: If your guide does not include THIS, your Guide is useless!
Thanks for having me Kyle, and I hope people find this useful.
My pleasure, Dan! I hope viewers are finding the video helpful. Check out Dan's channel here: ruclips.net/user/DanWorrall
I found every single video you made very useful!
Great video! Two of my favorites teaming up! Love it.
Very useful indeed
Dan is the Michael Jordan (notice I didn't say Lebron) of audio RUclips.
The idea of pulling the sounds towards you, rather than just raising volume, is a useful concept I'll try to keep in my head
It's a more direct imagining. I guess using sliders in other appliances flipped our image of the sound
@@cocvhecvit makes sense on a horizontal surface like a mixing desk. Wouldn’t make any sense on a vertical surface like volume and eq sliders found on radios. It is a better way of thinking about it for sure!
MY NOTES:
BEDA: Balance - EQ - Dynamics -Ambience
Most important factor of mixing = volume faders. Controls front-and-back depth.
Common beginner mistakes: vocals & drums too quiet while bass too loud.
EQ: corrects mistakes made while recording, shapes tone of part to your liking, controls balance of each frequency band of mix independently. Takes ear training and practice to get right. EQ helps prevent frequency masking. Instruments that poke out in the mix more = more emphasis.
Dynamics:
Macro: difference between loud vs quiet. Volume automation in the mix. Done throughout the arrangement in a storytelling way.
Micro: high peak to average ratio where transients are very prominent. Main tool to control this is compression. Gives the listener the subliminal feeling of having drums pop in your face.
Ambience: all the reverb and delay effects in the mix, especially the ones that are subliminal where you don't notice until it's missing.
Thanks :)
It took me about ten years to find out all of the info Dan gives in this video by myself. This video should be THE very first thing a person wanting to learn to mix watches. It doesn't bedazzle you with plug in features and things that are useless until you know what the fundamental things a mix should be trying to achieve are, and how to approach them. This video somehow condenses "what is a mix" into less than 30 mins. A job well done I say!
I could not agree more. Focus is all important. Then train your ears through practice. Review mixes with others, discussing will cement your hearing experience. It will help your ability to understand and judge. This concept is valid for many topics from mixing music to 'mastering' your understanding the taste of wine and food (more my field of expertise). I have no knowledge of mixing. I do understand quite a bit of what I hear and why it sounds that way. To understand more is why I'm viewing this and other mixing channels. Stay curious ❤
Definitely. Not ten years for me, but after I've read 2 books on the matter (and finally getting a clue), I find this which sums up the most important things I read there. First RUclips video I've seen that does this, the countless others I've seen just focus on some detail, as the speaker himself says. I never overpraise videos or stuff in general, but this deserves.
Totally agree. I'm about to start learning how to mix and this is some really valuable information
@@atwinchester If you ever have any questions about it, feel free to drop them here and I'll try to help you out if you need. I doubt I'll be as graceful as Dan at explaining it tho heh.
It’s actually the first thing i see about mixing altho i knew it existed i didn’t look it up until now so ig im in the right track
I think we'd all be interested in a complete, structured mixing/mastering course by Dan. Make it and we pay.
This playlist is already pretty good for a start ruclips.net/video/_fDg_pgit5c/видео.html
Yep
I would totally pay for that.
anytime !!!!
Absolutly - I would pay for that too
This is single-handedly the most important mixing video I’ve watched in 4 years of making music. Thank you
I see Dan Worrall in the title, I click. It’s that simple.
In the late 2000s/early 2010s, I used to lull myself to sleep replaying fabfilter tutorials on repeat, listening to Dan's articulate voice describing techniques as I drift off into dreaming about the next studio session. To this day, every video I've seen from him significantly helps my workflow and approach to visualizing the mix. If the technical parts are over my head, he still breaks it down with philosophical concepts which plant seeds for when I revisit again later. Brilliant, as always Dan. You're truly a legend.
And Kyle, I was really pleased to see that you had Dan on as a guest. I've been following your vids for quite some time too, and you're out here doing the lord's work. Keep it up. We need more channels like yours out here.
I felt compelled to respond by two personal experiences. First, as an engineer at MCI 1975-76, I worked on three custom consoles - JH500 series - that we built for Atlantic Records’ recording studios in NYC for which inverted faders were specified. It wasn’t nearly as simple as we hoped as the faders mounting points did not permit a simple flip. Instead the fader’s mechanical mounting was retained but the resistive track element inside was inverted. Even that required some drilling and some amount of time to confirm.
Second, I enjoyed a friendship with Tom Dowd and later his wonderful daughter, Dana, who generously shared her experiences with Dad. Tom had an office right at the front door of Criteria Studios, just 10 steps from Studio D where he made a home for awhile. I grew to know him just from walking through the front door, as he seemed to prefer the social construct over any quiet space and was a great conversationalist. That is very much missed.
Tom and I did a remote recording for an artist in which we both shared an interest. He produced, I engineered; the irony did not escape me. He was the perfect collaborator in a musical project, with a keen ear, an open mind, and an always ready good idea. I wish we could have done more. It seems everyone I still regularly see from those days has a beautiful story to relate about Tom. That, more than anything else, is a legacy I want to leave when it’s time for me.
Hey Brotha, first I just want to say Thank You for sharing all of that.
Obviously Tom Dowd was/is a legend that far too many of us give credit to.
Every time an engineer moves a fader, he should get a penny added to his Dowd estate.
But your first experience is why I'M compelled to respond!
Though the irony that you have both a personal relationship with the inventor of the fader, AND a personal experience with Re-Installing them "the Right Way" or the Dowd way, is incredible!
My question is this:
Did you actually get to mix on those boards, and if so, Was it indeed more intuitive, or were you already so conditioned that moving the faders in reverse just broke your brain?
Here's the thing, when I first started learning (in the late eighties early nineties), and really started developing my understanding of a 3-dimensional sound stage, I immediately questioned Why the faders go the wrong way. I had a debate with (not quite a mentor) about it as a teenager that resulted in, "that's just how it is".
So if Frequencies are Up & Down, Panning is Left & Right, and Levels are Front & Back, why am I pushing the fader Up to bring the sound Forward?
I have a Lot more I could say, but Thank You for sparking these thoughts!
G.
(Last seemingly random question: Are you a Reaper user by chance?)
This video is the undeniable proof that, i don't know how, they can read your mind thru your phone because just yesterday i was thinking "I need a video about general concept of mixing by Dan Worrall, it would be so useful to me now". And here we are...
So true... I'm blaming 5G lol its just so creepily accurate sometimes. think about it, talk about it.. BAM! youtube recommends it
@@darkcharmrecords i have not even talked about it
@@mttlsa686 exactly... creepy asf
The creepiest thing is that I'm subscribed to this channel and Dan's, but RUclips has recommended me about 38 other videos that don't feature Kyle or Dan. It must be reading thoughts that I'm not even aware of. Or maybe it's just an algorithm based on my previous viewing habits.
@@AutPen38 the latter.
After so many years of mixing by ear and playing with so many different plug ins, I’ve found that doing the least possible gives the best results. Just having a solid sound to start with and small adjustments go such a long way
I agree, I’ve found that if I make a big change and it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Yup, to me the more plugins it has, it feels like it had a veil separating you from the song
I’ve made a similar discovery. Just little small incremental changes eventually lead to a great mix. Not that I’m against large sweeping changes but usually it doesn’t accomplish what you need
@@karlludwigsenmusic982 yeah I think nowadays depending on your genre alot if samples/sounds/synths we use are already clean cut and solid, you can eliminate a lot of the mixing issues by simply changing you’re sound to a better one rather than trying too hard to fit it into the mix
You knows what's really crazy? The same applies to images. It's crazy similar both are.
1. Record to a raw format that has no/minimal amount of processing to the signal after the analog to digital stage.
2. Get the cleanest analog signal with the least amount of noise. Make sure everything is technically good on set rather than fix it later.
2. If all wen't well the only thing you might have to do is fix contrast, exposure and fix the color balance slightly.
4. Voila you're done
I tend to be quite skeptical of youtube audio people, but featuring Dan Worrall on this channel may have been the biggest thing you could do to persuade me of your legitimacy. I've seen a lot of people be like "tips and tricks won't help you, you just need this mindset" and while I definitely agree that tips and tricks won't help if you've got the wrong mindset (and also a great deal of tips and tricks videos are useless), Dan's tips and tricks have probably done more for my mixes than any of those guys' videos except for the one that outlined the principles in this video.
VOLUMES:
- Balance front-to-back depth based on the importance of each element at every stage of the song to direct the focus of the listener.
EQ:
- Can be used to clean and shape tones
- Make sure FQ aren't masking eachother (esp. low end)
- Have a Kick poke through the mix at 50Hz and 5kHz to sound huge while dipping the intermediate FQ a bit.
Have the bass fundamental at 100Hz to hear it clearly
- Each FQ range has a certain quality (warmth, boxy, precence, aggresive, air...). Poke the elements out where you need that quality to shine.
- Train your ears to recognise different FQs
COMPRESSION:
- Macrodynamics: changes in volume at different parts of the song
- Microdynamics: changes in volume within one element
Ambience:
- Our brain substracts the room to hear the sounds clearly
- In modern pop the lead vocal sounds dry but it still has early reflections
At sound school they made us submit our first mix using only faders and eq (and panning which is also a fader).
I feel as we as engineers advance with daws, vsts, production etc, we forget how powerful are these tools and how everything builds on top of them :)
And like he pointed out in this video, EQ is also a fader. It's just frequency specific. Almost everything comes down to levels. I mean, compression is a fader too, since it's turning down the loudest parts.
Reminds me of my own experience in college. They had us mix on consoles first to appreciate the fundamentals with no option for excessive plugins or digital tweaking.
Made us really focus on nailing the basics.
This Absolutely on point, im a self taught amateur, the moment i got this concept in my head my mixes improved, people underestimate how importante to the sound stage is the ground work
this is actually the best introduction to mixing I have ever seen, accessible, clear, precise and exhaustive. That's very hard to do with a subject as dispersive as mixing. Worrall is great.
Maybe one of the most informative and to the point videos about the next steps after getting it right at the source. He not only knows what he is talking about; he is extraordinary at explaining it.
20 minutes of Dan Worrall talking about mixing, doesn't get any better than that
He’s the David Attenborough of Production 🎉
It does get better than that. For example, 40 minutes of Dan Worrall talking about mixing.
Great video as usual from Dan Worrall!
By far the best audio teacher on RUclips. No name dropping, deep philosophical 'get in the head' of an engineer reasoning, examples to show benefits, reasons WHY things are helpful and HOW they can be used, etc. No one compares. And best of all, no name dropping and filling up time with bs and beating around the bush.
You can't beat Dan Worrall for breaking down a subject to its core. Concise, Precise and Elegant. Just like a great mix! Greetings from New Mexico!
Boom !
You got to respect a man who won the loudness war ;) =]
In all seriousness, I've come to define mixing as "bringing together the separate elements in order to form a cohesive whole". You have a solid composition/song, a solid arrangement, and a solid set of recordings, then the mixing is really about making sure they "get along together". If you can achieve this with just the faders and pan pots, you are most of the way there. Additional processing - especially EQ and compression - should be used either to address technical issues (frequency masking, addressing tonal balance) or for creative purposes.
Well said, Derek! Thanks for sharing.
Indeed, but unfortunately there are hundreds of RUclips channels are victims of the clickbait war that bombard users with tips on "How to perfect your mix to get that last 10% bit of polish like Grammy winners", when most of us don't know how to do the first 90%. Generally speaking, videos about fundamental skills don't get the clicks. Everyone's looking for the shiny "extra" bit that for most viewers and newbies is basically irrelevant.
this is one of my favorite audio production videos I have ever watched/listened to
Crammed with sensible perceptions. May you all be finders of great sounding space. Dan's music is gorgeous.
Excellent primer. I've never heard a better summation of building a mix. Your emphasis on the difference between visual levels (metering) and perceived levels is a great call-out. Thank you for keeping it real in a sea of...
This video helped so much, i was able to instantly apply the eq knowledge and everything sounds so much more clear
kept smiling and nodding all the time...thanks for sharing!
Wow, wow, wow, as a keyboardist and home recording artist, the conceptual nature of this presentation was just what I needed. I'm learning to do my own mixes and Mr. Worrall, you sir, are a blessing to my future philosophy to music and soundscapes. Thank you Kyle and Dan!!!
Outstanding. I've been following Dan for a while now and I think he's the most eloquent audio educator I've ever encountered. Delighted that you hosted him for this!
It's so heartwarmingly cute how proud you are to have Dan on your show. Beaming from one ear to the other! Brilliant advice through and through as well!
Great video! These fundamentals don’t sit as top-of-mind for me as they should 😅 The latest “soundgoodizer” plugins on the other hand… (Wavesfactory has a new one out today and this video made me think twice about it lol)
I know you :D hello there
Those soundgoodizer thingies can work, this is why people keep on trying them and hoping they will give them the sound they want.
But by the end of the day it much better to know how to do things on a lower level so you can actually have control of what you're doing and have a basic understanding of why it works, instead of just rolling a knob 😂
First of all that name Soundgoodizer sounds weird
@@HaharuRecordsnah, makes the sound good I guess
Im printing a big "BEDA" sign and putting it in the wall next to my pc and monitors. This is top advice
I’m a simple producer, I see Daddy Dan, I click 🤷♂️ 😅
LMFAO
Congrats on 300k, Kyle! Great content as always, Dan, thanks!
Thanks, Ed!
I’ve been hobby producing for about 6 years and you called out my noob tendencies. The way you then explained the fundamentals of pushing things back was so elegant and understandable that I know things will be different moving forward. Thanks a ton
When Dan speaks - you better listen. Looking forward to this!
How many of us are here for the "advanced tweaking techniques"? Love it and thanks Dan!
Fantastic collaboration, thank you for your work!
Thanks for this amazing video! Pleasure to listen to your voice as well,
Had a moment of "whoa..." at 4:45, realizing there was a much simpler way to think of faders than what I've been doing... Had to pause the video and reflect before continuing. Top notch info, very happy to have come across it
This is my first mixing video and I'm attentively taking notes! Thank you so much for all the valuable information!
Best video I've watched on youtube for months. Had to take a break from music production to work up money for building a studio, and this got me really fired up to finally continue making music.
By far the best video I have seen about mixing❤
Most tutorials on youtube are for those who already knows about mixing. They shows their mixing workflow rather than explaining what's a good mix and what they are trying to achieve with all those plug-ins.
This video answers lot of the questions I had in mind. Thanks.
Glad it was helpful!
18:42 Great analogy. And frankly, the entire elements of the breakdown of this video really sets the tone, needs to get one to train their ears to capture these nuances for the technical elements to sound 'right' to the listener.
Subscribed to Worrall's channel too.
Thank you for this. The explanation by Dan was simple and effective. The principles of a good mix were explained with clarity and depth. Thank you very much for this. Your generosity as a channel ad for Dan is much appreciated for those of us, who have never gone to school for audio engineering.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I thought wisdom comes with age ?
Great video. Love your channel and love for the recording arts.
'Bass too loud' was a problem I faced a lot in the past. Since my monitoring system back then (only 2x KRK Rokit 6) couldn't represent the bass I wanted to have in my track. So I pushed it to the limit to feel it the way I wanted it. Since I added a KRK Subwoofer to my monitoring I really feel the -10 db bassline and don't have to push it to -3 db~
How long have you been producing
@@frane_29 for about 8 years now
Getting the bass sorted is one of _the_ primary challenges in any mix that isn't just a remake or following somebody's hit-maker formulae.
In most genres t's a key skill which separates the disciplined learner from the perpetually clueless.
It's no different from being a painter that understands how to use the first layer of underpainting to establish and convey weight, 3 dimensional depth, momentum and balance of figures in motion, perhaps also time passing - and cram it all into a single 2D image... without bringing attention to the fact that you are.
_Take care of the foundation, and all that goes on and around it does better at their 'job", too._
Anyway,
A couple years ago I started making a habit of checking my mixes in both
a) a car system (or two) and
b) a small-med size portable bluetooth speaker - or anything comparable weighing no more than 5 lbs so it struggles to stay loud under 50-70 Hz
Since then my mixes have been consistently _far less cringe-inducing in regard to_ how balance and energy translates on any other system from cel phone to 100+ kWatt club systems.... in much fewer attempts. Now my guitars are often _thin as hell_ when soloed, but with complimentary bass part mixed in the guitars sound better than ever.
I feel you need a different system that can better reproduce bass. I have a stereo system that I plugged an old bass cabinet, it's not great for mixing mid range because it's not that clear and sharp (I mostly use Senheiser headphones for that), but it's great for judging the overall balance of the mix, specially the bass and the rest. Most speakers that are great for "mixing" (mid range), as NS10s, have almost no bass
The collaboration i didnt know I needed
Love the down-to-earth approach to the video. It is easy to get lost in all the details of mixing, so it's nice to zoom out get back to resolving the core problems.
Dan - is a legend! Thanks so much Kyle for this video! Love your channel - learning a ton from it.
Glad to hear that!
Very helpful content here as far as creating a professional sounding mix. Thank you
Always great content on your channel Kyle and respect to you for introducing Dan to those of your audience that weren't aware of him.
Both of you have a great understanding of the technical side of recording (and I've learned so much from both of you) and explain it really well.
One of the points made that might slip past a lot of people is that the best mix starts with the arrangement. An individual has it easy limited only be their ability to play or program an instrument but when you're working with a band then that's a whole new dimension. Them triangle players always want to be higher in the mix!
Only a few minutes in, but this is excellent already. Thanks for featuring Dan on the channel!
Thanks to Dan for accepting the invitation! Glad to help!
When Dan was talking about how a recording of a concert or something sounds bad compared to it sounding good in person, it occurred to me that it must be for that reason that binaural, head-shaped microphone setups exist. So the recording will contain all of the cues we normally get in person from the shape of our head and such, so that when listened back to on headphones, our brain is able to correct for the room reverb/eq and hear the mix as it would be in person.
I don't normally comment on videos unless absolutely neccessary. I just wanted to thank you for creating this video. Of course everyone and their brother has their beliefs on what makes a good mix. And with opinions being like assh0les, there are plenty of them. I've been producing going on 30 years now and whereas my need for tutorial videos regarding audio related subject matter is little these days, I still don't claim to be the repository of all knowledge. I just wanted to say kudos for posting what I think to be the most concise explanation of these fundamentals for attaining a good mix. Of course thank you @DanWorrall for explaining these fundamentals so eloquently. These are not just your opinion but truly at the core of mixing and mastering. Truly well worth my time and should be the first video up and coming engineers should be clicking.
👍💯
6:41 "singing with some exciting stuff behind it" makes me so sad😭🤣 It's like thinking McDonald's is the height of cooking, or an average sitcom is peak writing and acting lol. There's so much beauty to be had from all the senses we're given
I Loved how you didn't disregard some of the more nitty gritty stuff just because it's complicated, sure you didn't go into depth about it which is great for people like me, but you also told people who didn't know about it that they should learn about it and know why. This is the approach I take to many things not just audio, learn how it works on the most fundamental level that you can give your own bounds, knowing it on such a small level let's you conseptulize what your doing much better and will help you problem solve when an issue does occur.
Always such a pleasure to hear Dan. He should make an 8 hour Dan Noise video for meditation
This is pure gold
Glad you liked it!
That Tom Dowd thing about the faders was super-interesting. Thanks, great content as always.
Damn that was excellent! I just had to sit down and really listen. Just really good advice here that has been in the back of my mind lately as I go deeper into mixing and mastering.
I've been needing this video for like 10 years
Indeed. I think for me coming up through 4 track, then 8 track , then 16track I had no compressors other than what the cassette tape provided. Just basic eq. And then maybe a reverb or something. It taught me the basics
Geez... The bass part when the ambience is on. Very yessss.
I really enjoyed this video. Thanks for the refresh!
Oh wow!! What precious tips especially when we have so many information that can misslead us. Thank you very much.
Thank you so much for your insight. Very eye opening for those of us new to the game!
My simple and very straight question is that ,Can we make a release ready track by using only digital things like DAW,VST's and mixing and mastering within DAW only .(without using any hardware studio stuffs)
Sounds so nice that it speaks for itself, that your advices are really considerable. Thanks for sharing!
Mad respect for this kind of "free" content. I'm blown away by the quality you guys deliver for such a small return. True dedication for the people.
Bravo.
Keep what you're doing as long as it makes you happy, we'll be there to take all your wisdom with unended gratitude. ❤️
Thank you!
_"I'm blown away by the quality you guys deliver for such a small return"_
goes to show you what has become of youtube, you see youtube was never about the money, fame, succes, it was a tool to broadcast yourself without expecting things in return....
it a persons own choice to broadcast himself but not a *right* to become succesfull.
Dont get me wrong, the comment has a good intention, but it a distorted view based on how social media is nowadays
@@amosamwig8394 I think you need reevaluate my comment and our current society, not just social media, our society, they are clearly trying to live of what they are doing like a lot of other people. Yeah capitalism might be a terrible system but it's what we have to work with for now. So yeah I sincerely wanted to thanks them for their dedication cause they could be making more money going an easier way of locking down their wisdom but they choose to give us a lot without waiting for something in return like a lot would have otherwisely done in their place.
From the beginning RUclips was thought a business.. Founded by ex PayPal employees, a business man and 2 entrepreneurs.. Nothing "twisted" about our view, that's our current reality after all..
I don't really understand your comment sorry..
But I hope you're not struggling in your life and still wish you the better.
Attention seekers unite . Hey , I made a (cheap ) video on youtube , I'm a star !
You can't lose getting Dan on your channel. For some reason we all love that dude 🤣👍🏾
Well, that was phenomenal. I can tell when I'm going to listen to something 10 times through again and enjoy it every time. Dan might be the David Attenborough of music.
What a great explanation. And the music is fantastic. Thanks
the music used as examples in this sounded very awesome! also it was a very informative video, thank you for that
Glad it helped!
Hands down the 2 best RUclipsrs in audio/engineering education
This is exactly what I needed to hear! I’m just a home studio nut, and have too many plugins for my own good. I’ve tried just about every YT tip, trick, and tutorial out there. My mixes still sound dull and lifeless! I’m definitely going to apply this method. Thanks for making this video!
A key takeaway from this lecture is just how important it is to listen start to finish when engineers like Mr Worrall address a particular topic, as opposed to cherry picking a presented strategy and ignoring the entire context of the lecture. It’s a key mistake many aspiring engineers make- and in combination with being self taught it can be futile trying to apply any strategy if the underlying problem is not listening completely. This channel marriage is a great offering for deciphering the skewed world of YT amateurs who make tutorial videos without having the first clue as to what they are even talking about. Thanks Kyle and Dan for your part in setting the world of YT audio lectures on its proper axis. Efficient informative effective content.
✌️
Hooray it’s Dan! Can’t tell you how important ambience is in making any track sound alive. I read many many years ago about Depeche Mode tracking in Hansa in Berlin, using the building as FX sends. And since then i have always taken ambience very seriously. The level is very important of course. Just a taste creates depth. Too much creates a mess.
It's incredible how little ambiance is needed more often than not. Put a reverb on a track, dial in a tone, turn the level so low I can't even hear it, but when I bypass it the track just dies.
There is that legendary bathroom used by Motown in Detroit ...
Fabulous video! Especially for Novices (like me). This is the first time that I actually understood what a sound engineer was talking about.
That's NOT a knock on the Engineers not being able to Dumb down this Art to my level of understanding. It IS a knock on my technical naivety. The point is that you guys made sense of this process (mixing) to even an Engineering Dork like me and I am incredibly grateful.
OMG the RMS meter example 🤣🤣🤣 This is excellent teaching and simultaneously hilarious!
That was awesome. Very comprehensive and filled with yes and a ha moments, plenty of new insights plus some of those things you didn't know that you knew. Nicely narrated!
Great explanation of the basics. While I know them, it serves me well to be regularly reminded.
Can't believe how much I just learnt over a cup of coffee. Incredible video, thank you!
Great philosophical advice from Dan. When I'm putting a track together, I don't touch any eq or reverb as I'm going along except for filtering out with low and high pass filters. If something is not sitting in that monitor mix I'll change the sound, for example if the kick is lacking low end, I'll layer in a sample to add it in. When I get to mixing, I find I don't even have to eq some parts and the mixes sound more natural.
a definition of a perfect instructional video
I scrolled through a bunch of comments and for some reason no one says that at 2:07 @DanWorrall reveals his face 🤔
Thank you for supplying so much detail!!❤
I see (with Dan Worrall) and I click, simple as that
Thank You Very Much Sir!
🙂🙏
You are giving us Gold.many thx!
I honestly have no idea who Kyle is nor have heard of this channel before. But if you got the legendary Dan Worrall to pay a visit, you must be doing something right - and know a thing or 2 about mixing!
Nicely done:)
Holy cow this was a good video! Thanks, Dan and Kyle!
This was, without any doubt, the best video I've seen on this topic.
Thank you 🙏 Dan. I appreciate your channel and sound engineering content. You are a blessing!
Brilliant concise presentation Dan. Thanks so much for confirming what has taken me many years to understand.
one of the more helpful videos I’ve watched this is good stuff
My lord. This one video has more gems than an entire semester of audio college
This video itself, is a great piece of art.
Top notch. I've been struggling with clear mixes, despite having minimal inputs to begin with. I think I need to start again from the basics, and this certainly delivered.
God bless you MR. DAN and Brother KYLE, I wonder why most at times we intend to do so much especially on vocals hmm 🤔 but it should be simple 👍🏾
As usual, I have listened to this a couple of times, and will listen a couple more in the future. Thanks for this great, helpful video.
Glad it was helpful!
Watched around 350 Videos in the past 40 Days...all about mixing and mastering, this field was always my enemy of musicproduction (compared to texting, rapping, making beats etc) . Believe it or not, of 350 Videos YOU are the ONLY one who makes it clear and structured and shows THIS 1:55. That was all i needed from beginning on...A structure, which stuff do first and what bases on what! To all other people that want to make Vids about musicproduction like this: If your guide does not include THIS, your Guide is useless!
Definitely the best video on mixing that I've seen on youtube so far...