You dont need a video. If sounds clash move them to a slightly different position on the frequency spectrum by using EQ filter making sure they are not the same and make sure you pan your sounds taking advantage of stereo for a wider sound.
im going to make a tutorial to help people not make the mistake of using Cubase.....cakewalk.. blah apps....., rather use cr@cks then Cubase....sounds ok....but the trouble is not worth it, price is even worse.😁
@@britishboxer6875 Cracked software often comes with built in boots or viruses. Also if you use cracked software then you dont have a license and cant sell your music without if being illegal. You might not get caught but you might.
Watching the vid - literally just pressed play. However, feel I've got to share this revelation... It's taken an embarrassing amount of time to realise this. Had a issue with a mix, couldn't see why. The audio tracks had all been EQd already. They sat nicely and played well with each other. Good start. 👍 As I started things still good, the low end compression for the kick drum - good, meaty but not overbearing. High hats fizzing nicely in the mix... Guitars and vocals again good - not pin point perfect, but good enough at this stage. Then we get to the meat of it... The main music (all digitally created, with a few analogue samples) and there was the issue. Much of it sank into the mix without a trace. I wasted a chunk of time (not client time - just mine, so not a disaster) with filters, EQ, compression, exciters, bass booster and so fourth. Everything fell short. I then, out of desperation put it through a spacial image visualiser. And had a shock. Pretty much everything in the mix,aside from effects (looking at the dB info) was from the effects such as delay. Was literally set to center. So, went back to the mix - put a widener on a few stereo tracks, set to full (100% wide), medium and narrow (25%). It was like a different mix - everything that got lost was suddenly there. Some aspects were too bright , so a bit of HF roll off but it's cool as I could now HEAR what was going on. Never ignore the stereo image. It gets messy
Excellent advice. Thank you for sharing. I knew about a few of these 7 tips, but many of them I had not considered before.These tips can spare us all from so much wasted time, effort and disappointment.
My favourite channel! Dom is very engaging and really loves what he does. His energy and focus really motivates me. Thanks again Dom!! You rock!!! 👍🏻🤟🏻
I went through this list proudly checking off each reason. It feels good to know what I'm doing when I mix and it's mostly attributed to the YT community at large but I'm particularly grateful to Dom. Wish he would put together a course (using Cubase as the DAW)...
You're the Cubase guru Dom! I learn so much from these videos. It's insane how long I've not understood, for instance, inserts vs sends. I still don't completely get it, but way way more than I used to. Thanks!
Dom you are such a pro. Putting in the work for years and being fortunate or good enough to make a living at it, yields a unique and mature perspective. Bravo Maestro!
Dom, I love your truth! This is not about science, but this is about using your knowledge and knowing what you're doing and what you want to achieve... Thanks for this video!
Many thanks! Your video on gain staging changed the game for me on my current project, and the other 6 points are going to be helpful too. I'm not to the mastering stage yet, but I'd definitely watch a video on the process if you make one.
Level matching (or unity gain) within plugins is actually pretty easy. Every plug-in has an input and output volume. For mixing, you only have one volume control to deal with (fader). It's impossible to A-B effects on a chain if the volume changes (even a little) every time you bypass something.
Lately, I've found that Tonal Balance Control and LCD-MX4 give my super accurate mixes and masterings. Sean Divine channel also taught me how to make perceived louder music, one of the methods is the using of multiband compressor on the mid-range during mastering.
I'm very new to this and your videos are exceedingly helpful! I am adding drums to classical music and I am struggling with making my drums sound good. I know that I'll get there but I wanted to thank you for doing what yo do here!
I love your point about sound selection and why that is so critical to getting a loud mix. Many times we always start talking about mixing solutions, effects - clippers, saturation - what not, before actually looking at the sounds. Reality is that I personally tend to unfortunately pick sounds in isolation to one another - great sounds on their own, but too great together. So I think professionals have this uncanny ability to use sounds that blend in the right way and create the right psychoacoustic effect when everything is put together.
First off - Dom love your channel, best tutorials on RUclips IMO. However - I think level matching most/all changes as a beginner is a good thing to do. Otherwise you make a change, it's louder, sounds better and so you go with it, regardless of whether it was actually the correct move or not. When you're developing your ear, you really need the level matching to actually hear whether something is better or not. That will also help you determine whether the correct move is actually just turning up the fader vs. putting a CLA 2A on, getting 4dB of gain and getting the volume that's needed but now having more midrange and compression than it needed. Thanks for the video!
Absolutely. When you're experienced, you know your gear/plugins and know what you're doing, you can get away with not level matching, but it's bad advice for beginners. That's like a racing driver teaching someone how to drive and telling them to be brave and adventurous by driving as fast as possible and powerslilding around corners! A skilled driver can do that safely but it's very dangerous for a novice. I can't tell you how many times I've improved a sound with a plugin, then level matched it and found that it made hardly any difference or even sounded worse. Often it does sound better, but a novice can't be sure of that without level matching. Later, once you've trained your ears and know your plugins well, then you can drive like a madman!
Thank you for making this video. Mixing has been one of my challenges and your tips are extremely helpful. I’ve been trying to mix one of my tracks for the last two weeks and I feel that it still sound muddy. I have so much to learn. I really need a mentor on this. By the way, love your energy, your passion and wisdom that you put into making your videos.
If sounds clash move them to a slightly different position on the frequency spectrum by using EQ filter and make sure you pan your sounds taking advantage of stereo.
I use also cubase 11 pro The gain stage here is very good Every plugin have a weet spot and its something like -18 and 0db If you start at -20db ad 10 tracks eith eq and comp its allmost 0db Every step makes it louder Eq,comp,saturation,parallel comp Drive,preamp,distortion and so on and so on I mix audio 5 years now allmost everyday and its still a big trouble to make it at the end to -6db / -3db
As a producer and mixer. I say always choose the best sounding sound, the sound that is as close to how you want it so sound in your final song....you can always tweak it and modify it in many ways, but the closer to perfection it sounds from the beginning, the better. Also pay attention to how it fits with sounds you've already chosen. A good sound depends a lot on the genre, and on what sounds are around it. A great kick drum for one song night be bad for another track. So consider the big picture, the vision, the goal, the purpose and role of the instrument, and the context
Thanks Dom - fantastic content as always. Appreciate your passion for sharing what you have learned through trial and error. (...and yes you have converted me into turning on the Control Room button and using that as a basis for experimenting with the sound.....caution out the window). Thanks.
Hey Dom, thank you for your video. Regarding the fourth chapter ("being overly conservative"), we all know that mixing is about emphasizing the emotional impact of a musical piece hence every action you take should improve the piece you are working on. From my experience and the way I learned, the 'bypass' button is one of the most important buttons in every plugin and you should always bypass and compare the changes you do to each track in order to be sure that you did improve the song by this change and not the opposite. Also, we all know that our ears tend to fool us and they would always prefer the 'loud' version. Having said that, I think that level-matching is a key to be sure that you are doing a fair comparison and not fooling your ears into thinking that you improved something while you actually just made it louder. I would be happy to hear your opinion about that.
Good to know the first two to come to my mind were your first 2 which are key. Gainstaging was a key moment for me awhile back - I didn’t even realize the difference between input and output on Cubase metering which definitely is necessary lol!
Level matching is good to make sure that a particular plug in setting is actually making something sound better. Like hey, I out this compressor on and boom it sounds much better (and it went up 4 db)... But what if I never out the compressor and I just turned up the fadrer 4db, would it sound even better that way? You need to know the answer to that or you're kinda of just doing stuff to be doing it. But once you have more experience hearing compression or working with a particular plug in, it can be a waste of time to obsessively level match everything all the time. Level matching is a good diagnostic tool, but not a good final goal. You don't want sounds to sound the same after you finish mixing them, or you wouldn't want to mix them in the first place. And it's fine for levels to go up as you mix if you start with decent headroom to begin with. But I think a good way to guide yourself toward a louder mix is to be able to make sounds seem louder without making the level meters actually go up. If you have a kick peaking at -8db and you can use a couple plugins to make it sound and feel louder in the mix while peaking at -10db... you're definitely moving in the right direction
Thanks for the level match plugin thing, am kind of obsessed by it and what u said here just clicked something in my mind. I hope i break free from it soon couse its making my mixes take to damn long... Thank u 😊😊😊
But what I also believe is that the quality of the hardware, such as microphones etc., make a big difference to the overall quality of the result, not just on the mix, but whether it has already been properly leveled or a beginner guitar or an expensive good concert guitar.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
One of the kindest men on youtube! Thanks for your knowledge
It would be awesome to see tutorials about mixing the midrange, with lots of guitars, synths and vocals. Thanks Dom!
You dont need a video. If sounds clash move them to a slightly different position on the frequency spectrum by using EQ filter making sure they are not the same and make sure you pan your sounds taking advantage of stereo for a wider sound.
im going to make a tutorial to help people not make the mistake of using Cubase.....cakewalk.. blah apps....., rather use cr@cks then Cubase....sounds ok....but the trouble is not worth it, price is even worse.😁
@@britishboxer6875 You want to make a video on how to pirate DAW software? I think anyone who wants to do that already knows how.
@@HOLLASOUNDS ask softube or pro tools programers, they are the best at it and cut their competitors out doing so
@@britishboxer6875 Cracked software often comes with built in boots or viruses. Also if you use cracked software then you dont have a license and cant sell your music without if being illegal. You might not get caught but you might.
One of the most important video for Mastering
I appreciate your expertise, Dom, but mostly I appreciate your passion for all things musical.
And Greg I appreciate you. I know I don’t tell you enough
Watching the vid - literally just pressed play. However, feel I've got to share this revelation... It's taken an embarrassing amount of time to realise this.
Had a issue with a mix, couldn't see why. The audio tracks had all been EQd already. They sat nicely and played well with each other. Good start. 👍
As I started things still good, the low end compression for the kick drum - good, meaty but not overbearing.
High hats fizzing nicely in the mix... Guitars and vocals again good - not pin point perfect, but good enough at this stage.
Then we get to the meat of it... The main music (all digitally created, with a few analogue samples) and there was the issue. Much of it sank into the mix without a trace.
I wasted a chunk of time (not client time - just mine, so not a disaster) with filters, EQ, compression, exciters, bass booster and so fourth. Everything fell short.
I then, out of desperation put it through a spacial image visualiser. And had a shock.
Pretty much everything in the mix,aside from effects (looking at the dB info) was from the effects such as delay.
Was literally set to center.
So, went back to the mix - put a widener on a few stereo tracks, set to full (100% wide), medium and narrow (25%).
It was like a different mix - everything that got lost was suddenly there. Some aspects were too bright , so a bit of HF roll off but it's cool as I could now HEAR what was going on.
Never ignore the stereo image.
It gets messy
I really like your videos,because you know what you are talking about!I know!👌😜
Loved the cutaway at 10:36 lol Thanks for grounding us on some of these mysterious points :P
Please do a video about sound selection. Thank you.
Love your passion for the rudiments of music production Dom, Real talk. Nuff respect dude
What an essential outline! Thanks Dom! You're the best!
Thanks Dom about filtering the reverbs. I had purchased the spaced out effect plugin after seeing your demo so im trying to do that into the mix..
Excellent advice. Thank you for sharing. I knew about a few of these 7 tips, but many of them I had not considered before.These tips can spare us all from so much wasted time, effort and disappointment.
truth after truth after truth!!! master of masters! Dom's word!
My favourite channel! Dom is very engaging and really loves what he does. His energy and focus really motivates me. Thanks again Dom!! You rock!!! 👍🏻🤟🏻
Dom, Thank you for your knowledge, charisma and time, Good Man!)
I went through this list proudly checking off each reason. It feels good to know what I'm doing when I mix and it's mostly attributed to the YT community at large but I'm particularly grateful to Dom. Wish he would put together a course (using Cubase as the DAW)...
You're the Cubase guru Dom! I learn so much from these videos. It's insane how long I've not understood, for instance, inserts vs sends. I still don't completely get it, but way way more than I used to. Thanks!
Thanks for this...and yes... please, make a video about sound selection :D
Dom you are such a pro. Putting in the work for years and being fortunate or good enough to make a living at it, yields a unique and mature perspective. Bravo Maestro!
Thanks!
Thank you so much my friend, highly appreciated ❤️
Another great video Dom, thank you! 16:09, Yes please! Do make one about mastering. Cheers!
Dom, I love your truth! This is not about science, but this is about using your knowledge and knowing what you're doing and what you want to achieve... Thanks for this video!
A big thank you Dom. I am learning every day......also from your videos. I love the way you explain things.
Dom, This is GREAT Info... I wish you were still teaching because Id take your courses...Keep em coming!
Great video Dom. Thanks
Many thanks! Your video on gain staging changed the game for me on my current project, and the other 6 points are going to be helpful too. I'm not to the mastering stage yet, but I'd definitely watch a video on the process if you make one.
This is golden knowledge.
Maestro, looking fresh! Happy new year!
Super helpful, Dom. You hit The right spot. Thanks so much
The best video of 2022! lol! Brilliant advice, that’s opened my eyes on some things, and hopefully my ears now! 👏👏👏👏👏
thank you dom... you helped me on so much through cubase 12 pro and it so easy when I though it was so hard. thank you
Really helpful ideas and good service nole explanation. Thanks!
even good arranging tactics helps to fix things in the mix. you're so right
I truly love this video, thanks Dom
Thanks so much, Dom! It's a joy to learn from you. 🍻👍
Said like a true Master! Salute 🫡
Outstanding Dom, thank you very much!
Thanks very much dom
12:35 it would be but most mastering engineers don't seem to volunteer any of that information.
Level matching (or unity gain) within plugins is actually pretty easy. Every plug-in has an input and output volume. For mixing, you only have one volume control to deal with (fader). It's impossible to A-B effects on a chain if the volume changes (even a little) every time you bypass something.
This guy is good!!
GREAT video, Dom!
I knew as soon as you said headroom that’s why my final bass would not even be heard while playing the tracks. Makes sense, thanks
Lately, I've found that Tonal Balance Control and LCD-MX4 give my super accurate mixes and masterings. Sean Divine channel also taught me how to make perceived louder music, one of the methods is the using of multiband compressor on the mid-range during mastering.
Thanks, Dom. Learned again.
Dom, Invaluable advice, much thanks. Love the intermittent dream sequences for effect, funny!
me too. I really lol
It was really helpful!
I'm very new to this and your videos are exceedingly helpful! I am adding drums to classical music and I am struggling with making my drums sound good. I know that I'll get there but I wanted to thank you for doing what yo do here!
Thank you, Dom!
Great, as always 🔝🔝
Thank You, great input!
I love your point about sound selection and why that is so critical to getting a loud mix. Many times we always start talking about mixing solutions, effects - clippers, saturation - what not, before actually looking at the sounds. Reality is that I personally tend to unfortunately pick sounds in isolation to one another - great sounds on their own, but too great together. So I think professionals have this uncanny ability to use sounds that blend in the right way and create the right psychoacoustic effect when everything is put together.
Excellent Advice Dom...... Agree with the RTFM.......I also had a fully printed Cubase Manual.....Took for ever to print.LOL
Dom Sigalas. Respect 🫡
Every of your videos helps always. Thank you Dom! I cannot wait for your full mastering video :)
very good video, thank you!
10.37 😂crack up
Loving your videos. Learning lots. Cheers 👍
First off - Dom love your channel, best tutorials on RUclips IMO.
However - I think level matching most/all changes as a beginner is a good thing to do. Otherwise you make a change, it's louder, sounds better and so you go with it, regardless of whether it was actually the correct move or not. When you're developing your ear, you really need the level matching to actually hear whether something is better or not. That will also help you determine whether the correct move is actually just turning up the fader vs. putting a CLA 2A on, getting 4dB of gain and getting the volume that's needed but now having more midrange and compression than it needed.
Thanks for the video!
Absolutely. When you're experienced, you know your gear/plugins and know what you're doing, you can get away with not level matching, but it's bad advice for beginners. That's like a racing driver teaching someone how to drive and telling them to be brave and adventurous by driving as fast as possible and powerslilding around corners! A skilled driver can do that safely but it's very dangerous for a novice. I can't tell you how many times I've improved a sound with a plugin, then level matched it and found that it made hardly any difference or even sounded worse. Often it does sound better, but a novice can't be sure of that without level matching. Later, once you've trained your ears and know your plugins well, then you can drive like a madman!
Gain staging is everything. Dom is right to say that we should ignore people that say it doesn't matter.
Good video...
Great tips
Thank you Dom .iam really learning a lot from you
Thanks Dom . Very helpful 👍
Love all your videos thank you!
Great video!
Yes please do the video thankx❤
Thank you for making this video. Mixing has been one of my challenges and your tips are extremely helpful. I’ve been trying to mix one of my tracks for the last two weeks and I feel that it still sound muddy. I have so much to learn. I really need a mentor on this. By the way, love your energy, your passion and wisdom that you put into making your videos.
Sound selection, yes please
Of course we want "how to select propere sound" tutorial Dom. You are making good work. Keep doing.
Great, Thank you so much!
YES! sound selection please
Thanks for an intresting video. Be safe and skilful. Pinge
Oh yes Dom please hit us with the "how to select the right instruments" lecture☺ I'm sure many of us will need this lesson.
If sounds clash move them to a slightly different position on the frequency spectrum by using EQ filter and make sure you pan your sounds taking advantage of stereo.
I use also cubase 11 pro
The gain stage here is very good
Every plugin have a weet spot and its something like -18 and 0db
If you start at -20db ad 10 tracks eith eq and comp its allmost 0db
Every step makes it louder
Eq,comp,saturation,parallel comp
Drive,preamp,distortion and so on and so on
I mix audio 5 years now
allmost everyday and its still a big trouble to make it at the end to -6db / -3db
This is a very very very good video 👍🏼
U are the best teacher ❤❤
As a producer and mixer. I say always choose the best sounding sound, the sound that is as close to how you want it so sound in your final song....you can always tweak it and modify it in many ways, but the closer to perfection it sounds from the beginning, the better.
Also pay attention to how it fits with sounds you've already chosen. A good sound depends a lot on the genre, and on what sounds are around it. A great kick drum for one song night be bad for another track. So consider the big picture, the vision, the goal, the purpose and role of the instrument, and the context
definitely agree! this is what I find works the best
Thank you so much Dom, you are incredible. Love from India. Please make a video about right sound selection and instrument selection.
Very insightful.
Thanks Dom - fantastic content as always. Appreciate your passion for sharing what you have learned through trial and error. (...and yes you have converted me into turning on the Control Room button and using that as a basis for experimenting with the sound.....caution out the window). Thanks.
Hey Dom, thank you for your video. Regarding the fourth chapter ("being overly conservative"), we all know that mixing is about emphasizing the emotional impact of a musical piece hence every action you take should improve the piece you are working on. From my experience and the way I learned, the 'bypass' button is one of the most important buttons in every plugin and you should always bypass and compare the changes you do to each track in order to be sure that you did improve the song by this change and not the opposite. Also, we all know that our ears tend to fool us and they would always prefer the 'loud' version. Having said that, I think that level-matching is a key to be sure that you are doing a fair comparison and not fooling your ears into thinking that you improved something while you actually just made it louder. I would be happy to hear your opinion about that.
Thanks, very good video 👌👍
Video ótimo. Obrigado pelas dicas!
you can, top down mix post fader and start with the drums and bass hit the top then back away dont be afraid to use ears
Just found your channel and it's awesome, thank you. I really hope you will make a video on mixing mid range, it would be incredibly helpful
Brilliant!~
Sound selection video 👍🏾
Good to know the first two to come to my mind were your first 2 which are key. Gainstaging was a key moment for me awhile back - I didn’t even realize the difference between input and output on Cubase metering which definitely is necessary lol!
Thank you so much
midrange is magic !
Dom, Please make that video about sound selection, I would love to know on what criteria you do that, besides style.
Level matching is good to make sure that a particular plug in setting is actually making something sound better. Like hey, I out this compressor on and boom it sounds much better (and it went up 4 db)... But what if I never out the compressor and I just turned up the fadrer 4db, would it sound even better that way? You need to know the answer to that or you're kinda of just doing stuff to be doing it. But once you have more experience hearing compression or working with a particular plug in, it can be a waste of time to obsessively level match everything all the time. Level matching is a good diagnostic tool, but not a good final goal. You don't want sounds to sound the same after you finish mixing them, or you wouldn't want to mix them in the first place. And it's fine for levels to go up as you mix if you start with decent headroom to begin with.
But I think a good way to guide yourself toward a louder mix is to be able to make sounds seem louder without making the level meters actually go up. If you have a kick peaking at -8db and you can use a couple plugins to make it sound and feel louder in the mix while peaking at -10db... you're definitely moving in the right direction
would love a video on sound selection!
dom is the future of a much bigger cubase community
These lectures are a pleasant oasis in a desert full of emptiness.
Thank you.
Thanks for the level match plugin thing, am kind of obsessed by it and what u said here just clicked something in my mind. I hope i break free from it soon couse its making my mixes take to damn long... Thank u 😊😊😊
But what I also believe is that the quality of the hardware, such as microphones etc., make a big difference to the overall quality of the result, not just on the mix, but whether it has already been properly leveled or a beginner guitar or an expensive good concert guitar.
You're a gold, i wish to be part of your students❤
Please do a video on sound selection 🙏🏾
Hi Dom….. great content as ever….. keep at it because you bring a heck of a lot of value with what you do…. :-)