This is liquid gold!! I always try to mix and balance volumes at the lowest possible volume to make sure the importan elements are heard correctly under any circumstance. When all is loud you get biased by the volume and everything sounds full.
Yep. One of the best tips I ever got was to turn it right down as low as possible, just like Colt does. If you can still hear everything, you are good to go.
I actually find vocal comping more accurate pitch-wise when comping relatively quietly too. In my experience having loud monitors offers most things more perceived energy, which in turn can make pitchy vocals harder to pick up on. So I’ll generally comp something quietly, and then listen back with some volume to see how it translates. And repeat until it’s there!
I remember back in about 97-98, I worked for an AM talk radio, producing a talk show which meant I also had to mix bumpers and commercials and I remember hearing my first music bed through the Orbans and other processors on the other end. it was very, very enlightening AND different sounding from FM. Taught me a lot about mixing for the delivery. When I was composing and mixing for TV - same thing. Had to be real careful with the lows and highs.
Fantastic video Colt. The latest version of Sonarworks Sound Reference Id has an Auratone preset EQ curve so I’ll be checking out Colt’s technique tomorrow using that setting.
Thanks. You helped clarify and answer the very questions I've had on this topic! I kept on finding myself creating sound files where either the vocal was lost in a room full of other musicians (musical tracks) or sounding like a singer is standing really close to you, the listener, overwhelming everything behind. I think your method will really help.
My first experience in a studio back in the day I saw the engineer do this on a 24 track analog system. Back then it was 2 inch tape. Been doing it for years. 👌👌👌
Just getting started learning music production and love your videos! Can you make a video about getting started (gear, how to mix, etc.). Keep up the good work!
Very good video that will help more junior engineers…I always judge vocals levels by turning right down the volume. This is how we always did it in the past, but you’re totally right that it’s genre dependent and indeed, I deal mostly with rock, blues and country and agree with your levels there 👍
Hey Colt, is it safe to say that the louder and denser the mix, the more that saturation and harmonic content comes into play and becomes handy on the vocal in order to bring out the perceived loudness without overdoing the volume? (Aside from the carving).. TIA.
I mix 3% on louder volume and the rest on lowest as possible, always works ! thanks for the Pro Q3 trick, I had ns10s and other flat response but ending up selling
Hey Colt, I love your channel. I have a question. I have an Apollo Twin, and I am wondering when you switch between you main monitors and you Auratone do you have an AB box that you use? I am certain you know my Apollo has an XLR out to my speakers that I can control with the twin plus, a line out that I can control with the speakers volume control, does your system work the same or can you control both sets of speakers with the Apollo? Thank you in advance for your time. Lee
Hey Lee, if you look in the info box under the video, you'll see that he lists his monitor controller: www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MC21--drawmer-mc2.1?irclickid=X-g1pAUVExyIWVTUgaS-FSjoUkF3fFV2tXFzRY0&irgwc=1&Impact&Colt%20Capperrune&Online%20Tracking%20Link
This technique is well known, but I use a very odd version of it. I use my headphones not wearing them, they hang on my keyboard stand next to me. It is like listening to my mix, while my neighbor plays it with his window slightly open. And it does the trick very well.
Dear Colt, in addition to everything else, thank you so much for saying integral right. If I had a korean won for every time someone said intregal I could buy Apple outright
Colt, I struggle with this a lot and being an old guy, I go back to listening to music like ( Alabama). Their vocals seem to be way louder than the rest of the mix. When I listen to your mix I feel that the vocals are not loud enough. Could be that my age hearing loss is preventing me from hearing the vocals clearly. I'm not sure but I will give this method a shot. Thank you
@@ColtCapperrune no, I mean for leveling elements, a provisional compressor as reference to clearly see the exact point where an element passes in front of other, it changes it's reaction and makes it visible at the GR meter, so it's reliable on any monitoring environment
@@faderhead right, but it's just an approximation considering you'd guess the eq points and the curve. Hence the recommendation for a preset that could be shared easily enough.
From my experience and what I've learned online, the lower the volume the more your brain rejects bass and treble so you can hesr the human voice better.
Great advice, I have discovered that GREAT mixing is NOT a young man's game!!! (Try telling someone under 28 to turn it down!!! )🤣😂 SOME good things come with age. 😉👍🇬🇧🇺🇲
Do you think somebody wanting to make a living in music should switch to Pro Tools if they are using another DAW? I see the vast majority of pros use Pro Tools so I wanted to ask you if that really is necessary, or if having a different DAW wouldn’t necessarily cause any conflict or issues when working with artists or other prodcuers, engineers, etc.
Still a lot of people listening to FM not as many as there once was but here in Texas there are still millions of listeners. Dallas and surrounding area is the 5th largest in America with over 5 million listeners
To a certain extent, yes. I think the older people still listen to AM/FM radio and some in the younger generation, like Gen Z or Millenials. The older folks may or may not have much knowledge about the streaming platform or have the technology in their own car or household to do it. I don't know how big it is in California, but I'm guessing it's in the millions. It's definitely not dying anytime soon.
This is liquid gold!! I always try to mix and balance volumes at the lowest possible volume to make sure the importan elements are heard correctly under any circumstance. When all is loud you get biased by the volume and everything sounds full.
Yep. One of the best tips I ever got was to turn it right down as low as possible, just like Colt does. If you can still hear everything, you are good to go.
I actually find vocal comping more accurate pitch-wise when comping relatively quietly too. In my experience having loud monitors offers most things more perceived energy, which in turn can make pitchy vocals harder to pick up on. So I’ll generally comp something quietly, and then listen back with some volume to see how it translates. And repeat until it’s there!
I remember back in about 97-98, I worked for an AM talk radio, producing a talk show which meant I also had to mix bumpers and commercials and I remember hearing my first music bed through the Orbans and other processors on the other end. it was very, very enlightening AND different sounding from FM. Taught me a lot about mixing for the delivery. When I was composing and mixing for TV - same thing. Had to be real careful with the lows and highs.
Bro you be dropping 💎💎💎💎💎💎 all the time 💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾💪🏾
This is an old school engineer tip taught many moons ago. Thanks for putting a modern spin on it......Always great content!
Excellent advice, cheers
Love it. Thank you for the pragmatic advice. ;)
This is the sauce right here. I had someone explain this to me years ago, but the way you broke it down is miles easier to understand.
Listened to this on Auratones, buying a pair was honestly one of the most important investments in my journey as a mixing engineer
Love this Colt! Literally just applied this technique to a song I'm working on and it sounds even better now. Thank you! -Christian
Perfect timing for me. This is just what I needed today.
Thank you for this video, bro. That Pro Q3 setting to mimic the Avantone speakers is a great tip
Man thank you bro!!! Seriously man thank you so much for your tutorials and advice!
Thank you for posting - excellent advice as always!
Thanks, Colt!
Fantastic video Colt. The latest version of Sonarworks Sound Reference Id has an Auratone preset EQ curve so I’ll be checking out Colt’s technique tomorrow using that setting.
This was excellent !!! Thanks Colt!
Thanks. You helped clarify and answer the very questions I've had on this topic! I kept on finding myself creating sound files where either the vocal was lost in a room full of other musicians (musical tracks) or sounding like a singer is standing really close to you, the listener, overwhelming everything behind. I think your method will really help.
My first experience in a studio back in the day I saw the engineer do this on a 24 track analog system. Back then it was 2 inch tape. Been doing it for years. 👌👌👌
Thanks Colt !! Great content
thank you for this!
When mixing hip hop and r&b, I typically level match the lead vocal to the snare/clap.
ooohhh i'm taking this on board thanks
Been watching your video for a few yrs now and thanks for the advice
Cause it has help me more then I can say thanks and keep up the great work
I really appreciate this. This is a wonderful technique.
Excellent excellent example and advice!!! You are so on point!
Just getting started learning music production and love your videos! Can you make a video about getting started (gear, how to mix, etc.). Keep up the good work!
Very good video that will help more junior engineers…I always judge vocals levels by turning right down the volume. This is how we always did it in the past, but you’re totally right that it’s genre dependent and indeed, I deal mostly with rock, blues and country and agree with your levels there 👍
Thank you mister, always great tips and tricks 😊
Thanks! Great video! Always learning. You’re always helping us.
Big respect
Cheers from Texas!
🤟😺🤟
Hey Colt, is it safe to say that the louder and denser the mix, the more that saturation and harmonic content comes into play and becomes handy on the vocal in order to bring out the perceived loudness without overdoing the volume? (Aside from the carving).. TIA.
I mix 3% on louder volume and the rest on lowest as possible, always works ! thanks for the Pro Q3 trick, I had ns10s and other flat response but ending up selling
Hey Colt, I love your channel. I have a question. I have an Apollo Twin, and I am wondering when you switch between you main monitors and you Auratone do you have an AB box that you use? I am certain you know my Apollo has an XLR out to my speakers that I can control with the twin plus, a line out that I can control with the speakers volume control, does your system work the same or can you control both sets of speakers with the Apollo? Thank you in advance for your time. Lee
Hey Lee, if you look in the info box under the video, you'll see that he lists his monitor controller: www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/MC21--drawmer-mc2.1?irclickid=X-g1pAUVExyIWVTUgaS-FSjoUkF3fFV2tXFzRY0&irgwc=1&Impact&Colt%20Capperrune&Online%20Tracking%20Link
About to watch this rn! Heads up! “Perfect” in the title of the video needs fixing @colt 😎👊
This technique is well known, but I use a very odd version of it. I use my headphones not wearing them, they hang on my keyboard stand next to me. It is like listening to my mix, while my neighbor plays it with his window slightly open. And it does the trick very well.
Dear Colt, in addition to everything else, thank you so much for saying integral right. If I had a korean won for every time someone said intregal I could buy Apple outright
Hell yeah dude! Imma use that EQ curve like a mofo!
😎 exactly how we do it as well!
thnk you colt game is game dawg
Colt,
I struggle with this a lot and being an old guy, I go back to listening to music like ( Alabama). Their vocals seem to be way louder than the rest of the mix. When I listen to your mix I feel that the vocals are not loud enough. Could be that my age hearing loss is preventing me from hearing the vocals clearly. I'm not sure but I will give this method a shot. Thank you
i also feel like the vocals arent loud enough im in my 20s. i think its still subjective how loud but the technique can help to be consistent
I use a compressor for leveling, no errors there.
As do I, I compress a Vocals super hard. But this is intended to be done in addition to compression.
@@ColtCapperrune no, I mean for leveling elements, a provisional compressor as reference to clearly see the exact point where an element passes in front of other, it changes it's reaction and makes it visible at the GR meter, so it's reliable on any monitoring environment
What is the best levels to track vocals and should my processing add volume to the vocals?
Cool! How well do the Focals mimic that sound in Focus mode?
What are the EQ points for this auratone emulation? Or can you share the preset?
He has a video titled magic is in the midrange where he talks about this
He shows all the points in the video and says "pause the video and copy them" ...
@@faderhead right, but it's just an approximation considering you'd guess the eq points and the curve. Hence the recommendation for a preset that could be shared easily enough.
I cant make them out did user what they are
@@faderheadwhen i zoom in they distort to where i cant make out the numbers are u able to see them?
After tweaking, do you drop the fader down a little and then push it back in?
are you rockin a 416 shotgun for this dialog?
Are the CLA-10s capable of the same task?
From my experience and what I've learned online, the lower the volume the more your brain rejects bass and treble so you can hesr the human voice better.
Great advice, I have discovered that GREAT mixing is NOT a young man's game!!!
(Try telling someone under 28 to turn it down!!! )🤣😂
SOME good things come with age. 😉👍🇬🇧🇺🇲
Do you think somebody wanting to make a living in music should switch to Pro Tools if they are using another DAW? I see the vast majority of pros use Pro Tools so I wanted to ask you if that really is necessary, or if having a different DAW wouldn’t necessarily cause any conflict or issues when working with artists or other prodcuers, engineers, etc.
I'm wondering why I see you waveforms actually hitting the max on the screen. I usually try to avoid that.
With a great song (and this one is), it is so much easier 😂
I WISH my songs would be a hit 😂
Is it just me or does the whole mix sound distorted? Not trying to be critical or jerky.
I’m witcha when you’re right
There is some light distortion but it sounds great and warm and it's obvious that it's done on purpose and that it's under control.
For my personal taste, the vocals in your example are a little on the shy side.
Does anyone really still care about FM? What's the listener audience size there these days? Has to be tiny right?
Still a lot of people listening to FM not as many as there once was but here in Texas there are still millions of listeners. Dallas and surrounding area is the 5th largest in America with over 5 million listeners
To a certain extent, yes. I think the older people still listen to AM/FM radio and some in the younger generation, like Gen Z or Millenials. The older folks may or may not have much knowledge about the streaming platform or have the technology in their own car or household to do it. I don't know how big it is in California, but I'm guessing it's in the millions. It's definitely not dying anytime soon.
I'm not sure how quiet you'd have to turn down this song so that I'd like it. Probably off.
I cant really make out the settings on the eq anyone see these clearly and let me know what they r please? @colt capperrune