Basically you are describing dunning Kruger. I have been in all these levels and just because you are a pro and did the 10k hours and crushed it doesn't mean you won't go backwards at times. Good video. More of this, please
This influencer must be your buddy. He is promoting the doctrine of hacking up the tracks after they are recorded, versus doing competent tracking. Bad dog, bro. Woof
I’m working as a full-time, professional audio engineer and I still feel the overwhelm and get lost in the weeds often. The interesting thing though, is I have a couple of “gears” I shift into, which help me function. One, is the “learning gear.” This is a place of experimentation, struggle, reps, and ear and brain stretching exercises. I spend more time here than I do in “pro gear.” When I finally do a pro mix or master, I may try an experiment here or there based on things I’ve practiced, but it’s got to be about getting it done and it meeting concrete demands by the deadline. And, that disappointment never completely goes away - there’s always room for improvement, but you learn to celebrate the victories along side the defeats. The defeats become smaller (not deal-breakers to your client like when you were starting out) and motivate you to catch it next time.
That was really well said. Literally just last night, I did a "gear shift", a change in mindset, when I felt frustration rising and got through a hard mixing issue that way. Keep on crushing your goals!
Intermediate is so me.. Been doing it part time for friends for 10 years. Decided to take time off of doing other peoples stuff and just focus on my own music to re-learn and just get better. Not sure how long it'll take but I'm determined to get there. Love your channel dude. \m/
I am a hobbyist noob - definitely in the 'Overwhelm' phase. I've been picking up great tips (your 'Magic Frequencies and Mixing Cheatsheet were huge for me). The problem I'm continuously running into is that I know there are a thousand holes in my process. When I encounter a new problem, I don't know which hole to fill. I know that there is no improvement without struggle - so I keep chugging along. Right now I'm in the all-too-common phase: My mixes sound good on my monitors and headphones and my renders suck when played through 'normal' speakers...which - according to one of your videos - means my mix sucks. Back to the drawing board. I'll eventually get it, but I feel like I'm 10 steps into climbing Mt. Everest.
It’s important to remember to listen to another song or two on your more normal test speaker to re acclimatise your ears to the frequency response of that speaker. If you’re mixing on flat speakers and jump into a car with booming bass, odd top end spikes and a woofy midrange, that contrast is going to make your mix sound horrible and elements will be at different levels. But if you listen to other well produced stuff on the speaker first, the difference might not be so jarring and you may come to realise that it’s the difference in speakers you’re paying attention to, not your mix on the new speaker.
My productions were better (while still amateurish) at first, and then got real bad for a while. That middle part of the journey sucks, but if you keep at it, it gets much better. Once I got my head around the basic philosophy of mixing, it all got much much better.
I really enjoy this kind of content. Thanks Jordan, although I still have to learn, practice and gain experience a lot, you made me realise that I am way more advanced in my journey that what I was thinking. 🤟
Whenever I get frustrated, I go back and listen to some of my early mixes. While growth isn't always linear from day to day, it's certainly dramatic and obvious over the long run. Those early efforts were AWFUL. Everything is super muffled. Tracks are clipping. The performances are poor. There are basic editing mistakes (no crossfades, etc.). My current work has all sorts of issues, but it's clearly better than 3-4 years ago when I started this.
I'm by no means an expert, but one of the biggest things I've learned (and am still learning) is adjusting frequencies to make a mix flow and sit well. Also, training your ears is huge. Something I'm still learning also, but the more mixing I do the better my ears get
Great analogy about driving 2500 miles to get to LA. The time spent and the distance gone doesn’t equal the destination, unless you’re following the right path.
I would slightly disagree with the "expert" experience. It's simple and sounds great but not necessarily as fun. Yeah, you know what you want but it can be soul sucking during tracking to get to the right takes. What I learned from Jordan is that the things that I hated about my mixes weren't necessarily my tones, gear or anything like that. Once I spent more time being meticulous during tracking was when I noticed my mixes drastically getting better. If we have to spend a full 8-10 hr day on just rhythm guitars then so be it. We're going to do it until it's right. Jordan is the real deal
My philosophy is mixing, mixing and mixing. I have a “producer” friend and he never ever finished a song. I’ve never heard a mix from him. So in the end he is a virgin, like a person who talks a lot about sex, has seen a lot of porn videos but has never been with a girl. Mix and eventually you will get better and better.
I agree with the 10k hours thing. BUT if someone were to start off with fundamentals instead of dicking around in the weeds for 5 years, this could be cut way down to say 2k hours... For instance, as a lifetime guitarist, I could teach most noobs in a month or 2 MORE than most intermediate guitarists I've met that have played for 10 or more years... Just being able to tell them WHAT'S ACTUALLY IMPORTANT and simplify it to a few things... I think I see the same from your instruction here, it really comes down to just a handful of skills and your mixes are miles above tons of intermediates.
i feel like i’m often actually doing TOOO much. like i’m squashing my mix because i’m adding way to much processing. i’m stuck in that middle phase of learning
When you said timing and tuning I got instantly sad. One thing I've noticed about all my productions, is when I had better musicians and singers with better songs, the recordings just came out better altogether. I don't spend a whole lot of time tuning and adjusting the timing of much of anything, and maybe my stuff wouldn't be on the radio, but that doesn't mean it's not objectively professional. There's this whole mentality of "fixing" when it come to mixing, but I don't think that's a good way to look at it. I'd rather feel like I'm building upon. It should be like shading a tattoo to improve it, not covering up a bad one.
They say that gear doesn't matter, but it does. I slogged for a few years with outdated gear and kept wondering why I could never get stuff that I recorded to mix well, but I could get great mixes from projects that someone else had recorded with better gear. I don't think you need a lot of equipment, but it's best to keep the core stuff updated and of good quality rather than chug along with a cheap interface from 2006 and an old PC/Mac.
I only mix VST instruments and vocals, so no real amps or drums. I mainly record hard rock or simply put classic rock songs. So I wonder how that differs from mixing real drums, Id expect its a big difference because mixing EZdrummer 3 with all those eq moves, compression, limiting, reverb, etc found on RUclips videos will easily over process the mix... I suspect a lot of home mixers is in the same situation, asking the same questions? Not many ppl have a studio with real amps and acoustic drums at home. These days its a lot more about midi, VST, guitar sims and other "fake" instruments to sound pro and competitive, etc?
I remember that while my first mixes sounded like crap, the feel and grit was there. Then i started hyper focusing on frequencies and technicalities, and it sounded clearer but ball-less. Everything is eq, i guess. Ps: that ad break was on purpose, right 😅
Great tips!! I'm doing all the work on my mixes, from singing to the mastering and the impact of a good record is so important, room echo/reverb will really hurt your work! And you don't need much! I built myself a sort of "tent" with mover's blanket and it helped a lot! Thanks again for the tips!!
Whilst the self taught method might take longer, I have learnt something I'm afraid. If you want to be unique, different that does take time. I will admit I had mentorship, but it was one to one in the same room, nothing has ever come close. Those 2 songs if Mix A is a greart song it will always beat mix B. Im not saying Mix a was not more muddy, but I know what the punter will hear. Love what you are teaching, but the issue with the teachers on these courses is you end up in a call with someone else. If i'm inspired, I want to be taught by the person who inpires me. I know that might not be possible. However I would argue thats what I feel I am being sold. If the other guys are a great part of Hardcore Music Studio, get them on here!
I am one of those selftaught "highly creative" mixer XD and you are totally right when you say this no efficient way if you want to make a living out of it (or otherwise^^) i am doing this for 10+ years and never came to a point where i could say "i know what i am doing" bc i ignored everything from lufs to stereoimage. there were three keypoints which helped: 1.watching your videos: i think you are the only one on youtube who tetaches "a certain way". as the free spirit that i am, i never considered there could be "a certain way" Its art, right? but your cheat sheet and making my own go-to presets in cubase for like drumrecordings helped a great deal for consistency. 2.mixing real drums: its the toughest part of mixing, i think. if you nail real drums, i think you can mix the most stuff out there 3.mixing for other people: discovering cambridge mixing library was a gamechanger. i only mixed stuff i myself composed, what sometiimes ended in a loop of selfdoubt and remaking and at the end you didnt learn anything bc you just throw plugins at stuff. (and the render-in-place function also helps not to reconsider stuff over and over.)
So much truth in this! Tried mixing on/off for a decade and I didn't get any better til I bought a year long online course where the engineer showed his enntire method..everything began to click after that. I'm still not great, but I finally know how to get the depth, punch, and space I've been looking for. I also have a better understand of what to listen for.
Idk which mix was supposed to sound better, but B's vocals sound way less clear to me than A, but A feels darker/duller and less exciting in the stereo field. Granted, i don't really listen to rock, im an engineer for experimental hip hop 🤣
I have to thank you. I started watching your videos some weeks ago and your tips helped me a lot. I´m on the final stage of mixing and mastering our new release (9 tracks) and our sound really grew since I´ve been putting in practice your philosofy. It was all about "defense" mixing, I was very into it, cutting frequencies like crazy... not anymore, I let the elements sound as they were meant to. It was kinda hard couse we make high impact electronic music using programations, vocals and synths and sometimes I´m not sure how to mix all that stuff, mostly very distorted and noisy sounds. So my search of the perfect mix is still going but meeting your channel was a great help.
Thank you very much! As a producer who always recorded, produced, mixed and mastered my songs, I can totally agree. Knowing how to make a song from start to finish makes you a better artist, mixer, producer etc. Always trust your ears guys
Basically you are describing dunning Kruger. I have been in all these levels and just because you are a pro and did the 10k hours and crushed it doesn't mean you won't go backwards at times. Good video. More of this, please
This influencer must be your buddy. He is promoting the doctrine of hacking up the tracks after they are recorded, versus doing competent tracking. Bad dog, bro. Woof
I’m working as a full-time, professional audio engineer and I still feel the overwhelm and get lost in the weeds often. The interesting thing though, is I have a couple of “gears” I shift into, which help me function. One, is the “learning gear.” This is a place of experimentation, struggle, reps, and ear and brain stretching exercises. I spend more time here than I do in “pro gear.” When I finally do a pro mix or master, I may try an experiment here or there based on things I’ve practiced, but it’s got to be about getting it done and it meeting concrete demands by the deadline. And, that disappointment never completely goes away - there’s always room for improvement, but you learn to celebrate the victories along side the defeats. The defeats become smaller (not deal-breakers to your client like when you were starting out) and motivate you to catch it next time.
That was really well said. Literally just last night, I did a "gear shift", a change in mindset, when I felt frustration rising and got through a hard mixing issue that way. Keep on crushing your goals!
Intermediate is so me.. Been doing it part time for friends for 10 years. Decided to take time off of doing other peoples stuff and just focus on my own music to re-learn and just get better. Not sure how long it'll take but I'm determined to get there. Love your channel dude. \m/
I am a hobbyist noob - definitely in the 'Overwhelm' phase. I've been picking up great tips (your 'Magic Frequencies and Mixing Cheatsheet were huge for me). The problem I'm continuously running into is that I know there are a thousand holes in my process. When I encounter a new problem, I don't know which hole to fill. I know that there is no improvement without struggle - so I keep chugging along. Right now I'm in the all-too-common phase: My mixes sound good on my monitors and headphones and my renders suck when played through 'normal' speakers...which - according to one of your videos - means my mix sucks. Back to the drawing board. I'll eventually get it, but I feel like I'm 10 steps into climbing Mt. Everest.
It’s important to remember to listen to another song or two on your more normal test speaker to re acclimatise your ears to the frequency response of that speaker. If you’re mixing on flat speakers and jump into a car with booming bass, odd top end spikes and a woofy midrange, that contrast is going to make your mix sound horrible and elements will be at different levels. But if you listen to other well produced stuff on the speaker first, the difference might not be so jarring and you may come to realise that it’s the difference in speakers you’re paying attention to, not your mix on the new speaker.
Feedback from good guys would silve your problem, I think :)
I still have yet to get it 😭
My productions were better (while still amateurish) at first, and then got real bad for a while. That middle part of the journey sucks, but if you keep at it, it gets much better. Once I got my head around the basic philosophy of mixing, it all got much much better.
I really enjoy this kind of content. Thanks Jordan, although I still have to learn, practice and gain experience a lot, you made me realise that I am way more advanced in my journey that what I was thinking. 🤟
Whenever I get frustrated, I go back and listen to some of my early mixes. While growth isn't always linear from day to day, it's certainly dramatic and obvious over the long run. Those early efforts were AWFUL. Everything is super muffled. Tracks are clipping. The performances are poor. There are basic editing mistakes (no crossfades, etc.). My current work has all sorts of issues, but it's clearly better than 3-4 years ago when I started this.
this guy is good..........................thanks
I’m loving your videos man! Learning so much from you! Thank you :)
4:44 So which one of those was supposed to be better? I would vote for Mix A as for sounding more professional. No kidding.
I'm by no means an expert, but one of the biggest things I've learned (and am still learning) is adjusting frequencies to make a mix flow and sit well. Also, training your ears is huge. Something I'm still learning also, but the more mixing I do the better my ears get
Great analogy about driving 2500 miles to get to LA. The time spent and the distance gone doesn’t equal the destination, unless you’re following the right path.
I always enjoy your honesty. Your tips have been some of the strongest things that have improved my mixes the most.
thanks for the cheat sheet ✌🏾
All very good advice.
I enjoy these contents you're the best
Very helpful, thank you
I would slightly disagree with the "expert" experience. It's simple and sounds great but not necessarily as fun. Yeah, you know what you want but it can be soul sucking during tracking to get to the right takes.
What I learned from Jordan is that the things that I hated about my mixes weren't necessarily my tones, gear or anything like that. Once I spent more time being meticulous during tracking was when I noticed my mixes drastically getting better. If we have to spend a full 8-10 hr day on just rhythm guitars then so be it. We're going to do it until it's right.
Jordan is the real deal
and proper saturation techniques...
- This is something that takes time, education, lots of reps, inability to marry... WAIT WHAT? (my ears tricked me)))) Thanks for the video!
My philosophy is mixing, mixing and mixing. I have a “producer” friend and he never ever finished a song. I’ve never heard a mix from him. So in the end he is a virgin, like a person who talks a lot about sex, has seen a lot of porn videos but has never been with a girl. Mix and eventually you will get better and better.
I agree with the 10k hours thing. BUT if someone were to start off with fundamentals instead of dicking around in the weeds for 5 years, this could be cut way down to say 2k hours... For instance, as a lifetime guitarist, I could teach most noobs in a month or 2 MORE than most intermediate guitarists I've met that have played for 10 or more years... Just being able to tell them WHAT'S ACTUALLY IMPORTANT and simplify it to a few things... I think I see the same from your instruction here, it really comes down to just a handful of skills and your mixes are miles above tons of intermediates.
the email about 40% off... the banner isnt showing up after logging in
❤
i feel like i’m often actually doing TOOO much. like i’m squashing my mix because i’m adding way to much processing. i’m stuck in that middle phase of learning
I think the hardest thing about a music production is making money from it 😂
Well tell me what can I make money from that's easy?
When you said timing and tuning I got instantly sad. One thing I've noticed about all my productions, is when I had better musicians and singers with better songs, the recordings just came out better altogether. I don't spend a whole lot of time tuning and adjusting the timing of much of anything, and maybe my stuff wouldn't be on the radio, but that doesn't mean it's not objectively professional.
There's this whole mentality of "fixing" when it come to mixing, but I don't think that's a good way to look at it. I'd rather feel like I'm building upon. It should be like shading a tattoo to improve it, not covering up a bad one.
But people be gatekeeping like a mf 😂😂
Lol from what I’m hearing, yea I don’t think she’s in the wrong either.
They say that gear doesn't matter, but it does. I slogged for a few years with outdated gear and kept wondering why I could never get stuff that I recorded to mix well, but I could get great mixes from projects that someone else had recorded with better gear.
I don't think you need a lot of equipment, but it's best to keep the core stuff updated and of good quality rather than chug along with a cheap interface from 2006 and an old PC/Mac.
101% accurate! this is exactly what a producer/engineer need to know. thank you for the amazing content as always. 💯
Your video is totally unique, the way you think and teach with your experience worth watching video.
Example from the navigator app is SO F4cking underrated!
I only mix VST instruments and vocals, so no real amps or drums. I mainly record hard rock or simply put classic rock songs. So I wonder how that differs from mixing real drums, Id expect its a big difference because mixing EZdrummer 3 with all those eq moves, compression, limiting, reverb, etc found on RUclips videos will easily over process the mix... I suspect a lot of home mixers is in the same situation, asking the same questions? Not many ppl have a studio with real amps and acoustic drums at home. These days its a lot more about midi, VST, guitar sims and other "fake" instruments to sound pro and competitive, etc?
No is gonna care about your uniqueness if you don't hit the standart first.This is was life chanching advice for me.
7:01
Says tuning vox.
Also shows the deesser
Love you man !!!! You are the BEST👍👍🥇😎
A big factor in getting good is making mistakes ;-)
Grab your free Mixing Cheatsheet to learn the go-to starting points for EQ and compression in heavy mixes: www.mixcheatsheet.com
My man was running in jorts.
Fernway!
I remember that while my first mixes sounded like crap, the feel and grit was there. Then i started hyper focusing on frequencies and technicalities, and it sounded clearer but ball-less. Everything is eq, i guess.
Ps: that ad break was on purpose, right 😅
Great tips!!
I'm doing all the work on my mixes, from singing to the mastering and the impact of a good record is so important, room echo/reverb will really hurt your work! And you don't need much! I built myself a sort of "tent" with mover's blanket and it helped a lot!
Thanks again for the tips!!
Okay I'm in. Though I first have to buy a new mac
Thanks for these tips :)
Now these steps of mixing progression are right on!
Whilst the self taught method might take longer, I have learnt something I'm afraid. If you want to be unique, different that does take time. I will admit I had mentorship, but it was one to one in the same room, nothing has ever come close. Those 2 songs if Mix A is a greart song it will always beat mix B. Im not saying Mix a was not more muddy, but I know what the punter will hear.
Love what you are teaching, but the issue with the teachers on these courses is you end up in a call with someone else. If i'm inspired, I want to be taught by the person who inpires me. I know that might not be possible. However I would argue thats what I feel I am being sold. If the other guys are a great part of Hardcore Music Studio, get them on here!
I am one of those selftaught "highly creative" mixer XD and you are totally right when you say this no efficient way if you want to make a living out of it (or otherwise^^) i am doing this for 10+ years and never came to a point where i could say "i know what i am doing" bc i ignored everything from lufs to stereoimage. there were three keypoints which helped:
1.watching your videos: i think you are the only one on youtube who tetaches "a certain way". as the free spirit that i am, i never considered there could be "a certain way" Its art, right? but your cheat sheet and making my own go-to presets in cubase for like drumrecordings helped a great deal for consistency.
2.mixing real drums: its the toughest part of mixing, i think. if you nail real drums, i think you can mix the most stuff out there
3.mixing for other people: discovering cambridge mixing library was a gamechanger. i only mixed stuff i myself composed, what sometiimes ended in a loop of selfdoubt and remaking and at the end you didnt learn anything bc you just throw plugins at stuff.
(and the render-in-place function also helps not to reconsider stuff over and over.)
Great video. Best tip I got from you is focus on the midrange. Man did that make a difference
shoutout to the paramore my heart cover 💪😮💨
So much truth in this! Tried mixing on/off for a decade and I didn't get any better til I bought a year long online course where the engineer showed his enntire method..everything began to click after that. I'm still not great, but I finally know how to get the depth, punch, and space I've been looking for. I also have a better understand of what to listen for.
you are right brother
Thank you, very wise advices, as always
You are "The Truth"
❤🔥💎💎💎
👍
Idk which mix was supposed to sound better, but B's vocals sound way less clear to me than A, but A feels darker/duller and less exciting in the stereo field.
Granted, i don't really listen to rock, im an engineer for experimental hip hop 🤣
Trick question. They both suck
I liked the less squashed sound of A but B sounded cleaner for the most part.
I
@@smash_adams b was too harsh
I have to thank you. I started watching your videos some weeks ago and your tips helped me a lot. I´m on the final stage of mixing and mastering our new release (9 tracks) and our sound really grew since I´ve been putting in practice your philosofy. It was all about "defense" mixing, I was very into it, cutting frequencies like crazy... not anymore, I let the elements sound as they were meant to. It was kinda hard couse we make high impact electronic music using programations, vocals and synths and sometimes I´m not sure how to mix all that stuff, mostly very distorted and noisy sounds. So my search of the perfect mix is still going but meeting your channel was a great help.
Thank you very much! As a producer who always recorded, produced, mixed and mastered my songs, I can totally agree. Knowing how to make a song from start to finish makes you a better artist, mixer, producer etc. Always trust your ears guys
Wow that was a quick jump Overwhelm -> Expert. Oh I get it now; you are selling expertise.