Mixing and Mastering

I’ve just been working on a track and I’m finding getting the sonics right a big challenge. I’ve read the occasional tutorial on mixing and mastering, but at the moment I’m mainly just using my ear and guessing what will make my mixes sound good. One of my long-term goals is to get really good at mixing, but right now I have to hone my composition skills and there are only so many hours in a day to study. Sometimes this approach works; sometimes it ends badly and I give up and move onto something else.

So, guys, how do you juggle mixing and mastering as well as composing? It seems like a difficult task to get extremely good at both; sometimes I contemplate sending my stems to a professional mixing engineer to work his magic on so I can just focus on the compositional side of things.

The best tip is to take a break between composing / mixing / mastering. Your ears need to rest and when you come back to the song, you will be hearing things that you didn’t notice before.

Also when you’re composing something, if you listen to it on repeat over and over, your brain becomes accustomed to the piece and it’s difficult to make proper decisions in the mix.

Just keep practicing, eventually you will refine your sound and develop something you’re very happy with!

It also helps a lot to compare your mixes to songs that you want them to sound like. Having a reference point is very important when starting out! You’re ears need to have a “goal” in mind. Otherwise your mixes will be all over the place

This is something every musician struggles with. I’ve gone from trying to be the best, to trying to make it as easy as possible, to hiring people to do it for me and now I’ve landed in some kind of middle ground.

Mixing and mastering is an art form in it self. To be honest, they both are, in their different areas. Here are some tips to help you on the way.

1. Cut low bass. One of the things I’ve noticed with my mixes in my previous years (15 years ago) was that the instruments seemed to have some kind of internal fight. I never understood what it was until I was at a seminar with Carl-Michael Herlöfsson (worked with Rammstein and many others). He suggested that we cut the bass under at least 80-100Hz, even in bass . I thought this was crazy but gave it a try. Of course the results at first was that I cut too much bass, but then I started to get it right. Try it, you’ll like it ^^

2. Learn basic compression. The evil compressor is somewhat confusing. You try it out because you hear it’s great and after a while your song just pumps back and forth. That’s why I use the word “basic”. Just a tiny bit can do a lot. Since it’s a tricky tool just learn the 2-3 most important things about it and use that. And yes, also during mastering. That’s where you use your very best compressor.

3. Repeated from thesecession – Take breaks. Maybe mix 1-2 hours maximum then clear your head. Preferably leave the room and rest your ears. If I have a client that needs custom music and I’m working at an hourly basis that can sometimes be impossible. At times budget is so tight that I only get 2 hours for mixing and mastering. Sometimes I can push it to 4 but that’s about it. On the other hand, if it’s my own production I try to give it 3 days with at least one day in between. That goes against my nature since I want to stress in the end but try not to do that. At least in my experience the mix I thought sounded awesome in the evening, don’t sound that great the next morning.

Good Luck buddy. You’re not alone

/Reach

In fact, such issues should not arise on this resource. Here, music professionals create a product for video professionals. Questions about the mastering and mixing tracks is widely discussed at special sites. If the authors ask such questions in the forums for customers calling into question the quality of work on the site as a whole. Do not forget that this forum is read not only authors but also the buyers. Imagine, if you go to the dentist today, who yesterday asked in the forum “the guys learn how to remove the tooth?” )))) I think that you refuse his services. I apologize for my directness….

cleanmindsounds said
In fact, such issues should not arise on this resource. Here, music professionals create a product for video professionals. Questions about the mastering and mixing tracks is widely discussed at special sites. If the authors ask such questions in the forums for customers calling into question the quality of work on the site as a whole. Do not forget that this forum is read not only authors but also the buyers. Imagine, if you go to the dentist today, who yesterday asked in the forum “the guys learn how to remove the tooth?” )))) I think that you refuse his services. I apologize for my directness….

I started this thread mainly to see how people balance both aspects of making music for AJ. It’s quite a challenge to be exceptional in more than one field, no matter what it is.

It’s not that I think I’m totally incapable of getting a reasonable mix; it’s just that it takes a few attempts sometimes. Apart from one time when I forgot to watermark a file, I’ve never had anything rejected. Perhaps I should have elaborated a bit more. My approach for some aspects of mixing where I’m not so knowledgeable about the specifics or able is trial and error until it sounds good. I’m not completely clueless; I know a bit about a lot of aspects of mixing. My idea of knowing what to do is, for example, being able to hear the amount of compression needed in terms of attack, release, ratio, etc before even opening the compression plugin interface, or knowing what the Q and dB boost for a certain frequency range should be before opening the EQ plugin.

Nevertheless, I think you’re right. This thread should be ended for the sake of maintaining the reputation of audiojungle.

Hope I’m not coming across as being contentious . I just wanted to elaborate.

From what i know until now , i can say that the best way in my opinion to get a good mix is :

1. Having a good workflow ( This means – don’t get caught in composing a short passage of music and then trying to get it sound perfect . Insted of this compose the whole piece and ONLY THEM begin to mix / master you composition ) . This helpful tip helped me alot .

2. Keep in mind the result you want to achieve when mixing / mastering , this way you have a big picture of the result you want to achieve . Of course that playing around with different parameters of the sound can sometimes work out in a very intresting composition .

3. And remember to have FUN !

Hope this tips help you out and I wish all of you fellow composers out there :

Happy composing / mixing / mastering !

cleanmindsounds said
In fact, such issues should not arise on this resource. Here, music professionals create a product for video professionals. Questions about the mastering and mixing tracks is widely discussed at special sites. If the authors ask such questions in the forums for customers calling into question the quality of work on the site as a whole. Do not forget that this forum is read not only authors but also the buyers. Imagine, if you go to the dentist today, who yesterday asked in the forum “the guys learn how to remove the tooth?” )))) I think that you refuse his services. I apologize for my directness….

I had to give this a few days thoughs before I replyed.

The tooth analogy is a bit exaggerated. A better comparison would be a dentist forum where the OP asks a general question about pulling teeth. He knows his job but just wants to get better. Since this is a creative industry you do not ever finish your education. I’ve created audio for more than 20 games and will soon begin a few new projects. Even so, I would say that I’m not perfect. There are always areas in which I want to improve, and mixing and mastering is one of them.

There are, as you say, many sites where this can be discussed. I wouldn’t like to see this thread locked and removed though, even though the OP asked for it. Tips and tricks can only improve the standard of items here on AJ, and in the end, I think that’s what’s going to get the customers coming.

Reachground said
I had to give this a few days thoughs before I replyed.

The tooth analogy is a bit exaggerated. A better comparison would be a dentist forum where the OP asks a general question about pulling teeth. He knows his job but just wants to get better. Since this is a creative industry you do not ever finish your education. I’ve created audio for more than 20 games and will soon begin a few new projects. Even so, I would say that I’m not perfect. There are always areas in which I want to improve, and mixing and mastering is one of them.

There are, as you say, many sites where this can be discussed. I wouldn’t like to see this thread locked and removed though, even though the OP asked for it. Tips and tricks can only improve the standard of items here on AJ, and in the end, I think that’s what’s going to get the customers coming.

Yes, indeed it was a slight exaggeration. Of course this topic will not block anybody and it is not against the rules. I expressed my opinion, it is not even the majority opinion of users or the administration. I can definitely say that all that is written here, will pop up on the first page in google on demand (how to do mastering). I do not think that all buyers will flee at the sight of the topic. Nothing bad will happen. ))) However, I have developed a stable stereotype of such discussions.

1. Record each track in the composition-do with the effect (e.g. compression and reverb paths), so better hear the final product

2. During the mixing remove all effects, and then re-add, perhaps some others, you can play around with the settings, knowing that all the notes were played correctly, and Velocity

4. And, as rightly observed, Thesetsession-you have to give your ears rest, listen to different times of day, because at different times of day, our ears are not quite the same way they hear the same song

5. And of course, have to constantly compare the sound of popular songs from the works of other authors in the same style.

6. During mixing, try to include mono and listen, so it is best heard all the errors, and you can get out of the studio / room and listen to the next room, so I check the bass on distortion

The experience will come with time … and sorry Google for his English))

I listened to your tracks, good music, but I think you should pay attention to levels of sound, you can turn any track popular author (I will not name names) and compare the sound of bass, drums and pads, solo, with your tracks … Sorry for my 5 cents)) good luck!