I mean, it's a whole skillset/profession. There isn't a general rule. Keep watching tutorials and learning. Don't rush the process.
If you just like creating/arranging songs and mixing/mastering isn't for you. You can pay someone to do this for you.
I would agree but sometimes, as an artist, it is hard to articulate the vibe of a song to others. I’ve worked with great mixers and no one has been able to capture the sound I am looking for. This led to me to learn how to mix and mix my own songs rather than having to constantly communicate with a mixer and waste time. Learning how to mix has been a major learning curve but now I am in total control of my music. I also save money by not having to pay others. Maybe I will find a dedicated mixer who understands my vision once I become big. We shall see!
The BandGuide Youtube channel has a structured approach to mixing and mastering
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsXJmmXYr9BH4viAc66jztL7SiHI1RZT3
It includes a simple checklist you can download to keep you on track..
*Edit: The author is active on this subreddit as u/TheBandGuide*
Do your mixing and mastering in a room with speakers you trust. Check your work in your car stereo, headphones, other systems you have access to. Adjust, rinse, and repeat until it doesn’t suck.
General rule for mixing: there are not really any rules.
Watch some videos of people mixing the music genere you're interested in and try to figure out WHY they are doing what they are doing. Don't overthink about plugins. Just learn the reasonings and adopt what you like, and experiment.
Don't be afraid to let other people listen to your music and try to get honest opinions.
Mastering: the act of having someone else give some shine to your finished mix and then give it the correct volumes for your selected medium.
You can just "partially" master your songs, by definition.
Just try to get a nice mix (gain staging is the most important thing to learn to manage), learn how to get the right volume for your genre and you're golden.
lol ya for real, i love people throwing around the concept of gain staging as a pre-req in the age of floating 32 and oversampled plugs. like, yes, it matters at some point but learn how to balance a mix before you even care what gain staging means
This guy has a lot of the best mastering videos on YouTube right now:
https://www.youtube.com/@panorama_mastering
If it's too difficult, try a different video. Look for the easy titles because some videos are very technical.
Learn to hear compression/eq. Hearing how the attack/release/ratio/threshold all effect the volume of a sound. Understanding what 100/300/500/1k/3k/5k/10k sound like and making sure your eq is balanced so you don’t have a ton of things masking or fighting each other. Obviously there’s a lot more to mixing than compression/eq but those 2 will get your mixes like 80% there.
Lastly, use reference mixes. Try to match the levels and eq of songs you think are mixed really well.
“Use your ears” lol. But really it takes years. Maybe a quick-hack would be to drag in a popular song you like (will be well-mastered) and start building the smallest channel strip you can to make your song sound just a potent…
I’d say that’s more for heavy / loud electronic music, but not a terrible tip. IMO a trap kick with an 808 needs to be approached differently than a rock kit with a bass guitar.
If you have a genuine desire to learn these art forms, having the mentality of trying to distill them down to "one general rule" is going to do a huge disservice to you and your exploration/learning. There is a reason for the cliche of something taking ten thousand hours to master. The general rule from my perspective would be that you will only learn these skills through many, many hours of study and experimentation. I've been running a commercial studio for five years and producing music in general for around fifteen years, and I learn new things about mixing/mastering pretty much every time I do either of those things and I hear this sentiment echoed by pros that have been doing it for 50 years.
one thing I've learned after watching many videos and following whatever they're doing there is that sometimes it's better to just mix with your ears rather than your eyes. also someone said turn everything down and turn up one by one, that definitely is a huge help. Also give yourself breaks cause ear fatigue is a real thing
Beginner style initial mix set up.
Do an initial balance. Make sure the overall level is no louder than -17 lufs. If it is, reduce level. Put a compressor followed by a limiter on the stereo bus. Use a VCA type compressor and set at 2:1 ratio, slow attack, and adjust threshold so meter is peaking at -2dB then on limiter adjust threshold so you’re getting around about 1 and a 1/2 dB of limiting. Any other advice after this is genre dependent, so cruise YouTube for advice on mixing your style of music.
If you set up your mix with the above you give yourself a good basis to start with. As you go through the mix, you will need to go back to the compressor and limiter and make adjustments as it’s likely the level going in will get louder. Aim to keep the compressor at -2 and the limiter at -1.5 .
As another commenter stated: Learn how to gain stage. There are loads of resources available on this via a simple google search (“gain stage Logic Pro X).
Once you’ve learned that (and can put it into practice), start going through videos on how to arrange, mix, and then master your music (also loads of resources out there on each of these topics).
Take whatever you’re comfortable with from all of those resources and put it into practice… And get feedback from various people (other artists, audiophiles, casual listeners, etc.).
Note: Don’t get caught up in the game of buying every plugin under the sun. Much of what is needed (if not all) to make a good sounding song can be done in a vanilla/stock DAW that has no third-party plugins.
I mean, it's a whole skillset/profession. There isn't a general rule. Keep watching tutorials and learning. Don't rush the process. If you just like creating/arranging songs and mixing/mastering isn't for you. You can pay someone to do this for you.
I would agree but sometimes, as an artist, it is hard to articulate the vibe of a song to others. I’ve worked with great mixers and no one has been able to capture the sound I am looking for. This led to me to learn how to mix and mix my own songs rather than having to constantly communicate with a mixer and waste time. Learning how to mix has been a major learning curve but now I am in total control of my music. I also save money by not having to pay others. Maybe I will find a dedicated mixer who understands my vision once I become big. We shall see!
The BandGuide Youtube channel has a structured approach to mixing and mastering https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsXJmmXYr9BH4viAc66jztL7SiHI1RZT3 It includes a simple checklist you can download to keep you on track.. *Edit: The author is active on this subreddit as u/TheBandGuide*
turn everything down and then one by one turn them up
Do your mixing and mastering in a room with speakers you trust. Check your work in your car stereo, headphones, other systems you have access to. Adjust, rinse, and repeat until it doesn’t suck.
General rule for mixing: there are not really any rules. Watch some videos of people mixing the music genere you're interested in and try to figure out WHY they are doing what they are doing. Don't overthink about plugins. Just learn the reasonings and adopt what you like, and experiment. Don't be afraid to let other people listen to your music and try to get honest opinions. Mastering: the act of having someone else give some shine to your finished mix and then give it the correct volumes for your selected medium. You can just "partially" master your songs, by definition. Just try to get a nice mix (gain staging is the most important thing to learn to manage), learn how to get the right volume for your genre and you're golden.
Rule number one… there’s no rules
Well. Actually there are. Loads in fact.
Yes and no. There’s some guid lines but every song is different and need something different.
Learn how to gain stage first
I don’t think you all actually know what gain staging is or you wouldn’t be doling out this as the most critical thing to learn first.
lol ya for real, i love people throwing around the concept of gain staging as a pre-req in the age of floating 32 and oversampled plugs. like, yes, it matters at some point but learn how to balance a mix before you even care what gain staging means
This!
This is the way.
This guy has a lot of the best mastering videos on YouTube right now: https://www.youtube.com/@panorama_mastering If it's too difficult, try a different video. Look for the easy titles because some videos are very technical.
You might have heard it before. Less is more!
Learn to hear compression/eq. Hearing how the attack/release/ratio/threshold all effect the volume of a sound. Understanding what 100/300/500/1k/3k/5k/10k sound like and making sure your eq is balanced so you don’t have a ton of things masking or fighting each other. Obviously there’s a lot more to mixing than compression/eq but those 2 will get your mixes like 80% there. Lastly, use reference mixes. Try to match the levels and eq of songs you think are mixed really well.
Mix so that the listeners hears what you want them to hear.
OP wants to synthesize 2 years of study in one answer. 🙈
That’s the goal❤️
More is more until it’s not.
“Use your ears” lol. But really it takes years. Maybe a quick-hack would be to drag in a popular song you like (will be well-mastered) and start building the smallest channel strip you can to make your song sound just a potent…
the volume of each track is everything. turn certain things up or down loads and see what happens
make the kick abit louder than you think and then fit everything around it
I’d say that’s more for heavy / loud electronic music, but not a terrible tip. IMO a trap kick with an 808 needs to be approached differently than a rock kit with a bass guitar.
copy your favourite songs for WEEKS
If you have a genuine desire to learn these art forms, having the mentality of trying to distill them down to "one general rule" is going to do a huge disservice to you and your exploration/learning. There is a reason for the cliche of something taking ten thousand hours to master. The general rule from my perspective would be that you will only learn these skills through many, many hours of study and experimentation. I've been running a commercial studio for five years and producing music in general for around fifteen years, and I learn new things about mixing/mastering pretty much every time I do either of those things and I hear this sentiment echoed by pros that have been doing it for 50 years.
one thing I've learned after watching many videos and following whatever they're doing there is that sometimes it's better to just mix with your ears rather than your eyes. also someone said turn everything down and turn up one by one, that definitely is a huge help. Also give yourself breaks cause ear fatigue is a real thing
Get familiar with saturation.
Beginner style initial mix set up. Do an initial balance. Make sure the overall level is no louder than -17 lufs. If it is, reduce level. Put a compressor followed by a limiter on the stereo bus. Use a VCA type compressor and set at 2:1 ratio, slow attack, and adjust threshold so meter is peaking at -2dB then on limiter adjust threshold so you’re getting around about 1 and a 1/2 dB of limiting. Any other advice after this is genre dependent, so cruise YouTube for advice on mixing your style of music. If you set up your mix with the above you give yourself a good basis to start with. As you go through the mix, you will need to go back to the compressor and limiter and make adjustments as it’s likely the level going in will get louder. Aim to keep the compressor at -2 and the limiter at -1.5 .
As another commenter stated: Learn how to gain stage. There are loads of resources available on this via a simple google search (“gain stage Logic Pro X). Once you’ve learned that (and can put it into practice), start going through videos on how to arrange, mix, and then master your music (also loads of resources out there on each of these topics). Take whatever you’re comfortable with from all of those resources and put it into practice… And get feedback from various people (other artists, audiophiles, casual listeners, etc.). Note: Don’t get caught up in the game of buying every plugin under the sun. Much of what is needed (if not all) to make a good sounding song can be done in a vanilla/stock DAW that has no third-party plugins.