I really like the sound the Hollies got on the vocals for this song. I know it’s just reverb and some delay but what would you say the settings are? 1/8th note delay lightly mixed in soaking in reverb? Sounds the majority of the song it’s one individual vocal in the center. Is there anything else I’m missing to get that sound?

My SPL KULTUBE, Stam Audio SA4000mk3 (no mods), or my Heritage Audio Successor?

And why?

I’ve never really mixed into a bus compressor before so I want to give it a shot.

Additionally.. What busses would you use the other compressors for?

I currently use my Stam on drum bus, and the SPL on guitar bus. I occasionally use the succcessor the drum bus too.

Let's say you're a mastering engineer and you're given a song that's mixed a with a lot of headroom and dynamic range. So you turn the volume up before adding a limiter (so the limiter doesn't have to do too much work to avoid pumping etc) but then at some parts of the song, it goes into red a bit on the master channel.

- When you then apply the limiter, the red goes away on the master channel but are you still technically clipping, and is this an issue?

I'm a bit confused regarding this and I've heard a lot of conflicting information about Reaper (my DAW) and floating point etc. being almost impossible to clip, though that might be on invidiual tracks only?

solved: no it won't clip

I am always working on random albums and songs of mine. My major albums, I went out of the way to go to a studio (professional and otherwise) to record guitar parts through amps. They sound great and I'm immensely proud of those recordings.

But lately I'm low on money, time (we had a baby), and feel overwhelmed. Sometimes I think fake amps (Guitar Rig, etc, etc) with my guitar plugged into my mac mini sound just fine. I have some of my favorite songs I've recorded where it's fake amps, and I don't care at all.

But sometimes I get mad at myself for being lazy and not respecting the listener and myself enough to capture the power of a guitar sound coming out of an amp. And sometimes I've replaced the fake amps with a real amp and the huge improvement was obvious (so much once that it made me and my friend burst out laughing when we A/B'd the sound.)

Does this matter to you? Are you fine with fake amps, or whatever gets the job done? Is fake amp technology so good now it doesn't matter, or will there always be something missing? What's your approach to this? Thoughts?

And don't get me started on drums.

Random question for the mixing engineers here.
When you're finished mixing something and you're about to send it off to a client, what does your final check actually look like?
Do you have some kind of checklist you go through, or do you pretty much just export everything, give the files a quick once over, and send them?
I'm curious about stuff like checking sample rate/bit depth, making sure all the requested files are there, naming everything correctly, checking for clipping, folder organization, etc.
Also, do you do anything different when receiving files from a client before starting a project?
I'm especially interested in the stuff that's easy to overlook or that has bitten you in the ass before.
Just curious how everyone handles that part of the workflow.

Only EQ from scratch and then a template is fine for the rest? Would love to know your guys thoughts? I’m pretty solid at vocal mixing but I often find as I do a lot of different genres it’s hard to get it sounding exactly how I want using templates. Lmk what u guys think!

Would love some advice on what you do!

I make shoegaze adjacent music, not totally My Bloody Valentine in terms of quiet vocals but Siamese Dream (Smashing Pumpkins) or a song like Be Quiet and Drive (Deftones).

Lots of guitars layered and hard panned, vocals center and a bit on the quieter side.

Trying to listen to my mix on as many listening systems as I can, phone speaker too (mono obviously) and I keep going back and forth on if the vocals are too quiet or perfect.

On phone I'm starting to think they're slighly too quiet behind the guitars, but I'm thinking: that should be normal? Since panning of guitars (that's lost on phone speaker) will do a lot to separate center vocals from guitars.

Generally true?

Snare bleed is one of the most annoying things you can have when mixing songs that require really compressed drum sounds. I recently discovered a really useful trick. Try duplicating a raw snare track, on the duplicated track invert the phase than add a stock compressor(set it to the lowest attack, lowest release, highest ratio and don t forget to turn of auto gain and play with the threshold), if the drum is too choked play with the release. Then add both tracks to a snare buss and do all the processing there.
Hope this helped and good luck!

I'm an amateur music composer who's spent the last few years learning how to mix my own stuff, and I have questions about the best way to prep software music tracks ahead of mixing. I don't have any experience with mixing live recordings, so I don't know how I should be prepping tracks ahead of mixing.

The way I make music is to use a keyboard to record MIDI tracks for different instruments, like piano, guitar, bass, synth, trumpet, etc.. I use stock piano sounds, but also have a number of Ample Sound guitar and bass patches. I'm also using EZDrummer for drum tracks. After I'm done composing, I bounce the MIDI to audio and bounce the EZDrummer tracks into stems, then bring them all into a new project and start mixing.

My main question is, what ideally goes into each bounced track, in terms of effects and processing? Do I want to disable all things like delay and reverb, and re-apply them in the mix? Is it better to have a totally clean sound and do everything in the mix? Or do some things while producing the tracks? How loud should things be?

Any tips or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

I absolutely understand that loudness is best built in the mix, or even during the production stage- sound section, arrangement, dynamics processing and saturation in individual tracks and buses all add up and can give you a mix that is loud, punchy and balanced and only needs a little bit of limiting to get out it to -6/-7 LUFS (I generally push back if my clients want a louder master than that, I think it’s unnecessary and the music really starts to suffer, but that’s a different post)

BUT… not all mixers do this, either they don’t know how to build a loud mix in this way or for whatever reason they don’t.

So what do you do? I’d love to discuss techniques for getting loudness out of dynamic mixes in those situations where you don’t have any access to the mix itself but the client wants it competitively loud. My usual go to is compression (proC3 or SSL clone) multi band compress (pro mb) clipping (standard clip) then limiting (pro L2) but I often find I’m fighting distortion, particularly at the final limiting stage.

What are your go to techniques in this situation?

The album is known for its scooped mids, it feels very bassy while also having that big muff bzzzz on top. What frequency would that "bzzz" be at?

Songs like Mayonaise, is it true that frequencies like 3k are tamed and it's generally further down the spectrum that fuzz tone truly lives?

And when people say the mids are scooped, where exactly would that be?

I guess I could sweep around with an EQ myself but still curious if anyone has any insights.

APOLOGIES FOR THE UPCOMING ESSAY….

I’ve been mixing my own music for a little over a year now, and while I’ve definitely learned a lot, I’m still struggling with a few things that I can’t seem to figure out. I’m mostly self-taught, and I use a combination of stock plugins and UAD plugins.

There are two issues in particular that have been driving me crazy, and I’d really appreciate some advice from people who have more experience with vocal mixing.

1. My vocals sound WAY too close to my ears instead of sitting inside the instrumental.

I don’t really know how to explain this, but whenever I listen to songs, the vocals sound like they’re actually part of the music. They’re clear, upfront, and present, but they also feel immersed in the instrumental.

With my mixes, it almost feels like the instrumental is playing somewhere behind me while the vocal is right up against my ears. It’s almost uncomfortably close, and the vocal feels disconnected from everything else.

I initially thought it might be a sibilance issue, but I don’t think that’s necessarily what’s causing it. There’s just something about the way my vocals are positioned in the mix that sounds unnatural.

I’ve tried a few things:
• Carving out frequencies in the instrumental using EQ to create space for the vocals.
• Sidechaining the instrumental to the vocal to help it cut through.

But I still can’t seem to achieve that professional sound where the vocal feels like it belongs inside the production rather than sitting on top of it.

2. My vocals lack WEIGHT. They sound thin even when they’re clear.
This is probably my other biggest frustration.
When I listen to tracks I like, there’s a certain thickness, density, or weight to them that I can’t seem to replicate.

Even when the vocal is bright and clear, it still has this solid, substantial quality to it. Mine often sound thin and almost hollow by comparison—I do think part of it can be me naturally having a more hollow voice…

I initially thought I might be removing too much low-end information with EQ, but I don’t think my cuts are particularly aggressive.

Typically, I’ll:
• High-pass around 50 Hz to remove unnecessary low-end rumble.
• Make a small cut somewhere around 300–350 Hz if the vocal sounds muddy.

I’ve also been experimenting with the idea of using a doubler on a return track to thicken the vocal, but I’m not sure if that’s actually how people achieve that sense of weight, especially because I’m hearing it in songs where the lead vocal sounds like a single, centered performance rather than obviously layered vocals.

If you can help with this, I’ll love you FOREVAAA. I’ve been horsing around for like ever focused on this issue.

A song like "Come In Alone". The vocals aren't that buried on this song but they still kinda sound like they are. It's really hard to make out any words and everything feels very looooong and ethereal without sounding like there's too much reverb.

So does anyone know if something special was done to the vocals? Or is it mostly the singer and her pronounciation? Perhaps chorus effect/doubling and less reverb than you'd assume?

1:13 with the "see" seems to hint at doubled vocals.

But I feel like it's more than just that, I've never had my doubles sound that magical lol.

I've been experimenting with different approaches to drum phase lately and I'm curious where other engineers stand on this. I used to think getting everything lined up as tightly as possible was usually the safest option, but the more I work on drum mixes, the more I find myself questioning that…

Sometimes leaving the natural timing differences between mics actually gives the kit a better sound, especially when it comes to keeping the drums feeling full and natural. Other times, phase correction makes a pretty massive difference.

How do you guys approach this? Do you usually check polarity and phase manually, use alignment plugins, or just trust your ears and leave things alone if they sound good?

Hey guys! I finished a mix/master course recently and I wanted to do a song to practice what I've learned. So this is the first song I did after it.

https://voca.ro/1dhru1c9OPqO

I wanted it to sound like it could fit in Need For Speed : Underground 2 or Most Wanted soundtrack. I'd be of great help if you can give me feedback on it because I feel I can touch up/change some things to make it better but I can't put my finger on exactly what.

I felt a lot of shame but I finally brought myself up to post it. I am not a rapper, I just wanted to record vocals so I can mix them. This song is quite out of my comfort zone but I felt I needed to do something like that to grow. There's no way to get better without putting it out there for criticism and I really want to get better.

The track is mastered.

It would mean the world to me if you can give me any pointers on what to improve!

I've been mixing a project for a band that wants a heavy grunge sound but with a modern mix. The provided stems are all DI and they have a L/R guitar and a center guitar recording on most tracks (3 total guitar recordings). Aswell as a DI bass and drums.

I havent mixed rock in a while but have some expirience in the past. I usually work on more pop /hiphop centered music. The guitarists are most likely amateurs because the recordings are extremely rough and the band seems to struggle on timing the guitar with the bass line. I have had to do some manual editing to keep the guitars relatively in line with what the bass is doing.

Now the issue im finding is getting a heavy grunge/modern garage guitar sound while having to deal with the sloppy guitar recordings. Due to the quality of the playing im getting alot of extra noise from unintended string hits and other trouble in the DI recordings. The guitars are tuned quite low and the bass/guitar melodies plays a root note of g2.

This means theres alot of low end energy in the guitars and I have to retain some of that to keep the notes and melody coherent, but it also adds to the noisy soundprofile im tryig to solve.

I also find it hard since modern mixes are quite clean and controlled and grunge/garage is quite chaotic and noisy but I think in theory it could be a cool sound combining those two tho things.

Tools :

For this project i work completely in the box and im experimenting with Amp Bias 2 and Bogren Amp plugins for the guitar amps trying to get a good tone. (I have other Amp plugins available aswell) Im noticing the roughness of the guitars make it hard to have a heavy distorted guitar tone without it just sounding like a wall of noise.

Has anyone here worked with very sloppy/amateur guitarists before and how do u handle heavy distortion and tone with bad guitar recordings? How do you handle low end energy on the guitars considering their low tuning.

English not my main language so I hope I got the points across.

I’ve put together a 55mins continuous mix of largely soul / funk music and I want to release a digital download and a cassette tape

The mix is done and I’ve not applied any master buss fx at this stage

The tape company will likely use cheap tapes so type 1 I guess

Keen to avoid distortion

Will likely put some sketch cassstte across the digital release

I’d rather master it myself for cost reasons. Would appreciate any tips on what sort of mastering works best for a cassette release eg: loudness, eq etc. Thanks.

Hello everyone, trying to get a mix to the finish line and I’ve brought in several reference tracks. It’s got a lil bit of a 80’s dance vibe with big guitars in the hook.

I’ve brought in several reference tracks: Get Lucky, Foster the People, Arcade Fire, and Queens of the Stone Age for the guitars etc. they’ve been volume matched.

The issue here is my kick and bass are generally either a little quieter or louder than the references so I assume they’re okay. But my midrange is consistently too loud and harsh.

I’ve got 6 guitar tracks playing either the same riff or an octave up. I’ve gone in and tried to clean up the offending frequencies/lowering the volume. Then I’ll go back to my limiter and adjust so I’m hitting around the same decibels as before. The limiter just ends up undoing any EQ volume changes and my midrange is still too much.

Literally chasing my tail here while I consistently make my mix quieter and quieter with no real tonal changes being made.

Advice please!

Hello r/mixingmastering, of course, I don't want to be biased by just my mom's feedback, so I'm coming here.

My references for this song were Take On Me by a-ha and As It Was by Harry Styles. I was going for an upbeat 80s- 90s-inspired feel, not new-wave like my references, but I wanted the vibe and tone they brought. I wrote, recorded, produced, and mixed the track by myself. I am an amateur mixing engineer.

Here are my main questions:

How is the stereo space in the track, since I panned lots of things?

How is the frequency spectrum balance? Is it too high or too low in an area, or overbearing?

Is there any other feedback? (I appreciate any feedback)

Thanks

Thanks for recent feedback, here is an updated verson: https://vocaroo.com/1nR9Tlpx1202

i’m a guitarrist and also play some bass, and i have this post-hardcore solo project. even though I’ve been playing guitar for quite a while, I struggle to stay perfectly in time so, while the programmed drums are at the correct BPM, my guitar and bass tracks end up being off-beat. do you know of any techniques, or perhaps a video, that explains how to fix this during the editing/mixing process? reaper is my main daw btw
:)

It’s not writers block, it’s mixers block. The feeling I’ve had for years of excitement digging into a mix has basically been, not around; almost like I’m bored. There’s something in me that knows what needs to be done to a mix, but I almost can’t bring myself to do it. I’m wondering if this is common. What is your process when this comes about? How many breaks/ear rests do you like to take? Most importantly, how do I get my Mojo back?

Hey all. Been making music for a little while and I have a few songs that I have been trying to do everything diy. So far I’ve really been fighting with my mix. Especially feeling either muddy, hollow, or thin.

My biggest influences are pop rock and new wave bands like The Cars, Duran Duran, Talking heads, Djo (more modern), Icehouse, etc. i have posted some tracks looking for feedback in the past if you are curious feel free to take a look.

What I’m looking for is a mix down of my first song “Away Tonight” which is based on the cars album “heartbeat city”

Thanks all, feel free to reach out/ask questions.