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The art of using many words and saying nothing.

3:54 Clients will ALWAYS do this. You will never nail the mix on the first try, even if you do. I had a guy once who listened to his song for a week, on everything imaginable, and he could not find any problems with the mix, and then he sent the mix to 10 other engineers who are competing for his business, and they made him a laundry list of things that needed to be corrected, most of which was all BS. I asked him if he heard any problems, he said no, but was worried the other engineers did. We did a live mix session, and he critically listened to the last detail, we did all sorts of adjustments for hours, he was pleased. Then he sent the mix to the other engineers, they found more problems, and he fired me. Lmao. But that was an extreme example. Most want 3 revisions no matter how good it turns out. They think you should spend more time on the mix no matter what, even if you have the best room, the best gear, and the best ear. It happens to everyone; we have to make the customer happy. Grab the "JST Blackbox" and see how many clients think you nailed that mix after using that for a bit. You'll find out they are just listening for things that aren't there. But you have to be confident in your own skills to know that mix is as good as it will ever be. If you think you can improve it, then you didn't put enough effort into it, but then there are deadlines, and there is that too. Do your best. Great video, and you are totally right. 💯

Better mixes - it's about experience and ear training in this progress. Sometimes you just don't need a lot of plugins. You just need calmness, insight, understanding where you have what frequencies and volume levels. Of course, you must be well-slept, full and feel good in general. And years of experience not just mixing something but listen carefully to successful tracks of various styles. Here's what helped me mix better. But you are constantly learning in the process. And probably the most difficult thing is the recording and mixing of high-quality pop songs.

Dont ever let Alex Tumay see this video's thumbnail.

You know, just once I would like to ask one of these pros: "If the equipment doesn't matter, why did you spend $100k on a console?" I'm not saying better equipment is a magic fix. You obviously have to know what you're doing or blowing money on expensive gear is pointless. But as you learn and grow and progress, the quality of your gear does become a limiting factor.

Make sure you're working with music that you enjoy. It's very difficult mixing something that sucks from the start. You'll just end up with a polished turd. And listen to your inner listener. You always know if something sounds good or not, the inner listener never lies. If you spend an entire day mixing something, and it all felt like work you didn't want to do, it probably doesn't sound good to you.

A listener relies on 2 things to enjoy the song...hearing and feeling. What they hear should translate to something they can feel. Good writing is making sure there is something to feel. Good mixing is making sure they hear it.

You think makers of the past spent countless hours on youtube looking for the magic secret. No, the spent countless hours mixing until their work got to the standard it is today. Of course they took advice from peers, mentors and contemporaries, but they didn't dwell on them. They mixed.

Solid advice. Tutorials are meant as a guideline and to show how a tool works. You should use tools to get the sound you are going for. For example, maybe you got a really screechy mid frequency synth. Perhaps you use a specific stereo expander on it and then add a Fabfilter Pro MB to compress a region only on the mid image, so that makes space for a vocal, but here is where you would use your ears to determine the parameters so it still sounds good.

Hey man, just wanted to give you kudos on this vid. I've been a mixer for 15 years and these are the same conclusions I've come to over time. You've done a great job creating a concise explanation of some extremely important lessons anyone can draw from. Bravo!

Reaper's automatic track colouring and layout arrangements takes away a lot of the prep hassle. So long as I name and organize recorded tracks, it's a simple drag and drop, arranging track order, adding tempo/time signature markers (if necessary) and then it's straight to mixing. Even when I get files from clients, the file names simply need to contain keywords like kick, tom, cymbal, etc. which I can write myself too before dragging it to the DAW.

Good video, thanks for doing this. Would be great if you had video timestamps / markers in there across the video though so I can reference more easily in the future.

GREAT Video! so many folks go down the plug in rabbit hole and stop LISTENING and focusing on the story and the groove. keep it up.

This is true I’ve been recording and producing music for a decade now it’s only been the past year or so I’ve been confident in what I’m doing. In my experience the best thing to do is to work really hard mastering your skills for 2-3 year and then put it all to practice as much as you can. Work with musicians and get feedback from others. The BIG game changer too is to use reference tracks listen to the volume, width, tone everything and if the song is similar to the one you’re working on then copy it. Try to get your mix to sound as close as possible and then you will start to learn how to mix and master properly. From a creative point of view just try stuff, reverse guitar parts, automate a massive reverb on a vocal for one powerful word. Work hard and experiment, don’t think too much about it and if it sounds good it sounds good. Sending love from Glasgow ❤

Bob Power is a genius for his strategy of 'how to listen' to a mix

There's a comment below me that exclaimed confidently that this video is entirely fluff; nothing but a string of buzzwords. This is entirely ignorant and incondsiderate. I'm brand new to mixing, and the target demographic of this video and it has helped me tremendously be more introspective of my music. In the beginning, it asks the question: What makes mixing sound amatuer? And it entirely answers it in one of the clearest formats I've ever seen. It states the importance of knowing when to edit your track in particular parts and holding back in others. It references the words of an experienced mixer by saying: "Don't make the mix work, make the song work." This concept is particularly helpful to me, and no doubt others who are starting out. These pompous, ignorant, entitled, and inconsiderate muscians below have entirely failed to perceive the simple lesson this video teaches in 8 minutes and 15 seconds. I could care less what anyone says, I think this is a good video for starts and even overthinking experienced mixers alike. Please consider the value of a lesson to different skill levels before making a conjecture.

This is incredible content! Gotta “steal” the pro techniques but we must also know when to use them is just as important 😎

I've never mixed anything in my life or touched a mixer, but this video proved to me what I've thought all along...the band/artist, instruments or whatever sound you capture has to be "good" to begin with, the mix can make "good" sound "better", but you will never make something "bad" sound "good" no matter how good the mix is👍

I'm going to need some help understanding the end of the video, with the 2 mixer clips. I can't figure out the differences between them, or even which one you count as the "bad one" :D A lil' help?? c:

5:23 the size of that mixer made my head spin just looking at it.

I agree with the video, not with the thumbail. who knows what source was that and how it sounded before and after? :) You can't really tell by graphics, in the same way you shouldn't expect presets to work on whatever source regardless. Maybe it was a very ringing snare or guitar and cutting all the resonances was better than get rid of everything :D

The biggest tip I can give new guys is learn how to use and stage gain. There is a reason why faders take up the majority of every mixer.

Another tip that CLA had that always sticks with me is: (I’m paraphrasing) how does everything thing sound when at 0 with nothing. Another tip Andrew had that sticks with me is: if there’s not a problem with a mix or a sound , don’t make any problems

Even if I had the money I would not buy one of those huge full size physical mixers, I don't really so the point as most DAWs have a similar software one which functions the same. I argue all the time over Software vs Hardware and honestly I don't actually hear much difference.

Where did you get these interview clips?

Great & Helpful Video! GRATITUDE!

Great video brother! Love it

Even tho I'm not directly interested in mixing I found this very useful when looking at a particular track of mine that I always felt like something was off. It was missing a variation of something, or sound of something. Just felt Monotoned. This really helped giving me and idea on how to look at it and hear it.

A good mix begins with a good arrangement and good tracking.

This is just a commercial for a commercial. At least all the other guys hocking their training courses give you some nuggets.

Nothing makes a track sound murky and amateurish quite like overbaking…which is something I did *a lot* early on. Because you get a lot of advice on how to process individual elements, you subconsciously think “oh ok, that’s what I’m supposed to do” instead of “that’s what I could do if it necessary”. Learning to distinguish “when necessary” is a huge step. Early on, I would completely miss a vocal that was ice picking away with excess 1.6k in an effort to make sure it was compressed properly. As you get better at listening, you get better at hearing what a track actually wants.

Fully agree with all of them. Subconsciously been doing what the guy at the end who listed the 5 things said, but had never really put them into words in English before. But all those do affect the sound stage. Keep the listener in mind at all times. Definitely test the mix on an old mono speaker, and definitely test it against industry topping tracks in a car, if you can. Thanks for the detailed video!

Thanks for your video!

Getting past the gear is a good thing. If you can't make it work in the box with stock plugins, that's just your lack of skill (unless it's something extremely specific like a glitch plugin or something), everything else is so insignificant that it doesn't matter at all. I love to break my brain trying to make a mix using only volume and panning, nothing else. I've had to, when I've done stuff in other environments that aren't full DAWs, and it's a great learning experience. It's exactly the same no matter what gear you use. If you then make bus channels and do some very broad eq and dynamics processing on that, that's most likely 98% complete, no 64 band EQ battle needed. A bunch of tracks have nothing on them, other than high or low pass pre fader. Of course it's still my crap mixes, but they suck way less than before.

Amazing stuff John, you are true scholar of mixing.

Alot of people forget that these guys are working with some of the best artists and equipment. Alot of amateur producers and working with amateur artists, if u ever worked with a great vocalist you really know how easy it is to just sit back and let the artist carry the song

Me, I like to close my eyes and visualize the mix in 3d. You know, what and where is everything. I do that all the time in live sound, and it sort of relates to studio mixing. You know, think of bricks in the wall, where does everything fit? Do they interfere anywhere? It may sound stupid, but it seems to work for me.

Nice job!!!

I once saw Dave Gilmore plug his guitar into a 60 dollar zoom fx processor and he still sounds amazing. It's not how deep you fish but how you wiggle your worm's.

I love how often you use the only mpc that stayed with me. Workflow - sonics ( do t hate EASki ). Cause I had a copy of your lab - every sp every MPC and o boy, im not going into synth. Didn’t fit my workflow. I love the live ( new gen what ever model. )

It's the law of diminishing returns: knowing how to use simpler and cheaper gear to the best they can do, then you have already won the majority of what can be done. You have an awesome mix. Then all that expensive gear is just for that margin of perhaps a few percentages of making something sound even beyond awesome.

great advice, tnx

1:03 "And here's the thing most of us are guilty of" - Holding your drink right over your mixer!

When not to do things. I've found that to be true as primarily a guitar player. Playing solo, you feel the need to fill the sonic space, but when you play with a band/group you have to fight that instinct and realize you don't have to be the center of attention. It's okay to strum a cord, or hold that last note in your lick to let it fade out and let the rest of the band fill the space. Sometimes not playing is more impactful than playing because you feel like you're supposed to always be playing. I'm not sure if I really described that all correctly, but I hope someone gets the concept.

Fun fact I shot the clip of Bob at 0:59, recognized it immediately. Funny to see my work pop up unexpectedly.

Your cover photo show an amputation to remove a few splinters. Removing blocks of frequencies? If thats what’s needed, I guess. 😊

This is a pretty good video filled with things beginners & ppl with G.A.S. need to hear 😎👍 It's kind of a shame most if not all of these topics are big "duh" moments, but the technical side of mixing & mastering seems to overshadow these core but needed philosophies 🤔🤷‍♂️ The BEST mixing advice ever given to me was that the CORE of mixing was FOCUSED STORYTELLING 🤯 If what you are doing is SERVING THE SONG, then you're a competent mixer. If it's serving your EGO (i.e., the kick sounds great but the mix is trash since it's emotionally dead or ambitious), then regardless of your skill or technique, as a mixer you've FAILED. That transformed EVERYTHING for me 😎👍🎉

Mistake #5 is funny in the sense that even if you as the engineer understand what should be your focus on a song there's always going to be that bass player or drummer asking you to turn them up in the mix masking every other important part 😂

The cat meme got me hahaha dead on

Great vid. I lt confirmed to me what I learned over the years as an hobby musician and mixer. And a last thing: Good songs. You can't polish a turd.

Best advice I've ever heard: You can mold, dry, throw or steam shit all you want, if it's shit... It's shit.

Excellent advice :)

Swell playlist. Could you please make one and add some october ends songs? Dark and Call Play Time are pure bangers!!

1:47 holy crap all that equipment

This channel is pure gold

Hello Paul FORTH Good video tho Thx to the algo riddim )) Liked and sub

Nice and short 👍👌

Dude, you know you're pretty good at sound design.

I had the honor of working in one of the largest and most important recording/production studios in Italy; I had my own small personal studio.... basically the difference is the studio room itself, a professional soundproofing and you can have a Neve analogue mixer and the best of the best outboards, microphones, converters.... it already is a big step forward. regardless that you have to know how to use the equipment. But...for me, a big chunk of the problem is the physical studio itself and the right monitors. useless making music in the bedroom with the Genelecs attached to the wall and the wardrobe door open...those monitors will never play 100%... today there are planar headphones with their own correction software and you can do a mix in headphones...twenty/twenty-five years ago it was almost impossible.(almost). finally, always in my opinion, you need to be inclined to do a certain activity. like the painter or sculptor who have something extra, or the naturalist explorer truly connected with nature, or the one who makes the bonsai and feels it inside like the plant wants to be cut, the mastering technician is also an artist, and you have to feel this thing inside.you know..

Crazy editing style

I need this

great video and all, but that shirt is TUFF🔥

THIS IS SO TRUE! BRAVO!

Some good high level advice

Ik I commented but revising a mix is so important and I’ll will tell you why.when astroworld by Travis Scott was made travis and his engineer mike dean(Kanye west engineer) went back and revised till the last day before dropping and even when the album dropped while we were listening they still did revisions especially for the stargazing intro because in that song they had to reducing clipping in that song because on the every 8th bar the drums in a specific pattern witll clip and they had to change that on release date but it worked out and astroworld is it what it is today and this is in 2018

Mixing is fun and simple when you have a great song to start with, it’s never easy, but it is quite simple once you learn what to listen for

So what DAW works best for you?

0:29 - “PRINCIPLES”… it helps to proofread graphics.

I try to listen and adapt techniques and advice from novice to pro's on mixing and amalgamate them into my own set of criteria. Not all of what engineer A says can help so yo may need to incorporate what engineer B or C says in this situation. Do not forget you are not mixing the same track as he/she is and therefore the dynamics, instruments the wound quality may vary.

Good content , glad it was recommended to me

Awesome video with great insight and professional perspective!! I'm just wondering at the end of the day, do the labels release the version best liked by the artist, the producers, or the mix engineer as each has their own vision as to what they want the track to sound like.

Gain staging is the most overlooked idea

As cheesy as it might sound, I had to learn to listen with my feelings, not just my (technical) ears. The song might technically be perfect, all frequencies balanced by the book, panning as expected, volumes matching as they should. But when you listen to the song and nothing is kicking you out of your chair, makes you smile or take a deep breath, makes your thoughts drift away etc., you achieved nothing. Just like a good movie is not determined by the most advanced production technique but by its story.

This is exceptional; just like a book that's a beacon of knowledge. "The Art of Meaningful Relationships in the 21st Century" by Various Authors

Use your ears, use reference, and stop watching youtube videos for mixing advice unless you're brand new. So much misinformation out there, it's more harmful than good these days.

That beginner EQ in the thumbnail... Who tf does that? lmao

MY only Tips would be 1. Train you ears as often as you can with good mixes, stems and single tracks. you only know if it is right if you learned how things can work together in a mix and if you can tell if it is good or not 2. You are not perfect, ask for help and a second set of ears. 3. Get great speakers, headphones, and treat your room well. Otherwise you have absolutely no chance in doing it right. "knowing your gear" is a lie, if you measured your speakers once, you can not memorize all the flaws in your room. get your room to sound as neutral as possible and your mixes will sound instantly better.

This is a great video

...because Gen Z never read one only book about the theory of acoustics instead of collecting plugins? A friend of mine asks me the same question (how to unmud my mix) for 10 Years. 8 Years ago I gave him for chrismas a Standart Book in Audio engeneering, first Semester. He never toucht it. 3 Weeks ago I took the book and showed him the Section. BTE: The table of contents of the chapter has the footnote: "How to avoid muddy mixes" But I guess he will wait for the Netflix movie adaptation ;-)

You are selling a Dream. Ear and feeling is all it takes. Yes...that was mentioned in the Video. And more was not necessary.

I think it has a lot to do with how well trained your ears are.

Who is that guy and what are his credits?

So many misspelled words and grammatical errors…have someone proofread.

Name of the video should be, “WHAT NOT TO DO IN A MIX” but thank you good info

In my opinion I think the reason why people mixes are amateur is because PEOPLE DONT LISTEN VERY WELL and I will keep sayin this people don’t listen to detail meaning certain texture in vocals and instruments which contribute to the mix2. People rush and don’t go back and revise mixes.3, people don’t listen to there fav artist best work of art production wise as a reference for certain sounds and mixes. For example Ali the engineer that works with Kendrick says he would listen to a Dr.Dre song and use Dre mix to see the mistake in Kendrick mixes or other music.These are the 3 mistakes I think goes over many beginner engineers and people who haven’t mix like that on that level that’s why I tell people LISTEN mixing is a lot of LISTENING and lastly feeling, mix music that also makes u feel because if u can’t feel the song is trash overall even if mixed good🤷🏽‍♂️I’m keeping it real with y’all

This video doesn't mention the truly most important: amateur arranging. No mixer can fix amateur material in mixing stage. An amateur mixer can produce an awesome, pro mix if the source material is awesome.

Your use of absolutes is insane. No, really, insane. And it is what makes you wrong.

The Lord Of The Mix

Good sources recorded well will take away 90% of the graft, and it should sound great just by setting levels. If I'm fighting with something for more than 20 minutes trying to get it to sit or sound right, then it needs re-recorded with better playing or through better gear. Clients can be tough though. Especially the ones who want to sound exactly like their favourite album, and they get angry when you tell them that's not a good idea, and it's better to develop their own sound.

Great and helpful video! Thanks, buddy 🎉

bro, this type of content doesn't need the Mr. Beast editing style.

You can NEVER arrive at a 'great mix' in a sub-par room. The room needs be zero-phase behind the board, FULL STOP, for accurate mixing to be possible. If you don't START there, your mixing endeavors are doomed from the jump. There is no way that you mixing in a bedroom with all that crap in the background could yield accurate sonic results PERIOD. This is the ONE secret you'll never hear spoken by these legendary mixing engineers. Without a phase-accurate environment, your mixes will always sound like demos at best.

Where’s that interview with Bob I fancy watching that?

Don’t know if I have heard CLA say anything that I could actually use. It’s all philosophical jibber jabber! 😃

I hate the patch and effect racks and premade plugins like God Particle and CLA and Drip. Most ppl who claim to mix nowadays don’t know what the plugin they use is even actually doing, let alone the parameters of a basic plugin like a compressor or EQ.

DUDE!!! What's up?!?!?!

In my opinion number #5 is samely the hardest but the most important mistake to get rid off :- )

nice video

Bob Power is the man.