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100% agree! A great mix starts well before the mixing stage. On CLA videos when people comment “Of course his mixes sound great because the raw tracks he’s given sound better than my mixes.” Bingo!

the main thing i always had a gripe with online mixing tutorials is that they're pushing for plugins that might be too esoteric and expensive for beginners to own rather than the ones that came from their DAW.

This video is fabulous. Took me 10 years to realize that the source tracks are more important that all the other crap

Spot on brother! I learned this the hard way as many do Asking myself. “Why does my mix sound like ass?” Oh. Cause the production sucks. Too many layers and sloppy playing. Once i rectified that, mixes were instantly better before I even spent time on the actual mixing phase. My 1st bounce was better than a mix I worked on for literally months. This channel has been imperative for my progress. Thanx Bobby!!

You nailed it brother I spent about 12 years confused just the way you put it

This video couldn't have been uploaded at the right time...Thanks

I'm actually working on a course for mixing for hobbyists and bedroom guitarists. Using my method you can get a decent mix for hobby projects and the best part is I can teach it to anyone and the course is only about 10 minutes long. Now some folks might think charging folks two hundred bucks for me to show them how to download EZ Mix 2 is a bit dishonest but this is youtube and I don't make the rules.

I have found that one of the most well-known online “recording schools” turned out to be pretty useless. They focus on the presets, don’t offer explantations on how they got from a-z, and more or less turn the session into a sales pitch. Thank YOU for all of your straight to the point and thorough lessons, much appreciated!

bobby you are super awesome man , like there was a point i was literally stopping watching any other tutorials because only your tutorials gave me the knowledge i needed to PRACTICE mixing properly

True! An important factor is learning to understand what you are actually hearing. It doesn't help when someone says EQ the mudiness around 500hz if you don't able to actually understand what it is actually that makes your mix muddy and the only reason for your EQ in that region is because somebody was telling you that 500hz often is the region of muddiness in tracks. Sometime its simple like that, but often there are better ways than simple EQ and volume changes. It can be the pitch or the decay time of notes, the amount of elements in the arrangement and much more. The better you get these things straight in first place the less problems you will have later. Often it is better to learn tools in a way where you constantly ask yourself and listening what am i doing to the audio with the tool right now and what is my goal instead of doing stuff you catched up somewhere, in autopilot. Try to understand what you are actually doing and question why you are doing it and where you are doing what in the fx chain. it doesn't help to perform a 100 hz 6db low cut in the beginning of a track in your DAW (without knowing why), when you put tons of saturation, clipping delay and compression etc. afterwards without the basic understanding of what those tools are doing and then end up with more mess in the 70hz region than before the first low cut. A lot of thirdparty tools are combination of basic tools to serve a specific purpose. In the beginning its better to learn the core functionality of the basic tools, once you understand these basic tools its easier understand multitools.

Us everyday artists, producers and engineers who do it all on our own could never have the sound of the pros. Their room treatments and mic alone produces better quality pre-mix than out finished production.

Great Video in this Black Friday period!

I have been trying to find exactly that: an Arranging/Production class/tutorial specifically for metal, Symphonic metal even. I always hear talk about too many layers and at the same time we have bands like Blind Guardian or Devin Townsend that seem to have a bazillion layers and somehow make that work. THATS what I would like to see - an explanation on how to get such stuff to work from an arrangement and songwriting point of view. I have not found anything useful yet.

Hey man, gotta say I like the new intro! Since I have taken your class, I have actually stopped using most of my 3rd party mixing plugins and now use 95% stock. Free tutorials are a double edged sword. We like free, but usually the tutorials are either case-specific or are made for contents sake. Thankful for the Mix Crypt, because it has actual use-case scenerios.

I wish this video existed 10 years ago. I imagine many others feel the same!

After I saw your video using the old X50 plugin TSE AUDIO and do a great sound, opened my mind SO SO MUCH, and what you are saying in this video is so true!!!! and thanks also for the tips in one video xyz wherever, where u automated the volume for big parts in guitar to cut through Producing and mixing myself (beginner) I am stuck in what is production and what is step 0 of mixing, if i transfer the final production for a new mix project or I record mixing in the same time, but i am in the learning process and thats why tutorials are dangerous like you are saying. Totally relevant the topic. Cheers man!!!

I've stopped watching online tutorials that aren't from my favorite two trusted sources (and yes Bobby, commenting right now on this video means you're one of the 2). Random tips and tricks are useless, sticking to a system is gonna make you better, way faster.

Thank you man. What I do to unwind is: Focus on the composition and the arrangement, maybe, just maybe the things that mix themselves. Love making music and all the stages, but sometimes we need fresh ears

Definitely agree!)

Youre a fuckin legend brother. Love all your videos mate 👍

100% wish people would understand this concept... folks often mistake mixing as an easy process and that equipment and plug ins are the answer.

Hi man i really love your videos ! I think mixing can't be taught online. I tried many courses but i haven't learned shit because it dont apply for my taste and my own material. Me opening up an eq plugin and manually finding points that i like always got me better results than just opening up a preset or following a huge mixers advice. You can't predict source material and you shouldnt, its always something new with new issues that probably needs a new chain / approach. Forcing your presets and templates will create a mess and everything will sound the same.

Good video. Articulate and insightful. The performance is paramount, not mixing.

im interested in your opinion on neutron 4 for AI mixing....and ozone for mastering....i need all the help i can get to sound radio ready....my headphones sound great....my monitors are good but it dont sound the same....i love ur channel

Make me Rich and Famous Bobby 🤣🤣🍻🤘

the best mixing results i got when mixing in studio one artist version, which is a little above the demo version. i am not promoting studio one, just saying that too much plugin is too much distraction. the most important thing is performance. and the best mixing results i got when i got rid of midi drums and drum samples and started making my own samples. well, i am not into metal, maybe this is not good advice for metalheads. the limitations make you limitless, soundcard, decent mic and you go girl...

Mixing is just the gravy on top if you already have great tracks, which is easier said than done. It is highly unlikely that an average home recordist will be able to produce something like the guitar tracks on Piece of Mind, where Martin Birch used a large wooden room for the guitars, miked up with close and distant mics, achieving tracks that are so present, tight, thick, and even (as in compressed) at the same time, that to mix, all you had to do, was just pull up the faders, put some master bus compression, and done. Close-miked guitars, by their nature, sound fizzy, stuffy, and bloated with low end, creating the perfect recipe for a muddy, thin, and muffled mix. Yes, the low end mud can be cut with EQ, but that still leaves us with a very unnatural and thin tone. Recording and mixing at home is a compromise one has to learn to accept by lowering one's expectations to a more realistic standard.

Funny story: I've learnt to mix with Jordan Valeriote's channel and in the past when I saw him boost 8k around 9db or even more on the snare I used to think "ok, let's go! 9db!" but my snare wasn't his snare. My snare was already processed, it was a SSD3 snare so with time I learnt to take his advice (or presets) as a starting point but taking into account the sound of my instruments. Now I know that I can make my snare sound great with just 2 or 3 db in the 8k area and 9db is insane. That works for JV not for me.

A great mix comes with good pre-production, an awesome song and perfectly recorded tracks. A lot is possible these days but 'fix it in the mix' is not a good foundation to expect high results from. Everything in production, playing and recording wil contribute to define the quality of the final mix. I tell my clients specifically that editing tracks, quantising, pitch correction, tuning and tempo are part of production not mixing. If delivered tracks are lacking quality then I contact my clients, if they want me to fix their faults I reject the mix. Like they say; “you can’t polish a turd “ Sorry !

a huge problem imo is people "referencing" polished and mastered productions and then wanting their mix to sound like that. to me its a trap for people new to mixing and like every YT tutorial recommends it. your mix should NOT sound like a professionally mastered final product at the mixing stage, jsut like it doesn't at the editing stage. Every stage from trackign to mastering has goals and roles, so learn em. If you don't know what you are doing please stop putting plugins like limiters, eq, compressors etc on your out bus across your whole mix. I dont care if you see people doing it on youtube. when you send you mix to any professional master engineer they are going to reject your mix. leave your out bus alone and focus on getting a balanced mix that isn't already smashed to shit and let the mastering engineers do their job. if you are tracking yourself, please focus on that part. garbage in, garbage out. trying to polish a turd just gets you covered in sh*t...

I think you can figure out the quality of a mixing-based channel by asking yourself one question: “How much time does this person spend talking about fundamental tasks vs plugins, ultra-specific hacks, gear, etc?”

there's people that just don't have ears. they don't hear things right or well and if you ain't got that your kinda gonna suck no matter what

You're not wrong but you need a new approach. You come off like you're the only one who understands these things. Do you know how many videos are out there just like this one from more reputable engineers than you? The difference is they provide more detailed information and don't come off sounding like their opinions are the only ones that matter. Your videos are just you acting frustrated with your viewers.

Bro my biggest issue is with ezdrummer3 and 2 I get this fizz when the drums stop.... I can't stop it unless I add a gate. When I send it to get mastered, it pops up so much on quiet parts. Nothing I do can fix this issue

Mixing and mastering is not rocket science bro.