I have an irrational annoyance at the very fact of haivng to mix tracks, driven only by my own laziness and ignorance of how it’s done and the wish that everyone on earth had the same ears (and headphones) as me.
This being (apparently) unreasonable, for the first time I’ve actually put some effort into mixing the track, based on help from this forum and other sources. To the actual producers among you, I offer no guarantees that it doesn’t still sound like a dog’s dinner. But it should at least be better than whatever is worse than a dog’s dinner.
I should say I did the whole thing on cheap, everyday ear buds, as I don’t have monitors or mixing headphones right now (planned), but I did use reference tracks, and compare with other bad headphones/speakers.
Anyway, here it is. A track trying to capture the late 90s/early 00s psy-trance vibe, based on a sample from a preacher. 100% Digitakt Mk.1 + Audacity for mixing.
I am open to any and all feedback, and really want to get better, so don’t pull any punches!
It sounds fine, especially for what you’re working with.
The stereo separation is good but the right channel may be favored a bit in placing the higher frequency sounds and samples which demands a lot of attention out of that ear.
I did hear this balance out a bit during the call and response preacher sample which hard pans back and forth on both sides, but I’d say be careful about hard panning too many leads or samples towards the same side for too long or it starts to feel heavy in that direction.
The left channel in isolation isn’t dull, but it does feel a bit empty during the first half of the track. While your reference track may have also done something similar, try pulling out one earbud or only listening to one side or the other by hard panning in audacity and see if there isn’t a bit more in the center than what it sounds like when listening to the stereo track alone.
Thank you for this, it’s super appreciated and I’ll take on board your thoughts, particularly on the panning.
Re left vs right, one thing that may be a factor here is I have better hearing in one ear than the other, so it’s possible I unconsciously tried to mitigate for this. I wonder how that’s best avoided, if you ultimately can’t (completely) trust your ears?
Nice job! I saw your note on soundcloud on your veganism - I am a vegetarian and I salute you for your efforts
I also hated mixing because I could never get it to sound “right”, but now I really enjoy it and have a lot of fun experimenting with it. A friend made a comment about “mixing ettiquette” and it really changed the way I think about mixing. No right or wrong, just standard conventions that have developed to accomodate different ears and playback devices. But it doesn’t mean any one way is better than the other.
Before you ask for mixing feedback, you should let us know what your intentions are. My advice would change accordingly. Imagine a song of ambiguous style:
Do you want it to have a club-like atmosphere? Increase the low end of the drums
Do you want it to have a jazz cafe-like atmosphere? Decrease the low end of the drums
Do you want it to have a driving energy? Increase the volume of the drums
Do you want it to be meditative? Decrease the volume of the drums
These are obviously examples and are not rules - but this is more of a description about how mixing advice would be dictated upon intent.
Regarding your track, I agree with @shigginpit 's comments about the channels. One way to check is to use a visual monitoring program where you can see not only the levels, but the frequencies. Or just ask someone!
Last big piece of advice - you get better at mixing by mixing more songs, instead of mixing one song more times. Something happens where your brain “memorizes” the song elements, so it doesn’t matter if it is loud or quiet, you’ll hear it very clearly regardless. So don’t mix for hours at a time, for days on end. Ear fatigue is a real thing.
OH also random protip from my buddy zirafa: Drink lots of water while mixing. I think something happens to me when I’m hyperfocusing on a sound where I practically hold my breath to listen closely and body gets all dry and freaked out. Drinking water helps you stay chill figuratively and literally!
Final thought: A great mix makes a song good, but a great song is great regardless of the mix!
Thank you! I do what I can. I like to think the universal softness in all of us which music taps into, is also compatible with trying to get people to realise that we don’t need to kill animals. (But I’m not meaning to turn this topic into a vegan thread.)
Thank you - I really appreciate all that advice and I will bear it in mind in future efforts.
Ah that’s a good point. I’ve heard of ear fatigue but didn’t really know what it referred to until now. You’re right; I know my track inside out, so will always hear the parts come because I know when they come in, which probably makes you a bit biased in the mixing.
You see that’s really interesting. That’s sort of what I did; the earphones I used throughout this whole process are really cheap. I used to own mixing headphones but (stupidly) sold them as I just couldn’t understand the point. I sort of do now, though the concept still sort of messes with my head. They give a flat response, which is not how most people will hear the track, which means I have to remember that what I hear while composing is not how I ultimately want the track to sound. That’s sort of like composing at the piano but with the pedals missing; you just have to remember that, when played in the real world, it’ll be on a piano with pedals.
IMHO the opposite is true, since I have access to proper monitoring I never wanted to go back to cheaper systems. If certain music is played on low quality systems I find it really hard to enjoy due to the lack of detail in dynamics, frequency response, transients and stereo field. Needless to say this is highly subjective and genre dependent, just wanted to give another perspective :—)
Thanks. And I think you’re right. I wasn’t defending my view, simply trying to articulate how I just couldn’t get my head around mixing headphones! It’s me, not them…
If a track sounds good on an old radio. Or a cheap deck in a car it does make sense though as thats where most people will find the time to listen to the music. Not everybody has access to good equipment during the day. I used to spend weeks Mixing the ‘perfect track’ on really expensive gear. Not anymore as its a real passion sucker.
It’s a bit of a strange logic you are using as you are implying that car stereos and old radios will be similar in frequency response to other car stereos and old radios. The advantage of mixing with a more flat frequency response is that it will generally translate better over a range of systems.
The mix sounds good to me overall. Great job with the sound palette and sequencing of the different elements.
I fully agree with @OrangeDrink 's advice on this: There is not really a perfect answer when mixing a track as it heavily depends on your intentions (e.g. a pumping club track vs a melodic cruiser). It took me too long to realise this. Another important realisation was that some of my favourite, older tracks are actually mixed quite badly. So only use reference track that you know sound great on different sound systems.
That said, here are a few things I would personally change - and again that’s very subjective and depends on what you want to achieve:
The hihats sounds quite thin to me. I would either reduce the high-pass filter and/or maybe downpitch the sample, or layer it with a different sample.
The track could also use some more air: Either add some reverb on the hihats, add a quiet cymbal or shaker.
Clap could be more forward in the mix. When I reference other club tracks I often notice how loud the clap is in the mix.
The low-end could also use a bit more power imo. I always check my mix with a low-pass filter at 80hz and 120hz. This gives you a good idea what’s driving the low-end energy.
If you want the energy to come from the kick, I’d consider to make the kick longer & boomier. Or add a low-passed rumble to add more groove.
If the energy mostly should come from the bass, keep the kick short and boost the low-end frequencies of the bass (or layer it with a sine wave).
Both options can work, but it’s important to choose between one of the two element*
*This is a general rule of thumb: in some cases like in minimal techno, the kick and bass can be very intertwined - there are no rules in the end of the day.
Thank you, really appreciate the feedback and I’ll definitely take that onboard.
Re: snares - interesting; I had somehow formed the opposite conclusion! I lost count of the number of times I listened to tracks and thought “I’d make that snare louder”. But since they know how to mix (presumably) and I don’t/didn’t, I figured they were right.
Yeah I agree it could have a little more low end. As I say, I mixed this on bass-biased cheap earphones. I played it in my car today (something I should have done before releasing) and it was definitely lacking a bit in lower end.
I get it. I just couldn‘t tell what you‘re going for because I didn‘t find time to listen to your mix yet.
What I really can recommend if you‘re getting some decent headphones, is listening to tons of music on them and creating a playlist of songs that you think sound well mixed and pleasing. It’s quite useful to try and understand your „soundprofile“, for example I’m very allergic to pronounced upper mids and really enjoy a saturated sound (that‘s why I love most masters from the Ilian Tape label).
Also it‘s very possible to create a well balanced mix even though you feel your hearing is better on one ear. You can use meters to make sure you’re on the right track and just learn to keep it in the back of your mind so you don‘t overcompensate – with time you’ll get a feeling for this. Just don‘t think too hard about it, mixing should be a somehow relaxing experience
