How to learn general production concepts

The Lounge General Discussion
#21

I think this is the type of advices that often need context. Why do so many famous producers and mix engineer like to use master bus compression? Or some kind of saturation?

And eq’ing stuff while solo’ed is somewhat risky as the only thing that matters is how it sounds in the mix. But if you are doing that anyway it is pretty easy to just press bypass on the stuff you have on the master bus anyway.

I’m not saying you are wrong, but it is presented as pretty no negotiable rules without knowing anything about the music.

#22

any youtube recommendations in particular?

#23

I’m with thomaso on this. 2buss can have its place. What I think the point is, is separating between mixing and mastering. A compressor can add wanted movement to a mix, distortion can add different pleasant compression. But it all depends on the context.

I have to ask what level you are at? Are you just beginning to mix or are you trying to define it?
I’d say YouTube gives you a lot of info, all you probably need. And I would be selective of expensive courses. Some aren’t as good as you might expect.

I have offered some people to have some 1 on 1 sessions with them to exchange on mixing. Was thinking of Skype or so with screen sharing. I’d explain what and why I do, mixing my own or one of your tracks. You could give me your perspective. We would both learn. I’m no pro, so of course all free. I think it would be fun.
But somehow nobody seems to do this.

Oh, and don’t think about mastering. Get your mix to where it should be. Mastering is an art for itself but so much smaller the better your mix is.

3 Likes
#24

I ran into this channel in youtube today.

2 Likes
#25

Maybe this book by Paul White of sound on Sound would cover all the basics

#26

I’d say only ever put anything on a track if you have a reason for it.
Don’t put an eq, compressor and whatnot on your tracks just because.
Highpassing tracks seems a common thing these days and while it actually might seem to improve a mix, you could end up with a thin sounding mix - just because “high pass everything!”

Panning and levels, choice of instrumentation and arrangement can make your mix, all the other tools in your mixing arsenal are spice.

1 Like
#27

What about a stereo recording? So no tracks to process on itself, only the complete mix. Any tips on improving those? (What i do is just some EQ to lessen mud or pronounce some parts)

#28

To me this is solid advice

To the question about the stereo recording: there is only so much you can do. And that wont be anywhere near as much as with individual tracks

#29

Excellent advice! Thank you i try that.

#31

Hmmmmm, not so sure about a lot of the advice on this thread fellas…


2 Likes
#32

Nice thread :slight_smile:

YouTube is a cesspit, but there are a few diamonds buried in the… Rough.

If you’ve not seen, I recommend all of Dan Worrall’s tutorials, even if you don’t have any of the software that he uses. He really knows his stuff, and explains exactly what he’s doing and why, so they’re full of transferrable skills and approaches. He does tutorials for many of the Fabfilter and Tokyo Dawn Labs plug-ins.

The Fabfilter video page is here:
https://www.fabfilter.com/video/

EQ’s a good place to begin:


Also, here’s a compression masterclass from a guy called Daniel Wyatt, which I thought was time well spent. It’s a little over an hour long, so I’d put the coffee on and grab a notepad:

He uses the Fabfilter compressor too (it’s a good one!) but again - I don’t think you need to have the same stuff to get the concepts and reasoning behind what’s going on. The Fabfilter UI works well for this kind of teaching, as you get a visual representation of what’s happening.

I’ve watched a ton of the tutorials on MacProVideo but a lot of it’s people going through software manuals much slower than I read them.

Happy learning :slight_smile:

5 Likes
#33

If you’re a beginner I’d suggest focusing on what things are and what they do rather than how other people think you should use them. If you learn about what a compressor does and how it works you can make your mind up for yourself how to use it.
Obviously there’s some general rules and principles that are useful but if you don’t learn about how stuff works first and foremost you’ll never figure out which rules work for you and the music you want to make and you’ll give up under the weight of 500 different people’s opinions.
Alternatively, just keep making tracks, fuck with them and see what does and doesn’t work, you’ll figure it out eventually.

3 Likes
#34

Haha that’s kinda my experience too. Nothing I’ve seen cuts really deep.

2 Likes
#35

From watching Cuckoo mixing His Songs, i learned a lot…

1 Like
#36

I’d always recommend taking one aspect of mixing, search Google about it and work on it. I’m talking smallest chunks. Then work on the next. Some learned concepts will help with others so you’ll be faster in the next topic. Repeat. Then you’ll find there are different levels to mixing. What I mean by that is, you can first get your single sound sources to sound good, but in context they might not work together. That context is the next level.
The more you do it, the more you know how to achieve multiple levels at a time.

I think a big (maybe the biggest) part of mixing is training your ears. The question should always be “what is wrong with this xxxxxx”.

3 Likes
#37

This is really good stuff

2 Likes
#38

Personally, I think you should get a solid foundational text like “Mixing Secrets for the Small Studio” that are very non-specific in terms of genre. This will give you a technical overview of how elements and tools of a mix work at their most basic level. I think it’s extremely important to know what a tool is doing to fully utilize it with purpose. Then, from there, identify certain sounds or techniques you’re interested in and seek them out on YouTube. Combine that with going through some thorough tutorials on the specific mixing plugins you use.

5 Likes
#39

I agree - “Mixing secrets for the small studio” is very helpful. I appreciate Mike Senior’s way of combining general principles and personal advice/experience, and also the updated online references and recommendations.

2 Likes
#40

This book, don’t pay that price though. He’s been a lecturer for years and he works at SAE in london atm. You can get the book for half that if you shop around. It is amazing. It is quite focused towards electronic music too.

This guy is well regarded. He’s done Remix’s for Felix Da Housecat. he mixed MC Solaars last album, he’s pretty good.

This guy too. He’s a bit eccentric, but he’s produced/mixed for Aerosmith, Tarantino, here’s his Wiki Page.

The guy that runs Kush Audio has started uploading videos too.

2 Likes
#41

Just started reading this one. I must say that I initially had doubts about learning audio concepts through a book, but so far this book has been very interesting.

1 Like