I’ve been trying to improve/develop my mixing/mastering abilities, and wanted to analyze tracks that sound the way I like. I was just curious what tracks other people admire for how well they’ve been mixed or mastered. Are there any particular dance or hip-hop tracks you like to compare your tracks to when mixing/mastering?
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whatever X-Fusion / Noisuf-X / Stoppenberg tracks.
(too lazy to search youtube uploads not destroyed by recompression)
Massive Attack’s “Mezzanine” LP is a prime example of punch, depth, clarity and balance. This album is perfect in every aspect, from the songs, the mastering, the artwork and the videos.
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I always use Boards of Canada as a reference. Mainly Music has the Right. So punchy, juicy, warm.
But also Rhythm & Sound. That bass… wow. Everything seems so alive and organic.
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imo the most important thing is appropriateness in mixing (and mastering). sometimes polished works, sometimes lo-fi, sometimes dynamic, sometimes squashed, sometimes sizzling, sometimes rounded and bassy… mixing in electronic music (more than in other genres) should be part of a track, hopefully not separate from it, as a separate process
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I think many of Tipper’s tracks sound great from a mixing and mastering standpoint.
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Man Machine era Kraftwerk - amazing, even more so given the time period.
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maybe you want to listen to anything Robert Babicz produced
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Soulwax - Missing Wires
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Most of metalheadz stuff is on the highest level
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Wow, some really nice tracks there.
Totally agree with analysing tracks which have been mastered in a top quality environment, good advice right there:sunglasses:
Not even a fan, but the AC/DC debut is an engineering master piece to my ears, mixing doesn’t get any better for rock and the dynamics are something else (obvs to my ears) and then there’s helmets “aftertaste” which has the perfect drum sounds. For electronic music harder to pick - but I guess Plaids “ reachy prints” would be up there
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…especially the opening track:
in the same category id put Yagya and Ochre
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Steely Dan Aja is the golden test of any sound system. You’ve never heard a record so smooooooth and warm. It’s oozing life, man.
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some boom boom satellites stuff is great , especially noisy dub stuff (like the top one)
theacid do some nice minimal stuff.
mayajanecoles has a nice style too.
probably enough for one post (not including the kraftwerk 3dheadphone mixes)
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I talked to a guy several years ago that had heard all the raw recordings for one of Massive Attacks albums. I dont remember wich one, but i think it was Mezzanine. And he was so supprised because the finished album sounded awesome, but before mixing and mastering everything was pretty crappy. I think everything was recorded in a house somewhere out in the countryside or something. But the guy mixing it was a “magician” for making it sound so good.
The recent aphex stuff was mastered by someone else.
Though mastering might be more subtle than production/mixing .
yes, by Mandy Parnell
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I dont think Pink Floyds Dark Side of the Moon will ever be beat. Alan Parsons mastered it to perfection imo.
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