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S1E20 – Golden Rules of Mixing and Mastering

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Some big news to celebrate. The 10 Steps to Become an FL Studio Pro course is officially released. To celebrate, you can use coupon 10STEPS to save 50% off the course! (coupon automatically applied when you click link!)

In this episode, we discuss some golden nuggets I’ve come across over the years in terms of mixing and mastering.

  • Level Matching
  • A/B Comparison
  • Mixing in Solo

We cover some audio examples, and some things to be careful of.

Take heed to the advice to make more accurate judgement in your mixing/mastering!

Mastering Mixing

Community

Questions about this episode

Transcript

S1E20 – Golden Rules of Mixing and Mastering

  1. Hey, this is Gratuitous. Welcome to Music Production Made Simple, the show that
  2. focuses on best practices about music production, which is based on FL Studio.
  3. If you're wanting to become the best producer you can be, subscribe and listen
  4. weekly. You can also check out my courses, which teach you the principles and basics
  5. of music production that'll get you up and running quickly.
  6. In addition, I also have books on Amazon and tons of music on Spotify.
  7. Always feel free to hit me up at Hi at it'sgratuitous.com.
  8. So let's get into the episode.
  9. Alright, hey, what's up, everybody?
  10. Welcome to episode number 20. This episode is called Golden Rules of Mixing and
  11. Mastering. I'm just going to be covering some of some golden rules that I've
  12. discovered over the years, whether that be through watching YouTube tutorials or
  13. reading things online or just kind of trial and error through myself as well.
  14. I have actually talked about these three main points in episode number 11.
  15. So if you haven't checked that out, I'm gonna be covering it again here.
  16. And the reason is because they are so powerful.
  17. They've allowed me to make way wiser mixing decisions.
  18. There's a lot they've allowed me to be faster as well as make more accurate judgment
  19. in my choices, okay. So those three points are level matching, A and B comparison,
  20. as well as mixing and solo. Okay, these are things that that you want to use and be
  21. careful of. Before we get into this episode, I have huge news.
  22. I actually released my 10 steps to become an FL Studio Pro.
  23. And for those of you who are listening, I'm offering you guys a coupon.
  24. Just use the coupon 10 steps. So it's one zero s t e P S.
  25. Come to it'sgratuitous.com, click on the courses.
  26. You guys will see 10 steps to become an FL Studio Pro.
  27. It is an eight hour long course.
  28. again, I purchased a new camera.
  29. I had a green screen. I was able to draw on the screen for you guys.
  30. It was a really, really cool experience.
  31. I actually had a lot of fun creating the course, and it's really, really in-depth.
  32. So, you know, what is the skill level?
  33. It's from someone who's a beginner or even someone who is advanced.
  34. Okay, so at the very very beginning of the course, you know, we we actually talk
  35. about what is FL Studio, what is music production, how to actually use FL Studio,
  36. but then we actually start progressing quite fast.
  37. start We getting into some more meat..
  38. You know, for example, we talk about drum loops, how to build awesome drum loops
  39. I introduce you to safe spots.
  40. That's just a term that I've coined.
  41. I've even written a book about that on Amazon.
  42. and then further on, we got we finally get into like the mastering, and I actually
  43. do like drawing on the screen and I explained to you about like the loudness wars,
  44. loudness normalization, and getting your music to compete with you know the music
  45. that's out there in the industry.
  46. We even go through one of my commercially released tracks, I walk you through what
  47. like my mastering chain was, the different tools you have for mastering.
  48. It was a really really cool course.
  49. Okay, so again, it's an eight-hour long course.
  50. That's by far my longest course.
  51. And again, I had a lot of fun creating it with all the new equipment.
  52. So, again, one more time. So, use the coupon 10 steps, that's one zero st e P
  53. S. That goes for the single course purchase or the membership.
  54. Okay, so you guys will get 50% off by using that coupon on the single course
  55. purchase. And if you guys just want to do like the membership, so the membership is
  56. ten dollars a month. this coupon can also be applied to the membership where the
  57. first month will only be five dollars instead of ten dollars.
  58. Okay, so let's get into the episode, okay.
  59. So, I want to talk to you about three main golden rules, which I've kind of
  60. discovered over the years. Whether again, whether this be I've learned from somebody
  61. else, I just want to pass this information on to you, super valuable.
  62. So, the first one is level matching, okay.
  63. So, when you are let's say using an EQ or a compressor, it's extremely important
  64. that you level match. So, what that means is when the plug-in is off or on, it's the
  65. you know, you want to get it to a very, very similar volume.
  66. If it's not, you're gonna be skewed towards the louder one, okay.
  67. And it's very, very deceiving.
  68. just because something is loud, typically we think it's better, and it's true,
  69. okay.. Try it yourself, you're gonna be suede towards the louder one
  70. So now I don't want you to spend tons of time tweaking this, you know, because you
  71. you're never gonna finish a mix.
  72. It's just important that as you're mixing that track that you are getting a fair
  73. volume comparison so that when you turn those effects off and on, that you know it's
  74. a fair volume comparison so that you can actually hear in a real world practice.
  75. For example, let's say you were listening to like your whole mix, and let's say you
  76. were working on a piano, you applied some EQ.
  77. now when you turn those your effects off and on for that piano within the whole mix,
  78. you want to be able to reference before and after at a fair volume comparison.
  79. It's that simple, okay. So I have FL Studio open here, and what I've done is I've
  80. applied heavy compression onto this track and I've turned down the volume, okay.
  81. So the loud version is the original master of the song.
  82. The song is called My Heart is Sold.
  83. It is off my beat tapes by Gratuitous Volume 8.
  84. If you'd like to check it out, it's available for free download at
  85. gratuitousbeats.com. The original version is the actual official master, okay.
  86. And then when I enable the compressor, you're gonna hear that the volume comes down
  87. in volume. Obviously, you know that's what compression does.
  88. there's different forms of compression, there's like upwards compression and
  89. downwards compression, but typically when you hear the word compressor and stuff
  90. like that, most people are talking about downwards compression.
  91. So when I enable the compressor, I want you to think which one is better.
  92. So when I turn the compressor on and off, I want you to listen closely and think to
  93. yourself which one sounds better.
  94. And the thing is, you won't be able to tell because of the volume difference.
  95. So let's just listen, okay? So this is the original master.
  96. When I turn the compressor on, it's gonna turn down in volume, and just listen for
  97. what you think is
  98. better.
  99. Okay, so when it's louder, it's like you know, maybe it actually kind of sounded
  100. like the loud one was overprocessed, right?
  101. But if we actually listen to this compression at a fair volume comparison to what I
  102. originally had, you'll hear that the compressed version.
  103. I'm compressing it very hard. Like I have a 2.75 to one ratio.
  104. I'm at like minus 15 decibels on my threshold.
  105. My attacks pretty fast, at like 11 milliseconds, and then my releases pretty fast
  106. too. Okay, so this time we're gonna do another comparison.
  107. This time the volumes are very very similar.
  108. Now, what I want you to listen for is in the original version, listen to like the
  109. kick and like the clap, and just in general, the music breathes a lot more.
  110. Like when I first listened to this master, like before I started making this episode
  111. here. I kind of thought to myself, I was like, ooh, maybe I push that you know that
  112. master a little hard, like a little hot, but then with this compressor on, you'll
  113. hear that the clap and the kick are just being processed, you know, they're being
  114. squashed so hard. Okay. So again, we're gonna listen to the the before and after,
  115. it's a fair volume comparison.
  116. So now we can actually hear what we're actually doing to our music in the case of
  117. the single band compressor. Okay.
  118. So I'm gonna play it without the compression on again.
  119. That's the original master. I'm gonna enable the compressor, it's at a fair volume
  120. comparison. Just listen to that kick and clap, especially when I disable the
  121. compressor. Instantly, you're gonna hear that it opens up the clap, you know,
  122. actually has like its transients and stuff like that.
  123. Okay, so this is the original right here.
  124. Okay, so it may have been a little hard to hear, but what I heard was when I
  125. disabled the compressor, I heard that clap and the kick, and really like the whole
  126. song just opened up. Another thing too is I can actually see when the compressor is
  127. enabled and disabled, so it's a little bit hard for you.
  128. That's why I started actually saying disabled or enabled.
  129. But hopefully that kind of gives you a little reference point in terms of loudness,
  130. okay, in terms of like level matching.
  131. So it's really important that you actually level match so that you can get a fair
  132. volume comparison. If you don't level match, you're gonna be skewed towards the
  133. louder one, whether that is actually good or bad, okay.
  134. Now, the next point I want to talk about is A and B comparison.
  135. So most plugins nowadays, now not all plugins, but many plugins, many EQs and many
  136. compressors, they have an A and B comparison, okay.
  137. So, what that means is kind of like you have two versions that you can reference in
  138. between. So, for the for example, like in the case of let's say Pro C by Fab Filter,
  139. or even like the Fruity Limiter or you know, these are FL Studio plugins now.
  140. So the Fruity Limiter is was is with FL Studio or the Parametric EQ2, these have an
  141. A and B comparison, and it's really important that you do have like two different
  142. states. Now, I don't do this all the time, but more so in like the mastering stage,
  143. I will actually use the A and B comparison, and again, you want to make sure that
  144. your level matching there too.
  145. So when you switch between, you know you, know A. to B that first of all, it's a
  146. fair comparison And what I'll typically do, and like let's just talk about a
  147. compressor in mastering. So on the A, I might have like a low threshold.
  148. Let's say it's like you know, minus 26, for example, I'll have a ratio and I'll put
  149. it to like let's say like you know, 1.15 to 1 around there.
  150. Again, mastering, we're using very, very light ratios.
  151. So here's a cool little trick.
  152. So once you have your A set up, most of these plugins have like
  153. a copy function. So I would actually hit copy, okay.
  154. Then I'd go to B. And now when I go to B, it's the exact same settings as A, okay.
  155. And then I'll actually, you know, tweak this differently, just to get a different
  156. flavor of well, what does it sound like now?
  157. Because so on A, I said like minus 26 threshold, right?
  158. So let's say we go to B, and let's just say I bring that threshold up to like let's
  159. say minus 14, for example, but now I go a bit more heavy on the ratio, let's say
  160. like you know, 1.3 or something like that, and maybe I can bring that attack a
  161. little bit faster. and then again, just you know, a fair volume comparison, and I'll
  162. just play back and forth with that, and I'll just listen what suits the song and you
  163. know what kind of different styles can I get out of that compressor for that song.
  164. the biggest thing I found over the years is just playing around with these tools
  165. just to listen for what do you like?
  166. And again, when then if I would turn the compressor off and on, I'm listening to
  167. like a fair volume comparison, so before compression and then with compression, and
  168. then I'll also use the A and B.
  169. So it's like one type of compression versus another type of compression in a sense
  170. of you know, we went like low threshold, like let's say minus 26, then we had like a
  171. low ratio of like 1.15, and then on the B, let's just say we went to like minus 16,
  172. and then then we're one 1.3 to one for your ratio..
  173. just for example, okay So that's kind of like my mindset when I'm actually like
  174. mastering a track and using a single band compressor.
  175. The last point I want to talk about in this episode is mixing in solo.
  176. Okay. So this isn't really relate to the mastering, but mixing in solo is extremely
  177. dangerous. in my early years, I've wasted so much time here.
  178. for example, let's say I'm working on like a kick drum.
  179. So in your early years, what you're gonna do is you're gonna solo out that kick
  180. drum, you're gonna open up an EQ, a compressor, you're gonna twiddle these knobs
  181. forever. And if you're like me, sometimes you're even you know, tweaking a
  182. compressor, and you know, you're tweaking it for like a minute or two or something
  183. like that, and you think you're doing something, and then you realize it's not even
  184. enabled. Okay. So that's been something I've done before, and it's so embarrassing.
  185. Like, you know, it's kind of good that no one is around, you're just like a bedroom
  186. producer doing your thing, and you're like, oh, I'm an idiot, right?
  187. So mixing in solo is very, very dangerous.
  188. Now, I'm not saying that you can't mix in solo.
  189. So, for example, let's say you're working with a kick drum in that track, and let's
  190. just say, you know, you want to solo it out just for like a you know a second or
  191. something like that. So you can solo it out, maybe work on some EQ and compression
  192. just quickly, and then always bring it back into the entire mix, okay?
  193. That's really, really important.
  194. It's been a game changer for me because if you're mixing in solo, what's happening
  195. is you're actually tweaking this track, but you have no reference point.
  196. So you don't know where you're actually going with your adjustments, and you really
  197. don't know what you're trying to achieve.
  198. But when you actually listen to that sound in context of the whole song, it gives
  199. you a reference point. You know, instantly you'll be like, Oh, do you know what?
  200. Maybe I just need to boost some high end on that kick drum to make the kind of click
  201. or kind of like beater sound stand out, or maybe you know the low end isn't there,
  202. or or whatever. But it's really important that you are mixing in context of the
  203. whole song because you can make way more accurate judgment.
  204. And again, if you just want to quickly solo out a sound, work on it, and then bring
  205. it back into the mix, you can do that.
  206. But if you're soloing out an instrument, thinking that you have to solo it out, open
  207. up an EQ, you know, tweak it until you think it sounds good, and then you add it
  208. back into the mix, and you're like, This doesn't even suit the song anymore because
  209. again, you had no reference point.
  210. So mixing with the entire song, super important.
  211. You can solo quickly to make some fine adjustments, but always bring it back to the
  212. mix. One more little bonus tip here is if you are having a problem with a certain
  213. instrument, but you can't find an instrument.
  214. A cool little trick is you can actually mute your instruments, you know, just but
  215. just one by one. So, for example, let's say a pad.
  216. Okay, a pad is typically a problem instrument which clogs up a lot of frequencies
  217. and a lot of space. So, what I'll do is I'll just click you know, like left click.
  218. So, in FL Studio, if you right click on you know, a mixer insert, I believe it kind
  219. of solos it out. But if you left click, it would just mute that individual insert.
  220. So, I would actually kind of go through my instruments, and you know, so for
  221. example, if I'm listening to the mix and it's just like okay, there's some
  222. instrument here which is really taking up the whole space of the song, I'll go
  223. through and just left click to mute, and I'll so I'll mute and then unmute, mute,
  224. unmute until I find the instrument that's giving me problems, and then I'll actually
  225. start working on that instrument.
  226. Okay, that's kind of a cool little trick that I've found over the years.
  227. But again, so those are the three points.
  228. So level matching, make sure that before you know the effect and after.
  229. you So when turn it on and off, it's a fair volume comparison.
  230. It's gonna be it's gonna help you so much.
  231. It's gonna allow you to make way more accurate judgment in your mixes and wiser
  232. choices. The A and B comparison, not all plugins have this, but if it if they do,
  233. really powerful just to try. You know, it kind of gives you two different versions
  234. to try. You know, it's like do I want to be more aggressive or do I want to be, you
  235. know, in the case of a compressor, you know, having like a low threshold versus a
  236. high threshold. you know, it's just kind of a different approach to using that tool,
  237. okay. And then mixing in solo, it could be useful at times, but it can also be very,
  238. very dangerous. Okay. So hopefully that helps you guys out, gets you guys inspired
  239. and making wiser judgment in your mixes and masters.
  240. Again, 10 steps to become an FL Studio Pro.
  241. It's an eight hour long course.
  242. You guys can save 50% off by using the coupon 10 steps.
  243. That's one zero st e P S. Just come to it's gratuitous.com.
  244. I'll also leave the link in the episode notes, you know, in the show notes here on
  245. my actual website. you know, come check it out.
  246. Again, it goes super super in depth.
  247. We actually I actually draw on the screen.
  248. It was it's it was a really really cool course, you know, just learning about the
  249. different gear. You know, for example, I got a new camera, I got a nice boom
  250. microphone, I had a green screen, I got new lights.
  251. it just allowed me to create a really high quality course as well as give you guys a
  252. rate a great experience to learn education with this music production and kind of
  253. learn best practices. All right, I'm gratuitous.
  254. Thanks for checking out the episode.
  255. Again, if you guys have any questions about music production in general or the
  256. course, the 10 steps to become an FL Studio Pro, you guys can reach me at high.
  257. So that's H I at it'sgratuitous.com.
  258. Okay. So thanks for tuning in.
  259. I'll talk to you guys in the next episode.
  260. Thanks for checking out the episode.
  261. If you had any questions, visit it'sgratuitous.com slash podcast, select an episode
  262. and submit your question at the bottom of the page to the contact form.
  263. If you'd like to take my FL Studio courses, see my current studio and podcasting
  264. gear, read my books, or are interested in lessons, visit the link
  265. it'sgratuitous.com/slash learning.
  266. That page will redirect you to more info and resources.
  267. I hope the best with your productions.
  268. I'm gratuitous, and I'll see you in the next
  269. episode.
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