Introduction

You're wrapping up production on a song and getting into the mix. Things are sounding pretty good, but when you demo your song on another set of speakers, the volumes all seem wrong. The vocals are too quiet, the snare is too loud, and you didn't realize how much a backing instrument was popping out of the mix. It doesn't just make your mix sound a little off. It makes your mix sound weak.

All of us want our mixes to translate. We want our mixes to be solid, and well-represented on every…

Introduction

When I first started out mixing, I thought sounding pro meant using every semi-relevant plugin at every available opportunity. Compression is a perfect example to cherry-pick: clearly, compression needs to exist on every drum, every vocal, every instrument, and every bus, right? I felt the same way about EQ too: every single channel has to have EQ to improve it, right? So I'd slap EQ on every single channel and move some bands around until I felt maybe things were sounding okay. They weren't…

Introduction

Mixing audio can seem like a black art. There are millions of tips around the internet on how to do this or that to create a great mix. And I'm sure you've seen just as many tutorials by the masters as I have. The problem is that 99.9% of these are based on some minute little trick to handle this tiny little situation, or it's using gear you don't have to fix problems you also don't have.

The truth of the matter is that there's far too much information on the specifics, but not enough on the…

In part one of this guide on improving mix translation, I covered five aspects of how equipment, room acoustics, and speaker positioning are compromising the effectiveness of all but the most ideal setups, and more importantly, what you can do about it on a reasonable budget. If you haven't read this yet, you'll definitely want to give it a read.

Today, in part two of this series, we'll be covering steps you can take working with the equipment and room you have now in order to make the best of it and give…

So you've just finished your final mix, and it sounds amazing on your monitors or headphones. Excitedly, you play it for your friend on his stereo, and the mix just falls apart. Maybe the frequency balance is all wrong. Maybe the balance of instruments is completely off. Maybe it sounds weak and hollow instead of full and powerful. Maybe it's enough to make your ears cringe.

What happened??

The short of it is that your mix sounds good on your speakers or headphones, but doesn't translate to other…

You know the drill. The song you're working on sounds amazing while you're working on it. But when you hear it the next day, or on a different stereo, it just sucks. What happened??

A number of things, to be honest.
 

Sources of the Damage

First, our hearing adapts very quickly. Within seconds. And if you mixed your track yesterday to sound very fatiguing, but acclimated to it before you fixed it, you likely became used to the problem. This happens to me all the time.

Second, you're likely not as skilled and…

To some, reverb doesn't seem like that exciting of an effect. It's a very old effect. But to be honest: all effects are old. We really don't have that many unique processes to manipulate audio. With rare exceptions, ingenuity surfaces as plugin developers combine old effects in ways we haven't combined them before. But we're still left with the same old tools, just with new controls and new use-case scenarios.

So yes, reverb is an old tool. But if you're not familiar with it or don't turn to it often, it may…

What I Hear in Beginner Tracks

When I meet new producers and hear their stuff for the first time, I'm often floored by the musical and instrumental creativity they bring to the table. How come I didn't think of using that instrument in that way?? I love the creative differences new people, advanced and beginner alike, bring to the table.

But one thing that often sticks out to me with a lot of tracks I hear is that they sound pretty raw and unprocessed.

Now, mixing is its own art form, and Youtubers around the…