23-01-2023, 12:28 PM
"Blitzzz, it took you 2 years to be able to find reference useful, I suspect it'll take more for me."
Oh, it seems I have expressed myself in a misleading way because reference mixes were immediately useful to me when I started using them. I was referring more to the overall time it took me to mix our album, regardless of the fact that I was using ref tracks to check my mixes. I think I remixed our album at least 3-4 times because I was permanently frustrated that it never sounded like my ref tracks. Back then, I was also using tons of plugins to fix tracks without really listening to them in the context of the whole mix, eliminating certain frequencies on instruments like guitars or bass just because some dude in a video on Youtube said so. It's like trying to paint a huge painting by editing only a tiny section at a time and never checking the entire image.
It all changed when I watched a couple of streams with well-known mixers like Nolly, Daniel Bergstrand, Jens Bogren or Henrik Udd over at Nailthemix. They mixed some of my favorite songs like Lamb of God`s Redneck, Future Breed Machine by Meshuggah or Gone with the Wind by Architects live while answering viewers` questions in the stream. They all mainly used faders and panning to get the mix to 85-90%, and only made use of plugins when there was a good reason to do so. After adapting this method, my mixes finally sounded much, much more like my ref tracks
It seems like you have adapted this style of mixing, too, which is great. It will definitely make your mixes better and will set you apart from a lot of people. Still, mixing is art; there is no right or wrong. If you really want a guitar to buzz or a snare to sound very harsh, that's your freedom as a mixer. I totally respect that, and it`s great if someone has a vision and brings it to life. There are several Darkride mixes on this forum with very weird tonal choices, but the mix sounds great and powerful. I personally would not have mixed it that way, but still, if it sounds great, it is great.
However, on most of the Darkride mixes on this forum, such choices are not intentional but the product of a completely overloaded workflow. I criticize that because people need to learn to listen. Listen to the original tracks without EQing and compressing every track. Do you really need the cut at 400Hz on the guitar? What if the guitars already don`t have much energy at 400hz because the band was intelligent enough to get the guitar tone they want while recording the tracks? Wouldn`t it be a better idea if you then mix the tracks exactly as they are delivered to you and use faders and panning, and automation? If you can`t get a good mix with only those basic tools, then it`s time to figure out what needs to be done on top of that.
A mixer should use the DAW like an instrument. Breathe life into a mix, make it heavy when it needs to be heavy, and fragile if it needs to be fragile. Most people don`t get that because they lack confidence and/or skills.
Anyway, sorry for the rant. You are on the right track, and you will get better over time, and your mixes will improve a lot with this new workflow. Add ref tracks to your arsenal and use them to meet the expectations of the band and the potential listener, and your mixes will stand out from the rest. Looking forward to hearing more from you in the future!
Oh, it seems I have expressed myself in a misleading way because reference mixes were immediately useful to me when I started using them. I was referring more to the overall time it took me to mix our album, regardless of the fact that I was using ref tracks to check my mixes. I think I remixed our album at least 3-4 times because I was permanently frustrated that it never sounded like my ref tracks. Back then, I was also using tons of plugins to fix tracks without really listening to them in the context of the whole mix, eliminating certain frequencies on instruments like guitars or bass just because some dude in a video on Youtube said so. It's like trying to paint a huge painting by editing only a tiny section at a time and never checking the entire image.
It all changed when I watched a couple of streams with well-known mixers like Nolly, Daniel Bergstrand, Jens Bogren or Henrik Udd over at Nailthemix. They mixed some of my favorite songs like Lamb of God`s Redneck, Future Breed Machine by Meshuggah or Gone with the Wind by Architects live while answering viewers` questions in the stream. They all mainly used faders and panning to get the mix to 85-90%, and only made use of plugins when there was a good reason to do so. After adapting this method, my mixes finally sounded much, much more like my ref tracks
It seems like you have adapted this style of mixing, too, which is great. It will definitely make your mixes better and will set you apart from a lot of people. Still, mixing is art; there is no right or wrong. If you really want a guitar to buzz or a snare to sound very harsh, that's your freedom as a mixer. I totally respect that, and it`s great if someone has a vision and brings it to life. There are several Darkride mixes on this forum with very weird tonal choices, but the mix sounds great and powerful. I personally would not have mixed it that way, but still, if it sounds great, it is great.
However, on most of the Darkride mixes on this forum, such choices are not intentional but the product of a completely overloaded workflow. I criticize that because people need to learn to listen. Listen to the original tracks without EQing and compressing every track. Do you really need the cut at 400Hz on the guitar? What if the guitars already don`t have much energy at 400hz because the band was intelligent enough to get the guitar tone they want while recording the tracks? Wouldn`t it be a better idea if you then mix the tracks exactly as they are delivered to you and use faders and panning, and automation? If you can`t get a good mix with only those basic tools, then it`s time to figure out what needs to be done on top of that.
A mixer should use the DAW like an instrument. Breathe life into a mix, make it heavy when it needs to be heavy, and fragile if it needs to be fragile. Most people don`t get that because they lack confidence and/or skills.
Anyway, sorry for the rant. You are on the right track, and you will get better over time, and your mixes will improve a lot with this new workflow. Add ref tracks to your arsenal and use them to meet the expectations of the band and the potential listener, and your mixes will stand out from the rest. Looking forward to hearing more from you in the future!