Mixing help

[u/musingaround1]

Hi everyone! I’ve recently decided to learn how to mix. There’s a lot to learn, I know, but what should I start with? I’ve watch 5million videos on YouTube all on various genres and each with different presets and tips. I’d describe my sound sometimes house and mostly Caribbean rhythms. Any tips and anything abt buses, compression, mixing, workflows would be helpful. Thank you:)

[u/randomguy21061600]

90% of mixing is volume

[u/outlawmbc]

Man I got an assload I could tell you but can't type it all out here. One of the most important things when mixing though is understanding that music exists in 3 dimensions.

[u/musingaround1 → u/outlawmbc]

Time, pitch and texture?

[u/outlawmbc → u/musingaround1]

I would replace texture with spatial but you seem to get the idea. Knowing this helps a ton in knowing how a mix should go.

[u/musingaround1 → u/outlawmbc]

Got it thanks!

[u/musicbeats88]

Honestly you got to hit the deck. I also have watched 5 million videos on YouTube about mixing. I learned everything from doing the following, mixing. You will start to see patterns and understand what you are doing and why. It can be very frustrating learning but once you get some experience the results pay off. Good luck!

[u/musingaround1 → u/musicbeats88]

Thank you!

[u/JWendell-Music]

Listen to your songs in different environments to check your mix. What sounds good on headphones can be a hot mess on stereo speakers because of the low end (which headphones won’t pick up the same) and/or panning.

[u/musingaround1 → u/JWendell-Music]

Cool will do! Thank you :)

[u/KindaQuite]

Do you want to mix stuff or do you want to mix your stuff?

[u/musingaround1 → u/KindaQuite]

Mix my songs

[u/Zealousideal-Bit1434]

I've been working on getting better mixes as well. So far the most useful advice has been start with vocals if you have them along w bass drum snare and bass all panned center. Mix around the bass drum/kick. I've seen people having there's set up and down the fader but I found -5 on the kick is a good starting point to leave headroom for the rest to be mixed. Also the other responses are pretty accurate too.

[u/musingaround1 → u/Zealousideal-Bit1434]

Thank you so much!

[u/Stock-Exercise-8653]

Don't sleep on the master bus processing. Getting that right is half of the mix.

[u/musingaround1 → u/Stock-Exercise-8653]

Thank you!

[u/Stock-Exercise-8653 → u/musingaround1]

Keep it subtle though. A little goes a long way in the master bus.

[u/randomguy21061600 → u/Stock-Exercise-8653]

This is not really true, a good mix needs almost nothing on the master before the actual mastering process happens