@Nordic_Warhammer: That's great. I tried online courses but it seems for the life of me, I can't concentrate well from this medium of teaching. For me to actually gain something from it. For the time being, these hobbies of mine are on hold. Maybe in the future...

I have gone through the same process too, used to do 100% but now am doing them at around 75-85, I think it does give a little more of an interesting sounds and lets the tracks get pretty rich in the middle (just a little bit)

L 100 L 80 R 80 R 100. We always record 4 layers anyway. You lose a tiny bit of transient detail but you gain a gigantic wall of sound and there's this washy, deep quality to it that I can't really articulate.

One of the cons of panning too wide is that when you play the song over a mono speaker, the guitars disappear and all you hear is snare and vocals. It's good to 'test' your mix through less than ideal speakers on occasion because not all of your listeners will have $500 studio monitors on which to listen to your album.

Of course all school are different, but in my experience I found that doing a 13 month degree at the most prestigious and expensive sound engineering school in my country was only slightly more valuable than a useless cash grab. We had to do an internship there and I got one at a studio, and each day I spent there pretty much equated a month of learning at my school. All they did was make us buy books and read them, which I could have done anyway and spared my 13 grand. If you are dedicated to learning sound engineering, all it really takes is two things:

1) The basic knowledge, which can come from introduction sound engineering textbooks books. I recommend Huber's "Modern Recording Techniques", which can be found free online at http://mikethevideoguy.files.wordpress. ... 010-ww.pdf.
I wish I knew this before I spend 60$ for the textbook.

2) Hands on experience (NOT OPTIONAL), which usually requires you to intern (usually for free) at a studio or live venue. The thing is this really isn't that hard to do, since studios are always in need of extra hands. Also, there is a kind of unsaid rule, which I guess I'm not about to say. The thing is in the past it was either impossible or unpopular for people to go to recording schools, and so the vast, vast majority of engineers you see at studios today have themselves learned from other engineers, like you will now do with them. This means that most engineers treat teaching upcoming students almost as part of the job. In real life, sound engineers teach other sound engineers, if you want proof just pick up any random CD and search up the engineer, chances are the guy didn't go to school even though he may be credited on a gold album. I have interned both at multi-million dollar studios and shit shacks, and in my experience I wouldn't be able to tell the engineers apart when it comes to personality or willingness to teach students. You have big egos and humbles guys everywhere, but in my experience even engineers of multi-million dollar studios are usually willing to really take you under their wing and show you the "tricks of the trade", which can really only come from people like them who have been doing it for decades. Of course you must be willing to "work" hard and for free, but it will definitely pay off in terms of the value of knowledge that you receive (I put "work" in quotes because it isn't really work when you are learning so much. The way I look at it is not "working for free" but rather "learning for free"). Sometimes some of this knowledge is quite hard to write down or talk about, and so there really is no replacement for someone actually showing you what they do to get that characteristic sound.

Again this is not to discourage you from going to school if that is what you want to do, but just keep in mind that you that there are millions of people with audio degrees and most of them have no jobs. It really requires that you take initiative and start working while you learn so you can supplement theoretical knowledge with practical knowledge (I consider even the "practical" or "hands on" learning that you receive in school still not "real" since it is in a completely artificial environment. Though they will make you actually record and mix a band at school, you will see that it never actually goes that way in real life). Anyway good luck !

Hey guys, have been working on a new album, was wondering if you guys had any feedback about the mix/songwriting. Thanks!
https://www.mediafire.com/folder/wgcz978oqcha8/Morrow

This is going to sound like horrible advice but.....

Get the drum sound and guitar sound correct before you reach for EQ. Make sure you have a healthy amount of midrange (will vary based on tuning). Try using two mics on one speaker. Set one half way between the edge of the speaker and the middle and set the other one dead center. Use this to blend in while you are mixing. Make sure the mics are both about 2-3 inches away from the grill cloth. Closer will give you more bass and treble and farther away will give you a flatter curve. This is assuming you are using a dynamic microphone like an SM57. Backing away from the source will reduce the proximity effect and give you a more "realistic" picture of the amp. Make sure to put both mics the same distance from the grill cloth to ensure they are in phase.

use a high pass and low pass filter and maybe notch around 4k to let vocals come through more and maybe notch around 800hz to remove some extra boxyness.

Thats about it haha. There are lots of videos on youtube about this.


In terms of drum production, there is a LOT you can do. There are tons of tutorials on youtube and it depends on the sound you are going for. At a high-level, drums tend to be more forgiving when using EQ, compression, transient design etc. Notching out some space between 400hz and 600hz will yield good results in terms of EQ....but there is way more involved with drum processing depending on if you are doing it live vs. a VST and what sound you are after.

So what is your device of reference when mixing? Because I have a pair of headphones which I prefer but when I adjust the sound to my liking, it sounds completely different on a different device.

Also some tips would be great about the mixing I did. It might be useful to my future releases. Check the link below for Nuclear Twilight.

Hello guys, this my first post ever in the Musician's section.

I would like to ask something that has been bothering for a few months now. Have you ever felt so burnt out by listening to various mixes of the same recording over a long period of time that you had to take it to a completely different person to mix it? Even if the mix was decent, did you had the urge of trying a new approach just because you were sick of listening to different variants of the same mix over and over again?

This is my case and the way I feel after waiting for almost a year for a mix and, honestly, I don't know what I am hearing anymore and if I like the end result after so many listens.

Not uncommon. The main thing is to give yourself a time limit. This is how I solved the issue for myself, especially when working on client mixes. I give myself basically one day to get a mix. Working with this time constraint forces me to make decisions and leave things be. When you start diving way too much into things that literally don't matter in the overall grand scheme of things, you lose perspective and focus and that's pretty much the death rattle when it comes to mixing.

You need three things in my opinion:
1) Time Limit
2) Focus
3) Perspective

None of the above works when one of the three is missing. I like to go into mixes already with an idea (focus) of what I'm going for, and using other mixes I like (perspective) to judge how well my idea (focus) is moving along. I aim to have a first mix within 24 hours. If I didn't have a day job I'd make it even shorter, perhaps 8-12 hours. Ideally I'd love to get to the point where I can have a first mix within an hour or so.

In the case of clients, I send the first mix out within 24 hours. Why? Because their ideas and mix notes can help me understand if my ideas (focus) are on point or not (perspective.) From there, you can narrow down what needs to be done (focus) and fine tune the mix.

Never ever give yourself "unlimited" time to mix. You'll just find yourself in the rabbit hole you're in now.

So what can you do about it now? Forget about the song for a couple months. Do something else and just completely let it go. Come back to it in half-a-year or so and mix it again from scratch while keeping the three points I just outlined in your mind.

Good luck.

Same here. I found many online courses and want to start making my own music in the future.

Anyone of have tips in getting rid of squeeking sounds you get from changing chords on your guitar? I have read some tips like to make a dip in the volume and to use an equalizer for that point to get rid of certain frequencies. I also turned down the treble in the mix which also helps.

Maybe a de-esser? Or you can try playing with plastic gloves.

That's mainly dependent on your playing. You can try things like EQ and automation later on, but your best bet is to get rid of that during the performance.