![]() What to listen and watch for while you mix reference Your mastered version will help you decide where to go with those final decisions. If you’re close to finishing your mix and want to compare it to a version from the same project, bounce them both and create quick masters to compare. Your mastered tracks will definitely get you closer to a finished feel, but doing your references before and after mastering them will also help train your ears to hear those differences. ![]() A rough master will provide a more even playing field for comparison in certain circumstances. ![]() Use our friends over at LANDR to get a quick master for rough tracks. The before-and-after processīefore we get too far, the biggest difference you’ll be dealing with between your mixes and a finished professional recording is the effect of the mastering process. Sienda FreeG is a nice free option if you’re looking to upgrade your metering. But dedicated meter plugins offer some benefits that are particularly helpful when you’re mix referencing. To make sure you match the levels just right, you need to get serious about your metering. The channel meter in your DAW is fine for most metering tasks, like making sure you’re keeping ample headroom. You can only make insightful comparisons if you’re confident that the differences you’re hearing are coming from the mixes themselves and not from any psychoacoustic effects or changes in the listening chain. Small differences in loudness can have a surprisingly massive effect on your perception of sound. The cardinal rule of referencing is to match the level of the reference material to your track as closely as you can. Let’s get started on finishing! Level match In this article, I’ll break down a few of the most useful mix referencing habits and show you how to use them to get closer to release-ready tracks on the first try. The best rule of thumb: if you like it, then it’s good. There are so many different opinions on the subject that no one approach should really be taken as gospel, and the same thing goes for referencing. Before we start, it’s important to remember that there’s no correct way for your mix to sound. It sounds simple, but there are a few crucial things to consider to make your referencing as effective as possible. The simple solution is mix referencing. Mix referencing is the process of comparing your nearly finished mix to previous mixes you’ve made, other versions of your mix in the same project, or commercial recordings to determine the quality of your mix. But how do you find the right perspective after hours of working with the same sounds? When you’re approaching the end of a project, it’s critical to have an informed idea of the overall characteristics of your mix - and, more importantly, how your mix stands up to other commercial releases. If you don’t step outside to get perspective, you might lose the big picture and go too far in the wrong direction. It’s easy to get stuck in your own little world when you’ve been working on the same session for a long time. Or, share your musical goals with us, and a Soundfly Mentor can help you achieve them! + Learning to record and mix at home? Check out Soundfly’s intermediate and advanced online mixing courses to work with a professional producer on improving your skills and technique. This article originally appeared on the LANDR blog
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