Audio Engineering (Mixing Dance/Pop in Ableton)

If you're like me, there's nothing greater than living in a world of sound. Some of us have our headphones on all day every day, or we're listening to speakers the rest of the time. However, most of us are more visual than auditory. If you're going to become an "audio person", you're going to need to learn how to live in a world of sound—to rely on your *ears* and not your *eyes*.

How can you make a mix "better" if we don't define what "better" is? Here's where we set our intentions for the rest of the course, so we're on the same page going forward.

Since audio engineering and mixing are such dark arts, we need to cover exactly what we're talking about here.

Why did I create this course? The answer is simple: I want to share the things that have taken me 2 decades to figure out, so you don't make the same mistakes I did.

In addition to your default DAW or Ableton, you can purchase thousands and thousands of plug-ins—3rd party pieces of software to greatly improve your sonic output.

Yes, you are *hearing*. But are you really *listening*? Have you thought about how a signal goes from your project into your ear drums? It's not as straightforward as you might think...

If there's ONE takeaway from this whole course, it's that acoustics are vitally important. For many producers/mixers just starting out, hardly any thought is given to this step. But it's literally the most important thing you can do to improve your mixes today.

Great acoustic treatment is worth its weight in gold. But if you're on a budget, you can achieve fantastic results with this very affordable basic panel!

Now that room acoustics are taken care of, it's time to discuss what kinds of speakers we can use to give ourselves the best chance of success.

How loud should you mix? Should you change volume over time as you go? We debunk all the mysteries surrounding listening volume once and for all!

If there's one BIG secret in the professional mixing world, it's this. There are many reasons behind it, and it's the hardest thing to do for people who love clubs and loud music. Still, it's absolutely vital if you want to improve.

You can't have a great mix without great sub bass. Period. The sub frequencies are arguably THE most important part of ANY mix. Get them wrong, and your whole mix sucks. Get them right, and it's heaven on earth.

In addition to practicing all the time, you need to spend some time training your ears in a more systematic, structured way. Time spent training your ears is never time wasted. It's not sexy, but it will benefit you the rest of your life.

You might not know this, but there are multiple ways to listen to the same source audio. I cover two of the ways that you can experience audio without changing anything but your own perception and brain.

Just like optical illusions, our ears are easily fooled. There are so many things that can trick our ears and lead us to make bad decisions. This lesson helps you think about some of the ways your ears can be tricked so you make better mixes.

Setting up your projects in a smarter way is another small thing you can do to dramatically improve your abilities. Building your mix template will serve you well for years and decades to come.

If you have synesthesia, then this lesson is for you! If you don't, this can help you organize your sessions so you work in a smarter way, saving you valuable time in your mixes.

In a wide stereo field, where should you place sounds? How do you pan in a more intelligent way? Are there "rules" to follow? How important is this step, really?

This strategy has been passed down through the decades. It's not something you HAVE to use, but it can give you a starting point that can make your mixes more radio-friendly, eliminating guesswork.

EQ, short for "equalization" is a topic that's so misunderstood. Rest assured that most beginners use EQ in the absolute wrong way. I used it incorrectly for many years of my life, now you don't have to make those mistakes!

If our goal is to have a smoother, more pleasing mix, we have to eliminate those harsh, annoying, or resonant frequencies. EVERY sound must be sweet if we are trying to have a sweet mix overall.

Vintage or analogue EQs can add beautiful color to your sound. We love the pleasing harmonics and sounds of old gear, but when is the right time to reach for one of these vs. just a regular EQ in your DAW?

This little trick is absolutely a "secret" of big engineers. If you've never used dynamic EQ before, you're missing out on one of the most powerful tools out there to make your mixes much more professional.

Just like EQ, compression is so misunderstood. Rest assured that if you are a beginner you are probably either over-using it or using it incorrectly. The many audio forums contribute to the misinformation here: just remember that one of the greatest mix engineers of all time, Bruce Swedien, said "compression is for kids".

When we have these powerful tools, the tendency is to overuse them. Do we really need to put a compressor on EVERYthing? When should we use it and when shouldn't we?

If you don't control the transients in your mix, your mixes will never sound as loud and clear as they could. Controlling transients is a vital step towards improving your overall "pro-ness".

Limiters are compressors on steroids. They are vital in certain parts of the mix, and they will always be the last thing in your master bus/ mix bus chain. But how do we use them effectively?

Ohhhh it's secret time! Shh! Don't tell anyone about this powerful trick that all the big-league artists and mixers you know use religiously. This one's huge.

"Sidechaining" is no longer a new concept for most of us, but it was once revolutionary! You might have a go-to method of sidechaining, but here are many more. If you've never heard of this concept before, this video is *essential*.

Sidechaining is for more than just the kick and bass. Did you know that there's an unlimited amount of stuff you can do with it? I want to expand your thinking with this lecture, to help you get those creative juices flowing.

Taking 2 or more copies of the same signal and processing them differently is a hallmark of an experienced engineer. You need to start incorporating this thinking into your workflow.

Parallel processing and parallel compression are two absolutely essential tools of big-league audio engineers. This technique gives you the best of both worlds!

Not only can you use parallel processing for things like compression and distortion, you can also run other effects in parallel to create better/more unique sounds.

Well, we could write a whole book on distortion. This is another topic that is WILDLY misunderstood by inexperienced engineers. This is another example of how mixing is like living in opposite land, often what you think you want is the opposite of what you really want.

This is distortion's little cousin, and one of the most incredibly powerful subtle tools for modern pop/EDM mixing. Saturation is EVERYwhere on all your favorite mixes.

Now we're getting into really creative/experimental territory! But it's important you spend some time here, both to save your CPU and to improve your creativity.

Clipping is both something to be feared and something to be used creatively. Most of the time, we hate all forms of clipping. But we CAN use it to our advantage.

This is what everyone wants to know: "How can I make my mixes sound W I D E R R R R !?!?!" Let's demystify this dark art once and for all.

These two little effects are so vital in any modern mix. You will need to use this in some capacity on many (most?) of the tracks within your mix.

Reverb places sounds in your imaginary space. Reverb in some form or another can and should be placed on pretty much every single track in your mix. We cover how and when to use each type of reverb here.

You might have been using reverb... You might have been using delay... But have you used them together? Have you used them in parallel like this? This is the key to better, more realistic, more awesome spaces in your mix.

Oftentimes when we are mixing other people's projects, their low end will be lacking. Or they will have chosen the wrong kick. This is generally because their room acoustics and speakers and monitoring aren't as good as yours. Quite simply, you can hear things that they can't. So how do you deal with this very common scenario?

Once you've made all the big moves in your mix, it's important to finalize it. All the steps leading up to this were just creating a better rough mix. But at a certain point, we need to start zeroing in on the final mix. This means working on every detail.

The best mixes are "bulletproof"—they sound amazing wherever you hear them. No one is better at this than the incomparable Serban Ghenea, my favorite mixer of all time. But how can we get better at this? How can we avoid nasty surprises? 

This is a bit philosophical, a bit weird, a bit "out there". But it's something I really believe in. I hope that this video makes sense to you, and I hope that it gives you an "aha!" moment. This is especially relevant for people who only have one set of speakers.

Real mastering deserves its own course. There's simply too much to say. But there are a few things you can do both for your own satisfaction and for your clients. It's important to understand the basics of mastering.

The time has come to apply everything we've learned in some real mixes! Here we get real insight into the thought process of a real project. I don't hold anything back!

"Leave This Town" was produced by Tom Browning (Auraphonic Sound) and CICI Rose. I love when these two get together, they always make something magical! I'm deeply humbled and honored that they let me use their songs for this course. If you are looking for a producer or a vocalist, I can't recommend them enough.

I'm not going to lie, this video was a challenge! I haven't mixed a song without 3rd party plug-ins for over 20 years. But I wanted to see what I would do. I wanted to show you that you don't NEED thousands of dollars of plug-ins to begin perfecting the craft. You can start with just Ableton and get so far. It's never been easier to make great mixes than right now.

CONGRATULATIONS!! You made it!! Thank you so much for following my new course. I hope this journey has helped you become the mixer of your dreams.

I've been a huge fan of Izotope products for years. They were gracious enough to sponsor this video, but I would have made it with or without their support. I reached out to them because I love Izotope RX so much. If you need to repair bad audio, there is NO better tool in the world than Izotope RX Advanced.

Quick little extra. How do we make "ear candy"? How do we develop our own signature sound?