I understand that you cant learn to master as well as a professional, and its better to send them your songs, but i have some questions and was hoping i could get more direct answers, as the internet isnt making sense to me. For mixing, you are only supposed to subtract with EQ, not boost right? and for those who use fl studio, what is the difference between lowering the mix level and lowering the strength of the effect in the plugin? I dont have monitors, just some old school sony speakers, so i was wondering if it would be better to use my aiaiai tma-1 headphones. Thing is when i mix on them then listen speakers, i have to adjust some volumes. I have a room mate and there is no point in monitors since it would disturb his shit, and i would like to know what the best thing to do is. I am reading magazines, watching tutorials, and planning on attending workshops. Even when i try my best to add effects, still sounds kinda noobish. How are you supposed to mix with flat response? I heard that you are supposed to mix flat as hell and THEN boost with the master. I really would take any help you guys give, especially pdfs, tutorials you guys love, etc. Im kinda going for the sound quality of this song.
https://soundcloud.com/liamxmcalister/l ... xdz-sakura

I also want to learn stereo shaping and have little to no idea what it is, + on the 404 when i do grimey stuff idek what the point of stereo is. If u leave the pan at 12'o, isnt that same as mono? I keep thinking that not panning stereo is the same as listening to mono.

'not panning' a stereo sound isn't the same as mono. Stereo consists of 2 sides of audio, left and right; slightly differing in characteristics giving the perception of 'space'..

the understanding of simple concepts can give you a leg up on the things you feel you need to accomplish (basic functions of filters, compressors etc.)..Tons of stuff on the net..and don't be afraid to experiment. Mixing is an art as well, a lot of it is subjective

+1
a general rule for mixing is subtractive eq so that no frequencies get in the way of each other, especially in the low mids and lows, but honestly he's right. there's no real right or wrong. if it sounds good boosted, then boost it. Same goes with effects. If you want a ton of movement, then do a ton of automation, if you like a stale reverb on a sound use a stale reverb... it's all about finding what you like and going with it.
As for the plugin-effects. get a good level on both. the track fader controls the volume of the end result of everything you have on the track. so for instance if you pump the make-up gain on an effect and for some reason like the digital distortion you're getting, keep it up on the effect and turn it down on the track fader. then you'll have the effect at a lower level.
He's also right about the stereo question. Stereo has the ability to have 2 separate sounds on one track. A source with the same information on both sides is mono. Most DAWs and some hardware will pan a stereo track by cutting one side out so that only one side is playing. Watch out for this because if you have a sound you really like, you may lose part of what you liked about it. bounce it to mono before panning. There's way more to stereo imaging than panning as well, that's just a tool. Start small though. If you're unclear about panning and stuff don't worry about mastering yet. Like he said, a little understanding about the basics goes a LONG way.
Be yourself.
Be creative.
Have fun.

you can use EQ boost, it is sort of like turning the volume up on
a specific frequency range, however it will shift the opposite side.

for example, you boost the highs and it will cut the lows a little bit,
Same for the lows, you boost the lows and it will cut the highs a little
bit, to what extent is a mystery and requires experience to get a handle on.
so practice boosting one side to cut the other.


For lowering your mix, I would say mix loud! as loud as possible,
without clipping, with your soundcard volume lower then half.

you will notice distortion when you turn up your soundcard volume,
but if you want to compete in the loudness war without having to normalize
I would mix as loud as possible. then your render should be close to 'radio ready'


I think you might be talking about parralel FX. when you turn the effect
mix down to half, this is parralel FX. you get half signal and half FX.

Headphones are OK, to use, your mixes will sound better for people using headphones to listen.
and if anyone has a problem with your bass on speakers they can turn the
bass down on their amp. most people with a crappy stereo have the bass boost
on so keep that in mind. you can solve that by rolling off the lows right
to where your cans stop shaking. you might not notice, if there is a limiter
in your headphones, then you should get flat headphones.

I notice with my sony headphones, they are no good for mixing or producing
but great for listening.

A good idea to get a flatter frequency response on your monitors is use

A high pass filter to cut out the bass of your samples. A good trick is
to leave the room, see whats rumbling or thumping to much, and then use
the high pass filter to take the bass out. the kick and snare will still
be as loud, just not smashing through your walls.

I still need to learn about shaping and imaging, but you can use your SP
fx to get cool stereo FX, like radio tuner and steroizer.

dont worry about sounding noobiish , it takes time to master the spectrum.
to get a flatter response I cant stress enough using a high pass filter.

Listen to old rock records. they are not booming and shaking the walls out of control
because the engineers and masters were trained to make records properly
that dont knock the needle off the record or skip . and to basicly listen to
comfortably without getting brain damage.

Compression ! You will need to compress each track to get a nice loud
balanced sound.

Reverb ! adds the live and warm feel you might be after.


Thank ellaguru and om_audio and limpy loo (others sorry) for helping rescue my
last record.


just give er man, youll get it soon, and be a master before you know it.

PS. to get fruity loops sounding 'NORMAL' You have to adjust every single
track EQ , turn the little wheels to the left and use the bass roll off
on the bass heavy tracks, and the high roll off. warning it makes vocals
sound weird. disable the limiter on the master track . and avoid exciters
or over compression.


It might be next to impossible to use your monitors, without distrubing your
room mate, but maybe you can figure out some treatment for behind the monitors ,
or for around your room.