GET A LOUD, CLEAR MIX
We all face the same problems at the beginning… a flat, boring, lifeless mix with a flubby low end that doesn’t thump no matter how loud you turn it up. The good news is we can fix that. It’s all just problem-solving.
The fun part about mixing is, although it’s a technical science, your results are measured in emotions. We are literally building a path through the world of FEELING, as we tweak our knobs and press our buttons.
Learn the mix tools & techniques to bring people on a journey with crisp, wide, LOUD mixes.
INTRO TO MIXING
This module will give you a basic understanding of how to approach a mix, with a simple recipe and the underlying principles of how to apply it.
You’ll get a starting place to mix sessions of any size while understanding essential basics like gain staging, headroom and where distortion comes from.
It ends up with a simple look at what mastering is, so you have the full picture of where we are going with our audio engineering in Ableton.
Remember, when it comes to mixing audio, everything is just problem-solving.
Learn the right tools for the job.
8 Great Mix Tools
A list of the most essential Ableton plugins to use in your mixdown — with Pro Tips on why we need them.
10-Step Mixdown Process
This will give you an idea of what to do first and what NOT to do first, so you can get through the mixing process without wasting a ton of time.
VU Meters
A quick explanation of how the Ableton VU meters measure loudness, compared to analog VU meters. Keep your mixes clean.
BASICS OF EQUALIZATION
No more wasting time EQ’ing your snare drum for 12 hours. Learn the background info you need on the range of human hearing, the frequencies we work with in the audio world, and which kinds of EQ and Filter are available for us to utilise.
This lesson comes with pack of presets for EQ8 to give you the right frequencies to cut and boost on your beats, basslines, kicks, snares, synths, keys and even vocals.
Drop them on your channels and hear your mix snap into focus.
Do the lessons to understand why they work. This is a solid starting point for EQ’ing.
Sidechain Compression
Sidechain compression is really just an extension of normal compression, with a little trick. This lesson is designed for sidechaining your kick drum with your bassline. Learn how to get that tight, locked-in low-end mix to make your kick drum EXPLODE through the speakers.
BASIC MASTERING
It turns out that on the master channel, less is more. In this case, the secret weapon to make your tracks sound world-class is… knowledge. And a lot of practice. Learn how to use this minimal Ableton FX chain to make pro-sounding mixes without crushing them to death.
