Referencing Your Mix

Every audio engineer wants the perfect mix, totally understand able. How do you know when you have the right mix? What do you compare your mix against to validate the quality of your mix? This is a very important consideration. From personal experience I had found two factors important to mixing. The first is establishing how you want your mix to sound. The second is to take it to another studio preferably, and see how it sounds. I have found that when I feel comfortable with a mix I take it to another studio and check it there. I know you are supposed to try it on various sound sources such as car stereos and portable stereos, but I leave that to the last portion of my mix. Using another studio allows me to ascertain as to whether I am on the right track or not.

The other consideration, as mentioned earlier, is to decide how you want your mix to sound. Typically when you record a band or musician you are informed on how the mix should sound. In this instance, if you were given a type of music or even a specific song, you would obtain a copy of the song for reference purposes. What this means is that you have a song and the artist/client wants you to match your mix to. In one way this is good because you have something to compare your mix to. On the bad side, depending on your reference song, you may have a real task on your hands to match your mix to the reference song. This may be due to the reference song being a complicated mix and/or weird in some way that makes it hard to match. Either way, at least you have something to aim for.

Once you have your reference song familiarise yourself with it by listening to it more than once. Each time you listen to it, make notes on aspects of the song you identify as being pertinent to your mix. These notes will help you develop your mix. How the drums sound, whether the bass is DI or amped. The tone of the guitars whether bright or dark. It is information such as this that will form the critical backbone to your mix. During your mix, switch between your reference piece from time to time to ensure you are aligned with the reference. Once you are happy with the mix, listen to it in a different studio and if you are happy with that, take it to your car, portable stereo and proof it.

References:

Benediktsson, B. (2018, May 04). How to Use a Reference Mix to Improve Your Own Mixes. Retrieved August 11, 2018, from https://www.audio-issues.com/music-mixing/how-to-use-a- reference-track-to-improve-your-mixing/

Dupont, F. (2016, May 30). Reference Mixes: Why You Can't Mix Without Them. Retrieved August 11, 2018, from https://www.puremix.net/blog/reference-mixes-why-you-can-t-mix-without-them.html