Transcripts
1. Intro: Master automation
on your brakes. It can really make or break a track if the brakes feel
way louder it and it drops, the drops won't have impact
if the difference is too big and drop hits so hard that
you jump up in your chair. That might be a bit
too much as well. But one thing is sure, it's something that
I do a lot here when mixing and mastering tracks
is listening to the signal, listening on what's needed to make the drop hit as
hard as possible. There's five ways
that you can go about this that are extremely,
extremely useful. You can use them
together as well. But I wanted to make an
easy to understand video. We're going to
automate with width. We're going to automate
with the low cut. We're going to automate
the high guts. We're going to
automate with reverb just to show you
what's possible. And of course, we're going
to automate with for you. I'm super high for
this video. Let's go.
2. Listening to the break and drop: We're going to start
with listening, do the drop and Ebb break
without any effects. Let's see how it sounds and already hit pretty
hard. Let's go. So that's the drop. It
already hits really hard.
3. Volume automation: First up is the volume. I've just simply dial back the volume of the
break by 2.5 DB. You can definitely use
less in your sessions, but do just show what it does. I'm comparing the four
Hume automated break here with the not-for
environment break and you can hear what it does.
4. Low pass automation: Next up, we're going to make the break last brides
by adding a low bass. And of course, this
example is pretty extreme, but it shows you
how much difference the break fields in contrast with a drop,
Wendy's drop hits. Super extreme example. But it works if you just get rid of the fairy top end
before your drop, it just suddenly opens up
so much more on the drops. And this is super powerful, but definitely be careful
with using this technique because you want to have energy before you're
dropped as well. Of course.
5. High pass automation: Then we're going into
the simple high-pass, one of the most use ways to make the drop hit
harder as well. In the pro Q, there is
the output level knob. I often use these
two in combination. So I literally lower
the output of the pro Q minus 1.5 and add some low-pass. Again, very extreme
in this example, when I actually use this, It's way more subtle
in most cases. Let me show you what
this combination of high pass and for whom
does for this drop. It's a dove way to have
more impact on your drugs.
6. 5 ways to harder drops stereo image: Next up the stereo image, I'm going to do two things. First of all, I'm
going to show you with the ozonide imager, how it sounds if I just automate
the entire stereo image. And then second of all, is a way that I like
to use personally a lot in sessions is just
religiously automating. A low bass on only decides
with the fab filter. Proceed three, I'm going to play you this and
I think you'll be pretty amazed by
how much difference this makes into how
to drop fields. So I was just super
dope because you can really hear the sound
getting more focused. And when it drops, the
stereo image opens up and it feels like a
whole new sonic world. It's, it's really powerful with all these techniques
though it's good to keep in mind that subtle
moves added up can really, really make massive,
massive impact.
7. Reverb automation: And let's go into
one that I actually don't use that just to
show you what it does. I've pulled up a quick
reverb here in Nextdoor as I think it's a
good sounding reverb on this entire mix. It's only in a little bit, and let's listen to what a
reverb can do and then break. So it just makes
the brake feel a little further away
and when it drops, it just sits so
much more upfront. And yeah, just really
has a nice contrast.
8. Combining all techniques: So just for the sake of it, let's try all these
techniques to gather and see how it sounds. So that's super extreme, but you get the idea.
9. Outro: It's important to have some
kind of contrast between the brake and drop
if you want to optimize the impact that
they'll drop can make. Don't forget that you sometimes need to do nothing at all. Or sometimes you might even need to raise up the
volume of 2-break. There's loads of different
possibilities here. So let me know down in the comments what
your favorite way of creating a nice contrast
between the brake and drop. I've really enjoyed
making this video for you and I'll see you
in the next one. Goodbye.
10. Bonus mixing vision: It's important to take your
track that you're mixing, that you're producing,
that you're mastering. Date gets as an unique
piece of music, it's 1 thousand
per cent essential into understanding the
particular track because if your truck is driven
by the piano and vocal is more of a
background thing, then let it be a
background thing. Makes sure that the piano
hits you in the face. Sounds upfront,
sounds super upfront, even when you play
it back on a phone, on a low volume, that's the main star for trek. Make it the main Star Trek. Dare to low-pass your thrombus, make it super dual, ring out the piano if
that's what you want, of course, is just an example. But sometimes rooms are way
more important than then. They just need to be the element that needs to be upfront. And the piano can be a
bit more in the back. Sometimes the focal
needs to be super upfront and all kind of
instrument needs to be back. But it's so important to
take the track that you are mixing as you are producing or that you're mastering
for what it is. And to not be scared
with extreme level, if you listen to hip
hop, for example, the drums are often super, super in your face because they give the energy to the track. But then if you're listening
to slap Alice, for example, it's the slab base, that's the element
that's super in front. But if, for example would do like a little in-between
break thing in a slap house track
where assent is playing and that's the
most important elements. So my point is you
can look at metering, you can reference tracks, but every track is
different and go with your feelings and dare to trust your
feelings when mixing, mastering, or producing
a track because the endless center has emotions. This is why meters are important
but not most important. Because what overrule Seth, is the emotion you feel
when you listen to a mix, listen to a master, listen to a demo to a
finished production. What do you feel when
you listen to the track? And that's why
feelings and order of importance is so crucial to
make the right mix decisions. So I hope that you can
take away a little bit of this fish and I think
it's dope to keep it in mind all your
next track and just dare to really feel your track. It's sometimes what
makes or breaks a trick. If you don't understand
your track and just compare it without feeling
your emotions, I think you're missing opportunity for an
even better mix.
Bram Fidder, EDM Mixing & Mastering
