Recording & Mixing Masterclass with Darrell Thorp
When I started building my career as a producer, I was very fortunate to be able to work alongside legendary producers like Shelly Yakus (U2, The Ramones) and Jack Douglas (Alice Cooper, Aerosmith). During this time, my knowledge about audio,…
The BEAUTIFULLY Smooth Cloud 44 Passive Ribbon Microphone
We met so many fantastic companies at NAMM 2022 and we have a lot of news to come from them but, today, we look at the Cloud 44 Passive Ribbon. You can enter to win this microphone below. We invited…
Producing Modern Pop with John McLucas
Over 6 days and 30 hours, we've captured the entire process of creating a catchy, modern Pop tune from scratch. Literally. No preconceived song ideas, no lyrics, no loops. A clean slate. You'll get to witness producer John McLucas get…
Legendary Producer, John Kurlander Interview
John Kurlander really needs no introduction but, joining the Abbey Road at just the age of 16 he went on to be an assistant engineer on The Beatles Abbey Road. We had the pleasure of visiting John during his short…
How You Hear, Before Your Gear with Marc Daniel Nelson
In this episode of MakeMineMusic, Marc Daniel Nelson answers a most asked question regarding his monitoring system and why the Trinnov ST2 room analyzer is so important in the modern day of mixing and monitoring. ARTIST: TS3 SONG: “Prism” For…
ONE PLUGIN WONDER: Spiff by Oeksound
In today's video, we get to try out the Oeksound Spiff plugin! The Spiff is a transient designer, but it is not like the many other transient designers out there. This plugin is an EQ specific transient designer, meaning you…
Testing The Slate Digital VMS ML-1
We are back with another incredible giveaway and the free multitracks from the session For the month of May,  Slate Digital has an offer on their VMS ML-1 system you probably shouldn't refuse! So we thought we would put it…
The Complete Plugin Pack – Eventide’s Anthology XII Bundle Review
We cannot get enough of the quality of plugins that Eventide have put out over the years. In March, they announced their Anthology XII bundle that boasts over 30 plugins! Today, we're checking the bundle out along with our good…
10 Best Free Plugins For Your DAW in 2022

Bonus: 5 More Free Plugins! 11. Valhalla – Supermassive Similar to the extremeness found in FreqEcho, Supermassive combines reverb and delay for some seriously otherworldly sounds. Not your everyday effect, Supermassive is best for creating huge swells of lush reverb…

The 10 Best USB Audio Interfaces for Studios

After the computer and DAW, the most important component of any studio is the audio interface. The best USB audio interfaces around come in all shapes, sizes, and prices. Regardless of your I/O needs, you’re sure to find something that…

Mixing vs. Mastering: What Is the Difference?

Mixing and mastering are the two essential processes in polishing and finalizing a recorded song. If you’re making music that you plan to sell, or use to promote yourself (i.e., not a demo), you’ll want to invest some time into…

What Is Stereo Imaging & Why Is It So Important?

What makes a great recording and mix is oftentimes personal preference and subjectivity on behalf of the artist, producer, and engineers. It’s usually a series of small decisions along the way that amount to something great at the end, combined…

What You Should Know About Analogue Summing

As I’m sure you’re well aware, the analogue vs. digital debate still rages on despite digital’s advancements over the years. Whether you grew up working on analogue equipment or simply call yourself a “purist,” some folks still consider “old-school” recording…

Considerations for Mixing with Headphones vs. Monitors

One of the most common questions starter engineers have is whether they should mix with headphones or studio monitors. The answer tends to be that good results are achievable on either, or both. Unfortunately, this doesn’t do much to clarify.…

Mixing with Headphones: What You Need to Know

There tend to be varying degrees of thought on mixing with headphones. Some of us are in bedrooms, our parent’s house, married with kids (not wanting to wake them up at 3am!), etc. It’s understandable that in certain cases mixing…

How to Use Audio Pass Filters in Your Mixes

The most frequently used audio pass filters you’ll come across are high- and low-pass filters. High-pass filters (also called “low-cut”) attenuate low-end below the chosen frequency. Literally at the other end of the spectrum are low-pass filters (also called “high-cut”),…

8 Tips for Amazing Low End!
Mixing low end can be tricky, and it is something we get a lot of questions about! Today I will be sharing some tips and tricks that you can use to get great low end in your mixes! We also…
Top 5 Mixing Mistakes No One Talks About
Today we are going to be going over some mixing mistakes that are not talked about very often! These are things that don't get talked about a lot when it come to mixing, but I feel are very important! There…
Get an Analog Sound with this Digital Trick!
Today, we are going to focus on parallel compression! Parallel compression is quite wonderful and is definitely something you will want to use in your mixes! Recently, we did a video talking about loudness in mixes, and realized there is…
Simple Ways to Increase Loudness in Your Mix

By definition, loudness is a subjective perception of volume. It varies from person to person based on a variety of physiology and psychological factors. It’s also frequently confused with physical measures of volume, such as sound pressure level represented by…

Creative Reverb and Delay Tricks for Vocals

Vocals are the centerpiece to any song and generally require a bit more attention than basic rhythm tracks. Since the human voice is the most expressive instrument, you can have a lot of fun mixing them. There’s lots of pretty…

Master Bus Compression: Hardware vs. Plugins
Today, we are going to talk about Master Bus Compression. Many of you know about the magic SSL Bus Compressor, because it is probably one of the most copied bus compressors on the planet. From around the 1970's until about…
How to Use Parallel Compression

Parallel compression, also called New York compression, is a form of upward dynamic control. An instrument’s dynamic range is reduced not by squashing the peaks, but by bringing up the quietest parts in the material, adding greater detail and excitement…

Mix Bus Compression Tips for Better Mixes Today

Every professional mix/master you’ve heard has benefitted from a splash of bus compression. It adds what we call “glue” to a mix by smoothing out the overall dynamic range of the material. Done well, mix bus compression can take your…

6 Reverb Tips for Clean and Creative Mixes

Learning how to use reverb is an essential mixing skill. Time-based effects have the ability to add dimension to your mix, and give instruments their own sonic space. Reverb is often used to push mix elements further back, but it…

3 EQ Mistakes We All Make
Today we are sharing 3 common EQ mistakes, and how to avoid them! These might seem quite simple, but they are the fundamentals that I apply to every single mix. Click here to download the cheat sheet so you can…
6 Delay Mistakes We All Make
This is going to be a fun one because we have talked about this in different forms, and I started thinking about it, and with delays, there really are no hard and fast rules. As such, creativity is king, but…
Top 5 Metal Amp Sims
Today, Scott Elliott, of Chernobyl Studios, is here with us, and he is going to share his Top 5 Metal Amp Sims! I am excited to hear which ones he uses and why they're his favorite! 1. Neural DSP Fortin…
The Basics of Starting a Mix – Setting Levels
In this episode, we’re going to concentrate on the basics of starting a mix. This is a good thing for beginners but it’s also an amazing discussion point for anybody who’s intermediate or advanced. For me, the best way to…
Mixing Basics: Drums
Today, we will be going over the basics of mixing drums. We’re back with another episode of Mixing Basics. In this episode, we’re going to get into the basics of mixing Drums. If you recall in the previous episodes, we…
Compression Techniques: The Multiband Compressor

Learning to use a compressor is one of the most important mixing skills you can develop. Compression is all over mixes, even becoming the sound we associate with loud, modern pop mixing. If there’s anything you want to really understand, it’s…

Mixing Basics: Bass
We’re back with another episode of Mixing Basics. In this episode we’re going to mix Bass guitar! This session is available for download so you can follow along with me! These multitracks are from Produce Like A Pro Academy, every…
How to Mix Vocals to a 2-Track Instrumental

Mixing vocals to a 2-track instrumental is something every engineer will encounter at some point. It’s especially common in hip hop/pop, where artists routinely download pre-mixed instrumentals online and bring them to a studio to record. The challenge with learning…

Mixing Basics: Guitar
We’re going to do another part in our mixing basics series! In this series, we are mixing a song completely and utterly in the box using only stock plugins. So far we’ve worked on the vocal, bass, and drums. I’m…
6 Key Ingredients to a Better Vocal Production

If you’re struggling to fine-tune your vocal production chops, don’t be alarmed. Every time a new vocalist steps up to the mic, there are a bunch of variables at play which can skew our results from session to session. Keeping…

15 Mixing Tips I Wish I Would’ve Learned Sooner

It’s perfectly normal to feel like you’ve hit a wall when it comes to progressing as a mixer. A lot of the time we rely on our tried and true methods which get the job done, but ultimately leave something…

Guidelines on How to EQ 14 Common Instruments

Understanding how to EQ–probably the most used tool available to engineers–is essential. Sometimes it’s as simple as high-passing an instrument, while other cases require more precision. Either way, EQ is fundamental in making mix elements sound more or less defined,…

Mixing Basics: EQ Before or After Compression?
In today's video we are going to be talking about whether we should EQ before or after compression! There is not a lot of consensus on this topic, because the truth is, it may vary from case to case. The…
8 Tips For Getting Better Low End
This is a bit of a contentious subject, and one that is talked about a lot, but it is an important one! Low end is a crucial part of every mix, and if it is not done properly, it can…
Which Vocal Compressor is Right for the Mix?

We’ve stressed the importance of mixing vocals time and time again! Because lyrics are what average listeners immediately identify with, making a singer sound great should almost always be a priority. Amongst other tools, the perfect vocal compressor for the…

Reverb Mixing Tricks to Elevate Your Mix

Learning how to use reverb is an essential mixing skill. Time-based effects have the ability to add width and dimension to your mix, and give instruments their own sonic space. Reverb is often used to push mix elements further back,…

Understanding Granular Synthesis

Granular synthesis is the operative force behind many plugins and DAW functions we use all the time. When it was first introduced, it was incredibly CPU heavy and confined to offline processing only. Now we have incredibly quick processing speeds…

Top 5 Mixing Mistakes
In this episode, we’re going to talk about the five most common mixing mistakes. Those of you that follow me will know some of these already. 1. Not High Passing I talk about this all the time, just because we…
Summing Mixer: Digital or Analog?

Which summing mixer is right for you is dependent on how you like to work. In a small project studio where you’re working in the box, an outboard summing mixer is probably an afterthought. But if you have the budget…

Mixing Vocals: The Produce Like A Pro Master List

Have you ever had trouble getting a vocal to sit right in the mix? Have you ever felt underwhelmed by the overall tonality of a vocal, whether it’s too thin or perhaps too muffled? Does the vocal feel too wet…

A Beginner’s Guide to Sidechain Compression

Sidechain compression is an intermediate level mixing technique that allows you to set an alternate input signal source from the track on which the compressor is inserted. For instance, if you place a compressor on the bass guitar and “sidechain”…

15 Essential Mixing Tips for Better Mixes Today

Mixing music requires technical ability as well as the creativity to make a song interesting to listeners. Mix engineers firstly possess the technical knowledge of audio signal flow, DAW and/or console operation, and how to use signal processors, whether in…

What is Reverse Reverb? Should I Be Using It?

Reverse reverb, sometimes called reverse echo or reverse regeneration, simply takes the reverb tail of any instrument and reverses it. Creating it is a matter of printing the wet signal of a reversed audio track. Reverse reverb is typically accompanied…

Reference Tracks: How to Use Them and Mistakes to Avoid

Reference tracks are used as a guideline while mixing. They can be supplied by the artist to demonstrate a desired aesthetic, or chosen by the mix engineer as a standard to go by. Using reference tracks can help us craft…

Beginner’s Guide to Wider Stereo Image

If your mixes feel flat and narrow, like everything is stuck between the speakers, then you should put some work into the stereo image! But don’t reach for a widening plugin just yet—there are simple ways to achieve better stereo…