So today I wanted to start a tutorial on mixing in Maschine as I get this question a lot. Sure, many prefer to export stems and mix in a daw, or load Maschine as a plugin and mix in a daw, but for those that want to mix in Maschine, here’s the beginning of some basic tips for that.
Personally, I rarely ever mix outside of Maschine, out of preference, I don’t mind the sound I get from within Maschine, but also, I’m not mixing 64 track projects either so, it’s really up to you and what you’re looking to do.
This tutorial just covers one of the starting points I feel is needed, making sure your sounds and groups are at the proper levels in relation to each other so that you aren’t clipping at the master output.
Keep in mind a few things: each song or track will be different in terms of what’s needed in the mix, and mixing is not the same as mastering, they are different processes.
This is more about getting you into thinking in the right terms or ideas and knowing what to look for by getting comfortable with the process. Ultimately, it’s going to be a preference thing and you will have your own personal way of approaching things. But there are some things…like clipping, which are universal.
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Nice tutorial. I like the fact you reenforcized dynamic headroom. That’s one aspect that seems to be lacking in today’s mainstream music. Another good point you mentioned was not going past 0 db. I know a lot of cats that get confused on that subject. They don’t realize 0dbfs is highest you can go in the digital domain without clipping. It doesn’t help either that some software companies try to sell the idea that you can. But anyway man this was an essential tutorial, nice work.
Yes indeed man, I couldn’t start anywhere else, I feel that’s too important to not cover it first as it will effect everything else you do when mixing. Gotta understand the concept of mixing under 0db and also dynamic headroom to get good results, otherwise it just sounds all squashed.
Yo this was a good one. Can’t wait til you get more in depth. Good looking on the plugin
No doubt fam, glad you diggin it.
Nice one. Funny thing is I’ve been messing with metering plugins in S1 trying to learn how to read them and understand levels.
No doubt man! Yeah, they are very useful, especially in Maschine
Damn I been tryna figure dis out for the longest lol.. I hate the main meter on Maschine cuz it is decieving, so i stem it to Logic, but I like being able to make the beat and play it for clients all in one place instead of opening logic and Maschine. If maschine had multi tracks for vocal recording and editing etc I wouldnt touch anything else.
Brother I’m right there with you and have been pushing for this since day one lol. Add some audio tracks and a more polished mixer…game time!
Great advice man! Very helpful! It’s easy to let it ride in the red cause it sounds big and boomin.
Yes, many think red = loud, which = good…not so lol. It can still bang loud and have dynamics, without being in the red. Too much red kills the dynamics 🙂
haha.. im tryna focus on the tutorial but tha beat is slappin! my homie like
RUN THAT BACK” LOL good shiiid!
Hahahaha, that’s one of the factory projects from Platinum Bounce lol
😛 been looking forward to this , great tut bro! Keep it up 😀
Indeed bro, glad to help…and where did your pic go man lol
Haha my gravatar has a mind of his own i’ve noticed , imma check it and see wassup again lol
Hahahahahahahaha lol
Interesting tutorial – although, it kind of contradicts most of what I’ve learnt re. mixing and levels. (perhaps this is simply because you were using a finished factory project?) Most of what I’ve read suggests that as you build your track, you should be aiming for a peak on the master in the ballpark of -3db. This remaining head room gives you scope to add that extra volume using a limiter once you have a perfect balance of all your sounds. (or, it leaves room for a mastering engineer to do the same if it is being professionally mastered) How… Read more »
@Citizen you are correct sir but either way works just depend on what your workflow is
@Joe man big dog mad respect on this tutorial one of the best youve done fam
Ahh you beat me to it. Yeah I’ve said many times to be mindful of the master and try to keep things at -3db, I have my default project set at that actually, as it gives more room in the end, this is out of habit ever since my engineer buddies told me about it back when I was all hardware. But I know many don’t do it, so had to show a way to find the trouble points in a “done” track as that’s what most people are asking questions about. And thanks for the love on this one… Read more »
Yes you should definitely be mindful of your output as you are building your track. However, this was about taking and fixing an existing track. As I said, each song/mix is different, and most of the people asking me about mixing in Maschine already have their tracks done, like this one, and are trying reverse engineer it, or find out why their tracks are “clipping” once they export it. The point of this one, was showing how to find sounds that may be clipping in your track, I specifically used a “finished” factory track that was clipping already in order… Read more »
Cool – just thought I’d get clarification. Thanks SJ. Yep, very much a different workflow, since you were using a ‘finished’ factory project in this example. I still think some tutorials on mixing would be useful – while, yes, there are a huge amount of variables, for some members of MT, Maschine is there first entry point into music production. So if one is not pro-active about learning about the fundamentals of mixing/audio production/engineering… this sort of thing can come as a revelation. I know it was a good 3-4 months before I started asking questions like ‘How loud should… Read more »
ahahahaha, cool man I feel ya, yeah, it’s really just a learning game, soft rules, more about learning and experimenting
Nice info SaintJoe.But where do we find those plugins?
on the company websites, just do a search for free g or whatever and it will come up
Hi, thanks for the video. Could you give us a ball park time frame on when step 2 will be out? I have a beat contest coming up at my school and would like to have it mixed properly. All of the things you say I will do, and I will go get those plug ins right now, but are they 64bit?
cool man, there really is not step 1, step 2 thing, just sharing some tips to keep in mind as you’re putting stuff together. It’s really more of a trial and error thing depending on your track, what does it need, does it sound muddy, does it sound like it has too much bass, etc. Then you can use some eq on different things to adjust accordingly.
Ok I just got span and lvlmeter64 but that free g was a lil more complicated but I just got everything out the red no more clips what do I do now? Thank you so much
Cool man, how does it sound to you, what do you think it needs? Mixing is all about using your ears in relation to what you’re working with, not so much about step by step things to do.
o, ok I thought you said you do some more stuff with your drums so was hoping for more tips and tricks. It sounds good to me except now that nothing is clippin the over all sound (bass/808) is low but I guess thats what that headroom thing is. So I guess my question is what would you do after this? and will there be a part 2? you help me so much
Yeah I will do one on compression on drums but you don’t always need it. Is there anything specific you need help with? Also remember that your bass doesn’t need to bee too loud especially if you don’t have a sub or monitors to really represent the low end
ok sweet. yea the only thing kids wanna here at my school is that lex luger bass so it would be dope if you could explain what area (ballpark) for eq and compression of drums and 808’s to hit hard without the clipping. thanks again man 😉 Also I got that sonalksis free g to work and they gave me a bunch of other stuff for free for a few weeks like 27 extra plug ins OMG I will wait till you explain how to use um cause I have no idea lol
well you must remember, lex luger has someone engineer his tracks, I guarantee they are clipping before that lol. He’s said in many interviews he don’t worry about distortion he just turns it up in FL until it bangs LOL
lmao thats funny, hey to export my tracks should I leave normalized off?
I usually do but some people like it on, especially if you’re going straight from maschine to a cd, etc. Try it both ways and see which one you like best.
ok I tried both ways and for some reason it never sounds that good after exporting and playing in itunes WTF either way normalize or not but playing it on the maschine sounds dope what could be the problem?
could be your volume levels in maschine you may have it louder when listening in Maschine, I’ve never noticed any change in quality/levels when I export out of Maschine but I’ve heard others that say it sounds different to them. Make sure you’re exporting the master output?
I am doing the master also I have loop optimize checked and at 24 bit. In itunes it sounds like it gets louder and then lower over and over. Also the last sound in the song plays at the beginning for half a sec.
take off loop optimize and just export at 16 bit if you’re burning it to a cd anyway
ok ill try that right now, cause playing in maschine it sounds mix and almost mastered but in itunes it sound cheap like a keyboard beat digital and flat and not mixed at all lol
LOL!! I feel that lol
could it just be itunes? Should I leave it at 16 bit for sound cloud or if I get a youtube page? it sounds so cheap in itunes though it is driving me crazy
you could try you upload in soundcloud to see how it sounds there or after burning on cd, it could be some settings in itunes too
Some drum sounds change significantly depending on the velocity. I’ve run into situations where I need to turn a snare or kick down to keep from clipping, but by turning down the volume I’m changing the actual sound. Is there a way to change volume levels of a sound/group without it affecting the velocity?
Yeah the volume label is not the same as the velocity and it shouldn’t change the actual velocity when you adjust the volume.
Hi Joe. I love this video. Can u do more videos about mixing inside Maschine?
Glad you like it, currently I’ve been going through all the internal fx modules and doing a video on them, you may want to check those out too 🙂
The videos on the internal fx are dope too. Thanks
No problem, glad to help!
Good look on the plugin! I have a house track im doing where I brought the group volume up so in Span its peak is -1db and I lowered the master volume so you don’t see any red during the track. Overall, how critical is it to keep the master from seeing any red at all? Especially if Span says it isn’t clipping? Just want to get a good idea of what the volume limits are because my ear isn’t quite there yet for doing mixdowns.
It’s a good idea to avoid clipping/red as much as possible in order to avoid distortion once you export your yack
What’s up St. Joe. Great videos. Very informative as I am a new user to machine. I read the comment history and noticed a user asked about diff in sound quality in maschine vs iTunes. I can relate. I think this happens to me because I’m trying to mix on headphones rather than monitors. If you think this is one of my problems; can you recommend some monitor brands I should purchase? Also It would be coo to see you mixdown a project of your own so I can get an idea of what to look for.
One thing to remember, most songs are iTunes have been professionally mixed, which is an art and skill that requires practice and training like any other. Also, each song, and type of music requires different things so what may work in my situation may not be the same in the next person’s situation. In general, you’ll want some monitors that have a nice flat response, it also depends on the price range you’re looking to spend it. But there’s so many things that go into mixing that I feel it’s best to learn it from someone that’s actually an engineer… Read more »
Ok gotcha thanks man. Keep up the good work. I learned a lot on this site in just a short time. Now to practice.
Always glad to help fam!