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With many of the tracks I have mixed so far, I'm noticing the amplitude on the finished track is often all over the place, even though I feel like I'm mixing it properly. Sometimes with added effects, I find my buildup is louder than my drop, or the entire mix seems to be one consistent amplitude all the way through... What are some tips to keeping my volumes in check?

Automation.
And fine tuning any compressors you may have.

Most importantly though, arrangement. If you're trying to cram too much shit into one section everything will sound quiet and muffled. You've gotta be conscious of space when arranging. You can pull stuff in and out with automation to make the most out of your dynamic range. Don't think you've gotta search for the perfect level setting for everything that'll work across a whole track. If something needs a lift in a section, give it a few dB. If you've had a loop playing for the last 16 bars, pull it back a bit to make room for the new sounds you're about to introduce. You can get away with burying something quite a bit if the listener has already heard it properly on its own. They'll still subconsciously hear it even though you've pulled it back and directed their attention to something else.

Mix is a verb. Its really easy to find a value that works most of the time through out the tune and leave it at that. Volume automation! Hell EQ/filter automation. And yea arrangement. What SunkLo says about elements and volume automation and tricking the listener is very true. I've consciously noticed the effect while listening to music myself, I'm sure you've noticed it as well Nevs.

Pretty much just +1 to what SunkLo said.

You redundant fuckwad

It's strange how abrupt some arrangement is if you actually pay attention to it. But listening to the track as a whole, nothing sounds heavy handed. You can get away with a lot more than you think.

I feel reading your post your problem comes from not taking a break. When I mix down I find if, once I think I'm done, I take a break for a hour then come back I can hear mistakes in the mix. Normally after that I will still wait until the next day and come back to it again before putting it out.

Other than that just simple things like SunkLo said. If the intros the same volume as the drop automate the master up a bit on the drop.

bassbum wrote:I feel reading your post your problem comes from not taking a break. When I mix down I find if, once I think I'm done, I take a break for a hour then come back I can hear mistakes in the mix. Normally after that I will still wait until the next day and come back to it again before putting it out.

Other than that just simple things like SunkLo said. If the intros the same volume as the drop automate the master up a bit on the drop.

^^^^this man... ears get tired.. I like to get my main ideas out and arrange, then I take a break and come back to the mix down. And as for your buldups being louder than your drops, just automate volume. You want your buildups to build tension but not necessarily volume. Obviously you dont want your buildups to be extremely quiet, but you dont want them as loud as your drop.

When I was introduced to production, one thing I was urged to do was export the track I was working on, load in media player, switch off the monitor, sit back and listen. So you have nothing visually to focus on, closing your eye's and relaxing helps too, I tend to find myself picking up on things I hadn't noticed before doing this.

Echoi wrote:When I was introduced to production, one thing I was urged to do was export the track I was working on, load in media player, switch off the monitor, sit back and listen. So you have nothing visually to focus on, closing your eye's and relaxing helps too, I tend to find myself picking up on things I hadn't noticed before doing this.

I think this is essential to any mixdown.
Remove the DAW blocks and your mind deals with the sound differently.

Electric_Head wrote:

Echoi wrote:When I was introduced to production, one thing I was urged to do was export the track I was working on, load in media player, switch off the monitor, sit back and listen. So you have nothing visually to focus on, closing your eye's and relaxing helps too, I tend to find myself picking up on things I hadn't noticed before doing this.

I think this is essential to any mixdown.
Remove the DAW blocks and your mind deals with the sound differently.

Yup, so true. Might not sound like a great deal to a beginner, but the little thing's like this can make such a difference.

sounds like a good idea, will try.

SunkLo wrote:Automation.
And fine tuning any compressors you may have.

Most importantly though, arrangement. If you're trying to cram too much shit into one section everything will sound quiet and muffled. You've gotta be conscious of space when arranging. You can pull stuff in and out with automation to make the most out of your dynamic range. Don't think you've gotta search for the perfect level setting for everything that'll work across a whole track. If something needs a lift in a section, give it a few dB. If you've had a loop playing for the last 16 bars, pull it back a bit to make room for the new sounds you're about to introduce. You can get away with burying something quite a bit if the listener has already heard it properly on its own. They'll still subconsciously hear it even though you've pulled it back and directed their attention to something else.

What he said, but more emphatically. And to clarify, when you bring a new element it, bring it in 1.5 db louder or some small bump louder than you'd normally have the element, and bring some other elements down a smidge (sorry for technical terms). The ear will pick up on this new exciting element, you can then bring the new element down into its ordinary location, and bring back the other shit. The ear will think the element is just as impactful and exciting, even after being buried. Just to clarify.

Yes, taking breaks.

Yes, rendering out a stereo master, listening in a media player.

Yes, when listening, have a BLANK sheet of paper and pen ready to go, as you listen, jot down everything that needs doing. Listen a couple of times. You should have a hefty list if you suck like me. Go back into the project, and just start working on the list. Finish everything on the list, export, take a break, clean piece of paper, listen and make a list. Reiterate that process until your track is a steaming pile of shit. This is known as the nwj technique.

nowaysj wrote: Yes, when listening, have a BLANK sheet of paper and pen ready to go, as you listen, jot down everything that needs doing.

Haha yes, the days where I used to have post it note's plastered all over my monitor and desk space!

All good advice here...but seriously automating the gain on individual tracks through out the tune is actually less work than shoehoring elements into a mix with static gain/eq settings. DAWs don't exactly inspire this instinct but from what I understand this is how most band music is mixed. Come on...King Tubby et al taught us the mixing board is an instrument...play that thing like a fine ass lady!

nowaysj wrote:This is known as the nwj technique.

I've been unknowingly using this technique without crediting you.

Nothing else has done as much in terms of giving me a direction to progress a track. It puts you in the listener's seat instead of the driver's seat. Everyone knows it's a lot easier to spot other people's mistakes than your own. Treating your render like it's a track you just heard online gives you a fresh perspective. Write down all the timestamps and what needs to be changed/added. A more abstract variation is to listen to your track (after listening to other music to cleanse your sonic palette) and as soon as you get bored, write down the time. Then go back and add things of interest at those weak points. Sometimes just a subtle ambient effect or parameter modulation will do the trick.

There's also the rule of threes. People can't concentrate on more than 3 things simultaneously. So go through your track and decide what's in the spotlight and pull everything back. With volume, frequency range, dynamics, etc.

Well my twist on that technique, is to work a track until it totally sucks, refining all life and inspiration out of tracks until they are totally flat and mundane.

It is a talent.

In terms of the render test, another thing that I do is upload tracks to soundcloud. Something about the track being totally external to your system, mediated by a browser interface, puts it in the mix of the world of internet sound. Another way to get fresh perspective.

SunkLo wrote:A more abstract variation is to listen to your track (after listening to other music to cleanse your sonic palette) and as soon as you get bored, write down the time. Then go back and add things of interest at those weak points.

This can be a dangerous technique. After hours of listening to the same loops over and over you'll get bored of even the most interesting productions.

The truth is that you should have handled any problems with introducing new elements during the more creative stages of arranging a track. If you're dealing with this during the mixdown stage then you'll have no point of reference to gauge your interest.

You'll have to unfamiliarize yourself with the tune for a week or more to get your ears back to baseline.

That's true, it is dangerous, but so is the alternative.

The underlying theme is techniques to introduce objectivity.

That is also why having a group of producers whose opinions you trust is very helpful to achieve objectivity.

But more to your point, for beginner or average producers, it is more common to hear stale sections, loopy sections that should be progressing but don't, rather than songs with constant too quick change ups.

Again to achieve objectivity, listen to good tracks from established producers in the genre, and note the rate of change, progress, and evaluate your track against it.

I almost always am too static. Keep shit changing! Two bars should be like the max static section before something is changing up, new element coming in, going out, or evolving in some way. IMO, of course.

Ocelots Revolver wrote:

SunkLo wrote:A more abstract variation is to listen to your track (after listening to other music to cleanse your sonic palette) and as soon as you get bored, write down the time. Then go back and add things of interest at those weak points.

This can be a dangerous technique. After hours of listening to the same loops over and over you'll get bored of even the most interesting productions.

The truth is that you should have handled any problems with introducing new elements during the more creative stages of arranging a track. If you're dealing with this during the mixdown stage then you'll have no point of reference to gauge your interest.

You'll have to unfamiliarize yourself with the tune for a week or more to get your ears back to baseline.

I'm talking about things like automating volume and adding incidentals. Getting creative with your mix. Anything in terms of composition should have been nailed down in the early stages. At this point it's polish.

Great stuff guys! I've been doing some if this,such as referencing my tracks on my car stereo, iPod headphones, etc. however, I have not been using volume automation probably as much as I should. I've mostly just used it sometimes for build ups but never for pulling a static instrument back to allow another in, I've mostly done that with side chain compression. I would imagine using volume fades would work better, feeling kind of dumb for not thinking of that before

As a side point, I actually don't use the faders for volume automation. I put an Ableton Live utility plugin at the end of the element I want to change the volume of and automate that to decrease or increase the volume. Then my faders can stay at a base volume which would be the peak of the song, and can be dialed back from there.

I do the same in flstudio. Faders mostly stay flat, with some pushing and pulling. But volume automation is with the balance utility.