What reference helped you the most when you began remixing music?

[twogurusindrag]

I'm interested in the process and I figured why not ask? Thanks.

[BDJ]

Experienced remixers, like TJT and Veech, helped me to get started.

[JosRem]

George Martin used to say: All you need is ears. Have fun. Merry Xmas.

[Tex]

None.

You of course want a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). Most people seem to use the free Audacity. I use an older consumer program called "Magix Audio Studio". I rely heavily on the actual EMI EQ points not the 30-band EQ in Audacity because they are too narrow. I think you have to work with the EQs used to make the original mixes in the first place not the incredibly narrow modern EQs.

After that you want to use the available demix algorithms to pull the stereo and mono mixes apart. I subscribe to X-minus and MVSEP.

You DON'T need a reference audio system but you at least need to adjust your system to good reference material. Mine is adjusted mainly to the 2009 Beatles remasters and/or the original CDs and I try not to EQ past that.

It's my experience the existing Beatles catalog (excepting the Deluxe Editions) is just fine EQ wise. I know the low end was dialed up in 2009 and the early tracks are a little flat and I account for that.

Mid-range clarity is my main concern. Steve Hoffman was correct when he said "The magic is in the mid-range".

[Lord Reith]

Feedback from other people.

[Tex]

Also the EQ that makes an isolated stem sound perfect in isolation often does not work in a mix. You often have to EQ things differently in a mix or else it gets buried. For example vocals often made need a tiny bit of extra treble or mids to cut through the mix.

[Lord Reith]

Also the EQ that makes an isolated stem sound perfect in isolation often does not work in a mix. You often have to EQ things differently in a mix or else it gets buried. For example vocals often made need a tiny bit of extra treble or mids to cut through the mix.

Yes, EQ is a profoundly complex thing. We're really talking about volume. You have the fader on a mixer to control the volume of an instrument, but really what that is doing is changing *all* the frequencies together at once. So a fader is not enough. Boosting or cutting different frequencies changes the prominence of something just as much as the fader. Often you don't need to boost something at all, but instead just change the eq of something in the background and then what you wanted to boost becomes clearer. Or adding what I still call Aphex to a vocal can boost it without changing the level or eq at all.

It's all so complicated. The thing that probably helped me the most is simply listening to my old mixes after a while and thinking "That sounds bloody awful" and then figuring out what I did wrong and trying again. And again and again and again!

[twogurusindrag]

The thing that probably helped me the most is simply listening to my old mixes after a while and thinking "That sounds bloody awful" and then figuring out what I did wrong and trying again. And again and again and again!

That's really good advice.