Go Mixing https://gomixing.com/ Online Mixing and Mastering Service Sat, 11 May 2019 18:54:41 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 194905867 Instagram for musicians: How to grow your fanbase in 2019 https://gomixing.com/marketing/instagram-for-musicians-how-to-grow-your-fanbase-in-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=instagram-for-musicians-how-to-grow-your-fanbase-in-2019 Sat, 11 May 2019 18:54:41 +0000 https://gomixing.com/?p=32474 Doesn’t matter if you are an upcoming artist or an authentic rockstar. If you are a musician in 2019 you need to be on social media. Whatever you like it or not, that is how the music industry works today. For the most part, people seek music, tendencies, inspiration and amusement on social media, and…

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Doesn’t matter if you are an upcoming artist or an authentic rockstar. If you are a musician in 2019 you need to be on social media. Whatever you like it or not, that is how the music industry works today. For the most part, people seek music, tendencies, inspiration and amusement on social media, and Instagram is the most popular among young people. Music companies, A&Rs, artists, record labels, agents, all of them are on Instagram… And if you want to be found, you should be too!.

Okay… you won me over, Instagram is important. But I already have an account with barely any interaction, just a bunch of likes and followers. How can I grow my fanbase? How can I get new followers on a daily basis? Here you will find the guidelines and tips you need to follow this 2019 if you want to success on Instagram.

1. Comments are the most important thing on Instagram

Above all else, you should focus on getting comments and here is why. In the first place, you should have already noticed Instagram has a ‘search’ section where you can seek for new content. This section appears as a searching icon in the loupe bar. Here is where people find new things they like and where you should be found. In order to determine which post appear in the first position for determined hashtags, Instagram uses an algorithm that changes to provide users with a better experience. In 2019 a new algorithm has been implemented and it prioritizes comments over likes. Comments have become the most determinating interaction within Instagram’s new algorithm. That’s why you will see many influencers encouraging their followers to comment on each post. And you should do the same. Ask your followers to leave their opinion in the comment section or suggest a topic for debate.

For example, imagine you post a pic with your new Fender guitar. You could ask your followers what’s their favourite guitar manufacturer or what type of guitar they play.

2. Consistency matters

They saying ‘quality over quantity’ doesn’t apply to Instagram. On the contrary, the content is momentary and whatever you post will be forgotten in a few days. Sad but true. So don’t overthink it and post!. Instagram reward users who post most frequently. If you want a chance to be remembered or discovered by someone you can’t afford huge long periods of time without posting. This is especially true if we are talking about Instagram’s stories. You should be posting stories on a daily basis in addition to 2-3 times per week on your feed.

3. Find feature accounts

Feature accounts are profiles dedicated to publishing a post about a specific topic. They normally don’t create their own content but upload posts from other profiles in exchange for exposure. It is true that some popular feature accounts ask for money in order to post something, and that’s a decision which is in your hands.

Let’s say you play pop covers with your acoustic guitars. Firstly, you should go to the search section, select accounts and write something like “acoustic covers”, “pop covers” etc. After doing some research you will tons of accounts about your type of music or your genre. Check those which have more followers and send them a selection with your best stuff. They normally have an email for submissions in their bio. Finally, remember to approach them in a kind way, not demanding anything. You could write something like “Hey, I am an upcoming artist and a big fan of your content. I am currently trying to gain some exposure and I was wondering if I could be featured on your profile, that would be awesome. Cheers”

4. Collaborate with similar profiles

Search for similar artists within your same musical genre. This is important since you should have similar audiences. You should also take into consideration that the person you are asking to collaborate has a close number of followers. If the other artist has a lot more, he probably won’t answer you. If on the other hand, he or she doesn’t have barely any followers…well then it isn’t worth it. It’s that simple. A collaboration could be posting a story with the other person’s profile and their account with a message encouraging people to follow them.

5. Study the best hashtags and the best time to post

First of all, change your account to a business account if you haven’t done that yet. Once you have completed this step you will be able to check how many people reached you through hashtags in each post. You can also find a lot of useful data. Use this data to determine which hashtags and hours work better for your audience and niche.

6. Redirect the audience from other platforms to your Instagram account

Do you have a Youtube channel, website, Spotify Profile, Soundcloud etc.? If this is the case, don’t forget to redirect your audience among all your platforms. This means you should add all your social media links to each piece of content you release online no matter where.

Do you want to learn the most powerful marketing tools for musicians in 2019? Check this post

7. Don’t buy followers on Instagram or any other social media

What are you thinking? People can notice!. Don’t you think people can see your 40k followers account with 200 likes per post?. Consequently, buying followers is a bad idea. That will make you look like some kind of amateur desperate for fame and recognition. To summarize,  It’s much better to have fewer followers with plenty of interaction than ‘being alone’ with a 40.000 followers account.

8. Don’t send spam through DM

Do you like when you open your inbox expecting something interesting and suddenly “check my last track bro” appears? You have it, right? Then guess what, other people, too. I know it’s hard and frustrating when you release a new song and it doesn’t have the welcoming you were expecting. Disappointment can lead you to make stupid decisions but SPAM is not the answer. Making good music and proper digital marketing is.

If you want to learn more about Digital Marketing for musicians and how to grow your audience on Instagram and other social media don’t forget to visit our Blog.

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Programming Hip Hop Drums: 5 Tips to Take your Beats to the Next Level https://gomixing.com/music-production/programming-hip-hop-drums-5-tips-to-take-your-beats-to-the-next-level/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=programming-hip-hop-drums-5-tips-to-take-your-beats-to-the-next-level Sat, 11 May 2019 11:36:48 +0000 https://gomixing.com/?p=32471 Since I started producing beats I have always trying to find what factors distinguish an okay beat with a killer banger. I become obsessed with making my Hip Hop drums sound better. But…What’s the key?. During the first months, I thought the key was to come up with the best musical arrangement ever. After that,…

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Since I started producing beats I have always trying to find what factors distinguish an okay beat with a killer banger. I become obsessed with making my Hip Hop drums sound better. But…What’s the key?. During the first months, I thought the key was to come up with the best musical arrangement ever. After that, I convinced myself the most important thing was to add more and more instruments. Maybe my beats weren’t good enough because I needed to buy more plugins, more synthesizers, more samplers… I was wrong the whole time.

So…What’s the key to making great Hip-Hop / Trap Beats? THE GROOVE!

The groove is that factor with makes people ‘break their necks’ dancing to the music. Something so easy at first sight but sometimes so complex to achieve. The groove of our beat also allows the rapper or the singer to flow much better on the beat.

Do you want to know how to improve drastically your beats’ groove? Keep reading these 5 tips!

1. Take your time to choose the samples

A big rookie mistake is picking whatever you find first. “This sounds okay, I will fix it later during the mix” “I will change it with EQ” Wrong!. Take your time until you find the sound you have in your head. This way you will be off with a good start and end up saving time.

2. Try ‘playing’ instead of programming your Hip Hop Drums

You don’t have to be the next John Bonham to play your drums with the keyboard or pads. If you don’t have any MIDI controller I encourage you to get one. You can find pretty cheap ones and they will allow you to play whatever you need. Furthermore, you don’t have to play the whole drum set at the same time!. If you are a beginner is completely fine to play it by layers, first the snare, after the kick, hi-hats etc. And don’t worry if you have to edit manually or quantize something later, that’s okay. The point here is to try to achieve that human groove, that little imperfections humans make when they are actually playing. Over time, you will find that playing your Hip-Hop drums will turn out in a more natural result.

3. Don’t over quantize

Remember Hip-Hop is about flowing on the beat. Traditionally, beatmakers have always used sampled drum breaks played by soul, jazz or rock drummers to transport that groove and ‘imperfect’ tempo to their beats. It just sounds pleasant to our ears. We don’t want grooves and rhythms that sound robotic and completely fixed to the grid. It is perfectly fine to correct excessive off-grid notes but be careful quantizing everything 100%.

If you are confused about terms like ‘Quantize’, ‘Gride’, ‘Velocity’ etc, I encourage you to check this website MIDIWORLD. There you can find the theory behind these terms to understand how MIDI works.

4.Layering your samples

This will helps us when it comes to creating a richer and more appealing sound. For instance, you can ‘double’ your snare sample at certain points to create a subtle variation. You can do the same with the different drum elements in your beat, hi-hat, crashes etc. Change, alter, modify or layer your samples along the track. This will be unappreciated by the listener at the first moment but it will definitely make your beat more catchy. In order to layer several samples to create one unique sound, you will need to EQ and filter each layer properly.

If you want to learn how to use EQ while you are mixing or producing check this post.

5. Change the ‘Velocity’

The velocity factor is a MIDI value between 0 and 127. We assign velocity to each note to determine the force which the sample is played. This will give you an idea about what happens if you keep a fixed Velocity value along with the whole song. All the hits will sound with the same intensity, and therefore, robotic and boring. Think about a real drummer playing, can he hit the snare every time with the same strength?. When you are programming a default velocity value will be set for all the MIDI notes. Try changing them over time, assigning higher Velocity values to empathize or lower values to create a softer contrast.

 

Conclusion

Adding groove to our Hip Hop drums is about humanizing them. The better grooves and hits of the Hip Hop history probably come from sampled drum breaks. Drum breaks played by great drummers with a groove that makes us shake our necks and hit the floor to the tempo. Remember, the groove is the key to achieve a banger beat.

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Top 5 Best Marketing Tools and Techniques for Musicians in 2019 https://gomixing.com/marketing/top-5-best-marketing-tools-and-techniques-for-musicians-in-2019/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-5-best-marketing-tools-and-techniques-for-musicians-in-2019 Fri, 10 May 2019 12:03:53 +0000 https://gomixing.com/?p=32465 Online marketing for musicians is critical for an artist to survive in this digital age. It is basically the major development that has taken place in the music industry since the turn of the 21st century and this is due to advancement in technology. The longer you wait to implement online marketing strategies, the harder…

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Online marketing for musicians is critical for an artist to survive in this digital age. It is basically the major development that has taken place in the music industry since the turn of the 21st century and this is due to advancement in technology. The longer you wait to implement online marketing strategies, the harder it will be for your music to survive the competitive industry, especially when other musicians are already doing it.

When people search for a song, they either use the search engine, a streaming platform like Spotify, Deezer or Itunes. Now, as a musician, you have to devise means to optimize the chances of people listening to your music on these various platforms. Also, you will need to own a website for better outreach to your fans. In this article, we will talk about techniques and tools that you can use for the best marketing strategy such that your music can have the exposure that you’re so desire

Some of the best digital marketing tools for musicians in 2019 include the following:

Youtube Channel

It’s important to remember that Youtube is owned by the largest search engine. Google Youtube happens to be the second largest search engine. Adding this tool and video marketing into your marketing strategy as a musician will increase the chances of having your songs or any musical service that you offer on the first page of every search engine or music platform.

Personal Website with a catchy Landing Page

The function of the landing page is sending online surfers to your website such that they can go through all the information on the website. Also, the landing page will make sure that they do not get lost or distracted. You can always write less primordial information in secondary pages.

With landing pages, you can help confused customers take immediate actions without having to navigate and get lost all over your website. So let’s say, for example, you want more clients for a specific musical service like mixing and mastering, you can create a landing page that provides all the information someone interested in such service would want to know. And after they get this information and trust it, they can even provide their email address to establish a more long term relation with your site.

It’s crucial to have a clean tidy landing page on our website. This way we can lead our audience of customers to where we want them to go.

Google keyword planner

As a musician looking for the best marketing strategy, it is highly important to start with the Google keyword planner. This tool will help you learn what keywords and phrases your potential audience use when searching for musical related content online. This can help you create effective marketing campaigns using terms and language the audience are already familiar with. You can also use this marketing tool for a targeted set audience.

Remember: It is not only what people search for, but how they do it. You need to know which words they actually use to find that service you are trying to provide.

Do you want to learn more about Music Production? Check our Blog here.

Google places lash

This tool allows you to create an online directory listing for musicians. You can make use if these Google places listing show up before organic search results, and this would help your songs show up on page one of search results, making it easier for the audience to gain access to it. Also if you offer other music services like mixing and mastering, producing, etc., make sure to include all of the services on your Google places. A description such as keywords should also be included to help you show up higher than your competitors. Include pictures and youtube videos, and your Google places profile would help with search ranking results.

Ubbersuggest

Research shows that 80% of people who search online don’t go past page one of the search results. So it is important that you page one. This particular tool will help you spy on your competitors to see exactly what you need to do to outrank them on search results. This tool saves you a ton of time and guesswork by revealing your competitor’s online advertising strategy and budget. This will allow you to dominate search results and increase new website traffic.

Using Ubbersuggest you can find out an incredible amount of useful stuff. For example, what keywords you competence is ranking for, which are their most visited pages, the monthly amount of traffic they get etc. This can give you a powerful perspective about what you should write about, which keywords you should use etc.

Marketing Technique: Retargeting

An online marketing technique that can be used is called remarketing or retargeting. Now, are these just new buzzwords or is this something that actually works well? Let’s see. Imagine a prospective customer browses your services on the website. Unfortunately, the majority of these visitors won’t become customers. They leave your site before checking out. The reasons can be that it’s their first visit and they’re not sure about your company’s credibility. They get distracted or simply don’t finish ordering the service. They don’t quite find what they’re looking for, or maybe they just decided to go check another site.

This is where remarketing kicks in thanks to cookies. Every time a visitor goes to any of your service or product pages, this information is stored into their device. Computer or mobile advertisement system can pull this information out, even though the prospect already went to a different site. Reading various things, browsing social networks, or watching videos. No matter what they do, you can reach them with highly targeted ads.

The purpose is to remind them about your music and bring them back to finish what you want them to do. This marketing strategy is a highly successful one. Since you know exactly what to target and with that offer, you can also suggest alternative products. And as a side effect, your credibility increases.

 

Conclusion

With thorough promotion discussion, preparing, and execution of your services, you can grow as a musician in every aspect. If you are still sceptical about how to go about it, you can take consultations or talk to professional on explicit procedures and strategies dependent on your necessities.

You also need to have an understanding of the digital world to exploit these opportunities. We encourage you to take courses on SEO and other relates technique. Marketing for musicians within the Digital domain has become the most important tool for musicians in 2019.

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What does Music Producer do? Different types of Music Producers. https://gomixing.com/music-production/what-does-music-producer-do-different-types-of-music-producers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-does-music-producer-do-different-types-of-music-producers Wed, 08 May 2019 15:17:21 +0000 https://gomixing.com/?p=32451 What does a Music Producer do? Being a music producer has become a very wide term within the music industry and its meaning can vary. Traditionally, the music producer was the person ‘in charge’ of the whole production process. The music producer used to lead the band during the different production stages, be in touch…

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What does a Music Producer do?

Being a music producer has become a very wide term within the music industry and its meaning can vary.

Traditionally, the music producer was the person ‘in charge’ of the whole production process. The music producer used to lead the band during the different production stages, be in touch with the record label, giving instructions to the engineers etc. They usually had the last word when the good takes or decisions had to be taken.

The music producer was supposed to understand the musical concept the artist was trying to achieve and have an overall vision of how everything should be.  In conclusion, the person in charge of the album’s outcome as some kind of project manager.

Nowadays, when we talk about a ‘music producer’ we have to take into consideration multiple factors such as the music genre or the context. This is the only way we can understand what type of music producer we are talking about.

Tasks of the Music Producer

Here you will find some of the duties normally attended by music producers. This doesn’t mean this is the case in every production. However, it can give us an overall idea of how important the music producer role is.

Overseeing and managing the whole process

The music producer acts as the glue which assembles all the elements that take place in music production. Making a good album can be authentic chaos and they are in charge of putting the thing in order.

Coaching and getting the best from musicians

They need to manage to earn respect from the musicians so they can be heard. Many times the own musicians hire the producer because he is somebody they already admire for his previous work. The music producer must encourage and understand the psychology inside a recording studio in order to bring out the best from the artists.

Coordinating all the teams involved

When we are talking of big production there are several teams or departments involved in making a new record. The artists, the engineers or technicians, the record label, the marketing department etc. Part of the job of a music producer is to be in touch with each one of these sides of the production. All of them must work together in a productive way so they can come up with a big success.

Music Producer. What does a music producer do?

Sorting the album and the song’s orders

Sometimes the artists aren’t the best judges for their own music. A new fresh point of view can help when it is time to decide possible discards. Songs’ order and selecting the singles are also important decisions where the producer has a great deal to say.

Selecting the good takes during the recording

Some artists or engineers can become obsessed with the perfect take. Time inside a studio is always gold and the producer normally takes the lead managing the timing.

Giving guidelines to the engineers

They should have a general idea or vision about the sonic approach the album must have. Sometimes they choose who should be the mixing or mastering engineer. Others, they are responsible for transmitting instructions to the technical department.

 

Types of Music Producer

The Engineer

When most people think about a music producer, they see a person in front of a huge mixing console managing faders, smashing buttons and turning knobs. The engineer music producer normally has professional technical knowledge about recording and mixing and manage with ease the gear inside the studio. Actually, most of them are recording studio owners. They normally base their decision on technical aspects and are very concerned about a very specific sonic vision for the project.  They take care in detail about each process within the mix and spend long hours in the studio trying to achieve a sonic masterpiece.

The musician

Makes perfect sense that successful musicians become music producers at some stage of their careers. They have proved they know how to succeed in the music industry and are backed up by their recognition and musical skills. This type of producer is normally more focused on the artistic side of the production and provides the artist with advice and guidance about lyrics, harmonies, musical arrangement etc.

The Beat Maker

In the Hip-Hop or Trap genres, when we talk about the ‘producer’ we are usually referring to the beat maker. They are those who make the instrumental or the beats for the main artist. However, the beatmaker doesn’t necessarily have to have control over the final result. Sometimes they just ‘lease’ or sell the instrumental to the artist under a determined license agreement. Depending on the project, the beatmaker and the producer could be the same person or not.

A great beatmaker(maybe a hitmaker would be a more accurate term) who is also a music producer would be Timbaland. He is one of the top Hip-hop producers in history. He has worked with many top artists from Flo Rida, Ludacris to Mariah Carey or Demi Lovato. During the late 90s, he was so successful that the ‘Timbaland sound’ become really popular. If you want to learn more about Timbaland click here.

The Guru or The Mentor

Some Music Producers aren’t highly skilled in a very specific area. They seem to have some kind of aura surrounding them since they seem to know how to make a record to succeed.  Most of them are big audiophiles or music enthusiast who ended being involved within the music industry. They are some kind of respected authorities and musicians trust and listen to them when it’s time to make important decisions. They are a coach for the musicians but also decide who should be the engineers and give them guidelines about the album’s sonic concept.

The most famous example of this type of Guru Producer is Rick Rubin. He has worked with an endless list of big names within the industry; AC/DC, Adele, Aerosmith, At The Drive-In, Audioslave, Black Sabbath, Coheed And Cambria, Damien Rice, Danzig, Dixie Chicks, Ed Sheeran, Eminem, Frank Ocean, Gogol Bordello, Jakob Dylan, Jay Z, and an incredibly long etc.

Click here if you want to know more about Rick Rubin

Rick Rubin in the Studio. What does a music producer do

The Bedroom Producer

This type of producer has become extremely popular within the EDM or electronic music genres. They are normally talented young people who make music from home with the basics. I believe there have been two main factors in the rising of the bedroom producers.

In the first place, music technology has become more accessible and more affordable. Practically anyone can afford to set up a basic home studio. Nowadays most of the tools we need to start making music are a nice computer and a pair of speakers. There is no excuse anymore, making music is for everybody.

Secondly, all the information and tutorials around the web. Many years ago, before the eruption of Youtube, if you wanted to learn something you had to join a course or find somebody willing to teach you. Those days are over and no matter which DAW we use, we can find hundreds of tutorial and post online about how to make any music genre.

These type of producer usually don’t have the best sound quality since most of them don’t own top-notch equipment and are self-taught. Once, they stand out within the genre they have access to better resources and sometimes end up being big stars.

If you want to learn about Music Production, Mixing and Mastering visit our Blog clicking here

A good example of successful Bedroom Producer is Flume. He is a 27-year-old Australian Future Bass producer who starting as a kid making music in his room. Now he has become a big name within the industry with important awards under his belt. If you want to learn more about Flume click here.

The All in One Producer

I call this type of Music Producer the ‘All in One’ because they seem to be able to do everything and auto-sufficient. They are not just the the main artist. All in One producers are in charge of the whole production process leading all the decisions. They play, record, mix, master, promote, design and are in control of everything related to their music.

This is quite coming among amateurs or upcoming artist. Mainly because they don’t count with a budget for hiring or getting more people involved. It is difficult to find this kind of solo approach within the top level production, where typically there are several roles involved. However, we can find some cases where big artists decide to do almost everything on their own.

This is the case of Prince with his famous “Produced, arranged, composed and performed by Prince”. He was a real On In Producer playing several instruments, composing, producing, acting and I could go on. Check all the info about Prince in his Wikipedia page.

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Top 12 Tips to Equalize better your Music. EQ Mixing Techniques and Strategies. https://gomixing.com/mixing/top-12-tips-to-equalize-better-your-music-eq-mixing-techniques-and-strategies/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=top-12-tips-to-equalize-better-your-music-eq-mixing-techniques-and-strategies Mon, 06 May 2019 19:43:57 +0000 https://gomixing.com/?p=32444 Equalization is one of the fundamental steps when we approach the mixing process. Here you will find the top 12 tips about how to EQ during the mixing and mastering process. 1.Think before you touch anything One of the most common mistakes among beginner producers. They start immediately adding plugins without even listening to the…

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Equalization is one of the fundamental steps when we approach the mixing process. Here you will find the top 12 tips about how to EQ during the mixing and mastering process.

1.Think before you touch anything

One of the most common mistakes among beginner producers. They start immediately adding plugins without even listening to the whole song. Don’t’ rush and try to analyze how is the sound and what it needs. Think about how it should sound and which frequencies can be the problems’ cause.

2. Less is always better

You don’t have to equalize everything. Don’t go crazy with those gains unless it is absolutely necessary. Unless we are trying to achieve some kind of artistic effect, we usually want things to sound natural. Extreme cutting or boosting will result in an artificial sound most ears will find strange (even though they don’t know why).

3. Try cutting before boosting

Sometimes when we feel ‘it needs more low end’ our problem is excessive energy in the high-frequency range. Cutting overpowered frequencies a part of the spectrum can cause the sensation or boosting the opposite part.

4. Don’t do everything in solo. Listen in context

This is a rule of thumb. Something can sound okay on its own but don’t fit the mix when the whole song is being played.

You have to SOLO the sound for certain things but remember to listen to everything in context before applying the final adjustments.

5. Q factor too narrow

High Q factors can be useful when we are trying to reduce resonances. However, if we overuse them (especially boosting) can result in an artificial sound. Think that in the natural world something affecting the sound in a very specific area is an uncommon thing, and therefore, our ears will notice something wrong is going on.

Don’t know what is the Q Factor? Check this post to understand equalizers.

6. Filtering against masking

Remember that high and low pass filters are our best weapons against masking and overcrowded mixes.

7. Over equalizing is the most common mistake

I am sure this situation has happened to you. You have some vocals that don’t sound as good as you would like. Then, you start equalizing here and there and you end up using 8 filters, boosting and cutting +6dbs everywhere but you finally achieve something you like. When you come back to the mix the next day with fresh ears you realize it sounds terrible and the original sound is actually better. When you spend to much time playing around with the same sound you can lose the reference of what sounds natural. Our ears adapt to what we are hearing at the moment. Take this into consideration and don’t spend too much time equalizing the same thing. Take a break, go to do another thing and come back after a while.

8. Readjust the balance after equalizing

When we equalize a sound, we alter its loudness. Equalizing can alter the volume balance within your mix. Remember to readjust gains after equalizing, especially if you are making drastic changes.

9. Use the bypass button

Another golden rule. Always check if you are actually improved you mix or you just simply changed it for the worse.

10. Boosting the high-frequency range? Careful with ear fatigue

Excessive energy within the high-frequency range can lead to a hard unpleasant sound. Sound guys, audio technicians, DJs, musicians in general, we are used to spending our in front of loudspeakers and may have less sensitive for high frequencies than normal people. If you also have an excess of acoustic foam around your home studio, you could tend to boost in excess these frequencies.

11. Be subtle. Respect the sound.

Most times, when you don’t use equalize for changing the sound. What you really want is to improve it or correct fine details. This point

12. Improve your recording. Choose better samples.

If you need to equalize drastically in order to ‘fix the sound maybe you are doing something wrong. Try changing the position of the mics, improving your acoustics, setting up thing differently. If you get good takes from the recording stage you won’t have to spend a crazy amount of time mixing. If, instead, you are using samples, try to find samples that already sound the way you like. This may sound silly, but spending some extra time selecting the proper samples is always worth it.

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Note to Frequency Chart. Mixing in key. https://gomixing.com/mixing/note-to-frequency-chart-mixing-in-key/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=note-to-frequency-chart-mixing-in-key Fri, 03 May 2019 10:01:31 +0000 https://gomixing.com/?p=32351 Have you ever thought about mixing taking into consideration your song’s key?. The Note to Frequency chart can give your projects a more musical result. Do you want to know how? Just keep reading! Find your song’s musical key or scale First of all, you need to find the key of your song. You can…

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Have you ever thought about mixing taking into consideration your song’s key?. The Note to Frequency chart can give your projects a more musical result. Do you want to know how? Just keep reading!

Find your song’s musical key or scale

First of all, you need to find the key of your song. You can know the frequencies that correspond to each note, but this is useless if you have no idea about what are the most important notes in the song you are mixing. Experienced musicians and music producers can detect this immediately or just playing a few seconds a keyboard while they are listening to the song. However, if you are new to the music production you may find this difficult, so here there are a few easy ways to find the key of your song.

Check the key signature

Firstly, If you have access to the music sheet (or maybe you are working with a famous song and can just google it “name of the song + sheet music”), you can check the key signature at the beginning of the sheet. If you don’t know anything about music theory, don’t worry just find the ‘symbol’ in this chart and you will have the key of the track you are working with.

key signature chart note to frequency

Use your DAW’s pitch detector

piano-scales-chart-inspirational-minor-scales-in-all-12-keys-with-flats-and-sharps-of-piano-scales-chart

Most of the recent DAW versions in 2019 includes their own pitch correction or pitch analyzer plugin. You can also use third party plugins like Melodyne or autotune. These plugins will analyze the musical notes a track is playing. You can analyze the vocals or the piano and check the notes on the piano roll. After this, you only have to go to a piano scales chart like this (this website also has a complete piano scales chart) and find out what scale or music key corresponds. 

Use DJ’s software

If you are a music producer, there is a big chance that you also are a DJ or at least have access to  DJ software. Most of these software in their recent versions have a key detector, so it is as simple as loading the file in them.

Use specific plugins like ‘Mixed in Key’

Some plugins manufacturers have brought this technology so common in the DJ’s software to our DAWs. They are made to analyze the musical key of all our audio files.

I don’t recommend getting used to this kind of plugins because they will make your ear ‘lazy’. From my point of view, the best way to go is always a little bit of practice and training. This way, you will be picking the key of any song in seconds. In other words, you won’t have to do any of this!. On the other hand, if you are a complete beginner this kind of tool can help you to take off. 

 

Note to Frequency Chart

Now you have several ways to guess the key of your song, and therefore, your root note, you need to know which frequency corresponds with that root note. For that purpose, we have the Note to Frequency Chart.

Note to Frequency Chart

Okay, I know the root note and its frequency now… what?

In the first place, you can use this information to pitch your samples. This will bring a more musical result to your tracks. Moreover, when you are equalising your tracks with low-frequency content!. For instance, imagine you are mixing a Hip-Hop song and you feel that the bass line isn’t defined within the mix. Are you going to boost any random low frequency? No! What you need is to boost the frequency which corresponds with the root note of your song!. Let’s say your track is in Em, you can see in the Note to Frequency chart that the rote note (D2) corresponds with 73Hz. It’s that simple. You can do the same with your Kick, Snare, percussion elements etc.

Do you want to know how to use an EQ? Check this post with everything you need about Equalization in Music 

 

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How to use an Audio Music Equalizer. All you need to know about Equalization in Music. https://gomixing.com/sound-theory/music-equalizer-how-to-use-audio-equalizers-and-everything-else-about-equalization-in-music/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=music-equalizer-how-to-use-audio-equalizers-and-everything-else-about-equalization-in-music Wed, 01 May 2019 11:13:04 +0000 https://gomixing.com/?p=32317 In this tutorial, you will learn what is an audio or music equalizer, how they operate, parameters, elements, types etc. Everything you need to know about audio equalizers. So, what’s an Audio Equalizer? An Equalizer is an audio processor which allows us to change the frequency content in an audio signal. Using an audio equalizer…

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In this tutorial, you will learn what is an audio or music equalizer, how they operate, parameters, elements, types etc. Everything you need to know about audio equalizers.

So, what’s an Audio Equalizer?

An Equalizer is an audio processor which allows us to change the frequency content in an audio signal. Using an audio equalizer we can change a signal “boosting” or “cutting” decibels in particular frequencies. We normally use equalization when we want to modify the characteristics of our original audio signal, maybe for fixing mistakes during the recording stage, removing noise, or simply to change the tone and the “colour” of our sound according to our artistic criteria.

The Audible Frequency Spectrum

eq chart 1 instrument frequencies Gomixing eq guide. everything about audio equalizers

This concept corresponds with the frequency range at which humans can hear and it normally goes from 20Hz to 20.000.Hz. In order to section this range, there is a widely accepted subdivision of it.

Sub-Bass (20-60Hz)

You are more likely to ‘feel’ this sound more than hear it. These are really low frequencies, just a really big subwoofer can play them. Have you never been to a huge music festival and felt your body or chest vibrating? That was the Sub-Bass!. Not many musical instruments enter this frequency range, just some of them with a heavy bass component like a pipe organ.

Bass (60-200Hz)

In this range we can find the ‘body’, ‘fatness’ or ‘deepness’ of many instruments like the bass, double bass, cello, kick, piano etc. It is where fundamental notes of the rhythmic elements generally are.

Low-Mid (200-500Hz)

This is a very conflictive section. We can suffer from many troubles in our mix like the masking (when you can’t distinguish properly the different instruments). This is mainly due to the fact that many instruments have their main frequencies in this range (for example the human voice). It is also very common to have acoustics problems “room modes” within this range of frequencies since the wavelength of these frequencies corresponds with the normal size of a midsize room.

Middle (500-2000Hz)

In this area, we can find the vocal formants and therefore it is not a coincidence that our hearing is very sensitive to this range. We have to be careful when it comes to boosting this specific region since it can cause hearing fatigue.

Want to hear these frequencies? Check this video

Upper-Mid (2000-4000Hz)

Here is where many elements have their ‘punch’. We can also hear the ‘attack’ of the percussive elements. This area presents similar characteristics than the mid-frequency range, so we have to be careful if we don’t want to make an element so sound too ‘sharp’ or cause ear fatigue.

High end (4000 – 10.000Hz)

Also known as the ‘presence’ part of the spectrum. Manipulating this area we can create the illusion that the sound source is further (cutting) or close (busting). You should be cautious boosting these frequencies since it could make the mix sound too ‘harsh’. We can often find the harmonics of most of the instruments spread out around this spot.

Extreme High End (10.000 – 20.000Hz)

Around these frequencies, the signal usually decays and starts losing its strength. Its content is mainly harmonics and high-frequency noises. It is also called ‘the air’ or the ‘brilliance’ of the mixing because it gives us that sparkling or extra space feeling. This ‘air’ or ‘sparkling’ is usually desired in our mix but as with any other high-frequency sound, we have to be prudent with boosting.

Not all the human being have the same audible range. Usually, children have an optimal hearing and we start losing it as we grow. Hearing losing also depends about how caring we are with our ears agains loud noises, infections and different factors along our lives.

Elements of an Audio Music Equalizer

We are going to go through all the elements of a standard audio equalizer using as an example the plugin ‘Estudio EQ’ by Steinberg. This is the Cubase’s native eq plugin but… don’t worry! almost all the equalizers out there have the same parameters and work under the same logic.

Equalization tutorial GoMixing.com. Online Mixing and Mastering Services.

As we can see along the horizontal axis the audible frequency range is displayed (20Hz-20KHz). On the vertical axis, we have the amount of gain or decibels we can ‘cut’ or ‘boost’ from a specific frequency (from -30 to +30Db).

Equalizers are formed with filters or ‘bands’ and there are several types. Our Studio EQ has 4 bands and the type of filter can be switched in all of them.

Types of EQ Filters

types of eq filters. GoMixing equalization tutorial.
Low Pass Filter (LPF)

It attenuates the signal content above the cutoff frequency. We normally use them to remove high-frequency noise ‘hissing’ or the high content of an instrument. We can use a HPF to make our sound darker or pretend it is placed further or ‘in a box’.

High Pass Filters (HPF)

It removes or cuts the signal content below the cutoff frequency. HPFs are the most powerful tool when it comes to clean low-frequency noise or ‘humming’. It is quite common to apply HPF to most of the instruments which don’t have a very low-frequency content. Using this technique we can avoid masking problems and our mix will sound clearer in general.

Peak or Bell

Boost or cut the signal’s content around the selected frequency.

Notch Filter

it is mainly a Peak or Bell filter with a really narrow range of action. The most common use for notch filters is to remove resonances. Being drastic with notch filters can result in an artificial sound since it alters the original sign in a noticeable way.

Shelf Filter

Increase or cut the audio signal from the selected frequency to the end of the spectrum with a constant gain. It is quite common that tv or radio manufactures include this type of filters in their products’ music equalizer under the name of “bass” and “treble” (add or remove ‘lows’ or ‘highs’ from the signal).

Parameters of a Filter

  • Frequency or cutoff frequency: with this parameter, we can control around which frequency our filter takes action.
  • Gain: the number of decibels we want to attenuate or increase in the selected frequency
  • Q Factor: this parameter can narrow or widen the affected area around the main frequency. A high Q factor will result in a very narrow filter (notch filter) and a low Q factor will result in a wider filter which affects more signal content. This parameter is more specific for music production purposes and it is normally a fixed value in the most common music equalizer we can find in many popular products.

Different Types of Audio Music Equalizers

Graphic Equalizer

Graphic Eq. Equalization guide tutorial. GOmixing, online mixing and mastering service. Music Equalizer

It has all its bands or filters with a fixed frequency. They commonly have multiple sliders or faders to control the gain of each one of these filters. The more bands it has the more accuracy and versatility. However, we should not forget that this will mean a considerable rise in the price. They are more easy-to-use than the other types thanks to their visual support, and therefore, manufacturers include them in many products for the general public such as TVs, radios, hi-fi systems etc.

Parametric Equalizer

In this case, the equalizer counts with peak and shelf filters. It also allows us to use the 3 parameters (EQ, Frequency and Q Factor) in all of its filters. They are the most used equalizers inside the music studios due to their adaptability. Most of the EQ plugins are parametric.

Semi-Parametric Equalizer

Semi parametric eq Music Equalizer. Gomixing guide to music equalization.

They are practically identical to the parametric equalizers, except for the absence of the Q factor in their filters. You can not modify how ‘broad’ or ‘narrow’ are the action areas of each filter.

 

Active or Passive equalizers

We can also classify equalizers according to the nature of their components. When equalizers have active components they produce more harmonic distortion, emphasizing the odd harmonics (we could say they produce a more artificial and less ‘warm’ sound). They are generally cheaper, resistant and polyvalent, and that’s why we use them in all kinds of audio applications. On the other hand, we have passive equalizers, which are obviously made from passive components like resistances and coils. They are really expensive and fragile but in return of that, they barely generate any harmonic distortion and provide us with a warm cosy sound. You can find passive equalizers in top-notch mastering studios.

Equalization Charts

For audio beginners can be frustrating not to notice the subtle changes a music equalizer can make, or simply be overwhelmed by this amount of information. A good start could be this equalization charts which gives you an idea where the most common instruments have key eq areas. Remember that every sound and mix is different, so you shouldn’t take these frequencies as golden rules but as a starting point to play around.

Music Equalizer. Gomixing Complete guide to equalizing music.

Any doubt? Leave a comment! – Don’t forget to share if you found this article useful.

Now you know a lot about an audio music equalizer, you want to keep learning? Visit our blog

avatar

Alberto Echevarria

Founder of GoMixing.com

Graduated Audio Engineer by the University of Middlesex, London. Master in Recording and Music Production at the University of Stavanger, Norway. Mixing Engineer, Music Producer, Artist and Sound Designer.

 

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How to prepare your tracks for mixing https://gomixing.com/mixing/how-to-prepare-your-tracks-for-mixing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-prepare-your-tracks-for-mixing Mon, 29 Apr 2019 10:40:51 +0000 https://gomixing.com/?p=32202 Save time, money and get the best results from mixing and mastering preparing your project properly.

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If you are going to send your engineer all the tracks from your next project, you want to be sure to do it properly. This way you will save time, money and will make the whole process much more easy-going. Don’t know how? No worries, here you have a few key guidelines before exporting/bouncing/consolidating (each DAW has a name for it) for mixing

1. Send only the tracks you want to be in the mix.

Nowadays, the digital domain and technology in general, allow us to record as many takes as we desire, this can often end up in a huge stack of files and a huge headache for the mixing engineer. Picking your favourite takes should be part of the production before the mixing stage starts, and therefore, it is not normally part of the job when you hire a mixing engineering (unless there is a previous agreement for that)

2. Name your tracks appropriately

The best way to go is to try to keep it simple and clean. Short and simple is usually the best way to proceed (Kick, Snare, Lead Vocals, etc.).

A tidy session with all the tracks named properly always improve the workflow

3.Organize files by folders

The engineer will appreciate if there is a good organization and the .zip files and folders have easy to understand names. The more time your engineer saves during this organization process the more time he can dedicate to your mixing.

4.Remove effects

Make sure there are no processing effects on the master bus or any other channel; remove eq, compressor and any other plugins. It is always better if you let the mixing engineer work over raw files instead of files which are already processed. However, you should keep creative effects, preferably exported as a separate track (filters, delays etc.)

5. Make sure all the files have the same length

All the files should start at the same time. One of the most important points is to ensure all your files have the same starting point and the same length so they will line up properly when they are imported into another session.

6. Leave headroom. Don’t normalize your tracks

Regarding audio levels, please consider to leave some ‘headroom’ and ensure that no audio channels are peaking or with any kind of undesirable distortion.

leave headroom when you are mixing
Make sure to leave enough headroom in your Mater Fader when you are mixing.

7. Export in WAV/AIFF. Forget about mp3

All the tracks should be delivered in a professional lossless audio format (WAV, AIFF) and at least 44.1 KHz sampling rate.

8. Add useful information

Extra Information you should include with your files: Tempo (BPM), Key signature, Your rough mix,

9. Try to provide references and clear instructions

Some times is hard to deal with technical words within the audio world. Your engineer will appreciate if you send him a few references, similar genres’ tracks that you like how the sound. It’s much better if you give him these references and clear instructions than abstract concepts like “I want it to sound deeper”.

10. Check if everything is okay

You don’t want to expend a lot of extra time sending something wrong and doing the whole process again. Remember to verify each song before sending it. This way you can ensure that there is no missing tracks, bad edits, clicks, weird transitions, synchronization’s problems etc.

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