Simple MIDRANGE Mixing Reference Trick

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Simple MIDRANGE Mixing Reference Trick
#midrange #mixing #mixingmusic

Ready to get your midrange under control?
The middle frequencies in your mix can get crowded, which does serious damage to the clarity of your mix.
To prevent this from happening to you, I’m going to share a few of my favorite tips for mixing midrange!
Have a watch, then leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:55 Why Midrange is important
2:55 Use an EQ plugin
3:30 Midrange defined
5:30 Using a reference mix
6:30 Use a multiband compressor
8:15 A few more tips

Related Videos:
3 WAYS to A/B REFERENCE Your Mix in CUBASE
How I use the CONTROL ROOM in CUBASE PRO

Some of the gear and plugins I use in the studio:

STUDIO MONITORS:
HEADPHONES:

VIDEO FILMING GEAR
Video gear shared in this video

[ImDino]

I just came here to say "yes", I do this too across the whole spectrum, it's really neat and helped train my ears.

[deankovalsky]

dude. I use studio one and the only time I feel like using cubase instead is when I watch your videos. amazing approach and way of explaining, not like the kind of mixing engineers on YouTube that are trying to give you "recipes" for mixing, not like the kind that oversimplify everything and leaving you wonder what the hell is wrong with you not getting these kind of results, and not like the kind that blows you out with millions of plugins and hardware that are not the (main) thing making a difference. watching you leaves me with the impression of the most valuable lesson I got for mixing - approach. no magic frequencies, no magic plugins. just learning to listen for what the mix really needs and learn the ways and the tools needed to handle it. hard work, but that's the only way.
all the best.

[LearnWithStephen]

that isolation isolation idea is so helpful. Thank you!

[ross]

I find it helps me a lot when I do this for the low end, you can really pick out where the muddiness is coming from. I don't bother with the top end, I can't hear that any more :), that's for the young kids.

[MarcelloDiLorenzo]

I’m confused: Puig said the midrange is 600–3, 500 hertz, not 250–4, 000 hertz! Furthermore: with what criterion should I choose the curve? Why 24 dB?

[ihsannisha]

Chris deserve that like button! very helpfull

[madmuso]

Nice vid. In the last few years ive been doing this with bass gtr in rock and metal to help lock in the mid range of the bass gtr to the main gtrs. I duplicate the bass gtr to two tracks, one is strictly the low end, the other is the mids and up.
I then add an eq to the mix buss and engage a high pass filter. Now i balance the mid range bass gtr channel to the gtrs (and rest of the track). Then remove the eq on the mix buss and feather in the low bass channel to the entire track. I can always hear the bass gtr now no matter what size system the song plays on.

[green]

I had been doing the EQ trick, but the soloing of the bands on the Pro-MB sound like a way better way to do it as far as getting a more accurate refference (since it isn't actually taking out the frequencies, just soloing in on what I want to hear)! Thank you!

[mixbygygyondbeat]

Great tutorial like always. Like JJP would say, "midrange is life "

[skysavvydrone]

Hey Chris, great video as always. One thing that was perhaps a little elusive, however: After isolating the mid range using the techniques you demonstrated, what, in fact are you listening for? Obviously a mix that has severely chopped off both the high and low end is gonna sound, well, not-so-good, which I get is the point Given that, what are you trying to achieve when isolating the mid range? Is there something you're listening for in particular? What is driving the mix decisions in isolation? Thanks again!

[mylesm]

Hi, is there any way to see the list of the full gear you are using

[paullennox]

This is a great tip - thanks! I have been doing this whilst mastering and comparing the mid range (reference tracks through the cue bus to control room compared to my stereo master chain sent to control room) and it should be noted that a low and high cut EQ as applied as an insert in control room (so post limiter on the stereo out bus) introduces clipping unless using the EQ in linear phase mode. It caught me out for a while and I thought there was a routing problem so hopefully this info helps some people thinking the same! Thanks for your great tutorials!

[AVportau]

good vid. might sound thin but that broadcast sound 200hz - 4khz is the bit everybody hears.... ghetto blasters with an input, bluetooth, or USB are handy. they are usually the first to sound like crap if the mix is out... sometimes it's also how the track is mastered. the glue in the mix that may just push out certain sounds whilst cooking the whole mix eg: tape burn or tube saturation, plus a multiband comp like you're using.

[korkenknopfus]

Interesting technique, Chris. And simple to apply it. Thank you!

[sterlingpowell]

Great video!! I do have a question about that Lynx Aurora in your rack. Is it FireWire? If so, what computer operating system are you using with that? I also have one that I run on an old MacBook Pro. But I’m very limited

[hanisiblini]

Another helpful demonstration from a great engineer like Chris. Thank you

[Hteyasizyc]

How sufficient is this trick using the promb opposed to the actual auratone? Is it a lot harder to dial in with this trick? I ask because, just because i hear the mids soloed doesnt mean i can tell if the guitar or the bass has which frequencies of mids, where i assume the auratone is more full and able to pick it out better. Im not used to mixing in only band specific ranges, thats why i ask about the auratone. What do you prefer?

[johnrasmussen]

Thank you sir! Do you lean on just what you hear when comparing with your reference track, or what you see on the EQ or multiband compressor, or both?

[ramspencer]

I knew about this, but hadn't actually done it yet. Good tip. Going to try using this.

[loccaleus]

Thank you very much. This was very deep and helpful.