How to Use Reference Mixes (The RIGHT WAY)

There's a right and wrong way to use references when mixing or mastering. Justin Colletti shares the best and worst approaches.

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[SonicScoop]

Do you use references? If so, when and how?

[freimutspitzkopf]

Good point. A reference also gives you answers. A mix could be made a thousand different ways and all of them could sound good. But a reference tells you what the standard is.

[wlfine]

Yes please would love to hear your references and what aspects you're utilizing

[GuitarJesse]

Great, point about selecting references that may not be your favorite song or even your genre, but which sound great. I’m trying to apply that idea more.

[OutbackOrchards]

The most poignant take-away fro me was your short discussion on trying to match the TEMPO of the reference to what you are working on; I had never heard that before and find it a very useful tip indeed.

[calltoadventureband]

I had a huge struggle doing this at first and now I feel like I understand what I need to do and not just add meaningless stuff

[DJMIDIMACK]

This was so amazingly informative! 🙌🏽 THANK YOU for all that you do (for us)! 👊🏽

[spence_da_fence]

Great episode! do the episode with your personal sonic references!

[fromthegotten]

I never even thought of quite a few of these points before! Especially sounding like someone else's record. Thanks for the information!!

[OutbackOrchards]

I do indeed think it would be useful to hear what your favorite reference mixes are, why you chose them, what you specifically listen for, et al … THANK YOU

[whosrichpurnell]

This is what we needed Justin. Blessings man

[LiebJohnson]

You mentioned doing an episode with your specific references and how you use them. That would be great!

[TheBeeOBee]

Good call about Odelay being a well mastered gem. That Ludwig fella had some skills.

[leerodgers]

Good and important content in this video, thank you! I would love to learn what you choose as your five great reference materials.

[TRaddcliff]

I’ve always done exactly what you suggest doing, for YEARS. One album I’ve been playing for 40 years, another, 25 years. And I know every millisecond of my references on every system I’ve ever come in contact and have played to death in my space. But my mixes still sound like absolute shit.

Boards of Canada - Music Has the Right to Children

Propaganda - A Secret Wish

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

Barbra Streisand Barry Gibb - Guilty

Level 42 - Pursuit of Accidents

Those three have perfect recordings in my opin. And I love the space on those releases. The clarity, and placement of sounds.

[sethtrey]

Best example of a sonic vs. spiritual reference: Nickelback.

[carldock]

Instead of referencing with a tool that show me in real time the difference between my song and the reference track I prefer a simple way. I use a matchEQ, I analyze my song with several reference tracks. Sometimes I use a reference track very different than my song. If I see that my song has too much low end, mid low etc in several references, that means I exagerated in that area and so I cut those frequencies. As for stereo field I use my ears

[carlos-nihn]

Hey Justin, do you finally put  jason in the 2024 lineup? Jason uses his neuman and his equipment to do it anywhere, all portable. He records, mixes and masters and produces incredible to see!!

[CookinBeatloaf]

My problem is being inexperienced, where do i start? I could accidentally choose bad references then start down a bad path. Also, it seems quite time consuming to do well, so when do you do it, final mix?

[KeithTrigwell]

Reference. Control Freak by Recoil (Alan Wilder)