Top 10 Rock Mixing Mistakes (...Why your tracks don't sound badass.)

There are secret norms and unwritten rules to making rock records sound like rock records. If you want powerful, impressive, inspiring rock sounds, Justin Colletti has the answers. And the pitfalls to avoid.

Whether it's hard rock, punk, metal, grunge, thrash, classic rock, grindcore, post-rock, post-punk, garage rock revival or just heavy music in general, here are the top 10 mixing mistakes to avoid... and what to do instead.

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[tortugulaproductions]

Two of my favorite examples of big drums with big guitars are In Eutero (Nirvana) and Houdini (Melvins). But what's interesting about the tone of the drums is that they're not huge because they have slamming samples and close mics in your face like an early Paramore record. The drums are huge because the rooms are blown up. The sound of the record is the sound of a huge room. Even if by some objective metrics the Nirvana and Melvins mixes are smaller, they FEEL massive because of how the rooms are utilized. It seems to me size is often mistaken for things being in your face all the time which is not always the case. Of course, both of these albums do have different balances and relationships between the drums, guitars, and vocals. But what they have in common is a superb sense of depth that enhances the perception of size in the mixes.

[wailingbear]

I must be weird, I loved this.
I've watched many videos over the years searching for the odd nugget here and there. But, to me at least, this is pure paydirt. It's the way you approach it from a mastering perspective. Clearly defined concepts and useful suggestions. Been trying to get the best out of recent recordings. The timing couldn't be more perfect. Thank you Justin. Weird is wonderful.

[flakebelly]

Great podcast, I'd love you to do one for an acousticy, indie-folkish, singer songwriter sound. Cheers!

[GuitarMonkey]

Very helpful! A lot of the time when you’re talking about width or big sounding guitar and drums, it just makes me think about how much song arrangement matters to go from a good mix and a great mix.

I definitely would benefit from a similar video for modern pop and rap. I have a lot of trouble with weighing the importance of all the elements added.

[monsterofeastfelton]

I've been making so many of these mistakes. Thank you for the awesome helpful advice!

[WayneW]

Amazing lesson Justin. Everything under the sun is about EDM or pop, so I was so glad to have found your video on this. You have solidified many pieces of mixing, in clear words, that many of us find hard to nail down. I can rarely hang through presentations longer than 10 minutes, but I was glued to this. I've been recording, writing, mixing for a long time but you helped solidify a lot of things that I haven't been able to clearly see on my own. Thank you... liked and subscribed.

[Hedghog]

This video feels like a personal attack on everything I do :D

Great video, I love the style and depth of explanation

[justinhayes]

This is such great advice! I’ve been so guilty of trying to make drums sound huge at the expense of guitars. Recently, I was mixing a punk rock song and I referenced a Green Day song and had this realization. The guitars are SO loud and big in a lot of their songs. I followed suit and the mix is so much more exciting.

[kaislivesoundchannel]

I watched a lot of your videos and a lot of things you said turned out to be already in my knowledge base, but here are some diamonds for me right there.

[desreb]

No.6 :: the 'Grizzly BeAr' reference.. that old garage band kick is what got me. Good info. 'Know what the rule is before, if you are going to break them.'

[fivebyfivesound]

The thing that’s tripped me up the most in the past with mixing rock is trying to make both the guitars and the drums big. Took me a while, and listening more critically to great-sounding rock records to realize it’s a trade off. Also, giving the guitars uninterrupted real estate on the sides—especially keeping vox out of there most of the time—took a while.

Great insights, thank you!

[LocaliLLocano]

Good tutorial about blending different guitar parts to get a stereo field feel. Thanks

[justinredman]

Awesome video, Justin! And yes I’m weird just like you. The one thing I would add is how important saturation is in this overly digital age we live in. Nothing sounds worse than a thin, harsh, brittle sounding rock record.

[octaviohenrique.n]

awesome. Always wondered how breaking benjamin was mixed, for that effect, huge guitars and drums... even the clean guitar tones. fell on black days is my favorite from cornell. Thanks for the awesome contet! Cheers from Brazil!

[timothygilman]

Justin. Excellent lesson. So many great ideas and thoughts. I will need to try them on my current mix and see how things work out. Thanks for making this lesson.

[makemusicordie]

I think your vids are my favorite long-format audio geekery! I get a lot of great perspective and reminders from you and appreciate them! Cheers!

[hillelmusic]

Hey Justin, thank you so much for this video. Just what I needed as I’m currently mixing a Country Rock track. I’ve gone through Mixing Breakthroughs and I’m another to add to your positive testimony list. As guaranteed, has been a breakthrough in my mixing and I’m finally getting confident enough in my own mixes to finish them so I can send them over to you for mastering… but this video has been one of the most helpful conceptually for me of any you’ve put out… and I’ve watched just about every YT video you’ve released. Thanks again, you’re one of the best content creators in audio around!

[josephramone]

Invaluable information 💯 Your bit about Rock requiring the focus to be on the midrange is absolute TRUTH! When the focus shifts to a prominent high hat, the mix becomes too bright and loses its grit, and Rock is synonymous with GRIT!

As for balance between drums and guitar in Rock mixes, my favorite references are Rush "Signals" and "Moving Pictures". The last two records that the legendary Terry Brown produced for the band.

In those two records, we have a power trio and producer who'd been working together for a couple of decades and learned how to perfectly balance the drums, bass and guitar.

Someone could argue that those Rush albums are centered around the drumming, because of how powerful and technical Peart played. Yet, the guitars are in the forefront, driving the music, with equal presence as the drums - and synths on the last few records.

Geddy's bass on Rush records is often way up the neck, and doing lots of fills and improvised licks. For that sound, Terry used little to no reverb or delay, forcing the bass to be centered and very narrow. Meanwhile, Lifeson was very wide on the landscape with all sorts of choruses, delays and reverbs, and sometimes double-tracking, but rarely improvising inside of riffs.

I've never walked away from Rush albums, especially the aforementioned, thinking how "great the drumming was". It's always about the WHOLE with Terry Brown and Rush.

Look to Terry Brown for Rock production. He never disappoints!

[allanlinker]

Great info. I usually find these list types videos a little vague but this one was super helpful, especially as a starting point for further investigation!

[spartyjames]

This was super helpful, thank you Justin!! Another great video!