Don't start mixing in Ableton Live without THIS!

Seems like Ableton Live has a secret ingredient to save you time on mixing and mastering...🤫 It helps a lot to level your instruments, drums and basses properly which is a MAJOR KEY to have a good sounding mix (ask any major engineer or music producer)

...with a little bit of will you can easily replicate this method for any DAW!

Link to FREE Creative Extensions by Ableton

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[darkcharmtheproducer]

Man I just had to come back to leave a comment to say THANK YOU SO MUCH. I pulled off all my plugins on and old mix and reset my levels as you have described here bewteen the ceratin ranges provided on the level meter.... listen man THANK YOU from the bottom of my soul. This is going to make things so much easier from now on. I pray from this day forward that my mixes stay consistent now. The part about using the same drums is absolute gold. I've been making music for years. My most succesful instrumental was used in a song with now over 18million views and the lady is damn near famous in Jamaica because of it. The mix I sent them was terrible but still it was successful. I can bet my life on it that now with these tips I can do it again but much easier this time. A major thing for me was that after the song got so big I was overthinking my mixes way too much.... not anymore, Thank you Zdrewe. Thank you.

[MatBlack-oc]

I'm perfectly happy using the stock limiter on the master. Just don't push into it. Color limiter is definitely not something i'd recommend or want on a master. Great for smashing individual sounds though. Blue Cat free gain suite plugin bundle has a plugin that allows you to link channels together in groups and adjust gain on them all together. Now that's a useful tool for quicker mix gainstaging.

[Analoque]

I use a utility tool in every channel to turn volume down. The faders stay mostly on 0dB and get only minor movements in a later stage. Due to the logarithmic scale of the faders, you will have more control on upper parts of the fader, one of the reasons I do it this way.

[Undisputed]

I usually set my kick to hit at -12db to have my whole mix end up around -6db before my mastering. I like starting everything extra low so when I’m producing, and then mixing everything, I can get a mix I’m happy with without any distortion or headroom issues. Then if I need to turn things up before a master, I can just highlight everything and turn up the whole mix to taste. Works great for tech house and techno.

[rodeointblud]

I usually have my kick and snare sitting at 6db, mids about 20 and bass around 15 up to 25 db depending on a song. Other elements will depend on my mood but never louder than a 12 db.
I like to use tons of compression, mb compression and limiting on my master chain so in the end it sounds pretty decent. Being using this method and master chain that I discovered for myself for a few years now and still very happy about results. Never disappoints.

[jprnn]

That last point about sound selection, which is basically song arrangement, is really important.

[Karson....]

this is the single greatest tip for mixing i've ever learnt on youtube. I actually can't believe the difference this made in my mixes! This will be a video i will be sharing! amazing tip and greatly appreciate this video!

[RamonIRL]

One of the best mixing videos I have ever seen. Using -6 / -12 should be common sense but you are 100% in that theory. Thanks

[Yohmss]

if your mix is ​​good, you just have to send everything to a bus and lower the volume, or you can also put a utility at the start of the chain on the master bus ! in 32 bit float, you dont have problem

[madsonit]

Yeah, rules don’t really exist and as long as it sounds good, who cares. But mixing from the start with a limiter on is a huge trap. It’s honestly exactly the opposite of what you mentioned. Mixing with a limiter will lead you to miss on proper level balancing. A limiter will lower your kick if it’s too loud. It will compress your mix. You could end up with a squashed mix and you won’t know what’s the reason for it. You might need your kick louder in the mix but because your limiter is already struggling, making the kick louder ends up sounding even worse. It’s way healthier to add your limiter towards later stages after you already got everything right and leveled.

[Kiroprimetube]

Great video brother, when i saw you doing all these tricks it just brought a smile to my face because I’ve been using this method of mixing for years now and it never fails, still managed to find useful tips in here, keep it up bro 👏🏽

[jacques_vortex]

No offense but I believe mixing is more about listening and following what your heart tells you

[JoyfulWAVE]

If you start with your kick at -12db you will land at the end at about -6db... perfekt for mastering. Yes...i also use the limiter to produce right into it. But don't forget to turn it off when you render it out for mstering....i mean when you dont master right away in the same project. But that is something i never do. Most important...HAVE FUN !!! ❤️☮️☯️❤️☮️☯️❤️

[Cytasis]

i use a reference (mastered) and turn it down by -12dbfs. i also anker my kick around -12db so i have enough room for my master. no need to put a limiter an my master channel

[tjerja]

Your videos are so great! they are inspiring and help newbies with great tricks that will speed up to learn the essentials about music production. Love to see more of your videos. Much appreciated. 👍

[maz_amor]

Thanks brother im thinking to go back to old productions and this is a good "step by step" to approach them.

[philbofettiArchive]

I prefer using a soft clipper to boost the mix.
Initial clipper is a free one that I use, and it's honestly been a game changer.

[ScouseHouseClassics]

I always leave -3 to -4 headroom after a mix very similar to how this is done. It's plenty. Round about -15 Lufs which I boost to -9 in my master chain

[EannaButler]

I wouldn't use the Mixer gain sliders to set project levels. Use a Utility instead.
That way, you can automate levels in arrangement view using the channel faders, and know that all faders at 0dB is your max permitted volume.

[NarcKilla-hktl]

If you had your mix levels right you would not need a limiter or clipper. Maybe a maximiser but adding a compressor before that. Yes but a clipper/limiter is only needed because you haven't got your mix right.