In mixing?

It is one of the most important things for beats and full songs and when one of my actual music friends irl showed me long time ago my mixes became better and i started getting commissions for it

I mean im sure theres some vids or if you specifically search it out, but most general mix vids ive seen especially when i was brand new to this only talks eq & sometimes compression

Yes it is all important including crushers and filtering but stereo shaping and separation is the best for sitting in sounds especially ones that take a lot of room up and you dont want to strip and destroy it - & furthermore its such an important function that shouldnt be omitted - sounds AND ESPECIALLY VOCALS

Edit/update: I'll post more tips and "sauce secrets" when I think of them or remember over time from time to time like how i had a major thread on ktt1 about stuff like this!

if youre on fl studio check out the native plugins called "fruity stereo enhancer" & "fruity stereo shaper" and experiment with it

thank me later

Because youtube tutorial dorks with none of their own sauce cant wait to reach for a compressor

The stereo separation knob on FL studio mixboard is simple to use but such a game changer when mixed with good sound design and quality plug-ins

yeah ive always been complimented on my mixing "its really clean while still keeping character" for beats but i could never do vocals to save my life before

until one of irl friends showed me when were on a convo about mixing and asked why dont i do vocals

youtube has an obsession with eqing - i picked up some stuff from them & every once in a while i will watch a vid in my reccs just to peep game or just to refresh even tho i know what im doing now, but NONE has ever brought up stereoing the one i saw last night is what prompted this thread because they only showed eqing, mentioned (but not showed) compression and that was it - no stereo shaping/enhancing at all mentioned or in the mixer chain

i did this on ktt1 a lot and some on ktt2 but everytime i learn "secert sauce" i always pass it on here f*** all that gatekeeper & algorithm s*** - this is just another one of those

i’ve had to watch a million of those and still don’t understand what compressors do nor how to use them

i just use the gain and call it a day

it adjust harmonics and frequencies that is beyond "just volume" of the actual wave print

like turning it up a lot will peak it, but compressing "it up" will not - in simple terms: volume turns ALL freqs up while compress is going after specifics & more "niche areas" is how i understand it

its to get some tones & layers more up/front or under/beneath

compressing for me is mostly used on bass so i can "deepen" or "increase" it without blowing up speakers or making it sound like a terrible bass boost vid

it can also make sounds "wider/full" to a degree

but of course youre not only doing compression - compression in tandem with other mixing effects bring the whole piece out to a point

there are plugins that do compressing tho without telling you like sausage fattener or soundgoodizer - which those combine a bunch of effects into one - they can help a lot if youre new/rough on mixing (just dont abuse it or use it as a crutch)

Also another thing i do that is different to the youtube sphere

they mix after their whole project is done

I mix as im building my project

they mix at the end, i mix as im going

But anyways, lesson of the story

GET REAL LIFE IN PERSON MUSIC FRIENDS

It is invaluable

I am mostly self taught while some of my music friends actually went to college for music - so our two perspectives & my "hacks" plus their fundamentals creates a better product altogether when we employ each others advice/teachings - while making us as individuals stronger & more skilled

Both side of self taught & fundamental are equally important - And having friends irl that are doing things similar is SO PARAMOUNT, not only does it bring other perspectives and teachings that you wouldnt get otherwise or through a video but it also opens doors

To put it simply, its good for shaping a sound into different pockets/spaces of the stereo field

Think of it like panning but instead of side to side, its up, down, front and back. With a bit more nuance

Factoid good thread brodie

Big facts

I work closely with a music theory genius and with my intuitive mad scientist approach, we made some real quality stuff together

This is why it’s important to actually also read the manuals that come with all these DAWs. I get that the common thing is to just learn as you go or have other people teach you, but there’s literally in depth explanations and answers in the manuals of what everything in the DAW means, how to use it, and what it will affect. And to also take time and learn some theory. The learning curve can be quick too with consistent practice, utilization and (re)reading

sheeesh very informative thank you been trying to find ways to create more space in mixes thank you

also do you mix in fl?

Waves S1 stereo enhancer the goat plugin for this

Your right tho, I never see people talk about this

I actually learned how key it was because I was watching PVLACE break down how he made (or stole) a sample and he pretty much emphasized how important that waves s1 plug-in was

Good looks 💯

yes i do - i do everything in FL

the native stereo plugins that i listed are what i use for that in general, but i also have a lot of vsts/plugins for sounds and mixing

fl has a lot of great native plugins tho - i would suggest if someone is tight on money (or dont know/cant get torrents/cracks) i would suggest learn on the native plugins first for whatever you want then go to outside plugins for buying/cracking after - but some of fl's like the stereo stuff is already industry standard!

Fruity Stereo Shaper is the main and powerful "sauce", mess around with its presets to see what it can do ad then experiment/adjust from there!

how stereo enhancing and placing is GOAT & once you learn about is and really start getting it down it literally then gives you control of the ENTIRE SPACE of your work

For stereo enhancing and shaping, make sure you do it in headphones first - then you can test on monitors and tweak from there

Good flatline (it means headphones with no self eqing or sound tricks) headphones with stereo work gives you the full picture of the space youre working in and it especially helps when you put stuff really in the front or really in the back that you cant conceptualize on speakers at least especially at first

If i come up with or remember other stuff at any point i'll post in this thread at some time!

this is my situation basically, although now i personally know fundamentals now (though very very basic fundamental lmao) but some of are self taught while a good amount of us are traditionalist and when we all come together its amazing and so much s*** gets done ridiculously quick

Love those moments and them lightning in a bottle events

Real

It’s probably my most used effect even more than reverb