Home Studio….How Did You Learn the Ropes?

Like others have said, trial and error with a lot of the latter. I still have a TON to learn too.

Use pro mixes as reference. Listening to isolated tracks on youtube and such helps a lot with figuring out how each instrument sounds by itself compared to how it sounds in the full mix. Use a bandpass filter or parametric EQ to teach yourself what the various frequency bands sound like on various instruments. This helps speed up dialing in tones and mixing a ton.
 
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mr_fender said:
Like others have said, trial and error with a lot of the latter. I still have a TON to learn too.

Use pro mixes as reference. Listening to isolated tracks on youtube and such helps a lot with figuring out how each instrument sounds by itself compared to how it sounds in the full mix. Use a bandpass filter or parametric EQ to teach yourself what the various frequency bands sound like on various instruments. This helps speed up dialing in tones and mixing a ton.
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Yup. Learn where and how to cut, and cut some more. :)

In my infancy I used to assume it was all about boosting EQ, and then ended up with
a mountain of mud. I am still discovering about the kinds of surgical precision it takes
to make those strategic "cuts" that allow for everything to have its place in the mix.
 
Diego said:
Try this: https://www.telefunken-elektroakustik.com/multitracks
A lot of great track well recorded to start with
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Thanks! I will check that out. I keep wondering if there are any sites out there where people are looking for someone to mix and master their songs. I would do a lot more of it if I could find people looking for it. I think it would be cool to have a site where you could pull down tracks and make a song with it and compare it to what others created with the same tracks. That would be a community that I would love to be part of.
 
Lots of trips to my truck to check mixes in the last few years. Lots of them. At one point I just brought my laptop in there, coming out of the headphone jack and finished a mix in my driver’s seat. :D

The biggest thing that helped me was top-down mixing; IE keeping a compressor (or two) and a limiter in my mixbus. Having an idea of the final product as I’m working on it generally gets me more excited to push ahead. Ideally, it’s not doing anything tonally/EQ wise, just gluing everything together while getting the volume up to something on a commercial level. Because of that, I took a detour and learned my lesson on too much limiting and how it can just crush a song (not the good kind of crush) and it’s dynamics, so I use that very sparingly.

Finding the plugins that did exactly what I wanted was another one. I started off using pretty much only Waves stuff because they were so cheap and I could get bundles of them at a time during their never-ending sales, but when I moved to Slate and then Plug-in Alliance I found some compressors and EQ’s that were giving me exactly what I was trying to create with the Waves stuff.
 
Running live sound for live gigs for a few years back when I was still a teen in combination with being everyone's tech for our band really helped me understand the basics..

The rest is honestly just a lot of trial and error, pressing all the buttons, making all the mistakes in combination with trying to learn and understand what YouTube tutorials have to offer..

To quote Dave Grohl: "Suck at it, keep sucking at it, suck at it with friends, keep playing and sucking and then one day you don't suck anymore.."
 
JasonE said:
Thanks! I will check that out. I keep wondering if there are any sites out there where people are looking for someone to mix and master their songs. I would do a lot more of it if I could find people looking for it. I think it would be cool to have a site where you could pull down tracks and make a song with it and compare it to what others created with the same tracks. That would be a community that I would love to be part of.
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There are actually a couple, but they're not very active.

There are a lot of mixing and mastering guys on Fiverr, so I assume people use it. The ones who offer to do both confuse me....I'm firmly in the camp that believes results are better if different people do them.
 
I'm probably going to sound overly simple and somewhat boring here but for me what really helped me the most was focusing and completing some training for the DAW I was using. At the time it was Protools and I think nearly 10 years ago. I'm in need of doing this with Logic as I made the switch a year or two ago and I really should take a breath and absorb some organized training from an expert. I'm gonna say I'd imagine any of the more established training sites that offer training for your DAW of choice probably have good content. They usually offer some way to preview so find one that has in instructor you like and go for it. When I did manage to stay focused and complete the course I was way more productive and found myself spending my time on much more interesting explorations. I think it is kind of never ending as you are always leveling up your skills but that did really kick start it for me. Also, when it comes to plugins, try not to get overwhelmed. Maybe start by really getting to know those that are included with the DAW as a lot these days are really good. I'm very guilty of collecting / hoarding plugins which can become a distraction all its own.
 
I am anything but a pro at this stuff, but I have learned a lot in my DIY set up. Here are some of the things I have found that may be of some help.
1. If you are putting more than 2 or 3 plugins/effects on a stem, you may want to reconsider what it is you are trying to accomplish and take a different approach. It has been my experience that when you start stacking a lot of effects on, you get so far away from what that track was intended to be. I often will turn off all effects and listen to the original to ensure that I am still staying true.
2. Fab Filter plugins have really helped me out. I love their presets and the UI on them is I think the best out of the ones I have tried. I have Waves Platinum collection and it is good, but I am always reaching for the Fab Filter stuff just because I find what I want in less clicks for the most part. I also love my Native Instruments collection, but that is more virtual instruments than it is effects and processing. Dada Labs Sausage Fattener is one of my favorites to use when something does not have "the beef" that I want it to have, but it can go south pretty quick if you try and pump it up too much.
3. Clean original stems is a must have to start out with, so be sure that what you are working with does not need to be fixed before you try to shape it ;~))
4. I use Cubase for my DAW and Wave Lab (also from Steinberg) as my mastering software. I really like Wave Lab as 20 "styles" (or more) are at your fingertips. It is amazing how a two track stereo mix can be made to sound so different. But you have to have a good clean mix before you get here.
5. As much as I love Wave Lab, it does NOT completely solve the issue of getting it right across a range of playback devices. I test on 3 different headphones, studio monitors, PA monitors, bluetooth speakers (JBL), my home theater system, laptop speakers, phone speakers and the two cars. I have spent MANY hours (sometimes more than I did mixing a piece) to get it to sound good on most devices and acceptable on one or two holdouts. One of the biggest problems is the truck I have with a sub woofer in it! Always having to adjust for that vehicle (especially with a song when I am using my Martin J-40, bass is always boomin' in that truck), but not compromise the bass tones on the other systems. It is a thin line to skate on but worth it if you intend on putting things out there for others to consume. You NEVER know what type of device they will be listening on.

My learning is all seat of the pants and manuals/tutorials/videos, but I have produced what I think are acceptable results. Some of my stuff from 2015 got radio airplay and I was psyched about that considering it was my first attempt at producing any music for distribution (and did it all myself). I have not pushed anything out to radio since then, but I am still producing though the past 6 months I have been working on my live solo show!

Happy to provide examples, suggestions, stems, answers, etc. if you would like anything else on this topic from my untrained brain. It is a big space to fill, but the results can be worth it!
 
Moondog Wily said:
I really like Wave Lab as 20 "styles" (or more) are at your fingertips. It is amazing how a two track stereo mix can be made to sound so different. But you have to have a good clean mix before you get here.
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Yay! Another WaveLab user. I'm a huge fan. I don't know what you mean by "styles" here, though. I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing. It's insanely deep, and I keep learning things that make working in it even easier/smoother after years.
Moondog Wily said:
5. As much as I love Wave Lab, it does NOT completely solve the issue of getting it right across a range of playback devices. I test on 3 different headphones, studio monitors, PA monitors, bluetooth speakers (JBL), my home theater system, laptop speakers, phone speakers and the two cars. I have spent MANY hours (sometimes more than I did mixing a piece) to get it to sound good on most devices and acceptable on one or two holdouts. One of the biggest problems is the truck I have with a sub woofer in it! Always having to adjust for that vehicle (especially with a song when I am using my Martin J-40, bass is always boomin' in that truck), but not compromise the bass tones on the other systems. It is a thin line to skate on but worth it if you intend on putting things out there for others to consume. You NEVER know what type of device they will be listening on.
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I want to share some friendly advice about this that really helped me....

Some systems just aren't capable of anything like accurate playback. IMHO, the key thing here is to not worry about the insane outliers. If somebody has a really horrible system, either they know it or they don't care. And I just don't think it's ever worth compromising the sound on a good system to slightly improve the sound on a horrible one.

That doesn't mean that I won't jump through a master on my phone or play it on my living room HiFi (which is an untreated room but at least half-decent to normal people). But, if hard panned guitars wind up quiet on the phone or the living room system doesn't thump like it should...if those things aren't problems on my real system, then I don't worry about it.

This isn't a cop-out like "the audience doesn't care, so it doesn't matter". It's almost the opposite. It's prioritizing the people who do care and not sacrificing their experience for the people who don't.

There's nothing you can do in a master to fix someone's speakers being out of phase. And there's nothing you can do to fix them having a terrible system.

Take solace in the fact that everything else sounds just as bad and move on.

But, that's just me.
 
marsonic said:
Yay! Another WaveLab user. I'm a huge fan. I don't know what you mean by "styles" here, though. I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing. It's insanely deep, and I keep learning things that make working in it even easier/smoother after years.

I want to share some friendly advice about this that really helped me....

Some systems just aren't capable of anything like accurate playback. IMHO, the key thing here is to not worry about the insane outliers. If somebody has a really horrible system, either they know it or they don't care. And I just don't think it's ever worth compromising the sound on a good system to slightly improve the sound on a horrible one.

That doesn't mean that I won't jump through a master on my phone or play it on my living room HiFi (which is an untreated room but at least half-decent to normal people). But, if hard panned guitars wind up quiet on the phone or the living room system doesn't thump like it should...if those things aren't problems on my real system, then I don't worry about it.

This isn't a cop-out like "the audience doesn't care, so it doesn't matter". It's almost the opposite. It's prioritizing the people who do care and not sacrificing their experience for the people who don't.

There's nothing you can do in a master to fix someone's speakers being out of phase. And there's nothing you can do to fix them having a terrible system.

Take solace in the fact that everything else sounds just as bad and move on.

But, that's just me.
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Hey Marsonic;

So in Wave Lab, when I say "styles" I am referring to the factory presets. Labels (styles) like Allen Morgen - Metal, Allen Morgen - Prog Rock, Greg Lukens - Pop Production, Ludwig Meyer - Acoustic Pop, etc. I have been blown away by how much difference these settings can make, and usually am tweaking some minor bits after comparing a dozen or so of them. And the surprises, like having the AM - Metal setting work great on an acoustic bit and stuff like that. Just a lot of fun to bounce through them to find a starting point of what I am looking for.

On the mastering bit, I get you! And I have plenty of times said "Ok, enough is enough, I am not spending any more time on getting it right for those who listen on a phone", but other times I will not let that dog lie and I keep going until I find what I hear as an acceptable compromise ;~)) I can usually do this from within Wave Lab, but on occasion I have gone back to the mix to fix stuff. Anyway, Wave Lab makes it so much easier and like you, I have LOTS to learn on that front, but what is already there has helped me produce better stuff IMO! I need to upgrade my Wave Lab as I am still on 9.5. I have been running Cubase 10 for a couple of years now, and just purchased in December an upgrade to 11 (with upgrade to 12 included) but will wait for 12 to come out next month before I make the jump! I don't know if you are aware, but Steinberg is moving to online account verification as opposed to the dongle. It will be available for Cubase 12 when it is released and will be rolled out over the next 2 years for all of their products. They have stated in no uncertain terms that they are NOT moving to a subscription based service, but we will see how long that lasts! I am psyched about this because now, I can have it on my workstation and my laptop and as long as it is not open on the other one, I can run it without having to move the dongle over, just log into account and it will supposedly verify!
 
I have been a user of Wavelab since 2.0 came out many moons ago. To say I hate that dongle with a passion would be an understatement. I have upgraded every version and have been on 11 since it came out. I love Wavelab. I started using it in the 90's to transfer and master just about anything from analog to digital and earned quite a bit of $ from it including bands I found on an old BBS. Digital sound quality has come a long way since then.
 
Moondog Wily said:
Hey Marsonic;

So in Wave Lab, when I say "styles" I am referring to the factory presets. Labels (styles) like Allen Morgen - Metal, Allen Morgen - Prog Rock, Greg Lukens - Pop Production, Ludwig Meyer - Acoustic Pop, etc. I have been blown away by how much difference these settings can make, and usually am tweaking some minor bits after comparing a dozen or so of them. And the surprises, like having the AM - Metal setting work great on an acoustic bit and stuff like that. Just a lot of fun to bounce through them to find a starting point of what I am looking for.

On the mastering bit, I get you! And I have plenty of times said "Ok, enough is enough, I am not spending any more time on getting it right for those who listen on a phone", but other times I will not let that dog lie and I keep going until I find what I hear as an acceptable compromise ;~)) I can usually do this from within Wave Lab, but on occasion I have gone back to the mix to fix stuff. Anyway, Wave Lab makes it so much easier and like you, I have LOTS to learn on that front, but what is already there has helped me produce better stuff IMO! I need to upgrade my Wave Lab as I am still on 9.5. I have been running Cubase 10 for a couple of years now, and just purchased in December an upgrade to 11 (with upgrade to 12 included) but will wait for 12 to come out next month before I make the jump! I don't know if you are aware, but Steinberg is moving to online account verification as opposed to the dongle. It will be available for Cubase 12 when it is released and will be rolled out over the next 2 years for all of their products. They have stated in no uncertain terms that they are NOT moving to a subscription based service, but we will see how long that lasts! I am psyched about this because now, I can have it on my workstation and my laptop and as long as it is not open on the other one, I can run it without having to move the dongle over, just log into account and it will supposedly verify!
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Ahh...gotcha.

I don't think I've ever looked at factory presets for WL or, I assume, MasterRig. I'm just not a fan. I've actually never even tried MasterRig. By the time I tried WL, I already had a collection of stuff I really liked.

There have been a lot of subtle improvements and not-so-subtle changes since 9.5. The batch processor is better. A few things moved around or got more detailed. More plugin slots several places. Much better resampling (it's on par with RX or saracon now). Meta Normalizer is easier to use. SuperVision meter, which is about on par with Insight. Etc.. Jumping to 11 is pretty big.

I am aware of the changes. Honestly, I flat out prefer dongles. I'm aware that I'm in the minority, but I just think they're simpler. Whatever. If it works, it works. If not, I can always move to something else.
 
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