How loud do the Top Producers Mix?

this was kind of weird but i recieved this email from modern beats ya probably got it but heres what it said:

Quik Tipz: How loud do the Top Producers Mix?

If you're asking yourself "How loud do the top producers mix?", then you're asking the wrong question. Try asking "How soft do they mix?". That's right, that's what we said. Below we reveal the reasons Top Producers mix at lower versus higher levels:

1) Mixing at high volumes for long periods of time can cause permanent ear damage. Yes, it's true...long term exposure to high levels can ruin your ears. If your ears are your assets, best treat them right.

2) High mixing volumes for long periods cause your ears to over-compensate for both high end frequencies and low end frequencies. If you only mix at high levels, your ears will run out of gas within a couple hours as opposed to mixing at softer levels which allow you to hear accurately for longer periods of time.

3) Mixing loud may sound great in the beginning, but re-listening to the same mix a day later at soft levels will reveal a myriad of imbalances. However, the opposite is not true! Achieving proper balances at soft levels tends to maintain the same achieved balances when heard later at loud levels.

Are we saying to mix only at soft levels? No, of course not. In fact, it's necessary to mix loud for a minute or two to ensure proper balance on the low end spectrum of your mix. Also, in order to ensure effects and EQ's aren't saturated, it's necessary to mix for periods of time at moderate levels. But overall...the best balances are achieved at lower mixing levels.

good lookin, i post a lot from the Quick Tipz also.... if previously posted, its good to reinerate sometimes also

this is funny cause most top producers don't mix. look on the back of dem albums. anyway different parts of the mixing stage calls for different levels

Beat God wrote:this is funny cause most top producers don't mix. look on the back of dem albums. anyway different parts of the mixing stage calls for different levels

funny how most beatmakers call themselves producers these days, also, most producers do have there hands on there own beat as far as mixing goes, vocals though is a different story, thats how the credits of different names come into play majority of the time....cause when the vocals get thrown on, then apparently the person that mixes down the entire song will get the credit, which is correct, but those are just ideal tips

Mixing at low volumes is fairly standard since if you can hear all the elements of the mix at extremely low volumes you've got the beginnings of a decent mix. You also have to listen at high db's though to make sure the highs are not too strident or piercing and also to check very low frequencies. It also helps to put on the phones and take a listen because they will let you know if you are FX heavy...reverbs especially seem to show up clearly in headphones...

4dahaterz wrote:

Beat God wrote:this is funny cause most top producers don't mix. look on the back of dem albums. anyway different parts of the mixing stage calls for different levels

funny how most beatmakers call themselves producers these days, also, most producers do have there hands on there own beat as far as mixing goes, vocals though is a different story, thats how the credits of different names come into play majority of the time....cause when the vocals get thrown on, then apparently the person that mixes down the entire song will get the credit, which is correct, but those are just ideal tips

that is absolutely false the only two big name producers that i can think of that mix their own stuff is quick and dre. we can play semantics and say printing the effects while composing the beat and stuff is mixing. what is considered mixing by the industry in which i work in everyday is someone taking the tracks vocals and beat and doing the final assembly before it is mastered. we can get crazy and say an engineer is mixing while he is tracking. a song can't be mixed without the vocals every addition affects the overall mix.

Beat God wrote:that is absolutely false the only two big name producers that i can think of that mix their own stuff is quick and dre. we can play semantics and say printing the effects while composing the beat and stuff is mixing. what is considered mixing by the industry in which i work in everyday is someone taking the tracks vocals and beat and doing the final assembly before it is mastered. we can get crazy and say an engineer is mixing while he is tracking. a song can't be mixed without the vocals every addition affects the overall mix.

No, thats not absolutely false, those maybe are producers u have read about, but i do know plenty of R+B, Gospel, and also hip hop producers that put some kinda mix on there material before they let most people here it or leave the studio wit it, yes its true that every thing added changes the overall mix, but if its only a beat currently, u going to leave something sounding crappy before its leaves ya spot, a bad mix can mess up the sale of a beat, versus a bad beat mixed well, which we do hear a lot in todays rap....if you are a so called everyday engineer, you would have read my paragraph and understood i wasnt saying that they put a final mix on it....

also in addition, again most Top Producers arent just Beat Makers, one of your most famous, Quincy Jones, who looks after his whole project from top to bottom, i aint talking about the local cats u working wit calling themselves top producers, so u telling me dudes like Rodney Jerkins, J. Moss, Warryn Campbell, and etc... cats selling platinum records, who have been sittin in this industry for years, making a comfortable living in the industry or not mixing any of there tracks and leave it all to some engineer they dont know.... as a producer yourself, u should realize, thats the one of the dumbest things u can say about your art work

Now after u sell the beat, and u given up the full session tracked out, and the person who decides to buy it, and wants to do whatever they want to the beat, its all on them, cause they have bought your beat....but as a artist ya self, u basically saying u giving out an unbalanced or unmixed in somewhat form of track, thats awful, at least put a temporary frame on it until the correct person would come thru and do they thing

in the eyes of those that read this, just in case anyone didnt understand, im not saying that when u mix this as a producer who is preparing the track for others ears, that you are "Mixing" for an album... for those that would like to be so technical

ok dude 1st of all i do work with local talent in my spare time but i have over 100 major releases. my last release was 2 weeks ago and the album i contributed to is doing very well on the billboard charts. so please i am not a new jack to this. I put in the work and have been involved in music for the better part of 16 years and i am only 28. i travel the country every week working as a producer, songwriter or engineer. I am currently in Houston tracking. yesterday i was in Austin and thursday I will be back in BKNY tracking. i live dis ish this ain't a dream or hobby for me. it is how i make a living. now moving on most producers i work with have 1 guy mix their tracks and also use 1 guy to master their projects. they form a partnership and really understand what needs to happen with a mix. Sometimes they are present and other times they are not. i often send out rough mixes to my guy which are close to what i want and he then takes it to the next level. if you think what i am saying is false check the files look at those cd cases. its all right there.

i am really good at mixing hip-hop but am so-so when it comes to dance music so i send my dance stuff to a guy that specializes in that type of music. i just dont do hip hop and r&b so all of the other styles i do i work with the guys that specialize in it.

i think u got confused by my name beat god and thought i just make beats. out of respect for myself and others i don't name drop, but just be rest assured that i have worked on something that is in your i-pod or cd collection. oh and i am booked straight through february 06. so please mayne let's try to respect one another

Beat God wrote: most producers i work with have 1 guy mix their tracks and also use 1 guy to master their projects. they form a partnership and really understand what needs to happen with a mix. Sometimes they are present and other times they are not. i often send out rough mixes to my guy which are close to what i want and he then takes it to the next level.

well said......


some of yall kill me with your assumptions about the recording/mixing/mastering process

note to all: please do ya homework before you come around just talking out of your @$$

Beat God wrote:ok dude 1st of all i do work with local talent in my spare time but i have over 100 major releases. my last release was 2 weeks ago and the album i contributed to is doing very well on the billboard charts. so please i am not a new jack to this. I put in the work and have been involved in music for the better part of 16 years and i am only 28. i travel the country every week working as a producer, songwriter or engineer. I am currently in Houston tracking. yesterday i was in Austin and thursday I will be back in BKNY tracking. i live dis ish this ain't a dream or hobby for me. it is how i make a living. now moving on most producers i work with have 1 guy mix their tracks and also use 1 guy to master their projects. they form a partnership and really understand what needs to happen with a mix. Sometimes they are present and other times they are not. i often send out rough mixes to my guy which are close to what i want and he then takes it to the next level. if you think what i am saying is false check the files look at those cd cases. its all right there.

i am really good at mixing hip-hop but am so-so when it comes to dance music so i send my dance stuff to a guy that specializes in that type of music. i just dont do hip hop and r&b so all of the other styles i do i work with the guys that specialize in it.

i think u got confused by my name beat god and thought i just make beats. out of respect for myself and others i don't name drop, but just be rest assured that i have worked on something that is in your i-pod or cd collection. oh and i am booked straight through february 06. so please mayne let's try to respect one another

again, simple and straight to the point, im not saying that most producers mix their own stuff, my main thing is saying that they may put a rough mix on it before they let it leave the studio, u taking sh..t to a whole nother level of mixing.....

U JUST STATED ABOVE, U SEND OUT ROUGH MIXES, ITS A GOOD ROUGH DRAFT FOR "ROUGH MIXES"

jaem wrote:well said......


some of yall kill me with your assumptions about the recording/mixing/mastering process

note to all: please do ya homework before you come around just talking out of your @$$

The point i have been trying to make that the tipz are for, for amateur producers, that cant always afford an engineer to mix their stuff in the listening process...

85 dB SPL