So, keeping my gains/volumes low, carving out unneeded low end as I hear so much about saving headroom (there, we just saved 3.5 db of headroom etc), my mixdown before mastering looks almost anemic. Putting clipping, saturation, mild eq, compression etc then putting the limiter on it means really cranking the threshold higher than I feel like I should. Would bringing up the gain (in the examples below) +9.5db, which is what the second attachment shows before any distortion occurs, make sense before mastering?

Hey there, I'm a solo artist working on a new artist project looking for a co-producer / collaborator. I'm working on new music, that's cinematic, lived-in, and deeply emotional, yet also abrasively masculine at times. I don't have a label, nor do I have resources. And, I want help. I'm tired of doing everything alone. Here's a record I solo-produced, wrote and performed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8hBushVcpI Not saying this to brag, but just as proof of concept as an artist – I've had hundreds of thousands of streams with my old project and have gone viral before (240k+ followers on socials). I want a co-producer like Sombr has Tony Berg. I want a mix of the old school with new school. I want to have fun arguments about the right way to record a vocal or a snare, or an arrangement. I want to have fun. I want to put the ego aside and just focus on serving the record. I want help from a producer who really knows their stuff and is willing to respectfully argue with me to serve the record. Remote collaborations are fine with me too. I know this is a shot in the dark. Anyone interested?

Think of a lived-in, worn-in, nice shirt: it feels like home. A lived-in sound is like an indie, folk acoustic guitar that sounds intimate and worn-in, which may sound like albums like: D'angelo, Bon Iver, Big Thief, Mk. Gee ======== THE PROBLEM ========== Sometimes I really like samples that are polished, pop, well-mixed, pristine and played perfectly – but it doesn't feel "lived-in" (these are typically samples you get from Splice). It feels soulless. I've tried saturation, aux room ambience, Sketch cassette plugin, lofi plug-ins. It still sounds like a polished pop sample, like a $200 shirt you bought, but doesn't feel like you wear it often, so it doesn't feel like you or your style, so it just ends up feeling like you're compensating. ======== EXAMPLES ========== 1. Bad Bunny, surprisingly is good at this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X4uckVyk9o The whole record sounds like the typical polished pop music that's well produced, but at 3:26, the latin percussion and choir, feels so lived-in, and it feels like you're there celebrating with them: it feels like the song is not just some catchy, soulless tune, but a song that has heart; a song that people have actually lived in and lived through. 2. Another example is in fashion. When you wear a nice outfit, that's tailored, polished – but it still somehow feels "lived-in" and "worn-in". ======== THE QUESTION ========== How do you get a sound or a sample to sound lived-in or worn-in? If most of production and mixing, is really about sound selection – then is it just about the recording itself? Or is there anything you can do to enhance it? I really like some indie sounds, and I really like some pop sounds – but combining them together doesn't seem to gel. Any advice?

This is my favorite of his songs. https://mixwiththemasters.com/videos/sombr-tony-berg-sombr-12-to-12

So after some downtime from the TRE program due to some major turmoil within my own band and our recording of our album I have mixed a new EP for my Mother-in law! This is recorded in their garage and is a welcomed change of genre for me and therefore a challenge which is a very good learning experience! Some of you may know @Petter Jensen , and he has been so kind to provide the mastering services for this EP! https://open.spotify.com/album/2CriHCSvrc6PPt1uCMVgDH?si=9KJ-op3zS12LDfW4HFJtkQ