What I learned from Kevin McCloskey
This video was posted about three months ago, and since then it’s been the only one I keep coming back to and watching again and again. Anyone else studied this video? Here are some of my notes: Overall Mindset Mixer Role He views himself as an enhancer of the mix. His goal is to take a song that already sounds good and make it bigger, wider, and deeper. He finds it more efficient to honor the work of skilled producer. If the mix already sounds great, he prefers to bult upon a producer's existing balance rather than mixing from a scratch. Mastered Foundation He makes sure the mix foundation (kick, snare, hi-hats, and bass) is peaking at - 5 dBFS on true peak meter, and around zero on VU meter (calibrated at -15). Then he makes sure the foundation sounds great at the loudness level (two limiters), around -9 LUFs. Lead Vocal vs. Other Elements He makes sure the lead vocal sounds great in the depth he created with the kick and snare at the mastered loudness level. Once the lead vocal sounds great in the mastered foundation, everything else is mixed around the lead vocal. The lead vocal should NOT work with other instruments, other instruments should work with the lead vocal. Important Details 3D "terrarium" He describes a mix as a 3D "terrarium" or cube. He views the mix in three dimensions: Panning handles left-to-right (width), frequency range handles height, and transient shapers handle depth (front-to-back). Faders He prefers to use clip gain for leveling rather than channel faders. Kick He mixes kick at -5 dBFS true peak and around 0 on VU meter calibrated at -15. Snare He mixes snare so it peaks at - 5dBFs on true peak meter Bass He mixes bass so it hovers (kick and bass) around 0 on VU meter calibrated at -15 Mixing Into a Limiter He applies final limiter to make the foundation (kick, snare, hi-hats, and bass) sound great at -11 LUFS to -9 LUFS. He teaches that the low end and low end mids are the primary contributors to LUFS. This approach ensures the mix won't collapse or lose its punch when a limiter is eventually applied at the final stage.