How To Know If You Have A Good Mix For Your Song

How To Know If You Have A Good Mix For Your Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTvgakrByUk

In order to know if you have a good mix for your new song you should use something that is referred to as a ‘Mix Reference Track’.

What is a mix reference track?

A mix reference track is a song that has a similar vibe, energy, tonality and feel to the way you want YOUR SONG to be mixed. You tell a mix engineer that you feel like your track should have a similar sound too ______. Fill in the blank.

Why? Well because now the engineer knows what you had in mind for the track. He knows what you are hearing in your head without you being able to explain it through sound. It’s hard to express how you want something to sound simply by expressing it through words. Music is expressive in a totally different way.

I hope that helped you understand how to get a better mix 🙂

In simple terms it is just a track to compare your song to.

Things You Need To Know

Now that your mix engineer knows what you want, you can compare your mix to the mix of the song you liked. It will at least have a similar sound and get a similar sound you wanted to achieve.

Please keep mind that your song will not ever sound EXACTLY like the song you are using a mix reference. Don’t get mad at your mixing engineer if he can’t make it sound just like it. Here are the reasons:

1) You are clearly not that exact artist you are trying to get a mix to sound like

2) That song you referenced is probably made by major industry beat makers with the highest quality beats and it is mixed by the top industry mix engineers

3) Those major industry tracks are also MASTERED on top of being incredibly well mixed

4) Back to number 2, the person who made your beat probably isn’t using the highest quality sound kits or layering the same way the pros are.

5) You probably didn’t record your vocals to the song on equipment that is as amazing as their $20,000 recording chain. They have high quality microphones that cost $6,000 and 3 pre amps mixed with other crazy gear to give them the smoothest silkiest vocal takes that sound good without a mix. Then a mix and effects are added.

6) You are probably mixing your song on a 2 track. That means you didn’t even give your mix engineer a track out of the beat. A track out is every instrument of the beat tracked out individually so they can be mixed in any way.

I explain more about beats, beat leases, track outs and such here:

https://www.smartrapper.com/do-i-need-a-beat-lease-to-use-it/ (Click the link and it will open in a new window.)

The Answer

When it’s all said and done, you at least know you the sound you want.

When your song starts sounding at least 50% as good as the song you referenced, you know you have a good mix.

I say 50% because at the lower level you don’t have all of those things I mentioned in the above section. Don’t get mad at yourself and worry. Most people can’t tell the difference in mixes unless they are professionals. Just do the best you can with the things you have.

It is all you can do until you earn your way to the higher level. 🙂 I believe in you though, you’ll get there!

Types Of Reference Tracks

Now there are other types of reference tracks. Such as just using a track as a reference to recreate it into a full out song.

I’ll write an entire article separately on how major artist use those on a normal basis.

That’s How To Know If You Have A Good Mix For Your Song. Just follow the answer above and you’ll be set!

You finished another Smart Rapper article, you’re officially a Smarter Rapper!
The more articles you read, the smarter you get!
At this rate you’ll be a genius in no time.

– Level 3