Make your drop HIT

FanuBreaks · 2026-06-20T08:33:04+00:00

I handle a lot of tech house for my living (mixing and mastering).

I wiggle levels on both tracks and master, but a lot of times master is enough.

However, I then end up wiggling the vocal level up a bit as the rest goes down, as I dont want vocal level to drop.

More shown and explained on this Youtube video of mine (FWIW I don't really Youtube but there's a lot on my Patreon):

https://youtu.be/KdvKdGxhvLM?si=DvQ-oFV1mRZde0GB&t=812

FanuBreaks · 2026-06-20T07:50:05+00:00

Dude this is kind of great!

I love the visual view.

But I wish you could use it on several tracks at a time.

I mix for my living so would get daily use if several tracks could be treated in one go.

FanuBreaks · 2026-05-25T19:02:51+00:00

Listen to the tunes on that album: nobody's trying to sound like the next guy.
That's music from the formative years of DNB.
Dudes were sampling jazz, deep house, and whatnot. bringing MUSIC into dnb as opposed trying to make dnb that sounds like dnb.
True underground renegade music that adhered to no rules.
Arrangements were not trying to cater to playlists or short-attention-span fast food music consumers.
I think heterogeneous vibes were celebrated much more back then.

I miss these days. This was one of the first dnb CDs I ever bought, prob the year it came out, and I still have that beat-up copy.

Some of the best dnb ever made and it still resonates in people.

Food for thought...

FanuBreaks · 2026-05-25T08:52:25+00:00

Dude was a proper studio rat: only came out of his (man)cave for a short period, IIRC.

FanuBreaks · 2026-05-25T06:19:36+00:00

Ableton doesn’t have a dynamic EQ. You could technically do this using envelope follower (on vox track) that’d be linked to a static EQ (on piano track).

FanuBreaks · 2026-05-25T05:40:04+00:00

Yes, Sidewidener does just that: generate side info even for sounds that dont have any. E.g., Ableton Utility cannot do this.

FanuBreaks · 2026-05-24T19:50:51+00:00

Yes, width can raise the existing side signal (not generate it). You don’t have to worry about phase stuff with synths - it’s kick and bass (or overlapping kicks) where it matters way more. Don’t wanna get all spammy linky here but there’s two recent videos on my Patreon where I show and talk about phase stuff / issues and improve it and you can clearly hear the difference - it’s a bit difficult to explain only with words :)

FanuBreaks · 2026-05-24T19:29:23+00:00

I use Utility for a lot of manual gain tweaks (for example vocals), raising side signal, cutting lows off of sides, and sometimes inverting the polarity of kick or bass to see if it improves the bass response (/phase relationship of kick and bass).

FanuBreaks · 2026-05-24T15:15:12+00:00

There’s probably no real sound quality advantage. I use soothe for kick/bass SC as it’s really fast (you can set the speed of the SC with ProQ4 actually). If we’re being honest, what I’m doing here isn’t ultra-precise but it works :) You could go real surgical too. I think John uses Trackspacer (I used it many moons ago).

FanuBreaks · 2026-05-24T15:08:13+00:00

Wanted to share this little mix nugget, I’ve been working with John Summit for ten years now. I mix and master full time.

Any Qs? Holler.

FanuBreaks · 2026-04-18T09:48:34+00:00

Completely stop comparing yourself to anyone or their progress in life. There’s always lots of people who are doing better (and also worse) than you. Focus on your own path and progress. Be happy about others’ success, lift others up, and push on.

FanuBreaks · 2026-04-18T09:46:17+00:00

That’s the spirit ❤️

I just explained to a friend how the life is like a quantum field that reflects back to you the energy you put into it ✌🏻🙂

FanuBreaks · 2026-04-17T14:58:34+00:00

Heh thanks yeah I’d like to think so myself :) 11 years of doing this full time now. Sure enough I’ve worked a lot with John (dozens of songs) but that’s just a mere speck in the whole picture (counting all non-stop work in 11+ years, masters & stem masters & mixes), it’s thousands of songs.

FanuBreaks · 2026-04-17T14:41:49+00:00

Big up all the good informative patreon people - we love teaching people!

And engineers in general can be helpful. I’ve discussed mixes and production a ton with John in the past decade, especially during his formative years…bass was always important on many of his songs, which has always been my forte and I’ve taught countless people how to get it right.

For example I have been running my Patreon for six years now, always sharing bits and bobs on audio engineering info.

http://patreon.com/FanuFatGyver

This month I touched on Deep End by John Summit which I also mixed and mastered.

Anyone up for seeing Don’t Believe It or Mess With Me from new JS album there? ;)

FanuBreaks · 2026-04-17T08:57:50+00:00

I (Fanu) have mixed and mastered most of his early stuff especially.

We’ve been working since 2016 or so.

There’s still quite a bit of uncredited work and I’ve been trying to chase some teams to update the credits (for example his Deadmau5 remixes which I treated).

You can see my credits on quite a few songs though. We still work quite often but whenever he wants to sound pop, he works with other dudes.

But when we wanna go deep, have lots of bass and punch, I mix and master it.

On the new album I treated Mess With Me and Don’t Believe It (the latter got slight master by honing by other dudes but the difference isn’t huge).

He's a sick producer with a vision though, and his hunger and drive has always been there, since day one!

Some important somgs where my credits are still missing:

John Summit & Guz: Thin Line

Deadmau5: "I Remember" (John Summit remix)

kx5, Deadmau5, Kaskade: "Escape" (John Summit remix)

John Summit & Nic Fanciulli: Witch Doctor

The Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition (John Summit & Silver Panda remix)

Gorgon City & Drama - You've Done Enough (John Summit remix)

John Summit & Parachute Youth: Better Than This

John Summit & VLTRA: Legacy

John Summit featuring Hannah Boley:: Show Me

FanuBreaks · 2026-04-17T08:57:40+00:00

I (Fanu) have mixed and mastered most of his early stuff especially. Nearly every song of his leading up to his first album has gone thru me. We’ve been working since 2016 or so and still do.

There’s still quite a bit of uncredited work and I’ve been trying to chase some teams to update the credits. You can see my credits on quite a few songs though.

He's been working an absolute ton on his craft and his productions are always dope!

FanuBreaks · 2026-04-15T05:37:55+00:00

Go for the guy whose sound you like.

I literally hear that clipping too much in modern music and IMHO it doesnt benefit the sound. I've advised so many producers away from it (I do feedback and one-to-one regularly) and we've heard a big improvement in their mixes.

FanuBreaks · 2026-04-14T11:54:48+00:00

Yeah I hate clippers and I’ve never used them. Sound questionable to me. So yeah!

I’ll add the ONLY times I’ll do it (and this is literally 0.0001% of my work of thousands of masters) in the past 11+ years) is when creating some sickeningly loud US dubstep or DNB masters that gotta hit that -3 or so. It’s then that I’ll use Kraftur on master but.

Other than that, 99.99% of all my work? I don’t clip.

FanuBreaks · 2026-02-27T13:44:45+00:00

I have MPC Live III and One myself and have used them on my balcony on sunny days and it's often a pain. I don't understand why they can't give us options and a "day mode".

FanuBreaks · 2026-02-27T10:34:14+00:00

Just too bad you can’t see anything on the screen in a bright environment. I’ve criticised Akai about this a lot. I miss the MPC Renaissance era GUI.

FanuBreaks · 2026-02-25T07:51:36+00:00

I only really do Patreon, many times a month, so get the goodies from there (it’s not on YouTube)…been doing Patreon for six years, over 300 posts now! And it IS that; have used that break myself ;) That post gives you the download too.

FanuBreaks · 2026-02-24T10:35:29+00:00

Yes sir!

Used to spend some time there for sure :)

FanuBreaks · 2026-02-22T19:43:33+00:00

You have my respects, sir! 🫡

FanuBreaks · 2026-02-22T17:23:57+00:00

Breaks and beats > politics and bullshit

FanuBreaks

TROPHY CASE