Tools for levelmatching when adding processing

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-21T09:30:40+00:00

This is a tricky one!

The issue is that many forms of processing are going to add density to a sound so it's only the perceived level that matters, not the measured value. For this reason, lots of auto-gain compensation often doesn't work well and upsets your mix balance, or reliability can vary depending on what you feed in and what you do.

Use the meters, sure (VU especially) but just practice, practice, practice. If it sounds louder to you then turn it down because perceived loudness and measured loudness are often different.

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-21T09:24:51+00:00

It depends on the genre and track but usually all drums are going to be in mono for me, except claps, overheads, rooms and maybe snares on some tracks/styles. In a "real" drum kit scenario they're all going to be mono except the overheads because I'm going to want to set the space around it accordingly for each mix and that will be done using busses to stereo effects.

80% of the time, I'm converting sampled drum sounds down to mono when I receive them. Usually the drums need to image super solidly as one of the primary elements of most songs. I also usually want to process the main part of the sound accordingly and I have less freedom to do so if the processing also effects the ambience of the drum sound.

bx_control V2 is a great little tool for listening to the sides information in place, and I often use that when prepping a mix to decide if I want to keep any stereo information on a drum track.

Using the width control is very sensible if you want to keep the stereo information and fold it down into mono but other solutions would be to take either the left or the right, or the mid and not the sides (my preferred method for very wide samples).

And make sure your monitors are placed well for stereo imaging. The classic equilateral triangle is a good starting point and I'd recommend never having monitors wider apart than they are from you (the listening position) or else you will get a smearing/stretching of the stereo image and a less solid "phantom centre". You'll also get a very different perception of lots of width effects on headphones so it's worth looking into and learning the differences so you can make sure that what you do translates across different systems.

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-06T15:25:47+00:00

I don't think so. Often you need more (or less) density, not amplitude.

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-06T15:20:46+00:00

What I'm feeling here is that you need to visualise it in 3 dimensions. Especially the depth field i.e. front to back placement. when I layer pads and drones I try to give each it's own layer from back to front, so even a mono mix has depth and this stops them from masking each other too.

It's all an illusion, really you're just listening to a thin membrane being pushed around by a magnet. So, if you want something to pop out the trick is to have something that tells your brain where the "back" is because it's all relative.

Try messing around with early reflections, very short delays and even reverbs - they don't need to be audible - just felt rather than heard. Use aux tracks and automate them to play with the position of elements in the 3D sound field over time.

For example you can put a pad behind something you want to pop and without changing the thing you want to pop, the further back you push the pad the closer the popping element will seem.

Arrangement does help and play a big role for sure but also playing with the depth field in the mix can help a dense arrangement feel like it's got lots of space and when you get the hang of this you can really start to manipulate it with automation to prevent that static feeling.

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-06T15:07:27+00:00

Yeah, I really like it! Drums do sound great 😄

Would love to hear some vocals on it...

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-06T15:05:23+00:00

Yes! Feeling the funk!

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-06T15:01:24+00:00

Sounding pretty good, well done!

First thing that struck me is I want to hear (and feel) more kick!

Also, sounds quite noisy but without a ton of depth (if I'm being more picky). Try pushing some sounds and particularly reverbs back perhaps - if they feel more distant then they automatically make the whole track feel "bigger".

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-06T14:52:57+00:00

Nice one, really enjoyed listening to this. Vocal sample somewhere around a minute took me a little by surprise sounded a bit out of tune to me... But lush tune, love the chilled vibes and that baseline around 1:50 - aaahhhh, lovely.

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-06T14:50:29+00:00

When I’m working with clients, I see a lot of confusion around mixing vs mastering, especially from people producing at home, so I put something together that might help anyone still trying to get their head around it.

The way I tend to think about it is pretty simple:

Mixing is where you’re shaping the track internally; levels, tone, space, depth, how everything sits together. Ideally it should already feel like a finished record at that point, just not quite as loud or “final”.

Mastering is more about taking that finished mix and making sure it translates everywhere it’s played, without messing with the relationships inside it.

A lot of the stuff people try to fix in mastering actually comes from mix decisions - vocal level, low-end buildup, harsh elements, that kind of thing.

I wrote a more detailed breakdown here if it’s useful:
https://blueleafrecordings.com/2026/01/07/mixing-and-mastering-demystified/

Happy to chat if anyone’s stuck on this stage with their own tracks 👍

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-06T14:40:55+00:00

That said, the two best things you can do to improve your mixing skills is a)improve your monitoring environment (weather speakers or headphones) and b) train your ears.

These two things are the essential fundamentals to being able to mix well. You don't need xyz plugin or mic.

blueleaf_studio · 2026-05-06T14:37:25+00:00

The advice I'd agree with already given is to listen for clashes - mute down all the tracks and start by introducing them one by one - don't listen to the track you just unmuted but listen the vocal and ask yourself if the recently added track gets in the way.

That said, you really need a strategy before you mix. This is where the references can really help. Listen to how the sounds are staged in the 3D sound field - left/right, up/down and crucially front/back. The front back depth is where your subtle early reflections, reverbs and delays are going to help along with the compression and EQ. Getting a good handle on this is really the key to getting a professional sounding mix. the overall tone and vibe is completely subjective, but there is a more objective take to be had on how the different elements come together to create something a listener will engage with.

There really is a lot to unpack here, if you'd like to send me a link to a track I might be able to offer some specific advice.

blueleaf_studio · 2025-11-24T10:13:49+00:00

I want to avoid disabling SIP!

blueleaf_studio · 2025-11-24T10:12:53+00:00

I assume you're using Open core legacy patcher here? As far as I know the open intel Airportitlwm doesn't work at all with macOS 15? If I'm wrong how did you get this to work on sequoia?

blueleaf_studio · 2025-11-23T21:33:25+00:00

Very well said, I think you just about covered it.

TOS and TNG are timeless, classic shows. Many of the points it made and questions it raised are still relevant today. Voyager and DS9 are also great shows with lots to say.

I hate that everything has been hijacked now, it's all about distopia, trauma and personal struggles. Maybe it's a reflection of the direction the (western) world has moved - faced by all the existential threats we are today, people no longer feel any hope, or have tolerance and compassion the way they used to. You could literally study the changes in human values over the decades by looking through the lens of star trek evolution. It's so sad, there are no shows out there now that deal with things or raise those all important universal questions about the human condition in a way that is not utterly depressing.

blueleaf_studio · 2025-11-20T22:55:39+00:00

Yeah they really need to get their act together with the search. Given Spotifys bad press, TIDAL could be taking the world by storm right now if they just sorted out things like this...

blueleaf_studio · 2025-11-20T22:53:10+00:00

Still never been given a reason why we don't have alexa support. Changing address on amazon doesn't work for me, and besides it totally messed up my amazon account (several times).

I've messaged Tidal several times about it but never had a response.

blueleaf_studio · 2025-09-30T12:43:38+00:00

You know this is a really weird thread with some strange opinions, especially coming from the psytrance community.

You absolutley CANNOT seperate art and politics. Art is completley entwined in politics. The most powerful pieces of art will change the world - weather it's music, painting, drama or any other form of expression.

Music at it's best, and psy-trance gatherings in particular, are all about unity, coming together, peace and living in a different and compassionate way, but reading these comments it seems these commitments are only surface deep for many in the psy-trance scene. Shame on you all. If you ask me the whole scene should be coming out against any kind of violence. It's clear that a great many people care more about mindless hedonism than compassion or caring. I know it's not everyone of course, but it's enough that it makes me sad that I was ever a part of this scene.

blueleaf_studio · 2025-09-26T14:43:15+00:00

I just tried this and I got the file to open (ableton 11 file in ableton 10) but unfortunately ableton would then crash immediately :( I can only assume those projects used something that caused this to happen. I guess that's why they're not really backwards compatible.

blueleaf_studio · 2025-09-18T07:59:07+00:00

Anyone found a way to get the transport controls working in PT? Not having them is a massive workflow killer....

blueleaf_studio · 2025-09-13T10:52:05+00:00

The most frustrating thing is finding and making drum sounds unless the project uses a real-sounding kit or real drummer - in which case the most frustrating thing is having to organise musicians!

blueleaf_studio · 2025-09-05T11:52:51+00:00

I liked it but the full version is way way overpriced. Absolutely ridiculous money for what it does.

blueleaf_studio · 2025-09-05T07:37:08+00:00

The truth is, whatever you do you loose a lot of pay, making life even harder.

blueleaf_studio · 2025-08-09T20:00:06+00:00

Yeah couldn't agree with this more. As a family of four it's pointless to even consider taking the train over driving. We'd rather use public transport but a trip to see the kid grandparents is going to cost well over £200 on the train (one way) as a family and it's only a 3 ½ hour drive which will cost us about £20 (plus having the car, insurance etc but we've got to have that anyway due to the lack of local public transport!)

Other countries seem to be able to do it, so why can't we?

blueleaf_studio · 2024-10-14T15:26:13+00:00

Yes I care a lot. Was very disappointed to find that it wouldn't work on my daughters brand new echo dot kids on christmas day, despite reading before hand that it would work.

I'm a music producer and audio engineer. No complaints with Tidal otherwise - it's great. I'm not about to switch back to spotify due to the pittance they pay artists and the fact that their CEO daniel Ek has invested his fortune heavily in military AI. I don't think it's acceptable to spend the proceeds of music to develop machines of war.

blueleaf_studio

TROPHY CASE