Reference Tracks

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dsealer

New member
Would someone help me with the use of reference tracks? If I understand correctly, it's a song which is used when mixing and mastering your own song. Try to make your song sound like the reference song. Is this correct?
I may have that wrong but would some explain how this is supposed to work and how it gets set up? Please be very specific, I'm pretty dense! I don't understand how it's used or setup.

Thanks,
Don.....
 
That's the idea... I'd argue that it's something that should be done before mixing - actually before tracking, if you want it to be reasonably effective.
 
Ok with that said how would I use a reference track? Maybe a better question would be how would you use a reference track?
Would using multiple reference tracks for one song make sense? Like a reference track for how a vocal should sound or maybe how you'd like the guitars to sound, possibly to use for percussion etc? I'm not sure how I'd use a reference track .

Thanks again
Don.....
 
Yes, you could use multiple reference tracks, but don't you really want your song to sound good in its entirety? Saying "I want Freddie Mercury's voice sound, Eric Johnson's guitar, and Bill Bruford's drum sound" probably won't lead to a good overall mix.
Put the reference song on a new (stereo) track in your DAW project. Mute that track when you are listening/working on your mix. Mute the other tracks and unmmute the refernece track to compare.
 
I'd suggest that you'd be better off using a track which is similar in style to the music you plan to do--and one which you know very well.
 
I never take the idea of "reference track" that super seriously. You listen to other things in the ballpark of what you're shooting for to get a reality check every once in a while to make sure you haven't crawled too far up your own ass. Then you go back to making it sound the way you want it to sound.
 
ashcat_lt said:
I never take the idea of "reference track" that super seriously. You listen to other things in the ballpark of what you're shooting for to get a reality check every once in a while to make sure you haven't crawled too far up your own ass. Then you go back to making it sound the way you want it to sound.
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Good for general things -relative bass, reverbs', tone balance.

Put one on before your track -work out what's equal volume first- Then yours -listen to them from the other room', like they'd be playing in the house.. is another good tack.
 
Must admit the only time I'll use reference tracks is the rare occasion I have to get used to a new set of monitors. By using music I know well, it tells me what a new mix should sound like on the new speakers (if you see what I mean).

The other place I'll use reference tracks is for live work to check sound in the venue--in actual fact I tend to use my own mixes for this since I know how they should sound better than anything else.
 
This to me flies in the face of 'Old School Recording'? The engineers back then were charged with capturing as good a replication of what was heard in the studio/concert hall/jazz club as possible.

Mind you, the rot set in some time ago? We now never read monitor reviews where the speakers are compared to a REAL double bass or an actual grand piano.

NOT! That I am averse to studio 'constructs'! Great fan of Peppers and DSOTM etc!

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
This to me flies in the face of 'Old School Recording'? The engineers back then were charged with capturing as good a replication of what was heard in the studio/concert hall/jazz club as possible.
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And they always failed in one respect or the other. Usually on the consumer end. So they developed techniques (one might say compromises) that helped ensure that what they were recording could actually be enjoyed by as many people in as many situations as possible. Nowadays, people seem to like the way some of those failures sounded...

Mind you, the rot set in some time ago? We now never read monitor reviews where the speakers are compared to a REAL double bass or an actual grand piano.
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Who cares? All that really matters is that we get some heads hopping and some butts shaking. And what exactly does an 8 oscillator arpeggiated pad with several modulated filters sound like in the real world anyway? And what would that double bass sound like if it was twice as big and recorded on Jupiter? Some people want to know.

NOT! That I am averse to studio 'constructs'!
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The best part of recording for me is making things that can't really happen. I started recording because I was writing full arrangements and wanted to hear what they sounded like, but I didn't have any friends, so I had to figure out a way to play each part separately and then hear them all together.

And I'M not actually saying that I'm completely against a more purist, documentary style. Sometimes that is really the most appropriate way to get the message across. It still helps to have a clue of how that might translate when played outside your own studio.
 
reference tracks are only worthwhile if the material you are mixing is very close to the same sonics and style.

you will loose your way quickly, choosing the wrong references.
 
Hey dsealer,

I tend to have about 5-8 reference tracks that I will pull up as I mix. One or two that are in a similar genre as the track I'm mixing, although the others may not be related to the track I'm working on at all. Rather, they tell me specific information about relative levels, low- and high-freq info, saturation, reverb, etc.

For example, I may want a really tight bottom end in a specific track, so I'll pull up a ref track that I know has this. This way I can hear when I get there, without losing my focus (or getting lost) along the way.

I'll use a reference track to tell me if the vocals are loud enough (or too loud), or if the overheads are too high in the mix. If I'm not sure if the bass is loud enough... reference track!

Like I mentioned, they don't have to be genre specific, but you should be very familiar with your reference tracks. Finding a few that you can use regularly can really help give you that 'reality check' during the mixing process, and make sure you're not going way off base with your mix.

And as Bobbsy said, they are great for familiarizing yourself with a new set of speakers or a room you are not used to working in.

All the best!
 
JDsound said:
And as Bobbsy said, they are great for familiarizing yourself with a new set of speakers or a room you are not used to working in.
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Yeah...that's about the only thing I've ever used reference tracks for...to set up the monitors.
I don't think I've ever pulled up a commercial track to use as a reference for mixing my own shit.
 
And they 'failed' Ash mostly in respect of not being able to capture the dynamic range* (even of the grand joe) So, faders HAD to be ridden, not for nothing were those engineers musician as a rule and excellent score readers.

I am sure that when 'Specius billingatoni' the great visiting conductor had finished a take of the first movement of Fartfingers 'Choral for Welsh miners and crumbhorn' HE would expect the control room playback to have some similarity at least to what he had heard in the studio? He would not expect the engineers to eff about with it.

*Of course, NOBODY then had a dynamic range playback capability of more than 70dB at best. Today only a tiny few people can still better that in their homes but they don't! Not that there is much material to test that with even though it could be made to.

On the subject of speaker tests it was always the case in the 'pro' mags I read that they were compared with a good many 'real' sounds. Instruments of course especially piano (VERY few monitors even today could do justice to Ludwig's Hammerklavier) but also things like jangling keys. That last caught out many a 'spikey' tweeter!

But, time and tide and the soundbyte paradigm!

Dave.
 
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