What's your reference CD/Song when you mix?

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ido1957

ido1957

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I have a couple but last night it was "Gimme All Your Loving" while mixing a tune....
 
I like Bonnie Raitt's 'Nick of Time' CD for rock tunes, John Williams 'Summon the Heros' CD for choral/wind ensemble/orchestral music, and any of Alison Krauss' CDs for string band music.
 
I never really use references while mixing (or mastering, for that matter) -- But I do have a disc or two that I use to "warm up my ears" if I haven't worked in a few days for whatever reason (or I'm trying to get a handle on an unfamiliar room or monitoring chain).

DSOTM (of course). But that's just to get the groove going once I have an idea of what the system is doing. The main one is Chesky's "Ultimate Demonstration Disc" (Volume 2). It's "all natural" (no EQ, no compression, etc.) and every track is more or less a "feature" of something different -- Imaging, presence, midrange purity, depth, transparency, deep bass, dynamic contrast, atmosphere, etc. Saves me from bringing a dozen discs to test for all those particulars. And it's hard to beat the quality...
 
agreeing with massive. However, i'm not gonna lie, i'm a total FX whore when I'm allowed to be. Not that I don't agree with uber natural mixes :D

I think of a reference mix as a reset of the ears....tones, general eq and stuff like that. Just a frame of reference, but nothing to copy verbatim (unless the client is a complete and utter shell of an asshole). For me, anything by Spike Stent, Andy Wallace, Joe Zook or Chris Lord Alge. Lately for rock stuff, I've been referencing Green Day's "American idot" (for more aggressive modern stuff) or Rage Against the Machines "Killing in the Name of" for darker tones. Timbalands "The Way I are" is my go to for hip hop. Everything else kind of tends to be a search for the best possible mixes in the genre of music of whatever project im working on.
 
Hi

Complete noob (to this forum and pretty much home recording) question - can someone explain this? I get the general idea of it, that is fairly self explanatory, but how do you use the reference track.....?

sorry :o I'll crawl back in to the noobie pit.......
 
Popular Frank said:
Hi

Complete noob (to this forum and pretty much home recording) question - can someone explain this? I get the general idea of it, that is fairly self explanatory, but how do you use the reference track.....?

sorry :o I'll crawl back in to the noobie pit.......
Click to expand...

Basically, do an A/B comparison. Listen to your mix, and compare elements of it to a mix on a commercial CD that is of good quality.

You'll notice if for instance your kick sounds thin, or there isn't enough air in the mix, etc.

As far as go-to albums, it depends on what I'm mixing. I have a lot of CD's, so I try to find something similar. I'm mixing some stuff for a friend of mine's band, and I've been using Aerosmith's PUMP album, because I felt there were a lot of similar elements in their music. Granted, it's not as good. lol
 
For jazz ballads I have used Herbie Hancock's "River". I have used Yellowjackets' "Lifecycle", John McLaughlin's "Industrial Zen" and other fusion artists. I think it depends on the musical genre. Since I record jazz fusion I normally pick something that I like that fits the overall feel of the piece I've recorded.
 
I try to find something similar to what I'm mixing, In general I tend to put on DSOTM as well, sometimes camel or Sabbath's first
 
Lately a lot of Jens Bogren stuff, always Andy Sneap stuff and Colin Richardson as well.
 
I use my first recording as a reference and make sure nothing sounds like it does on that recording. :eek:
 
I don't really have a reference CD... I listen to a lot of albums.. So, my sound kinda refers to a blend of all of them...
 
I'm working on making a reference mix track that includes different tunes for different reasons. One for stereo width (Radiohead), one for bass thump (The Roots), a couple for vocal levels (Elliott Smith and Imogen Heap, probably), stuff like that. I'm still working on it, but I anticipate it being quite helpful. I intend to use that reference track and then other tunes that are similar in style/feel to what I'm working on.
 
I would never even dream of it. When I mix, I just listen to the number I'm going to mix and treat it as it's own entity.
 
grimtraveller said:
I would never even dream of it. When I mix, I just listen to the number I'm going to mix and treat it as it's own entity.
Click to expand...

I have tried this vs. using a reference recording, and found that I can more quickly get to a mix that translates well between various playback systems by using a reference track. Admittedly, I do not have an ideal high-end monitoring system, so this method seems to work best for me.
 
I've actually got it pretty easy. The band I do sound for does only Beatles songs. So, my reference is pretty easy. And I know this is sacreligious to some, but some of the mixes really suck. My favorite sounding mixes have always been Steely Dan. So, I try to combine the best of both when possible. The clarity and detail of a Dan mix, with the impact and originality of a Beatles mix.

When I mix other bands, I just try for a clear, balanced sound.
 
Beatles
Steely Dan
Earth Wind & Fire
something mixed by Alan Parsons sometimes Pink Floyd or ...Project
Flim & BB's
The Blessing "Prince of the Deep Water"
Bernie Leadon Michael Georgiades Band " Natural Progressions"
Chris Whitley "Living with the Law"
Daniel Lanois "Acadie"
are some of the recordings I use to tune up my ears for mixing.
 
Mainly in funk/fusion - and there I think Yellowjackets first album is nice. Dave Weck's recordings
are also super (Synergy). Some more "modern" Weather report like Mr Gone or Domino Theory.

For 90 rock it would be RHCP's BSSM or Nirvanas Nevermind.
Steely Dan is always good.

Apart from that - the downside is that you almost never really have only a mixed track as a reference.
Most of these are mastered as well. But that doesn't matter much as long as you know the sound you're after.
 
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