finding your channel has been like finding a Rolex in a dumpster. KZread is rife with opportunists and not enough sincere educators. Your wry wit is reminding me that everytime I start to despise the internet, it redeems itself. CHEERS from across the pond.

OK I HAVE MY HAND UP MAN JESUS

I sat down yesterday to start a new track. The loop game was on. I had two reference tracks but slowly I began to slide into the creative zone and eventually got lost in it and forgot about the references. My loop was on fire! 🔥 Today I reopened the project and compared it to the reference tracks. They were wide as hell and sounded really good. My stuff sounded horrible. Narrow and lifeless. I started to empty all my knowledge to widen my sounds but nothing happened. It still sounded like crap so I thought I needed to look at my sound design. After way to long I realized I had the mono switch on on the master channel 🤦🏻‍♂️😅

@GoingOrbit

Ай бұрын

Then mono moses widened the red sea and let your frequencies flow.

Man these tutorials are some kind of god send, no pretence, no nonsense, no milking information out. Just down the line honest helpful content! thank you man!

I swear this channel is gold. Get well soon btw, I am dealing with a pint inflicted condition too right now so I feel your pain lol

Really digging your channel, love how zero bs it is.

Aural compass! Great phrase. Also I appreciate the mention of the 20 minute rule. Very useful video

Mind blown! This channel has made my mixes better already. This will be an interesting experiment in the coming days. Get well soon brother!

Me and good friend of mine have been in the studio many of times together, we both watched this video when it came out and today got back in the studio and remembered the advice from this video. We progressed so much faster and found the session much more enjoyable. Thank you for your advice, your videos have really helped.

Really appreciate all these videos B! The most helpful and well put together

Can’t believe this channel. Been binging your channel and making tech house music since I got home from work a week ago. I’ve been making music for years but I have improved SO much this week thanks to you

The start early tip may have just changed my life. I've always avoided using reference tracks for fear of feeling dejected when my stufd doesn't match up. This will help me get around that mental block.

Refreshing this, I love it when I find a video that offers a different perspective on compression etc, I know referencing is important, but I will put more emphasis on this in future. Great channel this, well done Mr Bthelick.

This channel is the best I’ve seen in years. Thank you dude!

Great video Ben. I really liked, and totally agree with, what you said about taking inspiration from different reference tracks for different elements of the track you're making. It definitely helps with creativity and also getting out of the dreaded stuck-in-the-loop mindset. I'd thoroughly recommend having a reference track with a strong drum mix to build a good foundation for your track, as well as a couple more with strong hooks for creative inspiration. That said, it depends on the genre you’re creating. Anyhoo......keep up the fantastic work & great to see your subs near the 20k mark and rising 😁

Very helpful. I'm finding the more I learn, the less I actually have to produce my tracks. No other KZreadrs really discuss this stuff, many thanks

Another priceless gem. This channel is pure GOLD.

The advice, the way you explain/share 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I know I need to reference more so this video was quite helpful. Very well explained! Clear and to the point with a hint of charm. Thanks mate!

Awesome tutorial. Thank you. I too have always been an adherent of references, but now I'll def pay even more attention to this

You are the man, man! :) love all of your content so far. Never disappoint. Cheers mate!

I really like this info early on, makes complete sense. I will be putting these tips into practice

thanks really appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

Top video. One way I reference is using the Span VST2 version which allows easy setup of sidechaining. This overlays your track and the reference to give visual indicators and has helped massively. Metric AB is a also helpful plug-in which regularly goes on sale for around £30. Get well soon mate.👍

Keep em' coming B, just keep em' coming 💯

Amazing stuff. Thanks for sharing

I use my own professionally mastered tracks as a reference and that’s really helped improve the quality of my new songs. Keeps me from wandering too far off the path.

Killer video 🔥 straight to the point and everything made sense

Absolutely gold

Fantastic 🎉 listening loud and clear 👂 Interestingly, when I started using in ear monitoring to play live with 4 others, I would often begin with a bad mix… after 3 or 4 songs I would forget about it… I guess the normalisation concept explains this somewhat.

You totally nailed this video and I had so much fun with your 3 R's 🤟🏼😂 they took it to the point 🔥 thank you very much I feel growth on me after watching this 🚀

I love the music timing of the 3 R's, nice touch.

Incredible. .thank you for this . Just looked back at the last 18 years like …ooohh

Referencing is a must. Lovely video. Funny af

LOVE IT!!! Ive been referencing other tracks for so long I can't remember and it is the way to go,.. so many benefits,.. I use Reference by mastering the mix sometimes and I also use XLN XO so when I saw it pop up on your screen I was thinking hell yes,.... such a powerful drum sequencer! I usually bounce the tracks to audio though because I just work that way 70-80% of the time in my productions,.... you forgot the 4th R though,.... It's REFEEEERENCEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! 😉

Best house music production channel, always recommend you!

Great stuff

Golden info! Thanks

Oh nooo get better soon! You need more views this was some helpful knowledge!

Great video! You're right, we don't reference enough!

Massive tips!!

This was my coffee tut for the day…spot on, hugs 😎🖤🤗

Thanks for your effort in teaching quality stuff ❤

Damn, good videos!

You're like a better, calmer Dan Worrall. This is peak production content, I absolutely love your delivery!

most underrated channel. ty sir

Thank you for sharing your knowledge

The track is dope Great bass in the intro

Your are the best. I can listen to you for hours 😂

Speed up to 1.25 for the Mitsubishi version. Fwoar. Great advice. You've made me realise how so very little I directly reference...

One of the reasons why my 1st track in my template is "Reference" - now I need to get to using it. LOL

Sage Advice. Thank you. 🙏

I would love a video of you sound designing everything in a piano house track like high strings, string stabs, ambient noise, ear candy etc. Taking a couple of minutes per sound then moving on. I could learn a lot from that, anyway keep up the great work !

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Did you see the 2 Paul Woolford vids? Or my first live video?

absolutely stupendous content

this channel is gold

Top Man

thx again

love from Amman, you are rare man!

2:49 so you're telling me if i have a 20min track then everyone will think its a good mix? jokes, good words man

@Bthelick

4 ай бұрын

🤣

That's mad, you said wakey wakey just as I was nodding off 😂😂 not because i think your tutorials are boring by any means but simply because I've been drinking wine all night and I'm watching this in bed 😂 great video again btheclick 👌time to reference i think 🎉

when's the next livestream? As always, killer job on the video man. So happy to find this channel

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Last Sunday of the month 6pm GMT 👊. Thanks for the support

I think the best tracks ive made have come from using reference tracks and i feel like theyre at a level were i want to show people. With that said i guess time will be a factor but i cant get my drums to slap like say D.O.D which is the style i like. What i tend to do it run the D.O.D track on one channel and mine on all the other channels while im making it and say like its the first drop i play both one after another the kick from a professional some times makes me want to turn off but i guess its a long road. practise makes perfect and all that 😇

Reference! 💎

Love it, please share more about this topic. Some examples why we should not use VST meters to reference directly. Thank you :).

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

by all means use meters to help, just don't rely on them!

Good one :)

Hope you’re feeling better.

loved the tech house tune

ur the goat m8

Brilliant stuff cheers. Should you be able to share what settings are you running on your SPAN?

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

No problem. drive.google.com/file/d/1DiZ70Ni0SJJ1-loGuigUbUHs0rLbTz9b/view?usp=drivesdk 👊

Hope you feel better!

You rock.

@jonzfilms

11 ай бұрын

An educated man with the spirit of freedom. What's not to love and respect. Skills.

Good day Bthelick. i think that its might be a good idea to make a video about setting instrument levels by relative volumes concept. matching volumes by a reference is great idea, however it needs something to compliment it,mainly to set the levels of small effect and such(to improve workflow).

@Bthelick

3 ай бұрын

I don't have any methods for setting levels. You set levels where you want them! Other than making sure the kick dominates in dance music , and making sure the vocals are clear in pop tracks, there are no methods. How is setting levels to the reference not useful? If you don't yet have 10,000 hours of ear training and a great treated room, that's the only way you're going to be able to judge it! Unless you mean something else by "setting levels" ? Are you looking for relative fader dB numbers?

@tallandsman6780

3 ай бұрын

​@@Bthelick setting the instrument to a reference is extremely useful and important. i find it very good for setting the core instruments,like kick bass and leads. instruments i prefer to set them as u mentioned, by listening to the kick level as a audio encore to compare to. i think i mentioned it because i did an amateur mistake by setting the levels just where it felt good to me, without mixing in relation to the kick(in our case). i used to do that in the past but neglected this simple practice. the results ended poorly as i my last published mix(i should have compare old vs new mix). maybe some newcomers and more experienced will benefit of a reminder in a form of video in your channel, that's the reason for the comment. personally i prefer to always use reference tracks and listen to then every 20 min or so and ido have a somewhat treated room and sonarworks+a few years of experience. patience and dedication.

2:00 laughed and started dancing

What I do is I'll make a groove, then send it to myself and blast it in my car in the morning when I go to work to see what I missed when mixing in my room.

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Yeah the car test is one way of resetting the ears, ideally you need others too and far more often.

@isaac10231

11 ай бұрын

@@Bthelick That's true. Another technique I use is changing headphones/earbuds. I have a couple that have pretty terrible frequencyresponses and they really magnify the tiniest of issues. I should use more reference tracks tho.

Great tip mate! The three most important things a manager does: One is get the money. Two is always remember to get the money. Three is never forget to always remember to get the money. Shep Gordon - supermensch documentary

@AutPen38

11 ай бұрын

When hiring, human resources managers should always check the references.

nice sharing 💖✨💯💯

Again, great vid! I´am using reference tracks for composition, but still learning when I hear a sound, that I can recreate it a bit. The mixing tip for the right volume of the vocals,is great and I learned that a few weeks ago. But I do have a question about mono. Which channels are playing in mono in most professional tracks? Like is the bass and kick for example mono and all the other things stereo?

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

I mean to play and judge everything in mono. For the final track most things are stereo in some fashion but only as a 'bonus' to a good mono track. Kicks are typically mono yes . You can do what you like as long as the mono mix sounds strong

@rachidow2125

11 ай бұрын

@@Bthelick Thank you for responding & clearing it up! I do use mono for mixing, but turn it off when exporting. It´s a utility on the master. (only use the mono function) Keep up the good work.

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Yep that's all I meant. As long as they don't sound completely different when you switch 👊

i watch this so many times i love it. thank you again.. do you have a tutorial on how to set up the reference track. channel so you can by pass it , have the volumes correct so its not mastered twice etc (pardon bad terminology)

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Yes simple, I don't have anything on my master channel! (Except metering). I leave the references at 0 so I can match my track to them. Then by the time I'm done matching sounds to the reference, my track doesn't need mastering and i release it just like that. I barely even have to mix too because the sound selection is usually so close! "The best mixes don't need mastering" - Bob Katz. Having said that, it must be said it takes a lot of ear training and experience to be able to work like that so if you want to work with things in your master you can direct the references to go straight to the sound card output and not through master channel. Just look in your routing options.

@JayThomasofficial

11 ай бұрын

​@@Bthelick Thank you so much for this response, knowledge, and your time =) I am grateful. I am learning so much from your videos. You are awesome. I am seeing the last decade + of me trying to teach myself flash back to me in moments now as in like "oh ok well thats why i kept having that issue, etc "the every 20 mins change your reference thing was the biggest aha moment. I cant thank you enough. Do you have a tutorial showing how you would go about setting up a reference track or a few? I am searching for a gain staging one now too and maybe another one or combo video where you explain how to have the kick maybe start at -6b or -10 i forget and then mix the snare for example to it , bass etc. Then how to check ( a/b) the refference track ( do we check the reference with our ears ( not solo_ as well as maybe look at a spectrum analyzer so we can also check( pardon possible bad terminology or explanation here) the shape of the kick ( as well as the frequency.. ( in my head im picturing/ thinking i prob should not just be trying to match the SPIKE eq ( where it says the root nore etc etc) but the whole 80-120 curve of the eq ..i overthink things can you tell. thank you for your time. ( no worries if you are busy and dont have a holiday set aside to read all this. nevermind respond. im just really happy i found your work. i feel leaps and bounds ahead of where i was for years now once i started watching your content. (ps im a artist. id love to make you some of my woodworking art as a thank you for all you have given to me (with your teachings/videos.) i usually make someones logo , fave word/ phrase or symbol out of wood and add led lights to it ( looks great in studios / offices etc) jlmk.. i can send you my IG if u would like one.. so you can see my work ..( ty again)

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

yep you are definitely over thinking it! don't be looking at numbers use your ears. Put the reference track at the top of session and swap to it as you search for kicks in your library and try to match the level and tone. you can't have rules like all kicks stay at -6 or whatever, because that's not how sound works! -6 at 50hz? -6 at 150hz? -6 RMS, at peak or LUFS??? what does -6 mean? does it equate to what your ears hear ? no. most measurements on saw channel faders are digital peak meters which tell you absolutely nothing about sound. a -6 peak sound can sound half the volume of a -12 peak sound depending on density so don't rely on any meters just match it to the reference by ear as best you can. You can use meters to find problems (like checking sub levels that your speakers can't recreate etc) but not for overall judgement. Your audience won't be listening to your tracks with meters! 👊

comment for the algorithm . Thanks mate

Hell ya!

Btw, I was thinking about referencing and I probably need a backwards guide. Often, I have a musical idea that I'd like to finish but struggling to find a matching reference to it :D

Hands up. Head down.

Nice half-life logo on the side screen :) and great video as always

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Half life?? Where?

@Zer0Spinn

11 ай бұрын

​@@Bthelick5:25 on the laptop haha

@BuzzaB77

11 ай бұрын

@@Zer0Spinn oohhhhh yeah almost forgot that was my desktop good spot 👊

@TraceJDR98

11 ай бұрын

@@BuzzaB77 yeah it's easy to forget stuff that is always there, similar to hearing your mix over and over without reference x)

I’ve seen you use the XO plugin to reference drum samples and I’d like to try that technique. Have you tried the “similar sounds” feature in Ableton 12? I’m wondering whether the plug in or the Ableton feature is better, and I’d love your take before I buy one of the two. Thank you for all of your videos and all of your teaching!

@Bthelick

5 күн бұрын

Yeah xo is handy but mostly in the sense of a 'blind' sample selector since Ableton's search got much worse after v8. xo's tone isn't great, it just appears to be taking a single overall tonal snapshot, I noticed it simply puts shorter samples at the top, long samples at the bottom, Brighter samples on the right and bass-ier samples on the left there's not much more to it than that. Ironically I make so much music and the video takes so long that I still haven't had time to test Ableton 12 properly! I will be making a quick video on this feature though this workflow is paramount to my job.

Ok dude...black books. I can see we share a bit of spirit there. Good one, again ;)

When I reference like you do I realized it takes a lotttt longer to find the right samples that match my favorite tracks. Since I’m a beginner and I don’t know how to layer I just try to find the right source from the beginning so I don’t have to mix or master just match volume levels by the reference. But my question to you is as a beginner with so many sample options at one point is it too much time trying to find a similar clap or kick or hat that match the reference. Should I set a timer finding a similar sample or keep going until I think I found that right one ?

@Bthelick

Ай бұрын

Well that bit is supposed to take time! Get it right and the rest is a thousand times easier. It's good ear training too, you will be developing ear skills every time you try and it will get faster. Having said that, you can speed things up by not being so literal. You don't need the exact sounds, you need sounds that perform the same role. I recommend bringing in at least 3 references, that way you'll hear how wide the 'ball park' can be. So instead of finding the same clap you can find one that gives the amount of energy to the back beat etc. both skills are useful. Still train the skills to identify frequencies and the shape over time if sounds, but also train to identify the role/ purpose of a sound. Because if you can get the kick and sub close to a reference, then it's probably not essential that the lead sound is similar, it can be different but will probably need to fill the same purpose/ energy. Hope that makes sense.

❤

Great content as always, thank you 🙏 I reference flipping back and fore from Spotify but from your mono comment I understand I should import a ref track into my DAW. But I don’t know how 🥴

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Spotify has extremely low bitrate playback. If you don't want to buy a wav off beatport at least try to find a good copy on YT , the official artist "topic" channels have the cleanest audio generally. Those can be ripped too 😉

@fradav68

11 ай бұрын

@@Bthelick Thanks a lot for info, didn't even realise you could buy wave files online, huge help!

hi Greetings all layers of music are built depending on Emotions This is my idea to use so many references It makes the song a little mathematical, that is, similar songs come out in the mold, especially when certain sounds are trending in electronic music We can also hear it in my mind, projects such as templates to be a little more Original I think that reference can be used anywhere in the project to be a little more As I said, as I said, it is just an idea for me, since I do not study music for me and I have limited knowledge about mathematics in general, maybe I think this way What do you say Thank you for your sharing

Shipyard, good choice to be fair 😂 great video too

That fisrt background tune was banging

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Just the first??? 🤣🙏

Once again thanks for the truth bomb. It Is a bit like the same philosophy... As "less Is more" .

Hey @Bthelick I have a quick question. If I wanted to go about producing a genre that I like such as uk garage and bass would I just need to reference tracks and try to recreate them ? Also how do you go about being stuck in a point of the reference where you cannot recreate the sound due to being a beginner and not knowing sound design at all. Currently studying syntorial so I can learn more but it seems like a lot to recreate your favorite tracks Especially as a beginner

@Bthelick

6 ай бұрын

Yes referencing is key but for synth sounds it's going to take a while until you get used to what sound options exist. I advise taking any synth and using it just to listen and get used to the raw sound of each basic waveform, sine, saw, square and triangle. Then build upwards from that by getting used to what each syntheses type is capable of like subtractive , FM, and wavetable. I've never used syntorial so I can't comment, but you can also check out my 2 synth tutorials for a solid grounding in the fundamentals. Over time you'll get an idea for what sounds come from which wave types and which synthesis. Beyond that , for more aggressive sounds like that in bass music, you'll want to experiment and get used to how different distortions shape sound too as that can be a drastic change. Sorry there's no fixed methods but over time it will come. You can always look up "how to get x sound" tutorials on YT for now, most of them will be just copycat method with no reasoning but you can use them to look at the patch and reverse engineer that sound by disabling the filter and FX etc to hear the building blocks of the sound. How that helps a little and best of luck 👊

@matthewdemetree6743

6 ай бұрын

@@Bthelick thanks so much!! Was wondering when the next livestream is ?

@Bthelick

6 ай бұрын

I stream on the last Sunday of the month 6pm gmt (not this one though sorry)

5:25 haha… wait till you see my studio

i love your content, please post a 101 beginners tutorial on how to start making music pleaseee

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

a proper course is planned at one point for sure. Let me know where you're at so I can gauge the level. Do you have a daw yet?

@markksantos

11 ай бұрын

@@Bthelick i dont even known what a daw is :(

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Ah ok in that case we're getting in somewhere already! D.A.W. is Digital Audio Workstation. It's the general term for the type of main software program used to record and make music like the one you see on screen in my videos.

@markksantos

11 ай бұрын

@@Bthelick Got it! Now you can tell I'm a complete noob 🤣 I'll pay for your time, please let's do a call!

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

​@@markksantos gotcha. I'd love to but the music & videos ARE my time right now. if I took on any 121 then the 12many has to stop! To start you don't need anything other than a daw and a computer to run it on. that's all. I use a daw called Ableton Live but tbh any daw is absolutely fine, they all work in a similar way. Live is not that cheap, but it is very easy to use. There are free daws available though like Waveform Free which is fantastic. Grab yourself a daw an have a poke around!

👍🏻

5:24 "You do not have this studio." Me with a _very_ similar setup: 🤓

I'm binge watching your channel since I discovered it yesterday. So, as a new follower, I have already a demand ! ^^ Could you make a video on balancing/mixing the elements, and develop on when there is enough elements ? I abandon so much projects (well, almost every project) just because it always sounds bad, or sometimes, its sounds good, but when I compare to my reference it seems there's someting missing even if there is as much elements... Or it just doesn't sound punchy...

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Well it just takes time , Did you watch my 3 simple steps video?

@jonathangozzo6051

11 ай бұрын

@@Bthelick I watched quite randomly. Maybe I still haven't seen this one... I'll check it out. Thank you.

@jonathangozzo6051

11 ай бұрын

@@Bthelick Ok, nice one

@Bthelick

11 ай бұрын

Sorry if that sounds like a non-answer but it's one of those things that I can't teach. Unless we literally had a brain transplant with each other I can't show you what I hear! It's like trying to describe how I see the color orange! What if our oranges are different?! Hope that makes sense, but if you can't hear the balance of your kick vs your vocal etc then you can't hear it yet! There's no magic "make the kick -2 and vocal -6" nonsense that could ever work reliably. It just comes down to practicing active listening more to your references.

While I agree with just about everything in this video, I feel one of the most important R's is definitely "reference". Other than that, great video!