In my previous article, we talked about everything you need to get started as a music producer. Today, I’d like to talk to you about a few EDM mixing tools that can and will help you in your day to day production.
Once you have everything that you need, and you’ve started to understand the tools in your DAW, you can then start to look for 3rd party plugins that might be able to lend you a hand.
I’m pretty big about the saying “it’s about your ear, not your gear,” however, the tools that I will be talking about today are things that can drastically help with your overall production and mixing.
Melda Productions MMultiAnalyzer
Melda Productions, a very well established and quality audio software design company, have many plugins which range from delays, filters, reverbs, compressors; just about anything that has to do with production.
Despite each one of their products being better than the next, there’s one of their plugins that reigns over all others: MMultiAnalyzer.
MMultiAnalyzer is a spectrum, loudness and stereo analyzer, with a built in sonogram.
One of the best features of this plugin is its Collision tool which shows you exactly what multi-track/sound is conflicting with another multi-track/sound. I can’t even begin to tell you how useful this is.
When I was first starting out I didn’t know much about mixing, let alone EQing, so I would go on a rampage EQing things so drastically and vigorously that each of my sounds would start to sound flat and out of place.
MMultianalyzer strips the veil of secrecy off of what could be EQ’d and what SHOULD be EQed.
Collision
When you’re in your project all you have to do is add MMultiAnalyzer to each individual multi-track that you would like MMultiAnalyzer to Analyze, then BOOM, you can see where these track are conflicting
$69.00 USD
Xfer Records Serum
This next one isn’t really a part of the EDM mixing tools category. However, it’s something that a must to have for EDM production and can be a very useful and fun tool for post production.
Serum is a VST that, even if you’re just starting out, you have more than likely heard of and there’s a reason for this.
This synth is one of the most POWERFUL VST plugins out there.
It’s award winning wavetable synthesis is nothing short of the best. Serum even allows you to go into each wavetable and complete alter, customize and perfect the sound that you’re going for.
It’s beautiful oscillators output some of the best sounding waves that you’ll ever hear.
Serum even comes packed with a plethora of filters like hyper dimension, compressor w/ built in multiband compression, reverb, an extra filter, phase, flanger, distortion, and EQ.
Just go onto Splice and check out the thousands and thousands of sounds being sold just for Serum users alone. Splice has even partnered with Serum so you can rent-to-own Serum. For just $10 a month you can own serum and slowly pay off the balance owed for the plugin.
Can’t afford to pay for Serum one month? No problem, you can pause payments and continue whenever you’re ready! Some of the biggest names in the industry use Serum because of it’s incredible capability including Flume, Netsky, Dada Life, ill.gates, Deadmaus, Skrillex, Diplo and so many more!
This is a plugin that you just can’t pass up, it’s definitely one of the best plugins to get if you’re interested in designing your own sounds.
Now if you are getting Serum, or you currently have it. You might need some new and fresh sounds to keep the creativity flowing. I’ve got a free Serum soundpack that I’m giving away today! Head to the link below and grab it, it’s got over 30 free sounds for you to use in your projects.
$189.00 USD
Voxengo SPAN
Now if you don’t have the $69.00 to throw at MMultianalyzer, you can switch it for Voxengo’s free SPAN tool.
This tool is a straight up beast when it comes to powerful free EDM mixing tools.
You can set it up in a similar manner to MMultianalyzer by loading it on two different channels to check where each are sitting in the frequency spectrum and you can color code the two tracks so you won’t get confused about which one is where.
It also comes with an RMS, peak level and clipping detector so you never have a reason for something to, unknowingly, clip. Check your stereo, mid/side and surround spectrum with this analyzer.
Save a quick buck and download this baby today, for FREE!
FREE
Mastering The Mix REFERENCE
As you start to produce you’ll be learning more and more about how to properly mix your track. One thing you should be taught from the very beginning is to ALWAYS have a reference track to compare your mix to. If you don’t know what I’m talking about then let me give you a run down.
When you mix your track you should find a high quality reference track that sounds similar to yours. Maybe it’s the same genre, tempo and same style as yours.
I usually like to choose something with similar structure to my song. I purchase the track and drag it into my project and I will sit there listening to the reference track, mute it, listen to my track and adjust things as I go.
The goal here is to get my mix to sounds as close to the reference track as possible.
This ensures that you get the cleanest mix possible, it will also allow you to learn new techniques that you more than likely would not have learned just trying to mix your track alone.
What if I told you there was a plugin that did this and more? Well let me be the first to introduce you to REFERENCE, by Mastering The Mix.
Simply load up the plugin to your master channel, drag in up to 4 reference tracks and start comparing. This tool breaks down everything for you.
How loud are parts of your track compared to the reference track? Do you have parts that “hotter” in certain frequency spectrums compared to your reference? Is your reference track wider in a certain frequency field or is it more compressed than your track?
You can EASILY answer these questions using REFERENCE and start perfecting your mix.
These are just one of the many ways that I’ve found REFERENCE to be useful when mixing. This tool was primarily created for referencing your mix to your master to see exactly what you’re doing in the mastering stage and whether or not what you’re doing has effectively enhanced your track.
However, I’ve found that using REFERENCE with your actual reference track will ultimately help you make decisions in your mixing process!
Head to their website to pick up a free trial to take a glimpse at one of the best EDM mixing tools out there!
$55.00 USD