Let me know what you're going to try from this video...

The recording phase  is where everybody fails,  thinking  the mixing phase gonna fix everything.  When arranging a track , choosing the right sounds will make the song mix itself ..literally. Thats what makes mixing a total joy instead of a total pain.

I like this analogy: the track is a playground. You want your listener to have fun playing in the playground. But the listener can only physically play on one thing in the playground at one time. This is the instrument that is featured, everything else is supporting. Then move on to a different featured instrument if necessary. If everything is featured and front and center, it would be like your listener sitting on the grass staring at all of the rides in the park. Feature instruments in and out with volume automation and countless other ways.

I noticed this a long time ago, I shared a track I had made in 10 minutes, the only mixing it had was the base fl limiter at +6db to give it some loudness, and the person I sent it to asked me how I got "such quality mixing", so I tested it against some actually mixed projects I had, and it actually sounded better than most of them (this was early in my production days).
Since then I understood, mixing is a trap for beginners, you think "I'll fix it in the mix later", then spend hours tweaking knobs and trying out every tutorial you find online, only to end up with a weak and awful result.
If the project doesn't sound good at every stage of production, you most likely won't have the skills to fix it later, don't overthink the mix, just make sure it always sounds good to your ear.

Your couch needs a different shaker loop.

Buying the right couch is surprisingly hard.

This is so true. I used to do a little in music in the acid house (Roland,  analog....Cubase on Atari 1040 lol) era and I just did a massive upgrade to the very small setup I had because I want to get back into music (now I only do huge soundscapes for friends at after parties), but how much everything has evolved has totally blown me away, and it is why I love your positive channel so much (info without bs). I have had where I had quite a nice thing going, and then by trying to make everything a little better, Ibtotally "murdered" the whole thing I had going. Putting something away for a couple of days or weeks is also a great tip I once got. Thanks for being such a great influence for me on YouTube, and all the positive vibes you bring. Please keep doing what you do....and very best wishes to all the other positive spirits out there ❤

Really liked the point about fixing the biggest problem instead of endlessly polishing small details. I’ve found the same with mastering too. Getting the arrangement and balance right first makes a huge difference, then tools like Remasterify can help polish the final mix. Sometimes simpler decisions really do make the biggest difference.

Here's 3 more similar tips I learned while mixing.
1. Gain stage the channels for greater fader resolution.
2. If you want a certain track to be louder in the mix, turning all the other tracks down could work better than fighting for space and distorting the mix.
3. Anchor your Drum Bus and rap everything else around it 😉

I’m still trying to figure it out. The day you figure it out, you arrived and then there is no more.. no more reason to.

I love you. This is one of the finest tutorials ever, from anyone. Sounds so simple when you know, right?

Excellent vid, Will! I constantly fall into these traps - I often can't see the sofa for the deck chairs, as it were 😂

I have followed you for going on 4 years now I think and this "Titanic" comparison/message absolutely hits home. I am the "10% Trap Producer" who sits there tinkering trying to make something fit and ultimately what I have found is that it didn't need any attention to begin with and it has even changed the key of my track without me knowing. It's taken me awhile to get here mentally with my production process and sound design but I can honestly say I wouldn't of gotten here without Will and his team.

Starting with a quality recording that used all the right sounds makes a huge difference. I notice the professional engineers that receive perfect recordings really don’t do much. Also, if you don’t have a treated room and big monitors or a subwoofer you will never get the low end right without testing it on 100 different systems. Same with mastering. Ever watch a video of someone mastering a professional recording? They basically choose a converter that sounds good, do a few eq moves, maybe send it through something with tubes and a limiter.

My studio is 100% hardware including a 24 track hardware recorder. I never "see" my music, only hear it. I design all my own patches specifically for the song I am composing, been sound designing for so long I can make the sound easier than looking for a sound. I record Vangelis style with no overdubbing, all the music performed live and in one take. Lots of mixer channels and tracks mixed down on hardware to the stereo master. I spend about a month preparing for one song, levels, EQ, effects, dynamic control, all fined tune and recorded wet and complete. The only control over the finished song is track levels before mastering, but I rarely change any. Why? A month of practicing the song and fine tuning the audio engineering until the day I press record. So much fun recording this way, all the emotion of the song in the moment is recorded, no overdubbing to clicks or temporary drums, the music is played with both my hands and both feet, when these are too busy patterns sequencer is used but only quantized at 70%. All humanity is preserved, the gentle variance in timing, the expression and dynamics, nothing is changed post recording. Nothing fixed. No perfection, just human.

That's right. Always fix the problem at the source and everything else gets easier. This was also bruce swediens philosophy. The guy who mixed thriller..

Holy shit, I’ve been working on a remix this week, and it’s a good track, but I’ve noticed that the mix isn’t quite right technically. This video couldn’t have come at a better time! Thanks Will!

I've been stuck in the solo-trap for most of my adult life... 😭

this is a groundbreaking video. Great job

this video is gold!