#149: Unlock Pro-Level Music Production Techniques, Tools, and Tips for Aspiring Producers (PRODUCER KICKSTART: FastEddy856)

Have you ever wondered how to make the most of peer feedback or write feedback for peers? If you're looking for info on topics like how long should it take to mix a song? The fundamentals of mixing, the importance of reference songs, why a supportive network in the music industry is important or maybe even tips to overcome imposter syndrome. Then check out EP 149 of the Inside The Mix podcast where independent music producer, writer, and artist FastEddy856 joins me for a Producer Kickstart Strategy Session.

CLICK HERE, to book a Producer Kickstart Strategy Session: https://tidycal.com/inside-the-mix-podcast/producer-kickstart

Unlock the secrets of exceptional music production with my latest episode featuring FastEddy856, a seasoned music producer, writer, and artist who has spent over three decades perfecting his craft. FastEddy candidly shares the challenges he faces in mixing and mastering his tracks. From grappling with iterative mixing to overcoming imposter syndrome, discover how mastering the fundamentals of EQ and dynamics processing can build a strong foundation for any aspiring producer.

FastEddy and I dive deep into the power of supportive peer review networks and the transformative potential of tools like Chromaglow for saturation and AI-driven bass players. Highlighting the importance of becoming well-versed in native plugins within Logic Pro, this segment is packed with actionable advice on navigating feedback and honing your mixing techniques. Learn why balancing specific guidance with unbiased opinions is crucial, and how not all suggestions must be acted upon to achieve your vision.

Join us as we explore practical mixing techniques, the value of reference tracks, and the significance of a controlled listening environment. I share insights into managing bass frequencies and the benefits of tools like spectral analyzers. Whether you're a seasoned producer or just starting, this episode is a treasure trove of insights that will elevate your music production journey.

CLICK HERE, to listen to FastEddy856: https://linktr.ee/fasteddy856

Chapters

• 0:01 Music Production Journey
• 7:32 Peer Feedback and Pro Mix Tips
• 16:09 Mixing Techniques and Tips
• 21:03 Online Music Promotion and Collaboration

Transcript

FastEddy856: 0:01

You're listening to the Inside the Mix podcast with your host, Mark Matthews.

Marc Matthews: 0:06

Hello and welcome to the Inside the Mix podcast. I'm Mark Matthews, your host, musician, producer and mix and mastering engineer. You've come to the right place if you want to know more about your favorite synth music artists, music engineering and production, songwriting and the music industry. I've been writing, producing, mixing and mastering music for over 15 years and I want to share what I've learned with you. Hello, folks, and welcome to the Inside the Mix podcast. In this episode, I am very excited, as I always am, to welcome my guest today, my friend FastEddy856, who is an independent music producer, writer and artist, and he's joining me today for a producer kickstart strategy session. Hello, fast Eddie, how are you? How are things going? Buddy, I'm good. Mark, how are you doing? I'm good, I'm good, I'm good. We've been back and forth on Instagram for a while now, so it's good to finally chat via this medium that we find ourselves in today. So I'm looking forward to. So I'm looking forward to this.

FastEddy856: 1:05

I'm looking forward to it. Me too, I hope.

Marc Matthews: 1:08

Yeah. So in the notes in the lead up to this, you found the podcast because you were starting mixing and mastering and you wanted to listen to an informative podcast about mixing, which is also by Layback and Cool, and I love that description. I should add it as a tagline for the episodes or the podcast itself. Maybe if you could just tell our audience a little bit about your music production journey today. What is it that has inspired you to start sort of this mixing production journey?

FastEddy856: 1:33

well, I've been producing since I was 16 years old, so about 30 years I'm giving my age away. But yeah, 30 years now and, um, I didn't have the funds really to keep on paying for my mix and master. So I kind of figured out myself and learned myself. So that's why I started mixing and masking part.

Marc Matthews: 1:52

It makes perfect sense and you're certainly not alone with regards to that and individuals taking it in-house to to save funds, because being, as being, an independent artist and producer, obviously it does require financial outlay and you kind of need to weigh up, like I want to do some of it myself, but at the same time we need to obviously see opportunities whereby we need to outsource. So you've got to kind of weigh up where, if you've got that pot of money that you can invest in you as an artist and producer, you need to spend it wisely. So I totally get what you're saying with regards to bringing it in-house. So maybe if you could describe well I've got it written down here your biggest pain point at the moment is doing mixings or mixes over and over again. So you're going through that iterative pattern of binge mixing for one of a better way of putting it. So you're doing another mix and another mix and another, which, my friend, you are not alone, there are many individuals that do this.

Marc Matthews: 2:45

I used to fall into this pattern as well. Maybe if you could tell us a bit more about that, what is? What is it? And you mentioned about competing with yourself in the notes I've got here? What is it that you're competing with? What? What does it drop? What's driving you to do these multiple mixes?

FastEddy856: 3:01

I'm thinking I can do better and then I go back to a mix I've done and it didn't sound bad at all and I'm like what am I doing? So I believe I have, I'm getting with the confidence almost there, but it's still. I'm still lacking something in confidence. I don't know what it is yeah, you're totally not. I keep saying this I was gonna be recurring theme of the episode here.

Marc Matthews: 3:21

You're not alone, uh, in that, and it's kind of like that imposter syndrome, isn't it?

Marc Matthews: 3:25

and I I get this routinely with the podcast. When you look at other podcasts that are doing xyz and they're, all these numbers and stuff and you, you cannot help but compare yourself to others and get that imposter syndrome and think, oh, they're doing that, why doesn't mine? Sound like that? But I think you're right at the beginning of your journey here. The way at the moment well, like if you've only just started to dip your toe in the water, so to speak, of like mixing and mastering and there's that classic sort of 10,000 hours isn't there I don't know if you've heard of that You've got 10,000 hours of something to really not necessarily even master it, but really get it and understand it and get it under your belt. So often my sort of response to that is don't compare yourself to others. For one, I mean, it's hard, it's easy for me to say that. It's really easy for me to sit here and say don't compare yourself to others, because we do. And social media is often the catalyst for that and you cannot help but look for a feed and see what someone else is doing. But we're only seeing the positives generally, I think with music, what people are portraying and putting out there. So that would be like the number one thing is straight away, not to compare yourself to others. But with regards to the mixing iterations, I think a lot of the time a lot of that falls down to sort of knowing the fundamentals of mixing itself. So things like EQ and dynamics processing and time based processing like reverb and delay, and dynamics processing and time-based processing like reverb and delay.

Marc Matthews: 4:47

And what I often say to individuals is like, if you've got a select few plugins, is to know them very well, because it's quite easy to see that silver bullet plugin.

Marc Matthews: 4:57

A lot of the time and this happens with mixing you got a mix right, you're thinking, oh man, it's just sounding really muddy in the low end, or my vocal just isn't sitting right, it's not present enough, and I and if I increase the level, then it stands out to and it's too proud of the mix, or if I don't, then it's too, I cannot hear it, it's not staying.

Marc Matthews: 5:13

And then you see this video, this advert on tv tv, I don't know you may see it on tv, but you see it on youtube, for example and it said oh man, tried this plug plugin and now my mix sounds absolutely bang and everything's X, y, z, and you can quite easily fall into that. So one thing I often say to individuals and I particularly do this with coaching clients as well is like, if you've got a select few plugins, like an EQ, a compressor, a reverb metering is to get to know those ones really, really well and fully understand what they do before you start reaching for another plugin that you think might solve the issue. Because I think a lot of the issues sometimes arise specifically right at the beginning of your sort of mixing and mastering journey is you've got an issue, but you're, or you can identify it, but maybe you're not at the place whereby you know how to fix it. And I think knowing like an EQ, for example in Logic, like the Logic EQ, knowing it inside out and what it can do before you move on to another one, is highly important. Does that make sense?

Marc Matthews: 6:13

It?

FastEddy856: 6:14

makes a lot of sense and I believe I've been doing that recently. I've done what you said too. I've seen people say, use this, use that, and I've used it because they said it and I said you know what, I'm going to stick with this first and learn this, and I've been doing that now and it's been working for me.

Marc Matthews: 6:31

A hundred percent, and that's the thing to do, because there are so many and I fall into this trap hands in the air. I think I did it earlier today or it might have been yesterday. Youtube, I find, is the worst for this. I agree, yeah, you'll put on a video and the first thing you'll see is an advert saying this plugin has created this chord progression. For me, it's out of this world and I'm like I don't want to see this right now, or something along those lines. So that would be my first step and it's great that you're already doing that is to really get to grips with the plugins and the tools that you have at hand, and logic is fantastic. I love logic. Like with what? Yeah, with what it has. You're a logic user, right, if I?

Marc Matthews: 7:08

remember, yes, yes, yeah, have you updated to logic pro 11?

FastEddy856: 7:12

not yet. Well, I try to, but my uh apple, my computer stops at uh 10 point like the last one.

Marc Matthews: 7:19

So I think I need a new computer a new apple that yeah, that's the problem, isn't it like apple does that man? It releases this update and says, oh yeah, we've got this great update stem splitter, chroma glow, but you need to have this first. I heard so much about it.

FastEddy856: 7:34

I heard your, uh, your stem splitter episode too. Um very interesting yeah, it's really good, I heard the difference between, uh, the difference when you split them up too. I was like wow okay, it's quite impressive.

Marc Matthews: 7:47

Now I think I said it in the episode, I haven't actually used other stem splitting applications, but maybe I'll go away and do that, but I was quite impressed. I briefly looked at Chromaglow yesterday and what that can do and that looks quite exciting in turn. It's like a saturation uh saturator and it's got various different um saturation parameters, let's say and, and emulations in air quotes that you can use and it looks pretty good from what I can see. So and I'm also gonna I want to have a look at the um. There's a, not an a, is it ai? Like a bass player sort of thing as well for composition to generate those as well. Anyway, getting off track, but it just looks. It looks really good.

Marc Matthews: 8:27

But Logic has some fantastic plugins native to it, like the EQ and the compressors. So I often say to individuals like, before you go out and buy like the latest and greatest EQ or compressor, get to know those really well. And also I think in particular with compression, is to actually understand the different parameters and what they do. I think is quite important important as well and actually be able to identify what they're doing when you do it, because I think it's quite easy when you start out, to think, oh, I'm gonna slap a compressor on it, because that's what people do without actually knowing what it's doing. You know, um, which is a whole like episode in itself. You could do a whole episode just on the attack setting. Yes, you're right, compressor, right, um.

Marc Matthews: 9:08

But my next bit of like advice for the, the mix iteration. So we've got the first one, which is to know a select few tools really, really well and get the fundamentals down in terms of understanding tonal balance with eq and also dynamics processing in particular. But the next one is, uh, with regards to like feedback. So I think this is really important and having like a supportive network of peers that you can send your track to for feedback. Is that something that you have at the moment? I do have.

FastEddy856: 9:34

I have that. I can say I do have that and once again I'm like it, like those, like it sounds pretty good put it out and I'm like all right, and then I go back and try to touch it again, yeah, yeah. That's the thing.

Marc Matthews: 9:47

It's the thing as well, isn't it, with friends, I think, when you send it to friends, sometimes they have that like they can hear something but they don't necessarily want to tell you for fear of like. But you're not going to upset me, I'd rather you tell me if something's not right or something's standing out. But what I would say with feedback is a lot of the time I find this in particular you may be getting hung up on a vocal that is you're thinking, oh man, I'm going to boost it. It needs to go up 0.5 of a dB in the chorus, but nobody. More often than not, if you send that out for feedback, no one is going to pick that up. And what is more and I've I've done this as well and I've been hung I when I did my ep last year and there's a vocal section and I'm like fiddling around, I'm like, oh, 0.5 up, 0.5 down. I'm like, generally, the the general public isn't going to know the difference of whether or not you boosted it by 0.5 db and stuff like that.

Marc Matthews: 10:37

You know, man. So I think for what I'm getting out there is like with that peer review is trying to get them to be as honest as possible, and you will often find, like, if you send it to them and you don't articulate what you want feedback on, which is the way I do it and get them just to do it unbiased so they're not taking your opinion on, more often than not they won't pick up on what it is that you have identified yourself. Um, so that's sort of like. The second one is it's good that you've already got that. Anyway, you've got that peer review going on.

FastEddy856: 11:06

So you're saying I'm sorry. So you're saying like, let them know specifically what to look for when I send it to them to listen to, like yeah, I mean that's that's the way I do.

Marc Matthews: 11:16

I don't generally say or, unless, unless I really need help with a particular. I might say a frequency range, okay, I might say like the low mids, or I might say the mid range, or I might say the upper mids or something like that. But I try not to um impart that unconscious bias, because if I say to the individual oh, I'm not happy with the snare on this, then they're going to hone in on that and maybe ignore the other parameter, the other features, where actually the snare is probably all right, but they might be looking for an issue that's not necessarily there. So you've got to kind of weigh it up. Maybe you could send it to one person and say I need help with this in particular and then send it to another person and say look, just give me some feedback.

FastEddy856: 11:58

I like that I'm going gonna write that down and think about that.

Marc Matthews: 12:00

appreciate that because I've done it when individuals have asked me for feedback, and I've zeroed in on a specific part, which is fine, and then I tend to ignore the other, the greater picture, you know, um. So I think that's, that's quite important. But there is a caveat with that. I think when you're, when you do ask for feedback, and that is just because somebody has said it, doesn't necessarily mean you have to act upon it. So it kind of contradicts everything.

Marc Matthews: 12:25

I just said but you do have to take it with a like a pinch of, not a pinch of salt, that's the wrong phrase. But you got to think, okay, I don't agree with that. But, thank you, sometimes you know and don't necessarily act on it, unless you're you 100, even 100, I suppose you could try it. You can try it and then you can. That's the beauty of of uh, working in the box, right, we don't have to go recall large consoles, you can just recall it.

Marc Matthews: 12:50

The other bit after that I mean this is where it might be contradictory to what you said earlier about um, bringing it in-house is and I've done this previously is like you've done. Your mix one, two, three you've sent it to your peers for feedback is then there are mix feedback services out there, run by professional engineers, and they'll charge between sort of like 30 to 60 quid whatever that equates to in dollars and then they'll give you like feedback on your mix. So you could what I generally say with that is maybe for like two or three projects get to that place whereby you're almost there and then just maybe outlay 30 or 40 quid, send it to a pro mix feedback service and just get that extra little bit of feedback.

Marc Matthews: 13:41

If you do that, two or three times, you'll find that not only will it improve your knowledge and your expertise of what you're doing, but you'll notice commonalities and then you'll be able to think, okay, well, I've had three instances of feedback from this pro engineer and each time they've said that, um, there's too much going on in the low mids. So I now know that I need to address that in my, I need to research why that's happening and how I can stop that happening and what I can do. So yeah, it's going to cost money to do it, but I think if you do it two or three times, it is a worthy investment. Yes, I agree in doing so, you know, and it's a fresh year.

Marc Matthews: 14:17

Fresh, fresh pair of ears too, which you need yeah, yeah, 100, mate 100, and the next one, the next tip. So so far we've got the knowing, the fundamentals of EQ compression, and you've got your tools. You know those really well. Feedback, and then that pro feedback. But then they're setting deadlines and I often I bang on about this a lot because you mentioned it there like you release a track and then you go back and listen to it and you're like, oh, I can change this, this and this, but I think that's the beauty of music, right? If you set yourself a deadline, say you've got a track, you then you go back and listen to it and you're like, oh, I can change this, this and this, but I think that's the beauty of music, right. If you set yourself a deadline, say you've got a track you're working on now and you're giving yourself the month to mix it which is quite a long time to mix a track a month and then at the end of that month you're like well, however that is, I'm going to release it or, at the very least, going to put it on streaming platforms and then move on to the next one, because I think, as creatives and engineers and audio engineers, producers, let's put all in one pocket here. I mean this could be a sweeping statement, but generally you will go back and you will find something that you're thinking I could change that I do it in my own stuff.

Marc Matthews: 15:22

I go back and I'm like, oh man, that vocal's a bit proud, that reverb or that tail's a bit long or I don't know, maybe that kick drum or it's a bit bland. Here there's no impact between the verse and the chorus, but if you can identify that in a previous body of work, then you know in your next one, okay, well, that was an issue in the previous track. This time I'm going to make sure that there is an obvious, um, there's an obvious transition in in terms of macro dynamics between the verse and the chorus, macro dynamics being the difference in in loudness and volume between the sections. Or you're like, oh, in my last project the vocal was too quiet. So I know in the next one I need to really hone in and figure okay, I need to really get my automation down and my my dynamics processing down of this vocal and maybe look at some other um, some other techniques to get in there as well.

Marc Matthews: 16:09

So I think deadlines are good in that, because you do need to draw a line in the sand right and then move on, you know, and then not get hung up on that um and iterations in terms of mixes. What would you say? Probably calling you out on this a bit here and put you on the spot, but how many iterations are you going through at the moment? How many mix versions on average?

FastEddy856: 16:31

So my buddy of mine I work with he was like what I mean I could say I've done for one song about 20 different versions. That's a lot. I know it's a lot, okay, I mean it's not the most I've ever heard okay, yeah, you're right there, it's 20. Yeah, it's a lot, though it's 20?

Marc Matthews: 16:49

yeah, yeah, yeah, it's uh. So when you get to like, when you get beyond four or five, what is it that you're tweaking? What is there like a particular instrument group, or is it a particular um concept that you're tweaking? Is it like the time-based processing? What is it that you're finding you're tweaking the most? I?

FastEddy856: 17:08

make it hard for myself, because sometimes I say I'm going to go back and change the bass, I'm going to go back and change the drum, and then I end up just changing the entire song. I don't know why I do that, but I'm working on that now. I'm getting better with that now. I'm just like why not go back and change everything and then it sounds different again? You know it's another version of the song yeah, yeah, it's.

Marc Matthews: 17:33

That's tricky as well, because with the bass in particular, if you, if you've got your mix and you've done I don't know like 10, 15 iterations of a mix, and then you go in and suddenly sweep and change that bass, that's going to change the whole tonal balance of your track. And then you've built all your mid-range in your upper mids and your high frequencies, based on the relationship between that bass, and if you change that bass dramatically, it's going to throw everything else out of whack. It might not I mean it might not, it might you might put another bass in there. You're like, oh, it's open, it's open, it's incredible. For the most part you're going to find, oh shit, I'm going to have to go right back and go from the beginning again. But it's a learning curve. Yes, it is.

Marc Matthews: 18:11

And what I will say as well is you mentioned bass and I think, from my experience chatting with other artists, producers as well, and other professionals in the industry, that seems to be the one that catches people out the most is bass and bass frequencies and controlling bass. It's a tough one to crack and a lot of it comes down to I say a lot of it. Some of it does a high percentage of it down to listening environment in terms of being able to recognize, because if you're using cans or you've got speakers, you've got monitors. Unless you've got a sub, you're not going to hear those sub frequencies. And that's where you need to be using things like spectral analyzers on screen and looking at the relationship between the sum and difference between the side and the mono frequencies and the relationship between the low end and the rest of the instruments as well in the frequency range. One good tip in particular, if you really are struggling with it and being able to hear those sub frequencies in particular, is to use something like tonal balance with iZotope or just a spectral analyzer and then have a reference track and look what your reference track is doing in those lower frequencies and then compare it to your own and see where yours lies. Another key tip here, if you're going to do that, is to find a reference track.

Marc Matthews: 19:33

Shout out to eric mitchell on this one. Find out a reference track, find a reference track in the same key as the one that you are working on, because your fundamental frequency, you'll find will sit in a similar pocket and you'll be able to compare apples to apples in that lower frequency range. So, um, yeah, just throw that one out there. Yeah, when he said, when he told me about that, I was just like I don't have an idea, any idea why I've never thought of doing that before I'm saying here I'm like, well, okay, I never did appreciate that too there's a really good free Spectrum Analyzer that I downloaded recently and I need to have a proper play with it, and that is the Tokyo Dawn Prism I think that's what it's called.

Marc Matthews: 20:13

I'll send you a link to it after the episode today just to make double check. I've got it right, but that looks very, very good and it's free, and so I highly encourage checking that out. I'm going to dig into it later today and have a play around. I found it by chance when I was looking for other free plugins and I was like actually, this looks really good. There's some other great free plugins in there as well. If you want a dynamic EQ, the TDR Nova EQ is another really good one as well. I'll send you links to all these. I appreciate it, mark. Yeah, fast, eddie, we're coming towards the end now, so I think this is a good opportunity for you to. In fact, before we do this, what single step from today's chat do you think you will act on first? What's the first thing you would do as a result of our discussion today? Two reference tracks that's about it.

FastEddy856: 20:56

Maybe three, that's about it. Cool, not 20, 30, 40.

Marc Matthews: 21:00

That's about it Excellent, man. So how can our audience find you online If they want to listen to your music or just follow?

FastEddy856: 21:11

you connect with you. Where should they go? They can go to FastEddy856. Everything is FastEddy856. F-a-s-t-e-d-d-y-8-5-6-i-g. Youtube what else? Spotify I have beats on beachstarscom for sale and yeah, that's it. I love this music love music.

Marc Matthews: 21:31

Let's keep playing.

FastEddy856: 21:32

Nice, it's good to hear yeah what's life without music man, that's what it is. Yes, I agree, I definitely agree, 100% 100%.

Marc Matthews: 21:40

It's the soundtrack to everything we do, you know, and yeah, I don't know what life would be like without it but that's a whole different discussion in itself, but audience listen.

Marc Matthews: 21:52

I'll put links to all of Fast Eddie's stuff in the episode description and if you would like to be like my friend here FastEddie856, and become a producer, kickstart participant, click the link in the episode description, get signed up and come and join me on the show and obviously you can give yourself a shout out as well. And, FastEddy856, it's been a pleasure and I'm glad we've been able to finally speak and I will catch up with you soon, buddy.