#221: Finish Songs Faster, Mix Smarter — 7 Standout Moments of 2025 (Part 1)

Ready to trade plugin FOMO and meter anxiety for moves that actually make your tracks better? Marc pulls seven stand-out moments from a huge year of conversations with producers, engineers and artists to help you finish faster, mix with confidence and stay creatively sharp.

We kick off with a surprising angle on depth: shaping contrast with bit depth instead of defaulting to saturation. You’ll hear how assigning different resolutions to drums, pads, and leads can create three-dimensional mixes that hold up in mono and stereo. From there,  dismantle the gear trap. Modern DAWs already include the essentials; the real upgrade is mastering fundamentals like tonal balance, gain staging and arrangement so every later purchase has purpose.

Loudness gets a refresh with a simple truth: LUFS is the result of mastering, not the target. Focus on tone, punch and cohesion, then check integrated LUFS for how platforms will treat your music. We lean into ear-first decisions, too—set a solid static mix, push the faders, and don’t let a scary-looking EQ curve talk you out of the right move. On the mastering front, we explore why a dedicated mastering engineer is often the first truly fresh set of ears your project gets, and how that perspective helps you avoid circular tweaks and ensures reliable translation.

Songwriting fans get a creative jolt as we talk about lyrics as well-narrated hallucinations grounded in truth. Wait for ideas that feel necessary, then go all in. Finally, we round things out with workflow wisdom: reference tracks, clear sound selection, minimal EQ, and fader-first mixing to keep momentum high and second-guessing low. If you want practical, repeatable steps that improve your music across streaming, clubs and headphones, this highlight reel delivers.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Listen to E179

Listen to E199

Listen to E186

Listen to E197

Listen to E193

Listen to E187

Listen to E213

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Year Overview
• 2:29 2026 Plans And Listener Survey
• 3:34 Why These Highlights Matter
• 3:51 Highlight 1: Bit Depth For Depth
• 5:28 Highlight 2: Avoid Gear Traps
• 6:32 Highlight 3: LUFS As A Result
• 8:33 Highlight 4: Trust Ears Over Eyes
• 10:53 Highlight 5: Value Of Mastering Ears
• 12:31 Highlight 6: Lyrics And Creative Truth
• 14:38 Highlight 7: Fader-First Mixing
• 16:28 Links, Thanks And Part Two Tease
• 16:48 Final CTA And Sign-Off

Transcript

Marc Matthews: 0:29

You're listening to the Inside the Mix podcast with your host, Mark Matthews. Welcome to Inside the Mix, your go-to podcast for music creation and production. Whether you're crafting your first track or refining your mixing skills, join me each week for expert interviews, practical tutorials, and insights to help you level up your music and smash it in the music industry. Let's dive in. Hello, folks, and welcome to the Inside the Mix podcast. A big welcome to any new listeners and of course a big welcome back to the returning listeners. In this episode, we're celebrating another amazing year of the podcast. In 2025, I had the pleasure of sitting down with a plethora of amazing producers, audio engineers, mastering engineers, and everything in between. And in this episode, we are going to be celebrating just those conversations. Truth be told, this is part one of a two-part series where I'm going to be sharing seven. So that's seven in this episode and seven in the next episode. Top moments of the podcast in 2025. So it's going to be a mixture of practical tips, mindset shifts, and just general light bulb moments across this fantastic year that we've had at the podcast. Now I wish I could include every guest that I've had on the show this year because every conversation had a golden moment in it. But that being said, I just want to say a massive thank you to everybody who has supported the podcast throughout this year and the previous years, to be honest, and also featured on the podcast as well. It's you that keep this podcast ticking over, keep it going, and also help me to keep it growing as well. And whilst we're on that topic, I am planning 2026. And I want your input. I want you to be part of the podcast next year. Help me shape it. Click the link in the episode description and fill out the quick two-minute survey. What's working with the podcast? Maybe what isn't working with the podcast. What do you see? What do you want to see more of? And maybe what you want to see less of. Or maybe just something else entirely altogether. There is a free text box in there. And also, share your music win of 2025 and feature on episode 227, which is going to be the last episode of 2025. And a big thank you to everybody who has submitted their feedback so far. It is invaluable information for me and the podcast going forward. And I'm also excited to share your wins that you've shared so far as well. So, folks, before the deadline, that is the end of November. Click that link in the episode description and feature on the podcast on episode 227 and also help me shape the podcast in 2026. Click that link, folks. Here's why this episode matters. At the end of the year, most of us look back at what worked and what didn't work in that previous year. In this and the next episode, we're going to unpack insights that helped artists finish music faster, mix smarter, and also stay creative longer. So my first highlight of 2025 is episode 179 with Shane Slack, and it's titled Mix or Master First. And it's the secrets to better audio production. So in this episode, we touch on should I mix or master first? Why understanding your source material was crucial to avoid unnecessary processing? The pitfalls of shortcuts seeking behavior, breaking out of the plug-in chain trap, and techniques for creating depth and movement in your mixes. And in particular, this one clip that I'm sharing with you is Shane talking about using bit depth, ironically, here, to add depth in a mix. So hear me out, listen to this, because this was a true light bulb moment. And of course, with all of these sort of uh episodes that I'm recommending here, folks, these top uh moments of 2025, do go and listen to these episodes if you haven't done so already. And in fact, just go and re-listen to them anyway, because they're fantastic episodes. So this is my top moment of episode 179 with Shane Slack.

Shane Slack: 4:25

Or even the other way I've been creating depth. Like I've showed another colleague of mine, it's like, how do you create depth in the mix? And they immediately reach for saturation. And I'm like, well, that's that's an easy way to do it. Let's talk about a different way. What about bit depth? And he was like, What do you mean? And I grabbed like an Ableton Redux, because we were in Ableton at the time. Usually I use D16 decimal, but I'm like, your audience has no idea what the bit depth of your sample of the source is. So we're like, what if I put my drums in 12-bit? And what if I put my my pads in 14-bit and all that stuff, and I'm doing it in mono. And he's like, wow, why is it even in mono? It just sounds like there's like a three-dimensionality to it. And it's like, well, because again, it's biasing against each other, but now you're creating depth that works both in mono and in stereo, and also because things that are a lot going to be of higher bit depth are gonna feel a lot more defined.

Marc Matthews: 5:17

My second top moment of 2025 comes from episode 199, and it's titled The Hidden Production Habits You're Probably Ignoring at Your Own Risk. And in this episode, I was joined by my good friend Tim Benson, aka R9, and we touch on topics such as five common music production mistakes, how to use reference tracks, track labeling, and session organization, and how to avoid overprocessing and mixing and mastering. And in particular, the top moment I've taken from this particular episode is where we discuss starting small and upgrading later and the importance of not falling into the trap of gear acquisition. So this is the top moment from episode 199. And this again could be an episode in itself is that buying more equipment, more plugins, isn't necessarily the answer to a problem that you might be facing. It could well be linked to maybe you just need to go back to basics and look at what you have at hand. And it might be actually you don't need to go out and buy the best EQ plugin out there. Maybe you need to actually refine your understanding of what equalization is and tonal balance before actually going out. So building up your skills before maybe having the ultimate perfect setup could be the way to go.

Tim Benson: 6:36

Yeah. Yeah. And most, I mean, it probably, as we've said, like DAWs and all the different things, most of them now will come with everything you need to start making music. You won't need to go and buy a load of third party things. Don't get sucked into that straight away. You've probably got a ton of things to learn within what you've got, you know.

Marc Matthews: 6:57

And most definitely, most definitely. So my third top moment of 2025 in these seven top moments of 2025 is episode 186, or rather, it's taken from episode 186. Why luffs don't matter as much as you think with Ian Shepard. So acclaimed mastering engineer, Ian Shepherd. In this episode, we discussed luffs. How many luffs should your master be? The truth of about luffs for Spotify. What does luffs stand for? Uh, how normalization impacts your music across different streaming platforms and lots more as well. And this particular excerpt, if you will, taken from this episode, I think I said that correctly, is where Ian talks about luffs should be the result and not the target. Target could be seen as a dirty word in this instance. Uh sweeping statement there. So here we go. This is Ian Shepherd, episode 186.

Ian Shepherd: 7:52

A little bit of both. I mean, the honest answer is I don't really care about either of them. So I because I don't choose my loudness by meters. I mean, I have a little kind of catchphrase that I came up with that I shared on socials, which is that the LUFS should be the result of the mastering, not the target of the mastering, right? So master it so it sounds good. Then the integrated, I mean the integrated value, don't get me wrong, is important because it's what streaming services use. And we can talk about that in more detail. So it has a big impact on what's going to happen to your music when it gets played back on Apple Music and YouTube and Spotify and Tidal and all the rest of them.

Marc Matthews: 8:25

Yeah.

Ian Shepherd: 8:25

So it is important to know at the end of the process and to check that you're happy with the results that you've got. But when I'm working, actually, I mean I tend not even to watch an LUFS meter. As I say, I've got my VU meter.

Marc Matthews: 8:37

My fourth top moment of 2025 is taken from episode 197, Why I Don't Touch Plugins Before Doing This. The Art of Static Mixing with Nate Kelms of the Sound Discussion Podcast. And in this episode, we discuss static mixing, uh, how to transition from static mix to a full mix, top-down mixing as well, and analog gear versus plugins. What mix engineers prefer? And the highlight from this episode is Nate talking about trusting your gut and not your eyes. So this is episode 197 with Nate Kelms.

Nate Kelmes: 9:14

Oh, I've I've increased this by 9 dB. That's way too much. I can't possibly do that. No, you know what? 9 dB might be exact 12 dB might be what we need.

Marc Matthews: 9:22

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.

Nate Kelmes: 9:23

But on a screen, you see that curve jump up by 12 dB. You're like, no, that nope, can't do that. Bring it down. I'm breaking the rules. No.

Marc Matthews: 9:31

It goes back to what we said right at the beginning of trust in your gut. And if you're not using your eyes, which I mean there there's always an argument to say sometimes we need to have that visual element, but trust in your gut sometimes and thinking, actually, this song does need that. The rules, I mean, the rules, it's creativity, isn't it? Ultimately the end of the day. Right.

Nate Kelmes: 9:52

It's exactly and it's subjective, and and someone else may hate it, and someone else may love it. And you know what? As long as you are able to stand behind what you put out, it doesn't matter. Anything. None of the none of it matters. 9 dB, 12 dB, hell, 30 dB if you want to. But you know, if it resonates with you, then that's all that matters. It doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.

Marc Matthews: 10:16

My fifth top moment is taken from episode 193. And it's titled, I asked a pro if you really need a mastering engineer and if you can DIY do it yourself. And this features Mike Marsh, who is uh just around the corner from me in Xmouth. So it was a pleasure uh talking to Mike for the first time, and then I had the pleasure of actually going to visit Mike at his studio, which was amazing. And they also mastered my track uh Darklight featuring Indigo as well, did a banging job on that. So do go check out Mike's work. And it's great to have a fellow Devonian on the uh on the podcast. In in this episode, we discuss uh what is music mastering and why it's important, common mastering mistakes, debunking the fix-it in mastering myth, difference between mixing and mastering in music, and how to become a mastering engineer as well. Because Mike's been doing it a long time, so some really good advice there. And the moment taken from this episode is Mike discussing how a mastering engineer is the first new set of ears and why that is so important to the success of a song, of a release. So this is episode 193 with Mike Marsh.

Mike Marsh: 11:25

A mastering engineer or somebody else working on your music is the first time another set of ears outside of your environment has heard what you're doing. When you're when you're performing, mixing, recording, um, and then trying to master all of it yourself, you lose complete perspective on what sounds good anymore. And I've worked with a lot of artists who've tried it themselves and they just end up chasing their tail, going round and round in circles because they don't know anymore. And I admire people who give it a go. Um, but right now I work with a lot of artists who are quite capable of recording their own stuff and mixing their own stuff and probably mastering their own stuff if I'm honest, but they still send it to me because I'm that second set of ears outside of their comfort zone.

Marc Matthews: 12:11

The penultimate moment of this list of seven is episode 187, The Midnight, Tyler Lyle unlocking the secrets of synthwave songwriting. I was extremely excited by this episode because I'm a I'm a big uh midnight fan. And uh in this episode, we discuss the essence of songwriting, collaboration process, production setup and vocal chain, daily creative disciplines, mythology and archetypes and lyrics are some really, really good advice on lyric writing here because it's something I struggle with. So I took loads away from this and remote collaboration challenges. And in particular, the moment I've taken from this episode is where Tyler is talking about lyrics and the creative process and how he describes creatives as ferrying ideas from one realm to this one. Some really interesting stuff in this one. It's a fantastic listen. So this is episode 187 with Tyler Lal at the Midnight.

Tyler Lyle: 13:08

Lyricists to be bolder, to push the limits of of good taste, to like really make it make it challenging. There are people that push it in the horror thing or make it overly sexual. I mean, I mean, really, I think Gustofelstein's new record kind of does it in an interesting way. Nobody knows what a song is supposed to be, lyrically. It's a well-narrated hallucination. Just make make sure that it comes from something that feels like it has the essence of truth, something that feels like it needs to exist. We we as creatives are ferrying ideas from one realm to this one and make sure that it's not just created from a sense of like ego or needing the numbers to be up or somebody to hear, you know, to validate me as an artist. Like make sure the idea needs to exist first. And I think if you wait until that idea comes and then go all in on that idea, that song, then that's what the world needs more of.

Marc Matthews: 14:04

And my final top moment in this first list of seven in this two-part series is taken from episode 230, Finish Tracks Faster, Workflow Hacks Every Producer Needs, featuring John Kunkel of the New Division. A big shout out to Michael Oakley for the warm introduction. Uh, it was a pleasure talking with John. Got loads out of this from a creative perspective, as I do with all episodes. So we discussed workflow optimization with reference tracks, sound selection versus processing, sound design and synthesis tools and where to begin, knowing when a track is finished, and we also discussed some of John's upcoming projects and where to connect with him, as I do with all the um the artists as well. So just on that note, folks, if uh you do want to learn more about any individuals that I've spoken to on the podcast, I always include links in the episode descriptions. And I put a link to all these episodes in the episode description for this episode as well. It's an episode a lot there. So in particular, the highlight I've taken from this is where John discusses volume fader mixing and minimal EQ and his approach. So this is the final top moment of this first lift of seven, list of seven, and it's episode 213 with John Kunkel.

John Kunkel: 15:15

You know, with my own tracks, I rarely, you know, when I finish them and send them off to labels, I don't really do that much mixing to them. I I very I mean mixing in the sense of like surgical EQing and stuff like that. Usually what I do is like I'll just level things out. So it's you know, the I I really do believe in just volume fader mixing and very minimal, minimal, minimal EQ. And then any other EQing is really for creative purposes.

Marc Matthews: 15:37

And that wraps up my top moments of 2025 part one. Make sure you tune in for part two, which will obviously come next in line. Uh a big thank you to everybody who has been part of the podcast, not only in 2025, but the years preceding that as well. And of course, a huge thank you to you, the listener, for sticking with the podcast, coming back every week and listening to me chat with some amazing people. You are what keeps this podcast going ultimately. And with that in mind, do click the link in the episode description, fill in that feedback survey. It will literally take you two minutes of your time and help me shape the podcast in 2026 and also share your musical win as well. Because I want to feature you on the podcast in episode 227. You've got until the end of November to do that. Please do click that link in the episode description. If you've enjoyed this episode, folks, click the link in the episode description and check out the episodes I've recommended in this episode. And don't forget to join me in part two. Until next time, keep creating, keep mixing, and I'll see you in the next episode.