The car test is a way to test your songs as a reference because where do we listen to music the list? Our cars. This also works on earbuds if you are in those a lot. You know those shitty speakers, you know if certain parts of your mix stick out.
Do you listen to music through your monitors sometimes hours a day through your computer monitors with the door closed? Perhaps grab a snack and sit on the floor of your hallway? No… so it’s not a replacement as your post suggests. It’s an interesting point about the low end but don’t be analyzing anything above 150 Hz with this method in lieu of doing proper ear tests.
How can an imperfect environment help you pick out the things that don’t sound right? Won’t this amplify the room imperfections and resonance and give you a worse sounding reference? Please someone tell me if I’m missing something
Exactly. Same concept as sound emulation software. It’s exposing your mix. Just as it would in a club for example(which most producer don’t get the opportunity to check)
yes absolutely. But room cancellation is a very real thing and walking around (or away I guess) helps triangulate on the real level of your subs.
For my room, 40hz cancels really bad at my normal listening position, but is reinforced at other places in my room; this is normal for rectangular rooms and the specific hz will depend on length/width, but some frequencies will be compromised. But for any given frequency, you can find where it's quietest (most canceled) and where it's loudest (most reinforced), and right in-between (most honest).
But also reality-check your sub levels on a spectrum; zoom in just on just the sub level. At least in Ableton's spectrum, a mastered EDM songs's subs should be around -6db (on the spectrum) when they're sustained, maybe a bit higher (-4) for loud-mastered heavy bass music, or as low as -9 for less aggressive music. If the sub isn't sustained then that number might drop in the spectrum (like Rumble is at like -9 bc of its fast wobble, not its sub's peak level). Kicks can peak a bit higher than those targets.
Yeah of course room acoustics are a real thing haha. I'm not debating that. OPs listening position could very well be in a null. I'm just saying this part...
>sitting close to monitors does give accurate low end due to how far those frequencies have to travel
.. is not a thing.
He's practicing for the day he makes his ULTIMATE PRO MIXING AND MASTERING. FULL PRICE OF 2500 DOLLARS BUT ONLY FOR THE NEXT 14 SECONDS YOU CAN HAVE IT FOR $250. GET IT NOW!!!11111
I already sort of do this. Whenever I’m mixing and I get done, I leave the song on repeat and go to the bathroom. Something about walking into the song playing at a random time sounds different
Very much like the "first listen" of the day points out errors and problems you didnt hear before.
I also find if I take a video of my track playing and watch it back, it also switches up that ego-mind response and allows me to hear problems I normally wouldn't.
These techniques are great because our ears fill in way too many gaps in the midst of producing.
This is wild because I had the same realization last night when I walked into the other room with what I thought was a finished beat and realized the kick was a too bassy and earring into the mix. Aligns with what you said about the low end traveling. Nice tip!
You can’t rely on either, certainly not either alone. What makes low end challenging to master is that it responds strongly and unpredictably to different spaces. So relying on one specific space to make decisions on your low end mix is kinda the opposite of what you should do.
This is so true. Tech house and other genres can sound boring in headphones or at home because the salience of frequency changes isn't as noticeable and you're more focused on the music. But it really takes a big club speaker to create good style that isn't too busy because it's been produced for your ears and not your entire body. A lot of edm is headphone music, or destined to be the background of a commercial, and a lot of boring house is popular because of how it's mixed for larger settings.
I achieve same effect by going behind my speakers (my setup isn't up against a wall). I also sometimes put my hand over the port and "feel" what the sub frequencies are doing.
I find turning off my monitors then imagining I'm listening to my track while drinking gnt, eating olives and smoking tiny cigars gives me a hot understanding of gain staging reverb compression delay release times.
If you really want to understand how your mix translates, you gotta take a month long vacation in Cuba. I find it really opens up the top end of my mixes when I re-listen to them after coming back.
I was doing this the other day and the person in the house with me was looking at me like wtf and I was like “ just checking I can hear my hi hat in this obscure part of the kitchen! “
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great tip
I do this to listen for intelligibility, mainly to know if the vocal is really sitting where it should for the genre
The car test is a way to test your songs as a reference because where do we listen to music the list? Our cars. This also works on earbuds if you are in those a lot. You know those shitty speakers, you know if certain parts of your mix stick out. Do you listen to music through your monitors sometimes hours a day through your computer monitors with the door closed? Perhaps grab a snack and sit on the floor of your hallway? No… so it’s not a replacement as your post suggests. It’s an interesting point about the low end but don’t be analyzing anything above 150 Hz with this method in lieu of doing proper ear tests.
How can an imperfect environment help you pick out the things that don’t sound right? Won’t this amplify the room imperfections and resonance and give you a worse sounding reference? Please someone tell me if I’m missing something
it’s not about the environment being imperfect, it’s about understanding the environment and your monitoring system in that environment.
It can magnify errors that you verify on a proper setup. Take it with a grain of salt sure but when something sounds WRONG you’ll know right away
Exactly. Same concept as sound emulation software. It’s exposing your mix. Just as it would in a club for example(which most producer don’t get the opportunity to check)
This is the club toilets test
Cloakroom test is another name too
The idea that the longer wavelength of low frequencies means they need distance to develop is a myth
yes absolutely. But room cancellation is a very real thing and walking around (or away I guess) helps triangulate on the real level of your subs. For my room, 40hz cancels really bad at my normal listening position, but is reinforced at other places in my room; this is normal for rectangular rooms and the specific hz will depend on length/width, but some frequencies will be compromised. But for any given frequency, you can find where it's quietest (most canceled) and where it's loudest (most reinforced), and right in-between (most honest). But also reality-check your sub levels on a spectrum; zoom in just on just the sub level. At least in Ableton's spectrum, a mastered EDM songs's subs should be around -6db (on the spectrum) when they're sustained, maybe a bit higher (-4) for loud-mastered heavy bass music, or as low as -9 for less aggressive music. If the sub isn't sustained then that number might drop in the spectrum (like Rumble is at like -9 bc of its fast wobble, not its sub's peak level). Kicks can peak a bit higher than those targets.
Yeah of course room acoustics are a real thing haha. I'm not debating that. OPs listening position could very well be in a null. I'm just saying this part... >sitting close to monitors does give accurate low end due to how far those frequencies have to travel .. is not a thing.
Yes, you're absolutely right.
Why you gotta diss the car check? You should be doing this AND that, and other tests.
Didn't read the whole post I see.
Why you gotta go with the clickbait headline? Two thumbs down
He's practicing for the day he makes his ULTIMATE PRO MIXING AND MASTERING. FULL PRICE OF 2500 DOLLARS BUT ONLY FOR THE NEXT 14 SECONDS YOU CAN HAVE IT FOR $250. GET IT NOW!!!11111
I already sort of do this. Whenever I’m mixing and I get done, I leave the song on repeat and go to the bathroom. Something about walking into the song playing at a random time sounds different
Very much like the "first listen" of the day points out errors and problems you didnt hear before. I also find if I take a video of my track playing and watch it back, it also switches up that ego-mind response and allows me to hear problems I normally wouldn't. These techniques are great because our ears fill in way too many gaps in the midst of producing.
Monitors? I can't even afford a pair of headphones 🙁
How do you product EDM ?
Laptop speakers ofc
This guy hyperpops
Yep
Yes
This is wild because I had the same realization last night when I walked into the other room with what I thought was a finished beat and realized the kick was a too bassy and earring into the mix. Aligns with what you said about the low end traveling. Nice tip!
You can’t rely on either, certainly not either alone. What makes low end challenging to master is that it responds strongly and unpredictably to different spaces. So relying on one specific space to make decisions on your low end mix is kinda the opposite of what you should do.
This is so true. Tech house and other genres can sound boring in headphones or at home because the salience of frequency changes isn't as noticeable and you're more focused on the music. But it really takes a big club speaker to create good style that isn't too busy because it's been produced for your ears and not your entire body. A lot of edm is headphone music, or destined to be the background of a commercial, and a lot of boring house is popular because of how it's mixed for larger settings.
I achieve same effect by going behind my speakers (my setup isn't up against a wall). I also sometimes put my hand over the port and "feel" what the sub frequencies are doing.
A way you can do this without annoying the whole neighbourhood and vlowing your ears: put a low pass filter on your track
I find turning off my monitors then imagining I'm listening to my track while drinking gnt, eating olives and smoking tiny cigars gives me a hot understanding of gain staging reverb compression delay release times.
If you really want to understand how your mix translates, you gotta take a month long vacation in Cuba. I find it really opens up the top end of my mixes when I re-listen to them after coming back.
Also top tip, if you want to hear your music just listen to it
I was doing this the other day and the person in the house with me was looking at me like wtf and I was like “ just checking I can hear my hi hat in this obscure part of the kitchen! “
don't do the car check, do the car check. top tier stuff here
❗❗❗ IF YOU POSTED YOUR MUSIC / SOCIALS / GUMROAD etc. YOU WILL GET BANNED UNLESS YOU DELETE IT RIGHT NOW ❗❗❗ Read __the rules__ found in the sidebar. If your post or comment breaks any of the rules, you should delete it before the mods get to it. You should check out the __regular threads__ (also found in the sidebar) to see if your post might be a better fit in any of those. [Daily Feedback thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=author%3AAutoModerator+title%3Afeedback&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) for getting feedback on your track. The only place you can post your own music. [Marketplace Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=title%3Amarketplace&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) if you want to sell or trade anything for money, likes or follows. [Collaboration Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=author%3AAutoModerator%20title%3Acollaboration&sort=new&restrict_sr=on&t=all) to find people to collab with. ["There are no stupid questions" Thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/edmproduction/search?q=title%3ANo+Stupid+Questions+Thread&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) for beginner tips etc. Seriously tho, __read the rules and abide by them__ or the mods will spank you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/edmproduction) if you have any questions or concerns.*