Leonny Makes Music

Indie bedroom pop mixing

3 min read

Mixing

Note

In one track, try to standardise the reverb/compression plugins used so it sounds like it was cohesively recorded in one space.

Acoustic guitar

  1. EQ. High-pass 80-100 Hz to clear mud + dip around 300 to tame harshness + pull up shimmer around 8000-12000 for air.
  2. Compression: Gentle to smooth dynamics; too much kills the vibe. Use the UAD LA-2A 'Acoustic Guitar' preset and adjust from there.
  3. Sample Delay. Usually I keep it around equal, just favouring one side slightly – e.g. 650 on the left, 635 on the right.
  4. Reverb: Gentle Silververb just to sit in the mix; don't have the wet high unless it's a sound like To My Nine-Year-Old Self.

Vocals

  1. EQ. High-pass <80 Hz + dip 200-400 Hz to prevent muddiness + boost 8000-12000 Hz for air
    • For Flex Pitch, there cannot be any competing pitches (static, fan, wind noise, etc.).
  2. Compression. One gentle to level performance, another faster to catch peaks. totry
    • Usually I have the one compressor – in the past, the stock Logic option.
    • Recently I've been using UAD's LA-2A compressor, or Opto Vintage.
  3. Pitch Correction: My Melodyne trial ended 😭 I use a mix of Flex Pitch + Grallion 3 + Logic's stock PitchCor plugin instead.
    • For Grallion, make sure the response time/smoothness is set very high.
  4. Reverb/Delay: Decide between intimate/dreamy-floaty. Use short plate/hall for intimacy, slap delay for space. totry

Bass

  1. EQ. Roll of subsonics < 30 Hz + cut clashing mids 200-400 Hz if fighting guitar/vocals + boost 80-100 Hz for warmth and bass range.
    • Midrange determines how supportive/round or defined/woody. For TMNYOS, I want supportive/round.
  2. Compression: Moderate ratio (4:1) for consistency. totry

Drums

  1. EQ
    1. Kick: Boost 60-80 Hz and 2000-4000 click (?).
    2. Snare: Snap 5000-7000 Hz; body is around 200 Hz, dip lightly to reduce harshness.
    3. Hats/cymbals: High-pass 200 Hz, add sparkle 8000-12000 Hz.
  2. Compression. How to do parallel compression.
  3. Do group EQ on the bus for cohesion.

Pad

  1. Role. Is it background glue or a feature texture? i.e. is it center-stage or supporting?
  2. EQ: Cut low mids 200-500 Hz if muddying the mix.
  3. Stereo: Wide pads make vocals centered and strong. Use stereo spread plugin, chorus/ensemble (natural feel), or duplicate, pan hard L/R and offset one side by 10-20 ms.

‼️ Bus-level decisions

  1. Build a stereo field.
    • TMNYOS: Guitar slighlty left, pad wide, drums spread by audience POV, bass/vocals center
  2. Light bus compression 1-2 dB GR can make it feel cohesive.
  3. Constantly check relative levels, especially vocals against everything else.
    • Vocals should sit forward but not be hyper-polished in indie bedroom pop.

Streaming prep

  1. EQ. Compare tonal balance with reference tracks in your genre.
  2. Compression. Aim for integrated LUFS around -14 for Spotify/Apple Music + ceiling around -1 dB to avoid intersample peaking + -6dB headroom
    • Use Multimeter or Loudness Meter
    • Adaptive limiter last in chain for the aimed volume levels.
    • Slight EQ/compression on stereo output if needed.

Graph View

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