*YTG*

1. Make sure all instruments are seperate and have there own track on the mixer.

-if sounds are not seperate and given individual tracks they will literally be mashed together….the average ear may not catch it but an experienced ear will notice it quickly….always seperate your sounds….it gives them their own “room to breathe and conduct” with FL studio this this is easy to do.

2. Apply all the effects you want on each instrument/sound in the mixer (if you want to use effects) .

- Play each sound as a solo so you can hear what it sounds like and so you can get it to where you need it to be…. this takes time… but putting time into your music to raise the quality will raise the value of your music. EXPERIMENT- dont be scared to tweak your sounds and twist them… you can turn grand piano sounds into synths if you experiment right. Appreciate effects and learn them all and what they do.

3. Level Out The Sounds 

- You want all of your sounds heard. If you have a instrument in your beat and it is not heard what is the point of it being there? Quincy Jones probably has the best ear in music…. if you do not know who he is (all musicians should whether rap pop classic and especially R&B artist) , he is the guy behind Michael Jackson’s Dynamic sounding music… the best mixed music in my opinion was done on the thriller album. (listen to that album and take in the sounds…even with Michael’s amazing vocals flowing of the instrumentals you can hear EVERY sound clearly, and at this time in music all the technology we have now was not there) This is training your ear so you can know how to recognize when your sounds are leveled right. Listen to other great music…Kanye West is another example. With the help of great engineer ( one of my favorites currently) Mike Dean, kanye’s albums production quality is through the roof, especially when you realize how much is going on in his beats to include the layered vocals on top). Giving your ears listening sessions on good music will allow you to know how good quality should sound. Once you have an idea of how it goes practice. Open up some of your older projects and begin to balance them out. Mute all sounds, then bring in one sound at a time. While doing this ask your self “is this how loud i want it….. do i want his in the background” question things as you go along. Don’t be scared to compare your music to that of others…. this is a learning experience… for you to get better. If you need to go back and forth between your beats and other so you can hear where yours needs to be. Practice, Practice, Practice… you can only can better. 

4. THE SECRET THAT WILL LET YOU KNOW THAT YOUR MUSIC IS MIXED AND MASTERED RIGHT!!!!!!!!!

- Play your beats on various speakers. Use your big monitor studio speakers… if it sounds good then play them on your headphones preferably (sony mdr-7506 headphones) -these headphones are flat frequency… most hip hop beat makers think “BASS BASS BASS” when bass isn’t the answer… thats why everyone thinks beats by dre are the best cause they are great bass supporters….but bass can drown out sounds and warp your beats…If you have small in ear head phones those are great to use when listening to your beats…WHY? think logically like this ”    if your beat sounds amazing on those TINY SPEAKERS, and you can hear your sounds one by one cause there mixed right YOUR BEATS WIL SOUND 10xs BETTER ON ANYTHING ELSE YOU PLAY THEM ON. “If it sounds good on the small speakers its perfect anywhere” - quincy jones… so invest in headphones……

5. FL Studio Stock Plugin Mastering.

FRUITY PARAMETRIC EQ 2

- This plugin is all you need once all of your sounds are on their seperate tracks. This Plugin flattens out your beat so you can then adjust the volumes of each instrument on the mixer accordingly. Open this plugin on the master track on the mixer. Use the “Vocal Presence” preset. Because you are making a beat and it will have vocals on it at some point, you need your beat to be at “its best” and have it “ready” for vocals. This makes your beat sound dynamic and industry ready. The knobs on the plugin will change once you open the vocal presence preset. ALL YOU NEED TO DO THEN is raise the “Band 1 Level” knob until its in between the “Main Level” knob (the first knob) and the “Band 2 Level” know ( the third knob) have your beat playing as you do this and you will hear your beat changing a bit as you raise it. I SUGGEST that you raise it so that the knobs form a diagonal line. You will hear that your beat sounds great by now. 

MDE-X

- This plugin is a great plugin that offers SOOOOOO much and is overlooked by many (I will provide you with it). The MDE-X plugin has many effects in its preset bank but for mastering your beats you will load this plugin on your Master track as well, and use the “Flatten EQ” effect. this the key. This will flatten your sound on a universal level and allow each instrument to be heard clearly and perfectly. You don’t need to touch the knobs of this plugin cause it does all the work itself.

6. FINAL TWEAKS

- Now with the fruity parametric EQ & MDE-X plugin on your master track in the mixer your beat is like 80% there now. All you need to do now is tweak each sounds volume on the mixer so that its hear exactly how you want it. Seems repetitive but its all worth it. While tweaking volume levels of different instruments mute them and solo them to make sure each sound is “finalized” the way you want them with the proper effects on them if any. Also while doing this take the time to play them on different speaker systems (monitor speakers/headphones etc.) to make sure the beat is right. Now YOU DONT NEED THE MDE-X PLUGIN AT ALL..BUT IT HELPS…the mde-x isn’t needed i just feel that its a great plugin that aids in helping beats sound dynamic. 

ANY MORE HELP HIT ME ON TWITTER @YTG93 for more info.. or for anything i may have forgotten….I WILL BE MAKING A VIDEO COVERING THE INFO ABOVE AND MORE THIS WEEK… so look out for that.. if interested in that video shoot me an email at ( ytgbeats@gmail.com ) so i can send you a link to that video….it will be amazing. i could have typed more but i hate typing..thats why im making a vid…hopefully this and my video helps