How to Use Reference Tracks When Mixing

One way to drastically improve the consistency and quality of your work is to use reference tracks to help guide your decision making when mixing. A reference track is a professionally produced song representative of how you want your own work to sound and it can help you achieve the loudness and tonal balance of your favorite productions. Referencing is something you can do in both mixing and mastering, but this article will focus on using reference tracks with  Ozone  and  Tonal Balance Control  within the context of mixing. 

1. Choose the right reference tracks for your project

First thing's first: you need to decide which tracks you’re going to let guide your mixing decisions. Here are a few different approaches you can take: 

Use the rough mix as a reference track

As mix engineer Ike Schultz made clear in our interview with him, always utilize the rough mix as a reference track. This is true even if you’re working on mixing your own production––either the rough mix is a starting point you need to beat or a yardstick to measure how far you’ve come. 

In either case, you need the rough mix to make sure your new mix doesn’t make things worse. Nothing is more disheartening than A/B-ing your mix with the rough mix after hours of work, only to find you’ve killed the vibe––missing the forest of emotionality for the technical trees. 

Drop it into Ozone’s referencing section and let it live amongst your other references. 

Use the reference tracks your client provides

Anytime you mix or master a project, it’s always good to ask for a reference track from the client. While you want to use your own favorite reference mixes, they should always be informed by the reference tracks your client provides.

Why? Because the client also knows what they want to hear—they have an idea of where the project is going. The client reference gives you a peek into their predilections and goals for your final result. It is your first genre-specific guide as well.

Try to get a WAV file of your client’s preference––it’s always better than the lossy version––and drop it into Ozone 9’s reference section next to the rough mix. 

Use your favorite mixes as reference tracks 

My first batch of personal reference tracks is compiled from the music of my childhood. There’s some Soundgarden in there, some Nine Inch Nails, Mos Def, Radiohead, Alan Parsons Project, Tool, D’Angelo, Talking Heads, Porcupine Tree, Alanis, Jeff Buckley, Hawksley Workman, and many others. 

Your list will be different—I grew up in the nineties. Whatever they are, choose reference tracks that move you the most. You must admire the music and sonic aesthetic; this is as much for inspiration as it is for matching.

2. Level match the reference tracks to the mix 

When you load in your reference tracks, you’ll notice that they’re louder than your mix because they’ve already been mastered. To compensate for the level difference, match the level of your reference track to your mix so you’re not mistakenly boosting too many frequencies or over compressing in an attempt to achieve the loudness of a mastered track. 

You’ll want to do this after you gain stage your audio and set your level balance. After setting up your static mix to hit the desired target, bring your reference mixes down to this same level.