Using reference tracks is an incredibly effective way to get incredible-sounding mixes in any studio setup. I'm going to show you how to understand the difference between your music and your reference tracks. With that information, you can make great decisions for music with confidence.
Once you've read this blog post, you'll get closer than ever to the sound of your favorite mixes, and it will be easier than ever imagined.
Why A Lot Of Producers Struggle:
❌ Lack of Sonic Benchmark: Without a reference track, you'll lack a clear sonic benchmark to guide your mix. It's akin to trying to paint a masterpiece without ever seeing one. Reference tracks provide an industry-standard target, ensuring that all elements are in the right space, both tonally and spatially.
❌ Inconsistent Mix Balance: Reference tracks give insight into how various elements of a song (like vocals, drums, or bass) should sit in a mix in relation to one another. Without them, you'll struggle with mixes that sound too muddy, too thin, or where certain elements overpower others.
❌ Unpolished Frequency Spectrum: A pro-sounding song has a balanced frequency spectrum, where lows, mids, and highs all have their place. Without a reference track, it's easy to miss glaring frequency imbalances, resulting in a track that may sound either too boomy, too shrill, or lacking in presence.
❌ Using Reference Tracks Incorrectly: Even if you use reference tracks, but don't level match accurately, or have tools to analyze the difference between your mix and your reference, you'll make poor decisions.
✔ Thankfully, I've got simple solutions to these problems that will help you get pro-sounding mixes in even the most basic studio set-up.
Step 1: Load REFERENCE 3 as the final plugin on your master bus and import your reference tracks.
REFERENCE 3 puts state-of-the-art tools and real-world insights right at your fingertips, enabling you to easily match the sound of your favorite music.
Choose tracks with a sound you'd like to emulate. These would typically be well-produced, well-mixed songs that have generated commercial success and/or critical acclaim within their genre. Smart Reference Tracks in REFERENCE 3 will even surface the closest match from your library automatically.
Your reference tracks will be more beneficial if they're within the same genre as the mix you're working on. Music with similar instrumentation to your mix will also be the most effective.
Moreover, use high-quality music files. The last thing you'd want to do is try to replicate the sound of a harsh-sounding, low-bitrate MP3.
Still not sure which tracks to use? Check out our blog post, Best Reference Track For All Genres.
Step 2: Auto-Looping & Automatic Level Matching
Auto-looping in REFERENCE 3 automatically locks onto the loudest section of your reference track for you — typically the chorus or drop, which is the best representation of the full frequency spectrum. Compare that section to the chorus/drop of your own song.
Because professional mixes have been subjected to the mastering process, they'll most likely sound louder than your unmastered mix. This is a HUGE problem, as louder is perceived by our ears as sounding better, with punchier low frequencies and clearer high frequencies.
Your mixes will sound 10x better if you remember this one thing: Louder music is perceived by our ears as sounding better, with punchier low frequencies and clearer high frequencies.
Study and internalize this image:
REFERENCE 3's automatic level matching takes loudness disparities completely out of the equation. This balances all your reference tracks so they have the same perceived loudness, enabling you to make informed mixing decisions free from perception biases. (This is one of the main reasons why REFERENCE 3 is our best-selling plugin.)
Step 3: Achieve EQ Balance with REFERENCE 3's Masterscope
Located front and center on REFERENCE 3's Masterscope is its white Level Line. This provides you with a visual representation of how your song's EQ balance differs from your reference track. Alongside it, the Mix Descriptors show how your tonal balance, stereo width, dynamics, and loudness compare to most professional releases, and a Match % score quantifies exactly how close you are.
The faint line through the middle of the Masterscope represents 0dB. What you want to do is instantiate an EQ, such as our MIXROOM plug-in, and adjust the EQ curve to match the Level Line curve.
The closer you match the Level Line curve, the more your track will sound like your reference track. Boost wherever the Level Line is above 0dB and cut wherever the Level Line is below 0dB. If you'd rather have it spelled out in plain words, the Mix Instructor turns the analysis into clear directions across three frequency bands.
Replicating the frequency spectrum of a reference track with a run-of-the-mill "EQ matching" plug-in simply won't work. There are too many variables involved, such as instruments, tuning, performance, samples, and more.
That's where REFERENCE 3 comes in. Its complex algorithm was custom-tailored to reproduce how the human ear perceives certain frequencies within the context of a mix.
For example, as we can see in the above illustration, our track needs a 3.5dB cut in the 0–200Hz range to achieve the same low-frequency balance as the reference track. An appropriate solution would be to reduce the level of our bass track, add a low-frequency cut to our kick track, or apply a gentle cut with a low-frequency shelf on our mastering EQ.
The example also indicates that our original track and the reference track have a similar perceived volume in the 200Hz–2kHz range. Thus, we likely wouldn't need to make any tweaks in this area.
Conversely, the example shows that our track needs a boost in the 2kHz–20kHz range to match the tonal balance of the reference track. An appropriate response to this would be to increase the level of cymbals and other high-frequency instruments or to apply a gentle boost with a high-frequency shelf on our mastering EQ.
Whether you're boosting or cutting, getting within +/-3dB of the Masterscope's central 0dB line will get you in the same sonic ballpark as your reference track. Listen to the reference track, and see which approach will make your track sound more like the reference track; changing the gain of a channel, or adjusting the EQ, or a bit of both!
Of course, as powerful — and essential — as REFERENCE 3 is, you should never neglect your most important tool: your ears! At the end of the day, if it sounds right, it IS right!
What Do Pros Think Of REFERENCE 3?
Reference tracks aren't a crutch; they're used by producers and engineers of all levels of experience, from bedroom music makers to first-call pros in world-class production facilities. It's one of the few tried-and-true methods of ensuring that your projects can compete with professional commercial releases.
Keep in mind that reference tracks are meant to be used as guides, not as a hard-and-fast rule book. You should never feel pressured to make choices that you don't want to make. If you feel like your reference track is taking you in the wrong direction, don't be afraid to change the reference track.
While reference tracks are a useful tool for training — and retraining — your ears, your ears should always be the final decision-maker when mixing and mastering.
That said, reference tracks are by far the most trustworthy of advisers. So, when your ears aren't sure which direction you should go, fire up REFERENCE 3 for a reality check.
You Don't LOVE REFERENCE 3, You Don't Pay!
