Video summary

bass music mixing tutorial (dubstep, trap, riddim, etc.)

Main summary

Key takeaways

Technology

Video summary (bass music mixing/mastering workflow)

The speaker (Mel’s Prower) shares an “off-the-cuff” workflow for mixing and mastering bass-heavy electronic genres (dubstep, trap, riddim, etc.). The core message is that mainstream “industry loudness” rules—like using tools such as Ozone, heavy mastering compression, and leaving a fixed amount of headroom (e.g., ~6 dB)—often don’t fit the aggressive, highly maximized aesthetic associated with Skrillex-like loudness.

Instead, the workflow emphasizes pushing audio hard so tracks feel “glued” through clipping/squeezing—especially by maximizing drums and using distortion/limiting strategically.

Key technical ideas / techniques

1) “Maximize first” approach (clipping as the mix glue)

The speaker describes a workflow learned from other producers/videos, including Disciple / Fox Stevenson, and later producers such as Phonon.

Core idea

  • Maximize the drums first, then build the rest of the mix around them.
  • Aggressive clipping can be beneficial in trap/bass music because these styles often tolerate (and sometimes benefit from) harsh transient behavior.

Master chain philosophy (minimal tools)

  • On the master, they often use:
    • Just a G-Clip / clipper
    • Sometimes OTT on top for extra background maximization
  • Clipping is treated as part of the mixing process, not only mastering.

Metering claim

  • Drums can be pushed so hard they approach/overrun the digital clipping limit—peaks around 13 dB over 0 dB (per the speaker’s meter example).

2) Trap drums: waveform/resampling + transient shaping for “glue”

Trap kicks

  • Kicks are often not “clicky” (not much high-end harmonic content), more “thumpy.”
  • To improve transient presence, they sometimes:
    • Render/resample the kick waveform so it fits better.
    • Example given: the kick “bump” is around ~600 Hz, and the sample is shaped to start with little/no click.

Transient shaping

  • They use a transient shaper (described like a “kilohertz transient shaper”):
    • Attack maxed, high-speed value, some sustain
  • Without this, the sound can become “too clean.”
  • Turning it off reveals the sidechain/pumping effect (visually/audibly).

Drum loudness target

  • They aim to make drums hit around 0 dB (as a reference point).
  • Distortion taste/amount is controlled by how hard they clip/distort.
  • “Glue” here is described more as squeezing/forcing elements to fit than traditional volume carving.

3) Snare/hits: clipping through the master clipper (not necessarily via transient plugin)

For snares, they:

  • Push attack so it clips aggressively.
  • Mention they are not using the clipper on the snare bus/plugin, allowing the snare to “push through” the master G-Clip.

Reasoning

  • Clipping through the master can increase “clash/glue,” rather than isolating transients in a way that may separate elements.

4) Hats: sizzle masking to hide ugly clipping

Hats are treated as complementary rather than an independent loudness target.

Instead of letting hats create harsh distortion artifacts directly, they:

  • Add white noise to “fill in” / mask the kick–hat clipped region.

Goal

  • Hats should “sizzle” with the kick while reducing the audible “super distorted” character.
  • Example ballpark:
    • Hats around ~-4 dB (meter value), plus noise to make clipping feel cleaner.

Important note: perceived loudness is not the same as meter loudness—use ears and reference tracks.

5) Effects placement using Mid/Side width (Ableton Utility)

The speaker prefers keeping effects wide/background-ish, rather than forcing everything toward mono.

Mid/Side (M/S) concept

  • Stereo has “unused space” in the sides.
  • Using Ableton’s Utility with M/S changes how effects behave:
    • Converting effects to mid-only vs stereo can be audibly noticeable (they recommend headphones for checking).

Typical usage

  • Put Auto Pan and/or Reverb on wide/back elements.
  • Avoid unnecessary stereo widening if an element is already stereo.

Expected benefit

  • The track can feel louder and fuller without squeezing competing mono elements as aggressively.

6) Sub/perceived loudness: meter readings don’t tell the whole story

A major theme is the gap between perceived loudness and what a meter shows.

  • Kick peaks may appear much higher on a dBFS meter because they’re short transients.
  • The sub can show large meter peaks too, but perception differs because of integration time and how the brain interprets low-frequency energy.
  • The sub may be pushed through the clipper less aggressively than the kick (as the speaker frames it).

Sub processing approach

  • Use distortion, but manage harmonics:
    • “Harmonic dipping” / harmonic management
    • Remove some low-mid energy so the sub feels loud while leaving room for percussive elements (bongos, stabs)
  • Main goal:
    • Keep sub impact high while preserving headroom for everything else before the clipper.

They reference “Mr Bill” as having a similar concept (copycat sub).

7) Bongos/stabs: remove low-mids to prevent distortion and free headroom

They process bongo/conga-type percussion by:

  • Applying EQ/processing that removes low-mid content (approx. around “two-two” / ~200 Hz, though the subtitles were unclear).
  • Reducing low-mids allows more “squeeze” through the clipper without ugly distortion.

How this fits the approach

  • They keep the general “maximize and clip” mindset:
    • Percussion may hit near/over 0 dB depending on the meter.
    • Stereo percussion provides more flexibility compared to the sub.

Perception goal

  • Clipping makes percussion feel raw but “compressed,” and they believe it helps everything sound like it’s part of the same cohesive sound.

What the speaker wants you to remember

  • Aggressive bass music often doesn’t follow industry loudness conventions (fixed headroom, heavy mastering compression) if your goal is Skrillex-style glued/pushed loudness.
  • Use clipping/squeezing as a creative design tool.
  • Build around:
    1. Drums first
    2. Sub second
    3. Then percussion/hats, using EQ to control low-mid/harshness and masking (white noise) to hide harsh clipping
  • Use mid/side awareness to widen effects without clashing.
  • Trust your ears: perceived loudness ≠ meter loudness; use reference tracks.

Main speaker / sources

  • Main speaker: “Mel’s Prower” (host of the tutorial)
  • Referenced sources/producers/videos:
    • Disciple (mix/mastering mention featuring Fox Stevenson)
    • Mr Bill (sub/perceived loudness concept)
    • Mentioned producers: Phonon (and others generally)

Original video