From Mix to “Finished Record”: Making Loudness Part of Your Sound

In this solo episode of the Mixing Music Podcast, Dee Kei breaks down why loudness is part of the mix, not an afterthought for mastering. He explains why you should never send clients an unlimited mix as the main reference, even if a separate mastering engineer is involved, and why your job as a mixer is to deliver something that already feels like a finished record.

DK talks through how to limit with intention, using loudness as an emotional dimension of the record instead of just cranking LUFS. He gets into the illusion of dynamics, sidechain feel, clipping, multiple limiters, and how different genres (jazz versus hyper-loud pop) demand different loudness philosophies. He also explains why mastering engineers would rather receive a well-intentioned, fully limited mix than an unintentional “safe” premaster that forces them to guess what you wanted.

To close, DK rants a bit about Dolby Atmos and spatial audio: how strict loudness specs in Atmos remove an entire emotional dimension for music, why it makes sense for film and games, and why spatial formats are pushed in music mostly to sell headphones, not to make records sound better.

What you will learn:

• Why you should always send clients a limited mix or “reference master”
• How to think about loudness as part of tone, impact, and emotion
• Illusion of dynamics, sidechain feel, clipping, and multi-stage limiting in loud mixes
• How intentional rough mixes and stems reduce guesswork for mixers and mastering engineers
• Why Atmos loudness standards remove a creative dimension for music and are better suited for film and TV

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The Mixing Music Podcast is sponsored by ⁠Izotope⁠, ⁠Antares (Auto Tune)⁠, Sweetwater, ⁠Plugin Boutique⁠, ⁠Lauten Audio⁠, ⁠Filepass⁠, & ⁠Canva⁠

The Mixing Music Podcast is a video and audio series on the art of music production and post-production. Dee Kei, Lu, and James are professionals in the Los Angeles music industry having worked with names like Odetari, 6arelyhuman, Trey Songz, Keyshia Cole, Benny the Butcher, carolesdaughter, Crying City, Daphne Loves Derby, Natalie Jane, charlieonnafriday, bludnymph, Lay Bankz, Rico Nasty, Ayesha Erotica, ATEEZ, Dizzy Wright, Kanye West, Blackway, The Game, Dylan Espeseth, Tara Yummy, Asteria, Kets4eki, Shaquille O'Neal, Republic Records, Interscope Records, Arista Records, Position Music, Capital Records, Mercury Records, Universal Music Group, apg, Hive Music, Sony Music, and many others.

This podcast is meant to be used for educational purposes only. This show is filmed and recorded at Dee Kei's private studio in North Hollywood, California. If you would like to sponsor the show, please email us at ⁠deekeimixes@gmail.com⁠.

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