Am I supposed to mix into a reference track from the start?
Some people swear by it, others say it kills creativity. What's the practical use of references when mixing?
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Community Discussion(1)
Use them at three checkpoints, not constantly: (1) before you start, level-matched, to set tonal target, (2) at rough-mix stage to check low end and vocal level, (3) right before bouncing. Constantly A/B-ing while mixing makes you copy, not learn.
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