A reference track is a completed, professionally produced song that aligns with your vision for your own songs outcome[1]. Not all reference material are songs, with some producers also utilising different types of noise (pink noise for example, to aid the process of balancing your tracks at the start of the mixing process) in order to give a different perspective on your own music to avoid detrimental effects such as ear fatigue. Side effects of ear fatigue can include tiredness, discomfort and loss of sensitivity – this can be especially bad within the mixing process where listening with intent and accuracy is especially important.
Reference material can be especially useful with your own mixes because it gives a clearer view on the desired outcome of your mix. I personally find it very easily to overcook a lot of my mixes, meaning I keep adding unnecessary processing until the original source material loses much of its character and I – as an artist – have strayed away from my original intentions with the song.
That being said, reference material doesn’t always have to have qualities you are also striving for in your own music. In Sound On Sound magazine Mike Senior talks about how he also uses reference tracks as ‘endstop markers’. for example he says that for his music Natalie Imbruglia’s ‘Torn’ has just too much air and sibilance in the vocals, and so if his music approaches that space he simply brings the high end back slightly – he also uses these endstop markers as a sign to take a break and rest his ears [2].
I often use songs from Adrianne Lenker for reference material since her vocals are always such a perfect blend between clarity and smoothness, with them always being the center of the listeners attention whilst still blending with the instrumental perfectly. When I begin to listen more closely to the stereo field of my mix I often go to bands like Radiohead or Pulp, with really dense instrumentation the mixes for both of those bands have really clever, deliberate use of panning and volume balancing to ensure that the mixes never feel too muddy or overwhelming.
[1] Izotope.com. (2022). How to Use Reference Tracks When Mixing. [online] Available at: https://www.izotope.com/en/learn/13-tips-for-using-references-while-mixing.html#:~:text=A%20reference%20track%20is%20a [Accessed 3 Apr. 2024].
[2] www.soundonsound.com. (n.d.). Creating Your Own Reference CD. [online] Available at: https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/creating-your-own-reference-cd.
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