The traditional way of using reference tracks to improve your mixes has been to import high-quality WAVs into your DAW.

I would rip them from CDs using iTunes and then simply move them into a channel at the end of my session.

However, like the rest of humanity, I don't buy CDs anymore. Instead, I use an app called Loopback to stream songs from Spotify straight into my DAW so I can compare them to my mix.

Oh NO! Björgvin! What are you doing?!? Low-quality streams for reference. You charlatan!

Relax.

First of all, if you have Spotify Premium, you can enable high-quality streaming.

It's still not lossless high-res or CD quality, as I doubt it's much higher than 320 kbps. But that's more than enough to get a feel for the balance across the instruments, their respective panning, and the frequency response of the overall mix.

Once I've volume-matched the reference to my mix I can easily jump back and forth between the two songs to hear how my mix compares.

I did this with a mix yesterday where the reference was "Oh! Darling" by The Beatles.

If you've never heard of it then please leave your Music Appreciation Card on your way out. It's not that I'm mad, I'm just disappointed.

As you can hear, there are some very specific things going on with that mix. A really round, present bass; very clear LCR panning; a vintage echo-vibe on the vocals; and this sort of paper-thin snare crackle.

And the most fun I had with this was EQ'ing with my SSL channel strip and Abbey Road Studios TG12345 plug-ins from Waves.

The fun thing about EQ'ing using a channel strip EQ as opposed to a visual EQ channel - especially when you're EQ'ing to a reference mix - is that you stop caring about "how much" you're boosting or which frequency you "should" focus on.

You're hunting for the sound from the reference track and you'll do anything to get there.

• A 9 dB boost at 2.7 kHz on the snare with an additional 20 dB cut at 600 Hz? Sure. Sounds closer to the snare I'm hearing in the reference.
• +8 dB at 680 Hz and another 8 dB boost on 1.8 Hz on the bass? Yep, that bass definitely sounds more like McCartney!

We get bogged down by the details of visually EQ'ing our mixes because visual channel EQs can make those EQ curves look scary.

But the only thing that's scary is that your mix doesn't sound like it's supposed to.

I don't care about dB levels. All I care about is finding the right frequencies to boost and cut.

If excessive boosting and cutting gets me closer to the reference mix the artist provided me with, then that's what's going to happen.

There are no rules. Mixing is creative and fun. Treat it that way. Twist the knobs until they break off.

Remember that if you need to know where those frequencies can be found, I share it all inside EQ Strategies - Your Ultimate Guide to EQ.

Have a great weekend,

Björgvin