Reference Tracks: How to Pick Them and What to Send Your Mixer

When you send a song to be mixed, the stems tell your engineer what's on the recording. A good reference track tells them where you want it to end up. It's the fastest way to close the gap between the sound in your head and the sound on the first mix, and it saves a lot of guessing on both sides.

I ask for references on almost every mix I do. Here's how to pick ones that actually help, and what to send along with them.

What a reference track is (and isn't)

A reference track is a released song you point to and say, "this part of the sound is what I'm after." It might be the way the vocal sits, how big the drums feel, how wide the guitars are, or the overall mood.

What it isn't is a blueprint. Your song has different parts, a different singer, a different key, and a different arrangement. No mix will make your record sound identical to someone else's, and you wouldn't want it to. The goal is to borrow a direction, not copy a result.

How to pick a good reference

The best references have a few things in common:

• They're in the same world as your song. Similar genre, similar tempo and energy, similar instrumentation. A sparse acoustic ballad and a wall-of-guitars rock track want very different mixes, so referencing one for the other usually leads somewhere odd.

• They're well made. Choose records that sound great to you on every system you play them on. A song you love for its writing but find a little thin or harsh isn't the best sonic target.

• You know them well. Pick songs you've heard hundreds of times on headphones, in the car, and at home. You'll notice right away when your mix feels different, and you'll be able to say how.

• They match your arrangement. If your chorus is just vocal, bass and drums, a reference with a full string section in the chorus will make yours feel empty by comparison, even if the mix is right for your song.

It's also fine to use different references for different things. One song might nail the vocal sound you want, and another the drum sound. That's often more useful than one reference that's "sort of" right across the board.

Two or three is plenty

More references don't make a mix better. They make it harder to tell what you actually want. Ten songs with different vocal sounds, different low end and different levels of reverb pull a mix in ten directions.

I'd suggest two or three, chosen on purpose. If you have a long playlist you love, go through it and pick the few that are closest to what you hear for this particular song.

Say exactly what you like about each one

This is the part that makes a reference useful. "Make it sound like this" is hard to act on, because a finished record has a hundred things going on. One sentence about what you like changes everything:

• "I love how dry and close the vocal is on this one."

• "The drums on this song feel huge without covering the vocal."

• "I like how the chorus opens up wider than the verse."

• "This is the overall vibe: warm, a bit dark, nothing too bright."

If it's a particular moment, add a timestamp. "Listen to the second chorus at 2:10, that's the lift I want" points your engineer to exactly the right spot.

And if there's something you don't like in a reference, say that too. "Love the vocal, but I'd want less reverb than this" keeps the mix from picking up the parts you'd rather leave behind.

What to send your mixer

Make it easy to find and easy to hear:

• The song title and artist, plus a link to it on a streaming service or a video site.

• A high-quality file if you have one, like a WAV or a purchased download. A compressed stream is fine for getting the idea across, but a better source is better for close comparison.

• Your one-line note for each reference, as above.

• Any timestamps for the specific moments you mean.

Put all of this in one place, in the same message as your stems and your notes about the song. Scattered links in different texts and emails are easy to miss. If you're in a band, agree on the references as a group first, so the mix isn't chasing one person's favorite record over everyone else's.

Your rough mix or demo is a reference too. If there's something about the rough you've fallen in love with, like a particular vocal effect or the way a guitar sits, mention it. Those details can get lost when a song is mixed from scratch, and they're often part of why the song works for you.

How to compare your mix to a reference fairly

When the first mix comes back, you'll naturally want to play it next to your references. That's a great idea, as long as you compare fairly.

The big trap is loudness. Released songs have been mastered, so they usually play louder than a mix. Louder almost always sounds better to our ears at first: fuller, brighter, more exciting. If you flip between a loud master and a quieter mix, the mix will seem weaker even when it isn't.

So before you compare, turn the reference down until the two feel about equally loud. Then listen for the things you actually care about: how the vocal sits, how the low end feels, how the song builds. If you want to know more about why the mastered version is louder and what mastering adds, I wrote about it in What Does Mastering Actually Do?.

Use references as a starting point, not a finish line

Once the mix is underway, it's easy to get stuck A/B-ing against a reference and chasing tiny differences. At some point your song has to sound like your song. If the mix captures the feel you described and serves the vocal and the arrangement, it's doing its job, even if it isn't a perfect match for the record you pointed to.

When you give notes on a mix, references are a great way to explain what you hear. I covered more about writing notes your engineer can act on in How to Give Mix Feedback Your Engineer Can Actually Use.

The bottom line

Pick two or three released songs in the same world as yours, ones you know inside out and that sound great to you. Say in one sentence what you like about each, add timestamps for specific moments, and send them along with your stems and notes. When you compare, match the loudness first. Do that, and your engineer starts the mix already knowing where you want to go.

If you're looking for someone to mix your next song, take a look at my online mixing service. Send your stems and your references, tell me what you're going for, and we'll take it from there.

— Jim

If you'd like one-on-one help with your own mix, vocals or audiobook, you can book an online session with me.