1 00:00:02,259 --> 00:00:04,429 - ALI: Songs are getting mixed differently nowadays, you know, what I'm sayin'. 2 00:00:04,511 --> 00:00:09,351 Before... it was, you know, really just a kick-snare heavy type situation. 3 00:00:09,433 --> 00:00:13,443 Now, they're in a way texturely... they're super tough. 4 00:00:14,187 --> 00:00:16,187 So, you know, if you can't adapt to the times 5 00:00:16,273 --> 00:00:17,903 then you're gonna really, you know, fall behind. 6 00:00:34,165 --> 00:00:36,125 When I start to mix on my way to the studio 7 00:00:36,209 --> 00:00:37,589 I kinda just don't listen to anything. 8 00:00:39,755 --> 00:00:43,625 You gotta treat every song an-- and every sound accordingly and with fresh ears. 9 00:00:45,427 --> 00:00:47,137 The first thing I hear for the day sonically 10 00:00:47,220 --> 00:00:48,600 is when I hear the reference track. 11 00:00:50,975 --> 00:00:53,935 Labels don't wanna pay big budgets to get into the studios, why? 12 00:00:54,019 --> 00:00:57,269 Because they feel like a kid can do it better or do it faster 13 00:00:57,355 --> 00:00:59,315 or more efficiently at home. 14 00:00:59,483 --> 00:01:01,073 You know, they're just gonna sound like shit. 15 00:01:02,319 --> 00:01:05,199 'Cause we mix analog, you know, these are our plug-ins. 16 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:06,990 You know, there are physical things that we can touch 17 00:01:07,073 --> 00:01:09,493 rather than the mouse that's scrolling around on a computer screen 18 00:01:09,576 --> 00:01:11,236 where we can actually go in and touch the music. 19 00:01:16,082 --> 00:01:18,292 My boys! How you doin'? - MAN: Hey! 20 00:01:18,377 --> 00:01:22,047 - Ali's... We from the same place. You know what I'm sayin'? 21 00:01:22,756 --> 00:01:23,916 We from LA. 22 00:01:24,508 --> 00:01:28,888 Um... My music represent West Coast on every level. 23 00:01:28,971 --> 00:01:32,351 So having somebody that's from where you're from... 24 00:01:32,432 --> 00:01:33,272 - ALI: Hey! 25 00:01:33,350 --> 00:01:35,900 - YG: ...that knows about everything from the past... 26 00:01:36,436 --> 00:01:39,566 You know what I'm sayin'? The Drake shit, Snooke shit, all that. 27 00:01:39,732 --> 00:01:42,152 Knowing how that supposed to sound is very important. 28 00:01:42,234 --> 00:01:44,574 - The low end of a lot of records it sounds super dark 29 00:01:44,653 --> 00:01:45,953 so they're trying to find, like, a nice blend 30 00:01:46,030 --> 00:01:47,740 with this nice sample that's super textured... 31 00:01:47,823 --> 00:01:49,123 Now, we've know each other for years. 32 00:01:49,199 --> 00:01:51,659 I'd say go back to 2009, 33 00:01:51,744 --> 00:01:52,834 2010. 34 00:01:53,328 --> 00:01:55,458 I mixed one of his first songs. 35 00:01:56,206 --> 00:01:58,076 It was YG - "Bitches Ain't Shit". 36 00:02:01,879 --> 00:02:04,129 - YG: I come into the studio, like, Ali... 37 00:02:04,214 --> 00:02:07,384 I hear the mix and I'm, like, I need this to sound darker 38 00:02:07,467 --> 00:02:08,927 or I need this to sound brighter. 39 00:02:09,219 --> 00:02:12,179 And if I say that he knows what bars to punch... 40 00:02:12,305 --> 00:02:14,885 - ALI: The producer obviously, he produces the music, 41 00:02:14,975 --> 00:02:16,765 he, you know, puts the drum patterns together, 42 00:02:16,852 --> 00:02:17,982 he gets the sample together. 43 00:02:18,062 --> 00:02:19,352 Then there is a recording engineer 44 00:02:19,438 --> 00:02:22,438 that takes the, the final product that the producer had made, 45 00:02:22,566 --> 00:02:26,146 uh, sits that artist down, he records that artist over that beat, 46 00:02:26,236 --> 00:02:28,026 the mixing engineer takes the elements, 47 00:02:28,154 --> 00:02:31,164 the, the broken down stems to kick, drum, snares, 48 00:02:31,283 --> 00:02:35,663 uh, base lines, samples, whatever is involved with creating that beat. 49 00:02:35,829 --> 00:02:38,119 He starts to adding in cues, he starts doing what he does. 50 00:02:38,248 --> 00:02:39,708 I would mute all the vocals first... 51 00:02:41,877 --> 00:02:42,997 and then I'll go up to each sound... 52 00:02:44,170 --> 00:02:45,880 and I'll kinda just listen to 'em, 53 00:02:46,673 --> 00:02:48,723 kinda see what type of energy it brings to the track 54 00:02:48,801 --> 00:02:51,051 and find how I can make every sound blend together. 55 00:02:51,929 --> 00:02:53,429 Just think of a mix as, like, a painting 56 00:02:53,513 --> 00:02:55,353 and all your plug-ins are, are your different colors 57 00:02:55,432 --> 00:02:56,732 and paint brushes, you know. 58 00:02:56,976 --> 00:03:00,436 And I scored ideas from Tyga, shit, crazy reverb shit make em kinda flow. 59 00:03:05,692 --> 00:03:09,322 - YG: It's important Ali mixes my music because 60 00:03:09,404 --> 00:03:13,584 a bad mix could turn a song that is a hit 61 00:03:13,784 --> 00:03:15,494 into a song that is not a hit. 62 00:03:18,204 --> 00:03:20,674 All that... how you grew up, and where you're from 63 00:03:20,749 --> 00:03:24,289 that shit play into your mixes in your everyday life 64 00:03:24,377 --> 00:03:26,507 and how you do what you do. You know what I'm sayin'? 65 00:03:28,298 --> 00:03:30,468 You will say our mixes is not perfect. 66 00:03:30,550 --> 00:03:32,090 That like represents where we're from. 67 00:03:32,178 --> 00:03:36,388 We from Compton wise, gotta ding along DC or south central, wherever. 68 00:03:36,515 --> 00:03:39,515 Ain't nothin' perfect. You growin' up in the streets is rough. 69 00:03:41,394 --> 00:03:44,944 - ALI: I mean, it's noisy. It's not quiet. 70 00:03:46,316 --> 00:03:49,106 I've always kind of wished that I could do what I do in a studio 71 00:03:49,945 --> 00:03:51,775 with all the stuff that I'm hearing around me. 72 00:03:53,448 --> 00:03:55,698 You know, just make everything sound a little more beautiful. 73 00:04:10,549 --> 00:04:13,179 Man, having that kind of power in the real world... 74 00:04:17,848 --> 00:04:18,888 that would be amazing. 75 00:04:22,728 --> 00:04:24,978 People think that the school way of doing it 76 00:04:25,064 --> 00:04:26,524 or one way thinking of one track mind 77 00:04:26,606 --> 00:04:30,066 that of the book way of doing it of engineering is the one way to do it 78 00:04:30,152 --> 00:04:32,282 when, you know, the more creative you are, there ain't... 79 00:04:32,362 --> 00:04:33,822 there's no limits to creativity,, so... 80 00:04:33,906 --> 00:04:35,236 Like what colors you see... 81 00:04:36,242 --> 00:04:37,622 This shit like mad purple like 82 00:04:37,701 --> 00:04:39,161 and lavender be like... You know what I'm sayin'? 83 00:04:39,245 --> 00:04:40,245 - Lavender... - Lavender... 84 00:04:40,328 --> 00:04:42,658 - ALI: Imagine like a block of ice and I'm trying to chisel it down 85 00:04:42,748 --> 00:04:44,368 to, like, to get it to a circle. 86 00:04:44,457 --> 00:04:46,837 I'm, like, taking certain frequencies out and I'm adding certain frequencies 87 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:49,630 to make things fit into these sound spectrums that I'm talking about. 88 00:04:57,345 --> 00:04:58,925 Yeah, it's a little tight, it's a little more aggressive. 89 00:04:59,014 --> 00:05:00,274 T-- Try to tone it down a little bit. 90 00:05:00,348 --> 00:05:02,348 - Hey, Ali? - Huh? 91 00:05:02,434 --> 00:05:04,274 - You're probably the only nigga that can, like, fix that shit 92 00:05:04,352 --> 00:05:06,062 and make that shit work, you know that, right? 93 00:05:15,488 --> 00:05:17,198 - ALI: There's just certain tricks you can do, like, 94 00:05:17,283 --> 00:05:19,993 for example, if you need some vocals to sound more aggressive 95 00:05:20,077 --> 00:05:22,117 boost up the lows, take out the highs, 96 00:05:22,246 --> 00:05:24,246 and add just a little bit of distortion. 97 00:05:25,624 --> 00:05:27,084 - WOMAN: Fuck you, you motherfucking piece of shit! 98 00:05:27,168 --> 00:05:29,838 - ALI: Then other times you might need stuff to sound less aggressive. 99 00:05:30,004 --> 00:05:31,264 - Damn, she's trippin'. 100 00:05:31,338 --> 00:05:32,668 - ALI: So you turn the volume down, 101 00:05:32,756 --> 00:05:35,086 add some reverb just to soften things up a bit. 102 00:05:36,177 --> 00:05:38,887 In my mixes I use a lot of delays, and a lot of panning, 103 00:05:38,971 --> 00:05:40,511 there's a lot of, like, reverb throws 104 00:05:40,597 --> 00:05:43,767 and just finding ways to make it sound like kind of shoot out the speaker 105 00:05:43,851 --> 00:05:45,101 and kinda just touch you in a way. 106 00:05:45,269 --> 00:05:46,729 - Also understand the club 107 00:05:46,812 --> 00:05:49,272 to understand new people. It's very important... 108 00:05:49,481 --> 00:05:52,281 like, I just can't handle a random person 109 00:05:52,359 --> 00:05:54,609 from the studio mixing my music because... 110 00:05:54,945 --> 00:05:58,695 that is, like in the studio all day... or they probably grew up 111 00:05:59,116 --> 00:06:00,576 livin' another type of life. 112 00:06:02,119 --> 00:06:04,829 - ALI: I feel like this is one process in music that can't be streamlined 113 00:06:04,913 --> 00:06:06,373 or shouldn't be streamlined, you know? 114 00:06:09,417 --> 00:06:12,547 Every song has its own identity, every song has its own thumbprint. 115 00:06:14,715 --> 00:06:17,255 Find a passion, find a love for it first... 116 00:06:17,718 --> 00:06:20,178 you know, be greater, put your 10,000 hours in, 117 00:06:20,262 --> 00:06:22,432 and, you know, then everything else will follow. 118 00:06:24,141 --> 00:06:27,351 I basically try to listen to my mixes back o-- on devices 119 00:06:27,435 --> 00:06:30,605 that people are, like, listen to their music in everyday. 120 00:06:30,689 --> 00:06:33,689 So, you know, iPhones, I listen from my earbuds on the airpods, 121 00:06:33,817 --> 00:06:35,897 uh, laptops, speakers, my iPad. 122 00:06:37,029 --> 00:06:39,529 Any and every other way I can hear the mix. 123 00:06:39,990 --> 00:06:41,120 I always try to listen to it 124 00:06:41,200 --> 00:06:44,660 just so I can hear different imperfections and to see if the mix translates. 125 00:06:46,496 --> 00:06:49,826 The thing about mixing, brothers, is not is... you're never done. 126 00:06:50,542 --> 00:06:53,302 The thing is when you are ready to walk away from it. 127 00:06:58,633 --> 00:06:59,633 All you're really tryin' to do 128 00:06:59,718 --> 00:07:02,258 is to make that song jump out the speakers and grab people. 129 00:07:05,307 --> 00:07:06,557 And once it's out there in the world... 130 00:07:07,809 --> 00:07:10,059 you know, you get to see the real effect that it has on people.