Should I Send a Reference Track to My Mixing or Mastering Engineer?
Yes, you can absolutely send a reference track to your mixing or mastering engineer, but you don't have to.
A reference can be useful for communicating broad preferences such as warmth, brightness, loudness, dynamics or overall intensity. In most cases, though, your own song, rough mix and notes give me far more useful information about what the finished track actually needs.
I'd rather let the audio in front of me guide the mix or master than force it towards the sound of a completely different record. So if you have a reference, feel free to send it and I'll absolutely listen to it. But if you can't find the perfect one, or simply don't have one at all, there's really no need to worry.
A reference track is useful context, not a target I'm going to force your song to hit.
What Is a Reference Track Used For?
In this context, a reference track is usually a commercially released song by another artist that you send as an example of a sound or quality you like.
If you're sending a song for mixing, a reference might tell me that you're drawn to a warm and natural sound, a bright and open top end, a very upfront vocal or something much denser and more aggressive. It can also give me a general sense of how polished, spacious, intimate or deliberately rough you want the finished track to feel.
For mastering, a reference can communicate similar broad preferences. It might show that you like your music very loud and tightly controlled, that you want to preserve plenty of movement and dynamics, or that you prefer a darker and softer presentation rather than a really bright master.
That information can certainly be helpful, particularly when a description could mean different things to different people. Words such as βwarm,β βbig,β βpunchyβ or βnaturalβ are open to interpretation, and a reference can give me a better idea of what those qualities mean to you.
The reference becomes much more useful if you tell me what you like about it. A quick note such as βI love how natural the drums feelβ or βI like the warmth of this masterβ gives me something specific to listen for. Without that explanation, I may not know whether you've sent the track because of its vocal sound, low end, dynamics, effects, loudness or simply its general atmosphere.
Why I Don't Treat It as an Exact Target
The difficulty with commercial references is that they often have very little in common with the song I'm actually working on.
They may have a completely different arrangement, different instrumentation, different performances, another vocalist, different recording techniques and production choices, or a very different amount of space and density. They may also have been created in another studio, in another decade and under completely different circumstances.
All of those things affect how a record sounds.
A huge low end that works brilliantly in a sparse electronic production may completely overwhelm a song filled with guitars, live drums, keyboards and layers of vocals. A very bright vocal might cut beautifully through one arrangement but sound harsh and disconnected in another. The explosive master that suits a dense punk track may be completely wrong for an intimate acoustic song that relies on small changes in performance and dynamics.
That's why I don't want to arbitrarily shoehorn your music into the sound of another record just because it was supplied as a reference. Even if the reference sounds fantastic, copying its overall tone, balance or loudness without considering the differences between the two songs could take your track further away from what suits it.
This doesn't mean I'll ignore the reference. I'll listen to it, consider what it tells me about your taste and use anything relevant as part of the wider picture. I'll then come back to the actual song and make decisions based on its own strengths, characteristics and needs.
What Matters More Than a Reference Track?
The most important piece of information is always the song itself.
The arrangement, performances, recordings and production choices already tell me a great deal about where the music wants to go. A mix or master should bring out what's compelling about that particular track, rather than treating it as raw material that needs to be made to resemble something else.
If you're sending multitracks for mixing, your rough mix is especially valuable because it shows me how you've been hearing those exact recordings. I can hear where you placed the vocal, which instruments you pushed forward, how the energy changes between sections, where effects appear and which parts of the arrangement are meant to command attention.
That's much more directly connected to your music than a commercial release with another arrangement and another artist. Your rough mix doesn't need to sound polished, either. It simply needs to communicate the direction you had in mind. I've explained this in more detail in What Is a Rough Mix?.
Clear notes are also extremely useful, particularly when they tell me what you want to preserve, change or improve. For example:
βI want the vocal to feel more intimate.β
βThe chorus needs to hit harder.β
βI donβt want the master to become too bright.β
βPlease preserve the dynamics.β
βThe bass feels buried in the second verse.β
Those comments give me something specific and actionable to concentrate on within your own song. They identify what matters to you and where you feel the current version may not quite be achieving it.
You don't need to use technical language. In fact, it's often more helpful if you simply describe what you're hearing or how you want the song to feel. If you're worried that the chorus lacks impact, tell me that. You don't need to diagnose which compressor setting, frequency or mastering process might be responsible. Iβve covered this in more detail in What Notes Should I Send to My Mixing Engineer?.
A commercial reference can support those notes, but it doesn't replace them.
How Do I Choose a Useful Reference Track?
You don't need to find a song that sounds exactly like yours. In many cases, that song simply doesn't exist.
Instead, choose something you genuinely like and think about why you're choosing it. Perhaps you like how warm it sounds, how clearly the vocal sits, how hard the chorus hits or how much movement has been preserved in the master. That specific quality is the useful part.
A reference from the same genre can sometimes make comparison easier because it may share similar instrumentation, density or production conventions. It's not a requirement, though. A song from another genre can still communicate that you like dry vocals, roomy drums, a soft top end or a particularly natural sense of dynamics.
The closer the two arrangements are, the more directly certain comparisons can be made. But a reference doesn't become useless simply because the genre or instrumentation is different. It just means I'll treat the relevant characteristic as inspiration or context rather than assuming the whole sonic presentation should be transferred across.
One or two references will normally be plenty. If you send more, it helps to explain what each one is demonstrating, particularly if they sound very different from one another. One might show the vocal presentation you like, while another demonstrates the amount of warmth or dynamics you want.
There's no need to build an enormous playlist or spend hours searching for the one perfect record. A single reference with a short explanation is far more useful than ten conflicting tracks with no indication of what I should be listening for.
What If I Don't Have a Reference Track?
That's completely fine.
You don't need to delay sending your music because you can't think of another artist who sounds similar. You also don't need to pick something vaguely related simply because you've repeatedly heard that every professional mixing or mastering project must include a reference.
Send the current version of your song, include your rough mix if you're having it mixed, and tell me anything you particularly like, dislike or feel unsure about. If you already know the emotional or creative direction you want, describe it in your own words.
Even a simple message saying βI want this to feel intimate and natural, but Iβm worried the current version is a bit dullβ gives me useful information. I can listen to the track, consider whether I hear the same thing and work out what will best serve the music.
If you don't know what you want changed and simply feel that the song isn't quite finished, that's fine too. Send it over and I'll have a listen before you book anything.
Send Whatever Helps Explain Your Song
A reference track can be useful, but it's only one part of the conversation.
If you have one, send it and let me know what you like about it. If you don't, there's no need to go hunting for something purely because you think it's expected. Your own audio, rough mix and notes are usually much more important, and I'll always let the actual song guide the decisions I make.
If you're getting individual tracks ready for mixing, have a look at Preparing Your Multitracks for Mixing. If you already have a finished stereo mix, Preparing Your Mix for Mastering covers the main things to check before exporting it.
And if you'd like me to hear what you're working on, you can upload your current track here. Include a reference if you have one, but really don't worry if you don't.