What a reference track is for
A reference track is a released song you would be happy for yours to sound like, played next to your own work while you mix or master it. Ears adapt within minutes: after a while in one mix, too much low end or too little vocal starts to sound normal. A reference gives them something fixed to come back to.
It is a comparison, not a template. Your song has its own arrangement, its own voice and its own key, so the aim is to get the same answers to a few questions (is the low end as solid, does the vocal sit as clearly, is the top as open) rather than the same sound.
How to choose one
The closer the reference is to your song, the more of what it tells you applies to yours.
- The same style and a similar arrangement. A sparse acoustic song and a dense rock track are balanced differently on purpose, and comparing across that gap points you the wrong way.
- A song you know well on the speakers or headphones you work on. Knowing it is what lets you hear what changed in your mix rather than what is new in the reference.
- The best quality file you can get. A lossless file, or a high bitrate download. Low bitrate encoders remove the very top of the spectrum, and next to a file with no top end your own mix sounds too bright.
- Two or three, if you can. One record can have quirks of its own. Where several references agree, you are hearing the style rather than one engineer’s taste.
Compare at the same loudness
This is the rule that matters most. Of two versions of anything, the louder one almost always sounds better for the first few seconds: fuller, brighter, more exciting. A released master is usually far louder than a mix in progress, so a comparison at face value only tells you that it is louder.
Measure both with a LUFS meter and turn the reference down until the two read the same integrated loudness. In a DAW, put the reference on its own track that bypasses your master bus, so your limiter does not change it.
Then compare the same part of each song, chorus against chorus, and switch often. Short, frequent switches are more reliable than long listens to each.
In Euphona’s Studio, the reference slot’s Listen does the matching for you: once both files have been measured, which takes a few seconds after upload, it plays the reference at your track’s loudness.
What to listen for
Listen for one thing at a time. Trying to hear everything at once usually ends in changing everything.
- The low end. How solid and how controlled the kick and bass are, and whether yours is boomy or thin by comparison.
- The vocal. How loud it sits against the band and how clearly you hear the words. This is the comparison home mixes most often lose.
- Brightness. Whether the top of your mix is duller or harsher. Cymbals and the s sounds in the vocal give it away.
- Width and depth. How wide the stereo picture is and how far back the reverb places things. Check both in mono as well.
- Movement. How much bigger the chorus is than the verse. A song that is louder but never lifts sounds flat next to one that breathes.
When a service matches it for you
Euphona’s mastering and mixing both take an optional reference track. It is read and measured, never mixed into your song or delivered, and never charged as a second file.
Mastering moves your track’s tonal balance towards the reference, half of the way. We measured this on 38 songs mastered by professional engineers: copying another song’s exact balance moved our masters further from what the engineers delivered than using no reference at all, because part of any record’s balance belongs to that record alone. Moving half the way kept most of the gain when the reference was right, and cost far less when it was not.
If you do not choose a loudness, the reference sets that too: the master is delivered at the reference’s own measured loudness, under the usual true peak ceiling. A loud commercial reference therefore makes a loud master. Choose a loudness on the same screen if you want a different level.
Mixing does the same on the mix bus, half of the way, for the same reason: measured on seven songs that several engineers each mixed, half the move did better than the full one whichever reference was used.
With no reference, mastering keeps your track’s own tonal balance. It changes the overall tilt only when the track falls outside the range finished records occupy, and otherwise touches the tone only to tame narrow resonances.
When to leave it out
If no song is close to yours, leave the reference out. A reference in a different style pulls your track towards a balance that was right for a different song, and an automatic match follows it as faithfully as you would by ear.
The same goes for a reference chosen only for its loudness. Choose a loudness instead, and keep the reference for a sound you are actually aiming at.
Questions
Does any of the reference end up in my song?
No. Its audio is measured, not used: its tonal balance and its loudness become numbers the processing aims at. The file itself is never mixed in or delivered.
Does the reference have to be the same length, key or tempo?
No. Only its overall tonal balance and loudness are measured, and neither depends on length, key or tempo.
Should I use the same reference for mixing and mastering?
It is a sensible default: a reference that fits your song fits it at both stages. If the mix already matched it, mastering with the same one has less left to move.
How many reference tracks can I use?
One per run. If you are torn between two, run it with each and compare the results at matched loudness.
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