Episode 2

Drums & Bass: Building the Pocket

With the mix bus philosophy established, Austin dives into the foundation: kick, snare, and 808. He introduces his "lasagna" mixing approach, every layer must be great in isolation before it earns its place in the stack. Watch him tighten the kick tail with Droopkick, coax the 808's growl to the surface with Slate's Infinite Bass, manage low-frequency resonances with Soothe 2, and add ear candy texture with a barely-audible white noise layer that transforms how the bass translates on phones and earbuds. He also explains his loudness targeting philosophy, hitting minus ten LUFS with drums and bass alone as a gain-staging anchor point, and why that discipline pays off when the rest of the elements come in.

Key takeaways: Kick tail trimming, 808 harmonic enhancement, sidechain frequency ducking (not full duck), resonance leveling, texture plugin for phone translation, gain staging targets.