AN EASY RECIPE FOR CLEAN, LOUD MIXES

From the second you start mixing or producing, you are aware of "loudness". 

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Your first mix won't be as loud as some hit song on the radio. Your first beat won't hit as hard as your favorite producer's. 

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And that's ok.

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What isn't ok is thinking that getting good, clean, and loud mixes from your bedroom, laptop or project studio is impossible. I also don't like the attitude that mastering is where loudness comes from.

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Take if from someone who would routinely send quiet mixes off to grammy nominated mastering engineers only to be disappointed that the final master was still quieter than my reference track. 

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I thought the problem had to be my mastering engineer, so I would find another. This process repeated 3 times before I realized it was my mix. Just because my mix was peaking at -6 dB, giving my mastering engineer more than enough headroom to sprinkle their magic voodoo dust, my mix could have been *louder.

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Loudness starts in the mix. Mastering can improve that level, but it starts in the mix.