how to add ear candy to your mixes
3 minmixing tip #022 - you need to understand ear candy in music production
Hallojis! This week, we’re talking about EAR CANDY— one of the best ways to level up your music production. Let’s go!
What is Ear Candy…?
Ear Candy is not a technical term 🥸; it refers to a series one-shots or ambience that can level up any mix.
Their purpose is to keep things interesting and add a “fourth dimension” to your mixes. Since they’re BACKGROUND elements, your listener won’t usually be able to explicitly tell that they’re there, but the overall impact on the mix (vs one without ear candy) is HUGE. It extends the “shelf life” of your song because your listener will discover new things with every subsequent listen.
The definition is pretty fluid, but here’s a few examples of ear candy:
How do you use ear candy?
There are no hard and fast rules in music production, but here’s a couple best practices:
Ear Candy samples are usually never repeated (except when in the beat). Their purpose is to be unique and unexpected.
Your listener should FEEL them, not hear them outright. Keep them a low level in the mix.
Use them during stops (pauses in the music), or to expand on the lyrics/feel of a section.
Two great resources for sample libraries are Splice and Free Sound.
The best way to understand ear candy is to listen for it!
In the video at the top, I take you through an instrumental of ‘Weak’ by AJR, and point out all the ear candy in a one minute section. I encourage you to throw on your best pair of headphones and give it a listen. How many were you able to pick out?
Until the next one, stay well and shine bright.
~Ravi
