How do you go about making a dense mix loud?

By removing sounds from your mix so it isn't as dense. The more sounds, the less headroom. The less headroom, the quieter the final mix.

I used to have the 2i2 and had similar issues; I've heard the way it draws power from the USB port isn't perfect, so that plays a role in how the sound transmits to the speakers.

Are you recreating them from memory? That's the only way I can see someone having trouble with recreating a loop. Just copy a drum loop in your library or copy the drum patterns from a bunch of hip hop songs until you start getting the idea down. There's plenty of trap songs out there, and drum patterns are not able to be copywritten - so just steal them until you don't have to steal anymore!

Just load up a generic drum sampler and enter in the MIDI notes until your pattern matches theirs exactly. Label the MIDI clip and save it to your personal library. Next time you want a drum loop, just pull that in and make a few minor variations.

I enrolled in college again about two years ago when I was 26. I'd argue the 18 year olds some of my classes have learned less than I have because I'm less tied down to a lot of the things that you consider to be more important at that age, and I've already gone through a lot of the more common mistakes kids make when they go into college, so I treat the classes differently. Maybe my brain is in some way "less malleable" than a younger mind, but with age (hopefully) comes experience and wisdom which can have its own benefits.

I forgot. Were you the one that goes to school for audio engineering?

Yeah! The workflow I use was mentioned by three separate teachers I've had so far, though I haven't had any dedicated mixing classes yet. I like ErikF's idea of working up the frequency spectrum, since the highest frequency sounds are going to be the ones that require the least amount of level to be heard.

I'm also a huge advocate of working in cycles of analysis and action using "fix sheets" - a physical piece of paper that you keep with you when you're working (so it applies to every step of the process): Before doing anything, listen to the project start to finish. Write down every single thing that you think you need to fix, remove, add, or otherwise change. Once you've gotten to the end of the song, start fixing problems on the list top to bottom. If you notice new errors, add 'em to the bottom of the list. Start broad, and work your way in. By the time that list is including things like "change the decay time on the reverb by .3 seconds" you've reached the point of diminishing returns and should call it complete.

I would strongly suggest enrolling in an music theory course, either online or at your local community college, and going through the various steps. Theory is something that can be grasped through experience and cobbled together factoids, but it can get extremely confusing if you do that and the more confusing something is, the less likely we are to experiment with it and discover new things!

Try to remember that if they have a name for chords that only use notes from the scale, then logically there should be chords that do NOT use notes from the scale - otherwise diatonic chords would just be called chords! As you start learning about the different scales and their relationships to each other, you'll learn how enharmonic notes (the same pitch w/ two names) and enharmonic chords will start to play a role.

For example, let's look at the good old Augmented Triad - A root, a major third, and an augmented fifth; or a major third with a major third on top of it. If I play the C Augmented triad, we have C E and G-sharp. If I play the E Augmented triad, we have E, G-sharp, and B-sharp. If I play the G-Sharp major triad, we have G-sharp, B-sharp, and D-double sharp.

Double sharps are weird though, so let's use those enharmonic notes. G-sharp is also A-flat, B-sharp is also C natural (check your piano roll), and D-double sharp is also E natural.

So for our three augmented triads, we have:

C E G#(Ab)
E G#(Ab) B#(C)
Ab C E (or G# B# D##)

That one chord can now represent three separate chords that will all essentially sound the same, and that follows for every other augmented triad on the keyboard. That lets you modulate keys, utilize notes not found in the major scale, and transition from diatonic to non-diatonic chords and back again.

This is partially why I think it's still not a horrible idea to leave headroom.

Rob Swire's 33, both Pegboard Nerds are in their late 30s, Calvin Harris is 32, and let's not forget that the godfather of dance music Moroder is still making music and he's over 75 years old.

I'm turning 28 this year.