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- Choose the right tools. Like any craft, mixing requires the right tools. Make sure that you have the essentials: Digital Audio Workstation (DAW): Your DAW is the central hub for mixing.
- Organize your session. A clutter-free and organized workspace leads to a more efficient mixing process. Here's how to set up your DAW session for success
- Listen to the mix and take notes. During the mixing process, the goal is to create a blended mix of all your sounds. To do this effectively, you need to understand each track first.
- Set instrument levels. Now that you've prepared your workspace and gathered your tools, it's time to delve into the exciting world of music mixing. This initial step is about setting your instrument levels and ensuring that no single element overwhelms the mix.
Mixing music is both a technical skill and an art form. Mixing a track is a bit like building a house. You have a lot of creative freedom about how the house should look, but the building needs to have a solid foundation that stands up to various technical standards, otherwise, the whole thing will fall apart.
- Mixing Tip #1 – Make Sure Your Input Material Is as High Quality as Possible
- Mixing Tip #2 – Balancing Before Anything Else
- Mixing Tip #3 – Minimise Using The Solo Button
- Mixing Tip #4 – Use Busses
- Mixing Tip #5 – Mix The “Climax” First
- Mixing Tip #6 – Reference Tracks
- Mixing Tip #7 – Take A Break!
- Mixing Tip #8 – Research, Not Reliance
- Mixing Tip #9 – High-Pass EQ Is Your Friend
- Mixing Tip #10 – The “Car Test”
While it is true that a good mix can transform a track, you should always make sure your source recordings and samples are as good as possible first. Don’t create music assuming you’ll “fix it in the mix”. A perfect mix won’t fix a sub-par instrumental performance, or a low quality MP3 sample. Your sounds need to be as high quality as possible befo...
Volume control is one of the most critical parts of mixing a track. Before moving onto compression, EQ etc, make sure your track is well balanced first. The volume balance of an individual instrument or vocal track will impact how much additional mixing is needed. Another crucial element to consider here is volume automation. For example, if you ha...
When mixing a track, perspective and context are key. Don’t spend hours EQ’ing each individual solo’ed element of a song, and this won’t provide you with the context of the entire mix. For example, let’s say you spend ages EQ’ing a bassline with the bass track solo’ed. You may get to a point where the bass sounds amazing when played on its own. How...
Tip #5 is to create busses. I cannot stress how important this is to speeding up the mixing process. In short, a bus (or: buss) is a signal path which can be used to group several individual audio tracks together. These individual tracks can then be manipulated, as a group, like another track. Once you have your blend, bus certain groups of tracks ...
This is an often overlooked mixing tip, and was definitely a game-changer in my mixing journey. If you start mixing a track from the intro, the verse, or any low point in the song, this makes it significantly more difficult to properly mix a chorus or larger hook section. Let’s say you mix a song starting by looping the chorus. Once you achieve a g...
Ear fatigue is real guys, so it’s important you’re comparing your mix with other similar, professionally mixed tracks in your genre. This process can really highlight certain frequencies or elements that need some extra work. A lot of beginner producers despise this advice, as comparing your mix against a professional master can be very dishearteni...
This one is pretty self explanatory. Studies show that over the course of several hours, you are usually more productive if you are taking regular breaks. This is especially true for mixing. Don’t wear yourself out by mixing the same drum track for hours on end. Whether it’s going on a walk, taking a cold shower, working on another track, do whatev...
There are plenty of EQ cheat sheets and guides for achieving the “perfect kick drum” or a “crispy snare”. Do these guides work? To an extent, yes. When it comes to audio mixing, it’s important to do your research. There are literally hundreds of in-depth Youtube videos showing you how to mix effectively in your DAW. I consider this EQ cheat sheetfr...
Using high-pass filters properly is a fantastic technique for removing unwanted noise and audio artefacts such as AC or rumble. A high-pass filter is a simple, but effective EQ curve that removes unwanted low frequencies from an audio source. This becomes particularly beneficial when you’re working on vocals or other recorded audio tracks. By addin...
Just because a mix sounds great on one set of speakers, doesn’t mean it’ll sound good on another. Have you ever made a track you’re really proud of, played it through a friends speaker, only to be horrified at how completely different the track sounds? Make sure you’re testing your mix through various speakers; a car stereo, a friends setup, your p...
Step 6: Finishing the mix. After the mix is largely finished, creatively speaking, the final steps are no less important. First, the mix needs to be delivered to the client for their approval. Then, any required revisions should be made and approved. And lastly, the mix should be delivered to the mastering engineer.
Nov 12, 2024 · This setup allows you to become a mix engineer in your own space, capable of creating a static mix that can then be refined into your final mixdown. 2. Preparing Your Mix. Before diving into the mix, ensure your tracks are well-organized, properly labeled, and the audio is clean.
Aug 15, 2022 · Arrangement. Instrument arrangement is usually the first step of any mixing process. Once you get all the tracks, you need to arrange them in the order that suits you and level them. Leveling is setting up a track’s volume by mixing instruments so that you can clearly hear it.
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They make great contributions to the overall mix, but they’re also things that should be an attribute to an already good sounding mix. Imagine if you were to play the song live. Fade-ins, fade-outs, etc. wouldn’t be possible. A good song/mix should sound good as it is, and become even better sounding with small details like the things ...
