Mixing Tips For Aspiring Musicians

Mixing is one of the most difficult parts of the production process to master. Whether you’re just getting into mixing music or have been working in the industry for years, you must put time and effort into this part of the production process.

To a beginner mixing engineer, sometimes mixing can seem overwhelming. You can buy the best studio monitors and work on something for hours and it still doesn’t sound right. There are a few tips and techniques that you can apply to your mixes to help speed up the learning process and help you get to a professional mixing level quicker.

Put your tracks in Order – Sorting your tracks is important. If your tracks are in disorder, you’ll have trouble knowing which track you worked on and you’ll end up wasting time. Create an order that you like having your tracks in and adhere to it throughout all of your mixing sessions. This order depends entirely on your preference. You can choose to have drums at the start, followed by bass and up in order of the instruments range or vice versa. This exercise ensures that whatever you’re mixing, you’ll know exactly where to find things when making changes.

Organize your channels through buses – This facilitates making quick modifications to levels or effects processing. For example, you can create a drums bus, a guitar bus, a vocals bus, etc…This will let you simplify your mix, control the volume of many tracks with just one fader, and apply EQ and Compression on all the tracks at once if you wish.

Ace the Static Mix – The most important step in mixing is to ace the static mix. If you want high-quality mixes, getting the volume balance right is crucial. The static mix is where you set the volume and panning of the instruments. All of this happens before EQing, compressing, or adding any other effect processing including automation moves.

Achieve Clarity by applying EQ – We all know that the term EQ stands for “equalizer” that is used to equal out the tone of each instrument. If instruments are competing for the same frequency range, then EQ can help make them sit well together. You must learn to execute the EQ correctly as it is simply another tool at your disposal to bring your tracks into perfect balance so the listener hears all your parts with clarity.

Make good use of Compression – When paired with EQ, compression is your most powerful tool. A compressor is like an automatic volume knob that turns down an audio signal’s level when it gets too loud. It’s a tricky tool to get the hang of when you first start mixing as the contrast shouldn’t be very apparent. Use the compressor to flesh out your drums and add punch. You can also control your bass tracks through compression and get more sustain and body. However, don’t over-compress your tracks and try sticking to the cardinal rule that 3 to 6 dB of gain reduction is usually enough.

Provide a sense of space through Reverb – Home Studio owners work in conditions that are far from being perfect. To avoid bad sounding room sound in the track, it is common practice to close-mic every instrument resulting in dry-sounding tracks. Using Reverb on drums and vocals gives them space.

Go Stereo with Panning – Most of the engineers mix in mono and use panning in the end to go stereo. Thus, if they achieve a great mix in mono, it will be wider, bigger, more awesome in stereo. Use panning automation to bring movement, variations and keep things interesting.

Every sound engineer has a unique approach towards mixing and everyone does it differently. These tips, though seemingly trivial to the seasoned musicians, are integral to proper mixing. Besides buying the best studio gear and studio monitors, applying these tips to your work will make a massive difference not only in sound but in your work ethic.