5 More Mixing Techniques

1. Take Notes

Legendary mixer Bob Power once told me that every time he returned from a listening break, he
would force himself to listen to his mix from beginning to end. Instead of stopping playback
when he heard the first thing he didn’t like, Bob would keep listening and write down each
problem he heard. Only after making a complete pass through his track would he start
addressing each note.

Bob taught me an important lesson about valuing my objectivity. Whenever you are approaching
your work with fresh ears, it’s an opportunity to hear your mix in a new way. Make the most of
these moments. Be fully present and engaged during playback, and listen from beginning to
end. By doing so, you’ll move more quickly through the mix process, and ultimately craft better
mixes.

2. Use The Volume Knob As A Tool

Your ears perceive frequencies differently at different volumes. At lower volumes, your ears are
much more sensitive to midrange frequencies. At higher volumes, your ears become more
sensitive to the low and high frequencies (shoutout to Harvey Fletcher and Wilden Muson for
figuring this out in the 1930’s).

You might be aware of this phenomenon already. But do you use it to your advantage when
mixing?

Use the volume knob as a tool to help you zero in on various areas of the frequency spectrum.

If you’re trying to balance the kick and bass (which have a lot of low end information), turn your
speakers up. This will help you to hear the low end more clearly. Conversely, if you’re focusing
on riding vocals (which sit primarily in the midrange of your mix), turning your speakers down
and mixing at low levels will allow you to make better balancing decisions.

3. Try Top-Down Mixing

Top-down mixing is a technique that flips the traditional mixing process on its head. Instead of
starting a mix by processing individual tracks, first build a solid balance using faders only. Then,
add your first layer of processing (EQ, compression, saturation, etc…) to the mix bus. After
you’ve taken things as far as you can, move on and process the subgroups in your mix (drums,
vocals, guitars, etc…). Finally, add additional processing as needed to the individual tracks in
your mix.

This technique often produces results more quickly than the traditional, “bottom up” approach.
As a bonus, you’ll typically use fewer plugins too!

4. Avoid The Solo Button

When you solo a track, you remove all the context you need to make the right decisions.
Remember—mixing is all about making a group of sounds blend together as a cohesive unit. It
doesn’t matter how each track sounds by itself, because the end listener is never going to hear
the individual tracks.

Don’t make adjustments to your plugins while tracks are in solo. Instead, make them while all
the tracks are playing together.

Resist the urge to solo tracks, and your mixes will sound much better.

5. Use Subtractive EQ

This technique has made a greater impact on my mixing than just about any other. If you want
to learn how to incorporate subtractive EQ into your workflow, ​my how​-to article​ is a great place
to start. ​Dave Moulton’s website​ has a great tutorial as well.

For more mixing tips, visit ​BehindTheSpeakers.com​.

Mix By Design is an online training course that will teach you
how to mix like a pro. You’ll discover a simple, step-by-step
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the creative flow, and make your best mixes yet.

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