How to mix music

The simple guide to mixing.

What is audio mixing?

Audio mixing is the process
of taking recorded tracks
and blending them togeth-
er. Tracks are blended us-
ing various processes such
as EQ, Compression and
Reverb.

The goal of mixing is to bring out the best in your multi-

track recording by adjusting levels, panning, and time-
based audio effects (chorus, reverb, delay). The aim is to
sculpt your arrangement to make sense of all your tracks
in relation to each other.
A multitrack recording is anything with more than one
individual track (also referred to as stems). There’s no
right or wrong number of tracks. You just can’t have
zero. The final output of a multitrack recording is also
known as the mixdown. The mixdown is the final step
before mastering.

It doesn’t matter if you’re recording tracks with micro-

phones and pre-amps, or using pre-recorded sample
packs, learning how to mix for yourself is very important.
Taking control of your artistic and creative vision will
take your music to the next level. It’ll make you a better
producer.

Start with these basic tips. They’ll get your mix as far as
it can go before you seek more specific resources.

Let’s get started!

“Taking control of your artistic and creative vision will

take your music to the next level.”

Choosing your mixing software

There’s tons of Digital Audio Workstations (DAW) to
choose from. Which DAW is the best DAW is up to you.
Here's some of the best DAWs to help you get started.
Get to know your DAW software intimately. The savvy
audio mixer sticks to one DAW and knows it truly, mad-
ly, deeply. Don’t cheat on your DAW. Stay true and you’ll
reap all the benefits.

I’ll be using Pro Tools as an example but all the princi-

ples are the same no matter how you mix.

Setting up your audio mixing

session
Most DAW’s provide nifty templates if you’re unsure of
how to get started.

For example, Pro Tools includes the ‘Rock’ template

which sets your session up with tracks for:

Drums / Bass / Organ / Guitar / 4 empty audio tracks for

recording / Click Track / Pre-routed Headphone Mix /
Reverb Return / Delay Return / Chorus return

Although this is a basic band mix template, there are

other templates to choose from. If you don’t see the
template you need, just make one. Making your own
template is a great step in developing your mix style.
Perfect for booting up your computer and starting a mix
from scratch.

Name your tracks properly

This sounds super simple, but trust me. In three months
you won’t be able to remember where the third shaker is
if it’s called ‘Audio track 48.’ If you record a ‘lead guitar’
then do yourself a favor and call it ‘lead guitar’ before
you hit record. Poor naming adds oodles of unneeded
studio time to your session.

Color code your track groups

Make ROY G BIV proud. Color code your tracks. For ex-
ample, make all of your drum tracks yellow, all your vocal
tracks blue, and all your guitars green. This will help with
processes like bussing and keeping track of layers of
your session. Take two minutes to color code right. It
will save you hours of searching later.
The basic audio mixing
workflow
So what’re the mixing basics? Just like most processes — and espe-
cially in audio mixing — everyone has their own opinions. Right or
wrong, who knows? That’s fair. But there are essential mixing basics
that everyone should follow.

The right mix to work with

Believe it or not, you should be mixing before you mix.

Lost? I’ll explain. What are the main textures you’re looking for in your
track? What kind of space are you trying to create? Upfront and
punchy? Or distant and reverberant? Work on bringing the most char-
acter out of your sounds while you're in the early stages of recording.
Think about the big picture while recording or choosing your initial
sounds.

Push the original recordings as far as you can without heavy process-
ing. Get an early sense of where you are heading for the final mixdown.
Commit to good sounds early and avoid endless tweaking later in the
mixing stage.
Cut the fuss. Use a bus.
Picture a yellow school bus. Now picture it with a bunch of sounds rid-
ing it.

This is what a bus is in a mix. By sending multiple sounds to one track

(the bus) you can apply the same processors to them all at once. It’s
very handy. Try it out on a drum bus. This allows you to process all
your drum sounds as one unit. Treat them with the same reverb to give
the perception that they’re all in the same space. Or Set up a delay or
compression bus.

Experiment with which sounds you send to what bus. I guarantee you’ll
get some very useful results.

HOT TIP: Commit to good sounds early and avoid endless tweaking
later in the mixing stage.

Balance your levels

Time to give your mix a little haircut. A little snip here, a
little trim there. Balance those levels and don’t be afraid
to give parts the big chop. Drop the drums for a bar,
crank up that vocal for a verse. Get loose.

Get a basic balance of your levels before you go crazy

with effects processing. Trim ‘em so they don’t clip later.
Think about headroom early.
Keep a final goal in mind as you balance all of your
tracks. This will give you a rough idea of how each track
will eventually fit together. Processing will smooth out
your rough ideas.

Planning on panning
So what is panning?

Panning helps you control the width of a mix. It’s the left
to right breadth of the stereo field. Panning allows for
sounds to be placed in your mix properly. Either to the
left, or the right of the stereo center. Keep your heavier
or lower sounds near the centre. This means the bass or
the kick. Use them as a centring force that you can work
around. If everything is panned centrally, your mix will
sound flat or crowded.
Audio processing: the fun part
Now it’s time to dig in and get mixing.

The meat of your mix can be broken down into three basic areas. EQ,
Compression and Reverb. Although mixing has many faces, these
three make up 90% of the process. They are the donkey work of mix-
ing. Perfect these 3 areas and everything else will come naturally.

What is EQ?
Every sound is made of frequencies. Frequency is measured with Hertz
(Hz). Equalizing is the art of boosting, cutting and balancing all the fre-
quencies in a mix to get the sound you want.

You’ll often hear the frequency spectrum described as the highs, mids
and lows. Bass instruments have a very low-heavy, boomy sound.
Their output is mostly low in the frequency spectrum. Alternately, a
snare or a high-hat are often a lot more tinny, so they will typically ap-
pear in the mid or high frequencies.

Even though we can place these sounds in the general high and low
categories, all sounds will have important information in both the
highs and the lows. Keep this in mind while you’re mixing.
The surgical audio equalizer
Use filters. They clean your frequencies up with surgical
precision.

The best place to start with corrective EQ tools are

high-pass and low-pass filters. High and low pass filters
set limits for the signal you’d like to let through. The rest
is left behind.

Remember that every track will need special attention.

For instance a tom drum is going to need an entirely dif-
ferent EQ treatment than a Rhodes piano. Listen to
learn. Figure out what adjustments you need to make
with your ears.
 “The only thing you can do wrong is hold yourself
back from experimenting.”

Carving EQ
Now it’s time to sculpt your mix.

Carving EQ may seem similar to corrective EQ. That’s

because it is. Only in this step you are correcting your
frequency with the other tracks in mind. Everything will
start to fit a bit better in this step. The pieces start to in-
teract. This might sound crazy but good carving EQ
sometimes means taking good parts of a frequency out.

But don’t fret (no pun intended). Do it so that all your

tracks will mesh better. This is going to sound even cra-
zier, but at this stage your track may even sound bad
when it’s soloed. No worries. As soon as it’s in the mix
it’ll sound great. This is because you carved your tracks
down with the other tracks in mind.

Think of your song like a novel. Every track can’t be the

main character. There have to be some other characters
to fill out the story. Carving puts your characters in or-
der. For example, carving EQ allows you to take unnec-
essary low-end off your keys so that it doesn’t mask the
kick and bass. You might have two elements battling
each other at the same frequency. Like vocals and synth.
Carve a space for each by cutting the frequencies on
one while boosting the same range on the other.
Creative
This is the final, and most creative stage in your equaliz-
er journey. It’s the part where you get to make your track
into exactly what you want to hear. Normally I’d call this
step enhancement, but it doesn’t start with a C so… Give
your tracks personality. Dress them up. There's an equal-
izer for just about everything.

Now is the time to make your vocals jump out of the

speaker. Or make your kick bash and your snare ex-
plode. Or make those synth lines extra heartbreaking.

Try several different EQ plugins. Put 2 or 3 different EQs

in a row. Some EQs will be good at one thing, and not
another. So get the best of everything by stringing them
together. There is no wrong way to do it. The only thing
you can do wrong is hold yourself back from
experimenting.
What are dynamics?
Dynamics refer to the space
between the loudest parts
of a sound to the quietest
part. The space between
each part is typically re-
ferred to as the dynamic
range. This definition can
be applied to an entire
song, or to a specific sound.

Dynamic sounds have a wide range between the qui-

etest part of the sound and the loudest. For example,
picture a snare hit. It has a very sudden peak that doesn’t
last long. This means it has a wide dynamic range. A real
flash in the pan. Compare that to an organ note. It stays
the same level from the time it begins to the time the
key is released. This means it's a less dynamic sound.

Dynamics also exist within an entire performance. An

obvious example is a singer singing quietly in the verse,
and then belting it out in the chorus. The range between
the quietest and loudest parts can often be as much as
20dB, which is a lot. especially when you're trying to bal-
ance it with a bunch of other elements. Like that very
un-dynamic organ note. These dynamic swings can
make it difficult to make everything fit together in a mix
without imposing some kind of control on them.

This is where audio compression comes in.

What is compression?
Audio compression is the process of taming the dynam-
ic range. This is done with a compressor that sets spe-
cific limits on how much of a frequency is let through.
They boost the quieter portions and lower the louder
parts, providing a more consistent and balanced overall
sound.

How much a compressor does is determined by the

compressor's Ratio. Higher ratios affect the dynamic
range more.

But why do it? Isn’t dynamic range a good thing?

It’s true, dynamics are good. But remember that you’re

trying to get a consistent level in the mix. If something is
too loud it’ll stand out and be awkward. If it’s too quiet
it’ll get lost in the couch cushions of your mix. Finding a
good balance of compression is an art that requires lis-
tening and learning.

Does this sound similar to adjusting the faders in your

DAW? It should. That's basically what a compressor is
doing, but automatically.
But be careful not to get carried away. Applying too
much compression is a danger zone. Using only com-
pression to try and balance levels in a mix will lead to a
lifeless, punch​less, and fatiguing mix. Yucky.

Use compression in conjunction with volume (gain) to

get the best results.
What is reverb?
Reverb is the reflection of
sound. All sound is a rever-
beration of some kind. The
coolest part about mixing is
that YOU get to control it.
Approach reverb with two
goals in mind.

The artificial reverb effect

Anything goes when you’re using reverb as an effect.
This is where your own unique flare gets injected into
the mix. Artificial reverb lets you do all the things you
can’t do in real life.

Reverb controls can be intimidating. No sweat. Just use

the presets until you find something you like. Then you
can tweak it at your leisure. It’s the taster’s choice.

Remember that reverb bus we set up earlier? EQ it.

Rolling off some of the highs and lows will make sure it’s
not drowning out other elements. You don’t wanna bur-
ry that hot maraca just cause your reverb bus is maxed
out. Experiment with putting the EQ before the reverb.
This means you’re EQing what’s coming into the reverb.
Or, put it after the reverb and EQ what’s coming out.
Anything goes. Both approaches will give you interest-
ing results.

Reverb in real life

You don’t have a church handy, but you want your song
to sound like it’s in one? No problem. Just fake it with
reverb.

Harness the power of reverb to create a real acoustic

space for your sound. Do it to add some three-dimen-
sionality to your mix. It doesn’t matter if you tracked your
instruments in isolation. Be a sound magician and make
it sound like they’re all playing together in the same
room.

But be aware that this is a more subtle technique than

using reverb as an effect. It’s a perfect time to use that
pro mixing touch you’ve developed since you started
reading this article. Start by using the ‘Small Room’ or
‘Ambiance’ presets on your reverb (or the most similar
preset on your DAW of choice).
HOT TIP: Pay close attention to the balance between
early and late reflections. Always be fiddling. Adjust
them to understand what they do best for your sound.

The big picture

Remember that all your pro-
cessing should be done
with the big picture in mind.
Have a distinct sense of
where you’re going with
your track and reference it
often. Make your mixdown
optimal for the post-mix
mastering step. The only
way to get the perfect song
is to mix with a sound in
mind.

Mix references: all audio mixers

should use them
So your mix is coming along smoothly by this point. But
there are always those looming questions... How do you
know if your mix is up to snuff? Does it sound like other
good songs? Is everything sitting together properly?
Use a Mix Reference. There’s a couple ways to do this:

Do you love the Rolling Stones? Throw Street Fighting Man

into your session as track one and reference it while you
go. Is your kick sitting like theirs? Is your guitar cutting
like Keith’s?

Export and master your track often during the mix

process. Take notes on what’s sounding right or wrong.
Go back to your mix and fix.

There’s a saying that the last 10% of the job is actually

90% of the work. Use LANDR to avoid this creative
block. The only way you’ll know you’re done is to hear it
mastered.

Finding the right mix through

repetition
All of these processes aren’t one stop shops. Go back
relentlessly and make small adjustments over and over.
Everything is going to fall apart before it all comes to-
gether. Mixing is a lather, rinse, repeat process. Keep at
it until you have the perfect mix. A good mix will often
take several versions and multiple sessions before it's
just right.

Go against the trusted mixing

techniques
Now that you’ve learned all the ‘rules’ of mixing, break all
of them. Well maybe not ALL of them. But good mixing
is always creative mixing. Take chances with your
mix. Mixing isn’t a textbook process you can learn
overnight. It’s equal parts know-how, instincts, and risk
taking. It’s one of the most creative steps in your
process. Don’t squander it by following some dry, stale
guide that says there’s only one way to do things. If you
wanna put a flanger on your oboe, then put a flanger on
your oboe!

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