Mixdown can be a daunting task for a music producer or audio engineer working in a home recording studio. Here are some audio mixing tips to help you get better results from your audio mix.
This post originally appeared on Cakewalk’s blog. Reprinted with permission.
Beginning a mix is something that many people have a hard time figuring out. There really is no single correct approach to the mixdown process – every audio engineer has his or her own way of handling an audio mix. If you have trouble getting your mix started, try developing a workflow for yourself, and soon enough, you will have the ability to pull up stems from just about anywhere and begin blending your tracks with ease.
1. Listen to the reference songs that were given to you by the artist to better understand where the mix will be heading. If you have a predetermined idea of the sonic characteristics of this mix without considering the supplied references, then you can waste crucial time on a mix that was heading in the wrong direction from the start. Always make sure that your client is happy with the mix before you do anything drastic to it. In some scenarios, completely missing the objective of the mix can cost you the gig, as some artists like to test the water with multiple mix engineers to see what they can deliver.
2. Begin every audio mixing session by listening to what you have received from the tracking engineer – whether that role was fulfilled by you or not. Import your stems and set all of the faders to 0 dB and hit play. Once a song gets to the mixing process, it should no longer need editing, arranging, drum replacing, vocal tuning, or re-amping. If you are still in the process of these duties, finish them first! Your CPU will thank you. Those processes should be completed before the actual mixdown session. Unfortunately sometimes mixdown can become a patch job, depending on the skill level of the audio engineer that the artist used.
3. Set up groups to make your workflow quicker and more efficient. Every DAW has its own way of grouping tracks. Get to know them and understand how they work. If you can set up independent Mute, Solo, Fader, and Bypass groups, do it. As you become a more experienced engineer, your sessions will begin to grow larger. Understanding how to simplify large session within minutes will keep stress level to a minimum. One of the most stressful situations an audio mixing engineer can face is when clients are present and have to wait on you for simple things. You always want to be waiting on the client and not the other way around.
4. Route your tracks to buses so that you have one master level control for an entire instrument. If you have 18 drum tracks, three bass tracks, 15 guitar tracks, and what seems like an infinite number of vocal tracks, you will benefit from combining these tracks and having a single control for each instrument. Busing large numbers of tracks is one step toward simplifying your sessions. Typically, I will send all of my tracks to their own respective buses and then bus those tracks to the master fader. This helps organize the session and gives you a definitive understanding of what your levels look like for each group of instruments. If each individual track is sent to your master fader, it becomes a guessing game when trying to understand which audio track in your massive session is driving the song to clip.
5. Understand that you do not have to pan hard left and hard right just because there is pan pot present. Many beginner audio engineers will pan something hard left and hard right without understanding the gravity of what they are doing. This can typically happen with double-tracked guitar performances, double-tracked backing vocals, piano recordings, choir recording, and toms in a drum set. Sometimes panning something too wide in mixdown can cause the audio mix to fall apart in the middle, so do not make this an automatic habit when first opening a mix. I’ve seen some audio engineers go as far as generating a basic mix by disabling the stereo interleaved button on the master track and getting their levels in mono.
6. Limit yourself by balancing the signals the best you can without applying any effects. This practice will train you to listen more intently. Obviously the balance does not have to be perfect, but it should give you an idea of how every instrument in your mix is going to interact with one another. What if all you had was level control? Ask yourself this and see how close you can get to the perfect balance of instruments without relying on that EQ that you always reach for.
7. There is no shame in pulling all your faders down and starting over if you feel that you have mixed yourself into a corner. This will actually help you understand the habits that prevent you from getting the sound you want in your mixes. If you have trouble getting the blend of the drums correct, or if your mix is constantly clipping the master fader, start over and do it again. The tracks will have the same tone they did before. The only difference is now you will have the foresight of understanding what problems may occur. The last thing you want to happen is have someone else (producer or artist) pull the faders down for you. Swallow any pride you have about the blend you thought it took so long to get and start over.
8. Get perspective on your audio mix in multiple different listening environments. Understand how your mix is going to sound:
- In your studio
- On laptop speakers
- In earbud headphones
- In studio headphones
- In the car with a nice stereo system
- In the car with a bad stereo system
- On a boom box
- On a component stereo system
These are the different ways a lot of consumers typically listen to music, so why not understand how your rough mixes are going to sound? I have found that getting these different perspectives has led me to make practical decisions about equalization, panning, and overall levels – especially in the lower frequency ranges.
9. Learn to step away for a moment and come back to the mix with fresh ears. This can be one of the hardest things to do when working on a dense mix. Our ears can become fatigued and tired much like a muscle can become overworked. Concentrating too hard on your work can start to warp your idea of what your mix sounds like. Vocal tracks are notorious for sounding in key when they are completely out, especially after 2-3 hours of tuning them. Take a break and get some fresh air.
10. Mix at low volumes. This is probably one of the most beneficial concepts you can learn over years. This is will help your ears from becoming tired and allows you to make better decisions about levels. When mixing audio at low volumes, take into account your low-end instruments like kick drum and bass guitar. Can you hear them? Do they need to have more presence? If you are looking to make this type of work your career, then take care of your ears. Ears only degrade over time, so it is important to keep them healthy and out of harms way. Yes, it’s OK to be that person who covers their ears when sirens pass by on the street. Yes, it’s OK to bring ear plugs to concerts even if the venue is known for great mixes. You only get one set of ears, so take care of them.
Mixing images above show SONAR X2 Producer. Download the Free Trial or learn more about Mixing in SONAR.
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Screenshot images in this post show SONAR X3 Producer. Download the Free Trial of SONAR X2 Producer or learn more about Mixing in SONAR.
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Thank you for sharing this insight into becoming the best audio engineer possible. I would like to recommend attending a reputable audio engineering school in addition to the tips you suggest. While some skills can be learned outside of an educational setting, in order to gain the best skills possible, it is helpful to get professional training in the field. With industry professionals, hands-on experience, state-of-the-art equipment, and networking possibilities, a quality audio engineering school can do wonders for your career.
Hello, Marcus here. I am one of the aforementioned students. at 50, and coming to this game late and after much arm waving and yelling at pro tools / audio and acoustic theory and other sundry topics I found this MIXDOWN article re affirming. I came to audio engineering degree as a DJ and this particular article re affirms my belief. ears are like eyes, you can read to much and hear to much and get overloaded. Know when to walk away, turn all the faders down, NULL the levels and come back later with fresh ears and fresh eyes. Thank you for this article, it has helped me with my studies. thank you- marcus
Please help me reach my potential as a singer, an as a musision but also as a artist. Thank you guys so much sinsurely an with respect……………..cituannewman.
Revise the suggestion in point 2. No one should get used to start mixing at 0 db, even if the first intention is to listen to the song (It will just clip). I set all faders generally to -10 db when I start a mix, so I have plenty of headroom to mix, and leave more for the mastering process.
Overall, good suggestions on how to mix.
Leandro
Suggestion number 2 is: Begin every mixing session by listening to what you have received from the tracking engineer.
So you should have read : Listen to your tracks at 0db, not start mixing at 0db.
This is an excellent article. Problem is that I don’t use a laptop or desk top computer for my recording/mixing. Call me old fashion and, I’m not sure I would totally disagree. I use a Tascam 2488 neo digital recorder for everything from recording to initial mixdown. I have a friend who has a professional studio and, he does a final remix before I have duplicates made for distribution. I would love to see an article written on this subject for the, not so computer literate. At mt age, I’m not trying to hit the charts even though I’ve been told that I have songs that would do well. Having said that, I do strive for as professional a sound as I can get with the resources I have avalible.
Hi there,
Good solid advice. Esp re starting flat and the low volume side of mixing. Huge sound does not equate to a good presenceful mix. Thanks. tomás.
Thanks for the insight on the mixing capabilities our team is very greatfull for your endurance and will enjoy doing business in the future.
Emphasis on #10! I’ve been mixing professionally for 20 years. Operate low and carry a set of earplugs with you every where you go. Your career will thank you later.
#4 – Not wild about having separate buses for each instrument/vocal group. After all, grouping instruments means you already have a single fader to control that group anyway, and having 5 to 8 summing amps rather than one means more rounding errors and distortion than necessary.
Excellent tips! In addition to leaving the room while mixing one thing I do is throughout the mixing process I’ll pop on a reference song. If I’m going for a pop rock sound I’ll throw on some Coldplay or something. Just helps to see what others are doing.