Beginner’s Guide to Music Mixing: Learn how to do it the right way. Here are tips that will help you to create great sounding mixes.
Overview
Once all your tracks are recorded in the sequencer, it is time to begin the mixing process.
Most of the time, the tracks are recorded one at a time. Each instrument or voice is recorded to its own separate track inside the DAW (sequencer). This is known as multi-track recording where you build the song one step at a time.
And once they are all in there, it’s time to see how all the tracks sound together. That is when you decide what tweaks you want to do to the individual tracks so that they sound good together.
Why Mix?
Some reasons would be obvious, such as the ones around volume. You can even add effects overall to make the song fit in a particular style.
Here are more reasons:
- Control the volumes of each track (using the volume fader)
- Left-to-right positioning of the track (using the pan-pot)
- Use EQ settings to change the frequency layout
- Use dynamics, compressors and other signal processors
- Use delay, chorus, and other effects, and more
As you can see, you could do several things to the song, even after it has been recorded to give it a certain mood / color.
Mixing Tips
Here are some more music mixing tips.
But then if you are new to mixing, you need to spend hours practicing how to mix, so that you can do the appropriate adjustments and add the right effects so that the final song sounds as you want it to be.
And just because your DAW software has some cool features and you have access to tons of effects doesn’t mean you use them all in the mix. Keep things simple, here are more tips for your music mix.
- Make sure your reverb fits nicely in the song
- Make Use of Automation
- Don’t be afraid to weak the presets
- Keep things simple, add simple effects
- Avoid monotony, try to vary things
- Avoid clutter in the mix
What is a Mixing Desk?
A music mixing desk is where you control all your recorded tracks such as vocals, music instruments, and the various MIDI tracks.
In professional studios, this is a physical mixing desk (aka mixing board or audio production console), whereas in your home recording studio this is probably going to be the software mixer inside your software sequencer.
But then the basics of using them are pretty much the same.
What is Automation?
Digital mixing desks and software program nowadays are far more intelligent, and lets you edit changes or add effects at any time, be it to the tracks or to the overall mix.
Using automation, you can specify where in the track you want to add a particular effect, so that you don’t have to manually do it when you are at that particular point in the track.
For example, you could slightly increase the reverb level on your drums during your final chorus, giving the impression that your song has ‘got bigger’, helping to give it more impact.
Now if you set this thing using automation, you can set it with precision and don’t have to rely on doing it manually.
With automation, you can control almost anything and down to the smallest details; things such as volume, pan, and effects levels (reverb/delay) can be changed and recorded as your song is playing.
Using Processors and Effects
You want the overall mix to sound better and punchier, and that is where the various signal processors and effects such as compression and EQ (equalizer) really help to make the overall sound better.
As with the other things, you will need practice using these, so that you know how it impacts the overall sound.
More Tips
Do you want more tips on:
- How to control a bass heavy and muddy mix?
- How to get a punchier drum sound?
- Simple ways to place the microphone to get the exact frequency you want?
- Easy steps to a thundering tom sound?
- How to get a bigger mix without adding clutter and muddiness?
- Advanced panning techniques for a better stereo image?
- How to make a “dull and lifeless” guitar recording sound better?
- Subtle EQ fixes for a cleaner bass sound?
- Advanced guitar mixing tricks to guarantee a greater guitar sound?
How Loud Should Your Music Be
When it comes to listening music, hearing them loud is the norm, especially when youngsters are involved. While many elderly might fail to understand the reasons, the fact is that loud music is usually associated with high energy, excitement and emotion for music listeners (and there’s a scientific reason for that).
Scientific Reason
There’s a tiny organ in the inner ear called the sacculus that’s linked to a region of the brain associated with the response to pleasure.
Dr. Neil Todd’s research suggests that our ears react to low-frequency vibrations over 90dB. And live and club music are best suited for sacculus stimulation.
Academic and lecturer Dr Barry Blesser suggests that “raising the loudness of music, like a double shot of whisky, elevates the intensity of the experience”. Listeners undergo significant, measurable changes in mind-body states and Blesser reckons that “loud music is simply a stronger stimulant than soft music”.
No wonder, every time you step inside a club dance floor or attend any live rock concert, you get overwhelmed by aural and physical sensations.
Knowing How Loud to Crank Up the Music
Now that you know why high-amplitude audio holds such appeal, but as a musician, you should know where (in your music) to do it and how much to do it, in order to become a better musician.
Here are some facts about how music is recorded (in studios) and played at various venues.
- Heavyweight DnB producer Lemon D of Valve Sound System says that “Bass is literally non-existent in many clubs, but it is an integral part of the music! Why include it at source, only to remove it when it’s played?”
- “What makes most system feel louder is the bass and overall EQing. Bass doesn’t give you tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears) – high end does. The reason people wear earplugs is that some insist on partying all night in front of the speakers – this is absolutely nuts!”
- Making your tracks stupidly loud to rock the dance floor harder doesn’t work either. The best thing music-makers could do is to come down a few decibels, then just turn the level up on the sound system. Producers used to do this and it sounds great.
- Most record companies have got on to the ‘louder is better’ game, whereby music is usually mastered at higher than average levels. Sadly, this is detrimental to the sound quality. “The over-squashing of dynamics is just wrong, period – it’s only going to tire your hearing,” says Lemon D.
- Says Bob Katz (mastering engineer), “When mixing, there’s absolutely no advantage to peaking to full scale (and some disadvantages, in the form of distortion).”
To Conclude
Once you are happy with the overall mix, you can save the file on your computer or to an external tape recorder (known as ‘bouncing down’ in the recording parlance). As you can see, once you have recorded all the tracks, there is still a lot of work that goes into the making of the final mix. And similar to playing a music instrument, Music Mixing is also an art; the more you spend time on it, the better you get at it. With more practice you’ll definitely come up with interesting Music Productions.
KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.
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