Setting up your mix

Welcome back to the Recording Tips blog! This is John from www.youraudioengineer.com. In this post I want to focus on my most favorite part of the music creation process, the mixing stage. A good mix can make all the difference and will help your song compete in this industry. Here are things that I do to get your music get ready for a great mix:

Setting up The Mix:

The very first thing I do when mixing is concentrate on setting up the mix through organization. I want everything to run smoothly so I need to be able to see what's going on and easily identify what's what in the mix and edit windows. I'll bring the tracks into the session from the client and start zeroing in on whether the tracks are labeled correctly. Then I will color-code them according to like tracks (i.e. all tracks contained in the hook/chorus may be yellow, all tracks that pertain to verse 1 may be orange, and so on and so forth). Then I will group similar tracks (i.e. Hook, V1, V2, etc.), and if I'm not using a template then I will need to set up my AUX tracks and setup my internal and external routing as well.

Level Matching:

One of the first steps involved in the mixing process is to get a rough "static" mix going. In this step I tend do some level matching and get the tracks in a good relationship to one another. I generally treat this stage as I would a "live" mix as I am just worried about volume control and making sure that things are relatively where they belong. Of course there will be more fine tuning and adjustments further along in the mix, but for now we're just worried about basic level matching. Having said that I still will do some basic editing and cleanup such as region breaks, trimming, fades, cross-fades, editing out some breaths, gain adjustments, adding markers, etc. I will even start panning and placing tracks within the frequency spectrum. The goal is to get the tracks sitting where they need to be and transitioning well throughout the mix. You shouldn't have to rely on EQ, compression, and other processing to control the volume of your mix. Think of this analogy for a moment: A block of ice is a block of ice - However, with the right skills and tools, we can create a work of art, a masterpiece.

That's what EQ, compression, and other processing is for us, our tools, and the static mix is our block of ice.

As always, please feel free to SUBSCRIBE to my blog and/or comment. Also, visit my website: www.youraudioengineer.com. I would be more than happy to help you with any of your audio needs or questions that you might have. God Bless!

About Me:

I am a certified Audio Engineer and owner/operator of a website called www.youraudioengineer.com. I received my education in Audio Recording and Production from The Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Tempe Arizona. I have worked for Sweetwater Sounds in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as a Sales Engineer after interning in their recording studios. If you'd like to know more about me or would like my help with your projects, please visit my website and contact me.