Mixing Fundamentals

Balance, EQ, dynamics and space.

The engineering tier. Everything about making a finished arrangement sound like a record.

Balance first

The decisions that matter most cost nothing.

1. Gain staging the whole session
2. The static mix: faders and pan only
3. Mixing at low volume, and why
4. Mix order: what to balance first
5. Build a static mix

EQ in practice

Subtractive and additive shaping.

1. What the frequency ranges sound like
2. High-pass filtering what does not need lows
3. Cutting before boosting
4. Finding and removing a resonance
5. Carving space between two competing parts
6. Dynamic EQ
7. EQ check

Dynamics in practice

Control and character.

1. Compressing for control, or for sound
2. Attack and release for different sounds
3. Parallel compression
4. Glue: compressing a group together
5. Serial compression
6. Compress your drums and a vocal

Space

Reverb, delay and the illusion of a room.

1. Choosing a reverb for the style
2. Pre-delay and keeping the vocal forward
3. Delay as rhythm and as width
4. Sends and inserts, revisited
5. Creating front-to-back depth

Finishing a mix

Buses, references and knowing when to stop.

1. Bus structure and subgroups
2. Referencing and translation
3. Mix notes, fresh ears and revision limits
4. Delivering stems
5. Deliver a finished mix
6. Mixing final