Basic Mixing Tips

This page should contain some basic guidelines to make your recordings suck less by getting somewhat clearer mixes.

EQ

The two most useful types of EQ are the hi-pass/lo-cut and the lo-pass/hi-cut. The first will lower the level of all the frequencies below a given frequency. Generally you'll want to use this to cut the bass frequencies of tracks that are generally not "bass" tracks, such as vocals, guitars, and pretty much anything that's not a kick drum, bass guitar, bass synth, etc. The second will lower the level of all the frequencies above a given frequency. Generally you'll want to use this to cut the high frequencies of tracks that are bass tracks, like kick drum, bass guitar, bass synth, etc. This can also be used to trim out some noise that may be in the really high frequencies of a track, but you don't want to overdo it or your mix will sound dull.

Otherwise, EQ should generally be used sparingly, and it's usually better to cut than to boost. If you want a track to stand out, try to figure out (by ear or by spectrum analysis) what the strongest frequency range of that track is, and clear some room in the mix for that track by cutting other tracks a little bit in that frequency range, for example.

Common Problems

• Not enough bass in the mix

Make sure you cut the bass of most of the non-bass tracks. That way you can focus on making the bass tracks really fill out the low frequencies. You'll definitely also need to use some compression on kick drums, bass guitar, etc. but don't overdo it or you'll get "bass pumping".

• Mix sounds muddy

Generally your tracks will cover fairly wide frequency ranges. Too many tracks covering too much of the spectrum can lead to muddy crowded sounding mixes. This can be addressed by making sure to use hi-pass and lo-pass to narrow down the frequency range of a track to the part of the spectrum where the track is loudest.

• Vocals get lost in the mix

You need to use compression and EQ on your vocal tracks and clear room in the mix for the vocals. More info to come...

• Vocals don't blend in with everything else