5 Tips to Improve Your Mixing

5 Tips to Improve Your Mixing

Are you confused on mixing your project in DAW? Lets see 5 Tips to Improve Your Mixing and make a song like a pro.

1. Editing

Make sure you edit each track before jumping into the mix. Solo each track and listen for pops, hums, background noise, etc. If you’ve recorded any vocals or live instruments, erase or mute the space where the sound isn’t used in the arrangement. When compression is added to the mix, all background noises, headphone bleeds and click tracks are potentially more noticeable. To be on the safe side, edit and delete any redundant tracks you don’t use.

2. Monitoring from multiple sources

It’s important to listen on studio monitors, but the average listener probably doesn’t own a pair of headphones. Throughout the mix, listen on headphones, laptop speakers, your car system, and any other source you deem appropriate. Most people will probably hear the song through their crappy iPod headphones. Make sure you listen at both low and high volume. If you’re a rap or electronic producer, listen to the mix on a live system or club speakers. If you have a friend who does live sound or a DJ, it shouldn’t be too difficult.

3. Linking to similar music

Choose 1-2 songs from a similar genre to reference in the mix. Then add a few tracks to the DAW and solo it to get an idea of ​​how the dynamics, space and frequency of the tracks compare. Placing a spectrum on the master can help you visually compare frequency levels.

4. Correct use of FX

EQ

To start, place a high pass filter on any track that isn’t bass heavy eg High Hats, Crash, Guitar, Vocals, Lead synth line etc. Solo track and cut until you get the ranges you want.

When eqing, start by clipping the frequency ranges that don’t complement the sound. To find unwanted frequencies, boost one band with a large Q setting and drag that band across the frequency spectrum. When something sticks out negatively, it’s safe to cut it.

Compression

If you’re new to compression, take it slow. Start by grouping tracks into sub-mixes. Group your drums, synth insteruments, vocals, FX, Lead, etc. Then add a compressor directly to the group channel which was created in last step instead of compressing each track individually. If you’re looking for punchier drums, place the compressor on the return channel, use a slow rise time to boost the drum transients. Play with the ratio and add gain until you find the sound you want. You can compress the bass part a little harder. But make a slower release to avoid harmonic distortion. If the bass is competing with the drums, connect the bass to the kick and snare. Whenever the kicker hits, the bass boost drops quickly, allowing more room in the mix.

Don’t use constraints during mixdown. Save it for the master.

Reverb

Adding space to the mix can do wonders. Try placing the reverb unit on the return channel and then start sending a small signal from each track. Don’t add reverb to low frequencies like bass, the result will just be mud. The reverb should sound natural. A small verb seems to do well on high hats, vocals and snare. Gated/sidechained reverb can really help the snare kick through the mix without leaving an unwanted tail.

5. Layering and scrolling

If you want to amplify sounds, start with layering. For a bigger guitar sound, record two passes. Move one left and one right. Add a small amount of channel delay to one of the tracks and the guitar will sound twice as powerful. You can create a larger snare by layering a mid frequency snare with a high frequency snare. It also works with a kick. Layering vocals for the hook/chorus is always a good selection. Keep the lead vocal in the middle and then move a couple of dubs slightly to the left and right. Limit the low/mid frequencies of vocal layers.

Note: Do not place the FX on the master channel. Save the master processing (EQ, Compression, Limiting) for the Mastering Engineer.