8/5/2018 Top 10 Things To Do Every Mix - Produce Like A Pro

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Top 10 Things To Do Every Mix

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1. Proper Gain Staging

Always leave enough headroom when mixing. Don’t max out every channel so that when it hits
your Master bus the signal clipping heavily. Use Gain Plug ins (some DAWs have this built into the
channel) or simply reduce the output going to your master bus from the channel fader.

2. Create Buses To Quickly and Effectively Mix Your Song

Divide the Song into Stereo Groups such as Drums, Bass, Electric Guitars, Acoustic, Keys,
Programming, Background Vocals and lead vocal and send them all to their individual Buses. These
Buses will help you mix
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3.8/5/2018
High Pass Properly Top 10 Things To Do Every Mix - Produce Like A Pro

Using High Passing Properly removing removes unwanted low frequency rumble. Vocals, Acoustic
Guitars, Percussion and many other sources can pick up the sound of Air Conditioners and may
other other sounds that will cloud the bottom and confuse the Low End Mix, leading to less
definition in the Kick Drum and Bass.

4. Focus and Control the Low End

All great mixers have amazingly well controlled low end. The Kick and Bass can inherit cross over
areas, however in a great mix if a Kick for example is boosted around 60 Hz and the Bass is Boosted
around 80 Hz then there is very often a cross over point around 100-110 Hz, cut lightly from the
Kick Drum the Bass will start to breath and the low end will feel bigger!

5. Compression, use it in Stages

The secret many Mix Engineers use is multiple sets of Compression, this is sometimes known as
‘serial compression’ when used on one source. However the real secret is compression not just on
the Channel, but also when in a group sent to a Group Bus Compressor, even if very gentle. when
applied it can add the Audio ‘glue’ you hear Pros talk about. Then lastly the Master Bus also has
compression further giving extra energy to the Mix.

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6.8/5/2018
Use Plug Ins to give an additional Sonic Stamp and Character to
Top 10 Things To Do Every Mix - Produce Like A Pro

your Mix
Have you ever wondered the reason for the multiple plug in Compressors and EQs on the market?
The enormous amount of emulations of classic/legendary pieces of gear? Well, here is the secret,
not all Compressors and EQs are created equal! While the stock plugins in ANY DAW will do an
amazing job to control the dynamics of a sound, emulations and other great plug in Compressors
and EQs will not only control Dynamics and EQ but impart a sound, a character on the mix.

7. Don’t Be Afraid To Use Parallel Compression

So many great mixers use Parallel A LOT! Typically a drum mix compressed aggressively in parallel
pushed up underneath the main drum bus will add a huge amount of energy even before feeling
that loud! Vocal Parallel compression adds energy to the singers performance, a Parallel
Compressor on a lightly played Acoustic arpeggio will bring the smallest pieces of articulation up.

8. Pan Your Instruments to create Space and Width in Your Mix

Moving things from the Centre will create space for your Lead Vocal, Kick, Snare and Bass Guitar to
stand out. Having guitars and keys wide will also crate greater width! A common trick amongst all
great mixers is to use 50% or less panning in the verses and then go full 100% Left and Right on
heavy guitars for instance to get the Chorus to jump out of the speakers!

9. Use Reverbs and Delays to create Space and Depth

Reverbs and Delays are a not so secret weapon in the Professional Mixers arsenal. Mixers such as
Michael Brauer and Chris Lord Alge use multiple sets of of them, featuring different lengths of
reverbs at different sections of the song. Not all effects are made to heard loudly at all! A touch of
Delay or Reverb can help create depth to an instrument and space, placing it in a different place to
the sounds that surround and just giving it enough separation from them.

10. Automation! Use it!

This could be the most important one of all! Great mixers use automation to push forward and
feature vocals and instruments and also duck them to play a supporting role when needed.
Automation can take a little extra time at the end of the mix but will definitely give your mix is very
professional feel!

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7 Comments Produce Like A Pro 

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Steve A • 8 days ago

Great tips as usual, Warren
The only thing I'd add about using delays/reverb (especially verb), is to use pre-delay on these effects.
It's one of the great ways of 'unburying" instruments, while still maintaining space...
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dnash > Steve A • 7 days ago

yeah... definitely one of my "aha!" moments, lol.
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Steve A > dnash • 7 days ago
 Steve A > dnash • 7 days ago
8/5/2018 Top 10 Things To Do Every Mix - Produce Like A Pro
Oh, absolutely! ..me too..
Sources went from 'swimming' to sounding like they 'belong on a record'...
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chetdude • 8 days ago

Another "quick and dirty" way to achieve number 10, especially with mixes that don't have a lot of
tracks/parts is to edit each individual track as needed to reduce/boost gain on selected passages.

(Most of my material is 10 tracks or less)...

I usually like to edit the my tracks in Cubase so that the final mix is merely "Export" to "Audio Mixdown"...
:-)
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Nuno Jorge • 8 days ago

I already use at least 8 of them. Still working on using reverb and delay to create proper depth and still
getting used to busing properly. Thanks for another great video.
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Steve A > Nuno Jorge • 7 days ago

Hi Nuno,
As I stated above, try using different lengths of pre-delay with ambient type effects, especially
reverb. This lets the initial clarity of the source stand, while still delivering space to your mix.
Try it, you'll like it, promise... ; ^ }
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Nuno Jorge > Steve A • 6 days ago

Thanks ever so much Dave, it makes perfect sense. I'll try it, for sure.
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