6 Things To Improve Your Mixes & It Won't Cost You a Dime PT 1
Hello to all my fellow audio engineers!
I'm here to share some tips that can instantly improve your mixes, and the best part is that it won't cost you a penny! These concepts have worked for many mix engineers for decades, and I started seeing major improvements to my final mixes when I started using them.
So let's dive into the tips:
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Pick the section of the song that has the most impact to mix first. This could be the final chorus or the bridge section. You want to find a section where all the instruments are playing and it has the most going on. The concept is to make this particular section, the climax of the song sound as BIG as possible. If you mix this section first and make it "slammin", then everything else will fall nicely underneath. Mixing the verse first and making it sound amazing will push everything to the limit, leaving you with nowhere to go from there. In other words, you don’t want the verses of the track to sound “BIGGER” than the chorus or climax of the song.
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Never mix in solo mode except for the first instrument you choose to mix. For example, if you usually mix your drums first, mix your kick drum as the first track to EQ, compress, mix, etc. Then, when you're ready to mix the snare, don't mute the kick drum you just worked on, instead mix the snare while listening to that kick drum. Keep repeating this process until you work through all the tracks in the song. It's important to make things sound good together and not just soloed. This technique may be challenging at first, especially when applying EQ, but it will help you to train your ears and listen more carefully.
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Speaking of mixing, try doing most of your mixing in mono. Mixing in mono will force you to do a better job at balancing levels and getting your EQ right so that you can hear all instruments coming right up the middle. If you get a balanced mono mix where all the instruments have clarity and balance, when you flip back to stereo, your mix will sound much more professional. It may be harder to mix in mono, but it will help you to develop your ear more quickly and sharpen your skills as a mixer.
I hope these tips help you with your mixes! Don't forget to practice and experiment with these concepts. See you next time for PT 2!
