Mixing Tips for Aspiring Musicians

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Mixing is one of the most difficult parts of the
production process to master. Whether youre just
getting into mixing music or have been working in
the industry for years, you must put time and
effort into this part of the production process.
To a beginner mixing engineer, sometimes mixing
can seem overwhelming. You can buy the best
studio monitors and work on something for hours
and it still doesnt sound right. There are a few
tips and techniques that you can apply to your
mixes to help speed up the learning process and
help you get to a professional mixing level
quicker.

• Put your tracks in Order Sorting your tracks is
  important. If your tracks are in disorder, youll
  have trouble knowing which track you worked on
  and youll end up wasting time. Create an order
  that you like having your tracks in and adhere to
  it throughout all of your mixing sessions. This
  order depends entirely on your preference. You
  can choose to have drums at the start, followed
  by bass and up in order of the instruments range
  or vice versa. This exercise ensures that
  whatever youre mixing, youll know exactly where
  to find things when making changes.

• Organize your channels through buses This
  facilitates making quick modifications to levels
  or effects processing. For example, you can
  create a drums bus, a guitars bus, a vocals bus,
  etcThis will let you simplify your mix, control
  the volume of many tracks with just one fader,
  and apply EQ and Compression on all the tracks at
  once if you wish.

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• Ace the Static Mix The most important step in
  mixing is to ace the static mix. If you want
  high-quality mixes, getting the volume balance
  right is crucial. The static mix is where you set
  the volume and panning of the instruments. All of
  this happens before EQing, compressing, or adding
  any other effect processing including automation
  moves.
• Achieve Clarity by applying EQ We all know that
  the term EQ stands for equalizer that is used
  to equal out the tone of each instrument. If
  instruments are competing for the same frequency
  range, then EQ can help make them sit well
  together. You must learn to execute the EQ
  correctly as it is simply another tool at your
  disposal to bring your tracks into perfect
  balance so the listener hears all your parts with
  clarity. 

• Make good use of Compression When paired with
  EQ, compression is your most powerful tool. A
  compressor is like an automatic volume knob that
  turns down an audio signals level when it gets
  too loud. Its a tricky tool to get the hang of
  when you first start mixing as the contrast
  shouldnt be very apparent. Use the compressor to
  flesh out your drums and add punch. You can also
  control your bass tracks through compression and
  get more sustain and body. However, dont
  over-compress your tracks and try sticking to the
  cardinal rule that 3 to 6 db of gain reduction is
  usually enough. 

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• Provide a sense of space through Reverb Home
  Studio owners work in conditions that are far
  from being perfect. To avoid bad sounding room
  sound in the track, it is common practice to
  close-mic every instrument resulting in
  dry-sounding tracks. Using Reverb on drums and
  vocals gives them space. 
• Go Stereo with Panning Most of the engineers
  mix in mono and use panning in the end to go
  stereo. Thus, if they achieve a great mix in
  mono, it will be wider, bigger, more awesome in
  stereo. Use panning automation to bring movement,
  variations and keep things interesting.

Every sound engineer has a unique approach
towards mixing and everyone does it differently.
These tips, though seemingly trivial to the
seasoned musicians, are integral to proper mixing.
Thanks
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