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5.2 Mixing Order

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5.2 Mixing Order

There is no hard and fast order that you should use to approach your tracks when getting your mix ready for mastering.

Kind: concept (reamix-section) Chapter: 5 Cooking the Mix Source: ReaMix (October 2009)

There is no hard and fast order that you should use to approach your tracks when getting your mix ready for mastering. Different people will have different ideas. Be prepared to experiment until you find a methodology that suits you – and be prepared to be flexible.

That said, if at present you’re floundering around wondering where to begin, you could consider this as a starting point.

  1. Mute all vocals. Start with the main rhythm instruments. Get their panning, EQ and so on as right as you can. Consider any other FX that might be needed. Is there a main instrument that sounds too thin, for example, and could benefit from a touch of shadow panning or bookend panning?

  2. Deal with the percussion. Check out especially how you may need to use panning, EQ, gating and compression here.

  3. Add in your other instruments. These may include instruments that have little cameo roles. Consider adjusting your panning through time to make room for them. This too is the time to deal with any instruments that need to be featured as lead instruments during a break.

  4. Mute everything except your main vocal. Get its timbre, shape and other qualities as close to how you feel it should appear in the final mix. Consider any special treatment that the main vocal may require.

  5. Add in any vocal harmonies or backing vocals.

  6. Bring back into your mix all the instruments. You will now almost certainly need to make adjustments to at least your panning and volume levels, possibly also to EQ to create the necessary acoustic space for all your instruments, and possibly adjustments to your compressor settings.

  7. Identify opportunities where you can add some further artistic touches. This might be adjustments to panning or EQ in places to make the mix more varied and interesting through time.

  8. Be aware that the process is iterative. If you don’t like something that you did earlier, go back and change it.

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