19 Mixing Tips I Wish I Knew 20 Years Ago

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#Mixing #HomeStudioCorner

[marcotrosi]

Tip 1 - 0:40 - Listen to good mixes/music in your mixing position
Tip 2 - 2:22 - Know your frequencies
Tip 3 - 3:45 - Use the mute button to identify problems
Tip 4 - 4:38 - Mind the goosebumps
Tip 5 - 6:17 - Do a static mix
Tip 6 - 7:57 - Aim for balance
Tip 7 - 8:55 - Turn up your speakers
Tip 8 - 10:08 - Know when to leave things alone
Tip 9 - 10:45 - Use subtractive EQ
Tip 10 - 11:37 - EQ your reverbs and delays
Tip 11 - 12:40 - Don't be afraid to use compression
Tip 12 - 13:12 - Don't compress everything
Tip 13 - 13:33 - Mix the busses first
Tip 14 - 14:55 - Get it right at the source
Tip 15 - 15:25 - Mix fast and often
Tip 16 - 16:18 - Mix in context
Tip 17 - 17:55 - Save the vocal until the end
Tip 18 - 18:33 - Bypass often
Tip 19 - 19:18 - Get feedback from others

I might wanna add Tip 20 which is bit of an extension to Tip 1 -> use a reference track to which you can compare your mix to.

[JeffreyDonovanOfficial]

If you made these tips into a poster I could hang directly in front of my mixing console, I would gladly buy one!!

[DeliriumXM]

The most underrated tip imo for producers who mix as well, STAY ORGANIZED, organize your samples, organize daw presets, organize your mixer, organize your playlist, hell even organize your plugin order.

The amount of time saved from just sitting down for a few hours to organize your drives, folders and daw will quickly be worth it (if youve got a large multi tb library like me).
Also, backup EVERYTHING. If your actually serious about music it cost like 200$ for a massive drive to backup your work and libraries so you wont be at square 1 in case of a failure or problem

[SandPineAudio]

The more I mix, the more I can tell that the "static mix trick" is everything. 😌Getting the more you can, just by balancing, ppanning and checking phase combinations on a great sounding multitrack is crucial to achieve the best mix at the end.

[weselleymucik]

You're an excellent speaker, you don't make things complicated.

[PunkRockVibes]

Having a solid understanding on your frequencies is a big one. That’s what I’ve been focusing on a lot lately.

[adLucEnt]

I've been engineering for about 18 yrs now. I agree with all your tips & I too find myself doing all vocals last nowadays...great minds think alike, great vid you just got a new subscriber

[BeccaLozierTrumpet]

DUDE - I just recently started turning my speakers up and WOW. Night and day.

[ScottWilkinsonM.D.]

Currently doing Joe’s Mixing course. Really terrific- no matter your experience consider taking it!

[slayabouts]

Tip 1 is what I do to start every session. I usually spend 15-30 min listening to some songs I think I want mine to sound like to get my ears accustomed to the balance. Whenever I take a break, I'll put music back on

[Kwastaken]

The metaphor for subtractive eq when you referenced the marble being chopped away versus the clay being added on was really helpful for me to get my mind around the idea. Well done sir

[mikeriemersma]

RE: Tip #1. SonarWorks was a REVELATION for me. My mixes sounded amazing in my room but had absolutely no low mids anywhere else. Now that I can actually hear the low mids in my room I can mix them appropriately.

[tonyrooney]

Joe, that was some of the best -- nah, THE best -- concise mixing advice I have ever heard. All common-sense, and instantly recognizable as truly useful. That was the best twenty minutes I ever spent watching a music production "tip list!" 💪🏽🙏👍👏🏽

[DavidRome]

Overall, he’s got some great tips in this video. I would probably add a few tips and maybe amend a few of them.


20. Listen to your mix at varied volumes, especially lower levels. Listening at very low volumes is very revealing about how well your track levels are balanced. It also helps minimize ear fatigue. At very low levels if you can hear all the elements of your mix that you want to hear your balance is good. Small moves are much more noticeable at low levels. I don't EQ at low levels because moderate levels will give a more accurate EQ. But very low levels are a great tool for balancing your track levels.

21. Take breaks to re-orient your ears. The longer you mix the more your ears tire and your judgment strays as you ears become accustom to your mix. (Our ear orientation changes over time which is why we use references) Going back to some reference tracks for a few minutes will alert your ears to things you've been overlooking in your mix. Furthermore, limit your mix time to a few hours on one song then move to something else. Come back to the mix tomorrow with fresh ears to resume.

22. If you mix real drums spend some time listening to an unamplified well-tuned kit in person if you can. Listen for the natural balance and try to emulate that in your mix. With that said, for some genres you might need to change the tone to fit but it's a great starting point. One of my goals in mixing is to make the instruments sound natural as opposed to having hyped frequencies. It's a mindset I find helpful.

#16 Is the very best tip in this entire video IMHO. It's importance cannot be overstated. I would add “mix for clarity” not for individual track tone. Soloing is good for setting your high pass filter and can be helpful in locating the frequencies you want to cut or boost but it is often better to do those moves in context rather than soloed. Low mids are usually the most problematic frequencies. While they provide body they also build up and make things muddy. It's not uncommon to need multiple cuts between 100 and 500 Hertz.

#9 Is a very debated topic in the engineering world. No doubt low mid cuts are very helpful to your mix but don't be afraid to boost when necessary. Sometimes one presence boost will sound better than 4 mid cuts elsewhere. Just be open. Usually, wider Q settings are better for boosts and cuts often do better with narrower Q settings what's sometimes slightly wider Q settings will sound smoother. Don't look at the amount you’re cutting or boosting. Listen to it in the mix. The number of db's doesn't matter if it sounds good. Mix with your ears not with your eyes.

#7 Could be worded better. Reasonably loud is okay. The max volume you should mix at is 85db C weighted. If you don't have an SPL meter get one. Here's a Sweetwater article talking about it. Mixing too loud can damage your hearing. The louder you mix the easier your ears can be fooled. Your ears aren’t linear devices. Just ask Fletcher and Munson. (The Fletcher-Munson curves are graphs based on their scientific research that illustrate how our ears hear different frequencies at different volumes.) Our ears are most sensitive to midrange frequencies (around 3–4kHz). Increasing volume, however, accentuates lower and higher frequencies. This flattens out the listening curve, creating an illusion of power and clarity. That’s why everything sounds better loud. If you mix under these conditions, your music will sound incredible. Then when you turn down the volume your mix will sound puny and midrange-y. Conversely, if your mix sounds great at lower levels, it’ll still sound great when you pump up the volume. This is science folks. Sweetwater has great advice on this. Also see my tip 20.




As an audio engineer it's important to spend time understanding the science of hearing and how our ears work. Only when we understand how biased our ears are and how easily they can be fooled are we able to take countermeasures which are necessary for us to create a professional mix. AES, audio engineering society, is a great resource for this kind of information. Ethan Weiner also has a lot of information on audio myths related to our hearing. If you are serious about mixing this would be considered basic studies necessary for professional work in this field.

[_beefi]

Balancing prior to plugins was a huge deal for me. Also using the levels on the channel rack only and mixer levels if needed after plugins.

[michaelgove]

As a composer who's more confident with my writing / arranging than with production, found this vid extremely useful.
Great stuff. 👍

[djvictornova]

Joe Glider and Presonus Audio is a must subscribe in 2023.. Great Tips

[OASrecordspty]

The One that really helped was using Static mix before deciding to add plugins for the clean-up and extra sauce.

[rome]

I agree with your point about saving the vocal until last. Some people start with the vocal, and that's never made sense to me. The vocal will probably have the most processing of any of my tracks. I would rather have some context for the decisions I'm making rather than creating a vocal sound at random. There are too many possible paths. By contrast, it's much easier to EQ and compress a drum set in solo and lay the foundation for the rest of my mix that way. By the time I get to the vocal, my choices will have been narrowed by the context of the song, which makes settling on the right combination of effects easier.

[DodgeDartSongs]

The most helpful mix vid I’ve seen, Joe. It confirms a few clues I arrived at on my own and wondered “do other mixers do it this way?” But also provided many ideas I’d not arrived at.