How to Mix If You're Not a Mix Engineer

Learn how to mix a song even if you're not a professional mix engineer. Discover the basics of mix organization, learn about polarity and phase issues, dive into processing techniques like EQ and compression, learn about mix bus processing, and more. By the end of this video, you’ll have a strong foundation to help you get a professional sound in your mixing session, along with a ton of great resources to learn more about mixing music.

0:00 - Intro
2:07 - 1. Organize your session
4:09 - 2. Repair your tracks
6:32 - 3. Polarity and phase
11:29 - 4. Remove dead air
13:55 - 5. Rough balance and panning
17:22 - 6. Processing tips for drums, bass, vocals, guitars, and keys
26:11 - 7. Mix bus processing
29:15 - 8. Don't forget automation
30:21 - 9. Prepare for mastering
31:18 - 10. Keep learning

#iZotope #mixing #musicproducer

SYNCID: MB01DOHGDI36D4I

[RickyMackie]

If you're not a mix engineer, a mix to put it sort of simply, is 90% volume balance. The overall balance of sounds against each other (volume, panning), the volume of frequencies within a track (EQ) against other sounds and the volume of certain parts of a track like the transient, body and tail (compression) against other sounds. The other 10% is FX (delay, reverb, etc). Theres a whole world within those things to learn, but if you remember that simple concept it makes mixing a bit less intimidating.

Happy mixing everyone! Go create some good vibes :)

[hadihrekespercussions]

Greetings from aleppo Syria, just rebuilt my studio after the devastating Earthquakes 🥃🤦
guys you're a true blessing to my career, thank you so much !

[TJMakhubele]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

00:01 🎧 Mixing is complex, involving many tracks and potential issues.
00:30 🎶 Quality ingredients like good recordings are essential for a great mix.
01:10 🎛️ Organizing the mix session is crucial for efficiency.
02:54 🧹 Listen for pops, clicks, and other issues before diving into mixing.
05:06 🎤 Repair work includes handling plosives, clicks, and mouth sounds.
06:33 🎵 Tune vocals and instruments as needed for pitch correction.
07:55 🥁 Address phase and polarity issues for a better drum sound.
08:52 🌀 Experiment with polarity inversion to enhance your mix.
10:10 🥁 Fix time-of-arrival phase differences for coherent drum sound.
11:00 🎶 Explore sample replacement or enhancement for drums.
11:59 🎧 Trim unnecessary audio parts and use fades for cleaner tracks.
13:17 🔇 Use noise gates to reduce background noise in recordings.
14:12 🎚️ Start building the foundation of the mix with fader adjustments.
16:05 🧩 Use stereo bus compression to glue the mix together.
17:00 🎤 Work on individual track processing, starting with drums.
18:48 🎸 Consider high-pass filtering to reduce muddiness in tracks.
19:38 🥁 Neutron's Track Assistant can help set up processing chains.
21:00 🎙️ Process vocals with tools like EQ, compression, and de-essing.
22:50 🔊 Adjust vocal levels to ensure they sit well in the mix.
23:14 🌟 Reference tracks can provide guidance for vocal loudness and placement.
23:40 🎸 Acoustic and electric guitars benefit from compression and chorus effects, respectively.
24:07 🎛️ Be cautious not to over-process guitars to preserve their original tone.
25:03 🎶 Experiment with panning guitars to create a balanced mix.
25:53 🎹 Pay attention to potential clashes between keys and vocals and use tools like auto unmasking.
26:20 🌟 Set up auxiliary tracks (auxes) for time-based effects like reverb and delay.
27:40 🔊 Experiment with parallel processing on auxes to enhance mix elements, but do it carefully.
29:03 🎚️ Use volume automation to highlight specific elements in the mix.
30:58 🔄 When preparing for mastering, maintain the same format, bit depth, and sample rate as your mix files.
31:45 🎨 Practice listening, experimenting, and being patient in your mixing journey.

[jarfullofgravity]

I’ve been doing my own GarageBand projects for about a year now, and I know enough to know that I don’t know anything about being an audio engineer, but videos like this that help outline a workflow are always extremely helpful.

[KainCarthyst]

Ive been making metal for two years now and I have picked up on many of these things without ever being taught, but this video taught me the reasons for some of the things and a ton of small tips and changes I could be making. Knowing the reasons for things allows me to mske my own educated decisions whilst I am mixing if something doesn't sound quite right.

Thank you for the video!

[baselinesweb]

Welcome back - you are the best that iZotope has doing these videos. I can watch from beginning to end without going to 2X speed or skipping ahead. Your attitude and presentation is perfect - no fluff or histrionics. Thank you.

[mozomorkofficial]

My new "mix agenda very first thing to do" will be now to watch this video again for every new mix session. Thanks Geoff and iZotope!

[emanuel_soundtrack]

the best mixxing tutorial for not mixers with not ironed shirts i ever seeen

[prod.diancuc]

I would learn to mix, but hold on, I'm achieving analog warmth.

[fullyleaded]

Really useful and insightful video. Very well articulated. My only issue is, throughout the video he mentions about 8 other videos to watch and I imagine each of those has 8 more suggestions which results in an endless web of videos to watch. Its very overwhelming.

[TheLastAlexander]

My new album is produced / mixed and engineered using every plug it. Took me almost 3 months of trial and error to even find a balance. Ty so much for all yall work

[ericbrunel]

This video has it all: I find back every single useful tip I gathered from other sources, and then some more. Thanks a lot: as a bedroom mix engineer, this is going to help a lot!

[TheHonestTruth]

good job izotope.

idk why no otha audio companies upload or got semi decent content.

literally 0 of the companies that make audio gear that we use and buy, make tutorials and upload content.

[justlisa]

the food analogy is perfect! i started using it a few years ago to describe what i was doing to my family who didn't understand. Multitracks: like getting a bag of groceries and a menu to prepare a meal... one assumes that one knows certain skills like knife work, or what 'saute' means, and what order to do things in, in order to get the prefect meal on the table.

[noteimporta]

I actually have seen this guy in a previous izotope video a while back, i learned a whole lot. Thanks guy!!!

[DrawingBase]

So for me, one thing that stood out in this video was the POLARITY SWITCH!!, because I was manually tring to get the kick, in phase with the 808 by fading them and aligning just in that perfect point where a max number of 3 sines would overlap at the same poles. But switching them?! is piece I needed & I've just tried, while watching this video, and I can confirm you get different resonance on the 808, switched and distorsion applied. Would definitely try on layering drums with hats for a more acoustic ...blah blah blah you get what I mean. Thank you so much dude! The sleeping assistant there, got me unprepared hahaha^^ <3 Nice mic.

[LazyGoRadio]

Now giving attention to Izotope 8 months after learning how to engineer my own music I also produce/write/record myself. Thankfully I’ve spent countless hours learning & bought the fab filter complete bundle & few other various plug ins. Now that I have a good idea on what I’m doing, this & ozone 11 will help me learn from AI on top of all the knowledge I have. Thanks for the videos!

[eskei]

I already know I will come back to this video once a week 😆 great work

[justcallmemoses]

Hey, this was very insightful. A lot of videos don't show the ins and outs of bus routing, and other stuff you mentioned. Thanks, this gonna help me out a lot

[dreamonion]

perfect help! Thanks alot. I love you guys, your work is a blessing for many many people!