Chapter 2 - Preparation

In this section we will look at some things that you need to think about before you set out to mix a track.

2.1 Monitors

First and foremost, you will have a devil of a time trying to mix your track if you can't hear it properly. You will want a good output device.

Speakers are preferable to headphones, because they give a better picture of the stereo image of the music. After acquiring a good pair of speakers, you will need to spend some time and money fine-tuning your room acoustics for ideal monitoring.

Headphones are cheaper than speakers, and require no tuning of room acoustics to perform well. Even if you own a good pair of speakers, you will still want to check your mix on headphones, because they can allow you to hear certain fine details in the music that would not show up otherwise.

A fantastic monitoring system is not necessary for producing fantastic mixes, but it makes things easier. The worse your monitoring system is, the harder it will be to get good results, but it will always be possible.

2.2 Volume Setting

In order to get the best results out of your monitoring equipment, you will need to make sure that you're monitoring at a good volume. A good volume is not too quiet and not too loud. In general, it's best to err on the side of too quiet. There are many reasons to use moderation in your volume setting:

If your volume is too loud, then your ears will quickly become fatigued, and you will lose your ability to make accurate judgments about the mix.
If your volume is too quiet, then you will not be able to hear fine details in the music, and this will also impair your ability to make accurate judgments about the mix.
Your ear's frequency response changes with volume. Louder music will also seem to have more bass and treble. Thus, if you monitor too loudly, then you will mix your music with too little bass and treble, and if you monitor too quietly, then you will mix your music with too much bass and treble.

When working on drums and percussion tracks, and anything that needs to be really kicking and punchy, I would recommend working at a somewhat lower volume than you would for normal mixdown tasks. If you do this, you will probably end up with a punchier result. If you can make your drums sound punchy at a low volume, then they'll sound really punchy when you turn them up. On the other hand, getting your drums to sound punchy at a high volume is no challenge, and the results won't always translate to lower volumes.

2.3 Plugins

Another prerequisite to getting a really good mix is ensuring that your DAW^[1] is equipped with good plugins. Not all plugins are made equal, and you need to make sure that you're using good ones. Some DAWs will come bundled with usable plugins, but other DAWs will not. You need to know which camp your DAW falls into, and if it falls into the latter category, you need to get some good third-party plugins. At the very least, you need to make sure that you have a really good equalizer, compressor, and reverb plugin.

It's also worthwhile to have some analyzer plugins: specifically, a spectrum analyzer and a waveform viewer.^[2] A spectrum analyzer allows you to see the frequency domain characteristics of your sounds, and a waveform viewer allows you to see the time domain characteristics of your sounds.

2.4 Ears

Your most important piece of gear, of course, is your ears. Develop a relationship with your ears that is based on trust and love. Try to keep them in good shape. Don't abuse them with excessive loud sounds. That's the love part. The trust part is this. You will not be able to successfully mix music unless you can have confidence in the things your ears tell you. You have to be able to take the attitude that if it sounds good, it is good. All of the advice you read can guide you in your mixing, but every decision ultimately has to be an ear-based decision.

2.5 Sound Selection

This is the one thing that will make or break your mix. You have to make sure that you have selected sounds that will naturally fit well together. Essentially, you have to pick out your sounds and compose your track such that you minimize masking and fill out the frequency spectrum nicely, striking a balance between fullness and clarity. For more details on masking, see Section 4.1.1.

You will not get a good mix if you do not have good sound selection. Period. Mixing techniques can make your sounds work better together. They cannot make your sounds work together if they do not basically work together to begin with.

[1] "Digital Audio Workstation," or DAW, is jargon for any music-malting program, such as Ableton Live, Cubase, Pro Tools, or FL Studio.

[2] Smartelectronix's s{M)exoscope is an excellent free waveform viewer.

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