In today’s post we will be discussing how to mix faster as well as more efficiently. We will be breaking down my workflow and strategy for getting more consistent with your mixes.
One of the biggest things that helps me get through mixes faster is my mixbus processing. Right from the get go I have my mixbus processing in and on. That means I am building my entire mix through console emulation, mixbus compression, and a tape machine. These three elements provide me with a little analog warmth and glue while also giving the low end an extra bump right from the start.
Once I get my mixbus processing in, the first thing I go after is the drums. I like to start with the drums because I generally know where I want my kick and snare to be so they give me a good reference point to balance the other instruments against. So I’ll start with my kick and once that’s good then I’ll bring in the snare and get that sitting good with the kick. Next comes the toms and I can get those balanced with the snare, and finally the overheads and room mics to bring the whole kit together.
Following the drums I like to get my bass in. The drums and bass are the foundation of the song and you want to get your low end right otherwise your song will lack any kind of power. So I do my usual bass separation trick and pull the di and amp up until they are sitting good with the kick drum.
Now that the drums and bass are working together o like to bring in the lead vocal. I want to get the vocal in as soon as possible so I’m not trying to make room or carve out space for it later. This way I can sit it with the drums and build the rest of the instrumentation around it. This ensures that the vocal is the focal point of the track, if that’s what you are going for of course.
Now that we’ve got a string foundation built and our focal point is in, we can start adding in our other instruments. This is where I pull in rhythm guitars, keyboards, lead lines, synth lines, whatever the song has to offer. Now I can pull these elements up and balance them with the vocal to make sure they don’t get in the way of anything or they aren’t missing or under contributing.
Something to note here is that you always want to go back if necessary and tweak what you worked on before. The strategy is to get your track sounding good then bring in the next track and get them sounding good together. So sometimes that means tweaking the first source as well as the new source.
The final pieces I add into the mix are things like background vocals, pads, and fx. If there are background vocals I like to get those sounding good as a unit, then balance them with the lead vocal, and then put them into the rest of the track. This also helps you catch any tuning issues if they were missed in editing. Pad elements I would bring up here if necessary and with pads subtlety is key. Just bring the pad up till you can feel it. You don’t always have to hear the pad so obviously in the track. Finally the last piece of the puzzle for me is usually sweetening the mix with fx. So adding any reverb or delays to the vocals. Enhancing any rooms tones on the drums if need be, or adding an effect to lead lines if the are a little dry.
And that’s it. That’s my strategy and workflow when mixing, and I find the more I fall into this routine, the easier mixing becomes. My mixes become more consistent and I am able to finish a mix faster and more efficiently because I have a proven workflow.
Check out the video above for the full walkthrough with a track, and don’t forget to grab your FREE copy of my 7 Step Mixing Checklist to start creating more pro mixes in less time!
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