Eighteen Tips on the Art of Mixing

1. Ask the question how do I want it to sound? A rookie mistake is turning

the knobs on the EQ until it sounds good. You should go into the mix time
with a sound in mind. Have the sound of the guitar, the way you want it to
sound, in your head before you touch the channel EQ. Having that sound in
your head, then make your EQ changes. You cant come up with a good
mix by guessing on EQ settings for each channel. Have the whole song in
your head and use that as a mental map to guide your mixing for volume
balancing, eqing, and effects. Its much easy to make a sound match what
you want than to guess at what you think is good.
2. Evaluate the mix until it matches your vision. Much like having a goal in
mind in number 1, you need a way to judge your mix. You can do this by
having a vision (#1), taking an action towards that vision, and then
evaluating the action against the vision. Continue the action/evaluation
until it matches your vision.
3. Build an excerpt CD. This is one of the best things Ive ever done. If you
have itunes, its really easy. Grab twenty random songs. If you still have
CDs, then grab twenty random CDs and pick a random track off each one.
This means all different music genres. Next, using a free utility like
Audacity, grab a random twenty-second span of music from each song.
Create a new audio file with those twenty clips back-to-back. Save as a
music file. Listen to this over and over. Listen to how one song uses a
snare and then how the next song uses a snare. Listen for how reverb is
used. Listen for vocal clarity. Listen for frequency range use. Listen for
everything that makes each song different. Use this music file for
inspiration. Use it to get a fresh perspective on what you can do with a mix.
Use it to help you create a distinct mix.
4. Listen to reference tracks on your way to church. Every time Im driving to
church or other event for mixing, Ill listen to music thats similar to what Ill
be mixing. This helps me have a general sound in mind thats appropriate
for the need. Im not going to listen to rap before I mix a country band or
listen to jazz before I mix for a praise band. Getting into that mindset helps

you know how your mix should sound. Also, pick simple reference
material. Dont pick a CD with all sorts of symphonic orchestration thats
layered over an acoustic set when you dont have a symphony at your
church.
5. Work towards smaller and smaller changes in all aspects of your mix. For
example, your initial volume balancing will be your general volume settings
for all the songs. There can be changes along the way, but, overall, the
changes will be smaller volume changes. Likewise, as you go through the
process of making EQ changes and then adding effects, each time you go
back to make more EQ or effects changes, those changes should be smaller
and smaller. Think of this as sanding a new piece of furniture. You start
with rough grit sandpaper and move to finer and finer grit sandpaper for a
smooth finish.
6. Know what to do when you get stuck. Ive had times where I didnt like
the mix and no matter what I did, nothing seemed to make a difference.
There are a few things you can do. First, take a break by leaving the room
for five minutes. As long as its in the latter part of the sound check, it
should be ok. At this point, you are working on mix distinctiveness. After
five minutes, go back in the room and listen to the mix as a whole. Now
consider mix changes. In some cases, it might not need changed at all. The
second thing you can do is grab your ipod, iphone, whatever, and listen to a
reference CD. Listen to a song that has the feel and mix that you are trying
to mimic. Then, go back and listen to the mix and you should hear the
areas where the two are noticeably different.
7. Set mix milestones. Its easy to go back to the beginning and make
changes such as volume balancing or key EQ changes. By setting
milestones, youve declared that you arent going back any father than that
point unless absolutely necessary. You should have three mix milestones; a
general mix free of issues, a mix thats distinctive, and then you walk the
room for mix consistency. For example, if youve set your general mix but
are struggling with the distinct mix, you dont go back and change the
general mix, you focus on making it distinct.

8. Music is about emotion. What can you do to the mix to give the
instruments or vocals an emotional appeal? Listen to the music in movies.
Listen to songs that bring about a emotional response in you. What was it
about the song that did that? What gives a classical composition emotion
without the use of words? This is where you can really take your mix up in
quality.
9. Work with acoustic guitarists with onboard eqs. Work with them in the
sanctuary outside of the practice time. With a flat channel eq, have them
set a baseline on their onboard EQ that best brings out the natural guitar
sound. Then, if they dont mind, place a piece of electrical tape over the
controls so they dont get bumped. You can eq the channel as you need
but you know you will be starting with the best sound as possible coming
from the guitar.
10. Push the lead vocal higher for people to follow when the band plays new
songs. The congregation needs a vocal line they can follow. This isnt as
important with well-known songs. In that case, its more making sure they
are following the rhythm instrument to match the tempo. The
congregation is known to slow up a song if given the chance. In the case of
a new song, they will be lost unless that lead vocal can be heard well above
their voices.
11. Use groups to add intimacy to a song or verse or chorus. Placing all the
instruments into groups, when the band wants to bring it down, then
bring down the volume for all the instruments. You might then boost a
piano melody line for that intimate feel. Music evokes an emotion so use
your mixing to help with that.
12. Attend professional-grade concerts of all kinds. Listen to how the mix is
set and adjusted throughout the concert. Take notes during the event or
immediately after. Go at it with the mindset of what did I hear that could
work in my venue?
13. Try different mics or mic techniques for new sounds. The mixing board is
only one way you can change sounds. Using different microphones and
microphone techniques, you can create new sounds. Mic the amp

differently. Mic the piano differently. Add an ambience mic to bring other
sounds into the mix. Be creative!
14. Assume you can improve your last mix. Ask yourself what worked last
time and what could have been better. Consistent mixing is good but a
fresh sound to a mix can also bring about great results. Take the sound
check as time to experiment. What the congregation liked before might
pale in comparison to what you will create next.
15. Test your stereo mixes in mono. A stereo speaker setup allows for mild
left/right panning for instrument clarity. You can do this to a very limited
extent. A great way to test your results is to switch the output to a mono
signal. As long as it still sounds great, then you are good to go. If it doesnt,
then the panning was only masking an issue that might be more prevalent
depending on where the congregation member sits.
16. Never pan low-end instruments. Keep them centered in the mix. Low
end frequencies are omni-directional so even if you could do it, you
wouldnt see that much of a benefit from it. Panned, you could get into
some weird time delay results for people on the non-panned side.
17. Avoid extreme left/right panning. This sounds great on your home stereo
or with a pair of headphones but the live environment is not the place for
it. People on one side wont hear the instruments panned to the other
side.
18. Know when to trash the mix and start over. Have you ever mixed the
band and felt something was wrong with the mix? You tweak and tweak
but the sounds just dont gel. Time to trash your mix and start over. Youll
save a lot of time and stress by starting from scratch instead of trying to
work out the problem. Follow this simple routine to building up your mix,
using this foundational mixing process, so you can get back to a place
where you can get creative;
A. Reset everything. Reset all your EQs, turn off your effects, turn off any
compression, and take channels out of groups.
B. Review your channel gains.

C. Set your general volume balance with all your musicians and singers.
Start with drums.
D. Mix in your drums and your bass.
E. Mix in your keyboards.
F. Mix in the guitars.
G. Mix the vocals.
H. Mix across channels.
I. Add your effects.