Hey everyone
Can someone give me some guidance on the mixing process, I know it’s down to individual taste, and that there are no right and wrong, but is there any rules to follow, for example, should every track in the project be compressed and EQ’d? Should I use reverb on everything, do I use reverb and delay together? Do I use Compression on Vst tracks, ie Vst drums etc etc, any advice would be greatly appreciated, the mix process is driving me mad, I have KRK R6’s a track 16 interface, and my room is acoustically treated
To get high quality professional sound you need to do:
- Right equalisation of you track
- Good balance of instruments volume
- Compression (for different styles it level can be different)
- Verb/delay
- Some effects (if you need them for your song)
Over the years the only guidance i follow is to hear what you are doing. If you don’t hear and feel what’s happening with your mix you can’t make it good even if you understand how different tools works. Once you start to detect the problems in your mix you should be able to tell what exactly needs to be done and what tools to use for specific problems. I know it won’t help you with your problem right away, but this is what you practice in the long term.
Thats what I’m telling you above. You ask if the compression should be used on every track because you’re not sure why you need to use it and where. And thats because you can’t hear the problems. Practice more, improve your hearing skill, compare different songs etc.
Hi Enrize, I have a pretty good ear, I just don’t know if compression should by used on every track to gel the project together?
There is a very useful book “Mixing audio” by Roey Izhaki.
He describes all aspects of mixing and there are lots of sound sample “before” and “after” using of mixing tools(EQ,Comp and effects)
Also there are 4 songs which he mixed step by step from start to end)
Well, then you need to understand what exactly compression does with a sound. There are a lot of good video tutorials about this. If you know what it does and you hear where it should be used it shouldn’t be a problem. 
I use qualisation in every track, but not in every instrument. Some times sound of plugins has cool equalisation. Compression is very important part of work. To get more loudness and professional sound you need to compress instruments and mix buss. Some light styles like ambient need lighter compression, some mixes need stronger. But without compression you can’t create professional sound.
