When I first started creating my own songs, the assumption was that arranging, mixing, and mastering a track were all discrete steps, each with its own individual goals and standards of quality.
Now that I’ve struggled through almost half a dozen songs and spoken to a number of producers in the industry, I know that’s DEFINITELY not the case.
Increasingly, I see mixing/mastering as the process by which all the issues that inevitably crop up when stringing a bunch of tracks together are gradually weeded out.
But if that’s the case, why not start early? If you know your kick drum is likely to have unpleasant resonance around 200 Hz, can you not EQ the offending frequencies as soon as you place that sucker in your mix?
Learning to spot and deal with problems early in your song-creation process saves a lot of time down the road. Here’s a few things I’ve learned that can help you spot these problem areas as they appear:
Switch Speakers Frequently
I know that my Shure headphones have a pretty flat response, my car speakers and studio monitors have a slight emphasis on the low-end, while my laptop speakers boost the higher frequencies. And my listeners will have everything in between.
Taking a few extra minutes to listen to a new section on a few of these quickly helps me hear what parts are too hot or inaudible. Correcting them makes my music instantly more translatable across multiple devices. More translatable = more people who can appreciate it as it was intended.
Well, ‘appreciate’ may be a strong word…
EQ and Compress Percussive Instruments
Drums, hi hats, shakers etc. always need a least a little shaping, regardless of what your other tracks are doing. Because percussion sounds are pretty transitory, even small adjustments can make your drum kit punchier or boomier, sharp or deep, clear or distorted.
Especially in EDM, the kick and snare are the heartbeats of the track, so you probably want them to sound pretty rockin’ from the start.
Turn the Volume Down Low
Similar to switching speakers, this helps make sure all the parts of your song are audible to your listeners. If one part can’t be heard, while another still sounds like almost normal volume, you probably want to adjust your gain staging.
Listen to Similar Music/Use Reference Tracks
A lot of the problems you’ll encounter depend on the genre of music you’re making – for example, I’m learning to add a bit more distortion to the high end of my bassline, because otherwise it won’t stand out in a high-energy mix. I discovered that, by listening to a TON of other, similar-sounding songs.
In fact, don’t stop there: Analyze the CRAP out of the music genre you’re interested in. Listen for the patterns, when it goes from intro-verse-chorus, and the tools used to build up to or smooth over those transitions.
Pay attention to how the energy moves, the instrument used, the amount of reverb and distortion. Notice the type of vocals used. Take notes. Then compare to what your current mix sounds like.
You don’t have to make EVERY part of your sound match what you hear in your reference tracks – but know that this is what people are accustomed to hearing when they ask Alexa to play a certain music type. You probably don’t want to stray too far, unless you’re really confident.
Credits:
‘Barack Obama Yes We Can’ from http://priceofoil.org/2009/10/21/drilling-in-the-arctic-yes-we-can/
‘Pensive ethnic man listening to answer in paper cup phone’ by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexel
‘Person Using DJ Mixer’ by Gaby Tenda from Pexels
‘Young troubled woman using laptop at home’ by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels