10 Steps to a better Mix - By Howard Mangrum

The following is a ten step procedure for the mixing of a song. These steps can be varied in any way necessary to accommodate the themes or concepts of the song or materials to be mixed. Please be aware that the detail of each step can change depending on your equipment and the song. Sometime the song may not be fully developed and attempting to mixdown will make this evident, one of the reasons why even the professionals do rough mixes. Final mixes are best approached when your ears are fresh, not at the end of an all day tracking session. After mixing various projects you will develop your own procedure and you can feel free to throw this out, I mean store this for further reference along with all of the other bad song ideas that your friends have come up with.

1. Normalize & Mute
Normalize each track by panning to the center, take the EQ section out or verify all settings are zeroed (this may be in the 12 o'clock position), and turning down (off) all Aux Sends so that there are no effects. Pull all faders down (some people mute each channel, then un-mute them individually as they proceed).
(This is a good place to play a reference CD, to help ensure the monitoring system is performing properly and you have a good referenced starting point for your mix.)
Review any notes taken during the tracking process and your preproduction notes. Setup the signal routing scheme, configure patch bays. Compressors and noise gate can be patched in and normalized so they have little or no effect (put device into bypass if possible, set noise gates to a low threshold, etc.). It should be possible to assign outboard effects (reverbs) to the various tracks at this point based on the song concept and basic ideas of the sonic landscape.
(It is perfectly acceptable to determine the concepts and sonic landscape as you progress through these mixing steps, this is art and there are no rules, just guidelines or opinion.)

2. Loop play
Set the tape deck to play the song in loop-mode if possible. This allows the following steps to be completed in a continuous procession.

3. Critique & EQ
Critique each track individually. Start by soloing (un-muting or only bringing up one fader) each track to ensure proper gain setting by observing your level indicators. Setup noise gates and compressors if necessary. Perform your first rough EQ, do this EQ as fast as possible, don't spend more than a few minutes per track
(the point of dimensioning returns is close at hand during this first pass, the perceived frequency distribution will shift/change, as all tracks are mix together)
(Periodically switch the EQ section out and back in to help ensure you are making improvements.)
(General approach to EQ; if you have a parametric with tunable 'Q' use it to fix frequency problems, get rid of the bad sound. Use shelving EQ's to do gross adjustments to the sound, since they effect a large range of frequencies.)
(It is usually better to cut, so work to cut the bad and if you have remaining control use this to enhance.)
(Adjustment to the EQ/frequency content can make dramatic changes to the gain structure of your signals/sounds, be sure to keep an eye on this and make adjustment accordingly)

4. First Mix
Bring up each track to start building your mix. The order should mimic the priority of each track, this depends on the style of the music and your personal tastes.
(It is standard practice to start with the foundation, such things as drums & bass)
(This is were you start to build your sonic landscape, you determine which sound should be out front and which sound should be in the background.)
(If necessary this is a good place to draw a sketch of your stage setup of the band, to help visualize your sonic landscape)

5. Re-EQ
Re-EQ tracks where necessary. Listen for too much sound (muddy) in each frequency range, where, you have instruments or sounds that are in the same basic frequency range and may conflict or mask each other.

6. Pan
Pan tracks/sounds to complete the setting of your sound stage.
(This step is done in conjunction with re-EQ, step 5. The overlapping frequencies maybe less offending after panning)
(Periodically monitor your constructed sonic landscape in mono to ensure that phase cancellation and sound masking are not going to cause you any problems, your mix should stand-up in mono as well as stereo, with only the basic imaging shifting.)

7. Effects
Setup the reverb and other effects. When applying reverb, keep your sonic landscape in mind. You are setting the outer-boundaries of your sonic landscape at this point.
(It is easy to over use reverb and other effects, generally turn-up the effect to a point where they become dominate then back them off to they just meld into the background)
(Be sure to keep a written record of which effects are used where and the programs of the effect units, with any special settings and/or signal routings that have been employed)

8. Balance Mix
Listen to the mix and ensure you can hear each sound and the over-all balance between each sound is correctly portioned.
(This is a good point to perform a rough mix to tape and playing it on a secondary monitoring system to help gain a second prospective and ensure the main monitoring system is not leading you down the wrong path. Studio monitors can reduce the perceived impact of various settings and the amount of such things as reverb.)

9. Map Moves
Map out any move that maybe necessary, such as:
level changes
muting of tracks
panning
effect changes
(map the move to a tape counter and/or a smpte time readout, keep a written list of these moves)
(learn to perform the moves on-the-beat, tap your foot and count)

10. Practice Mix
Practice the mix, learn to play the console/mix like an instrument. When you are confident with your mix start recording it to your mixdown deck.
(It is usually good to perform a few mixes, like any performance each will be different and one will usually be preferable.)
(It is common at this point for you to realize that you have not determined how the song should start or end, map these moves out as above. Be sure to allow for some pre-roll & post roll time)
(Performing a mix should be similar to performing on an instrument where moves and other events happen on the beats of the song, your mixing moves should have rhythm to them.)