What is the best order in mixing tracks?

[semsem612]

Shall i start mixing with the drums track first or with the vocal ones then the drums and the music come after?
I mean which fader should be adjusted first and which is second and so on........
Thanks for caring

 

[gecko zzed]

There is no particular best order of mixing tracks, and it mostly boils down to personal taste.

However, I do have a preferred order.


1 I get the drums sorted first.
2 I then bring up the bass so that drums and bass sound happy together
3 Lead vocals is next. All going well, the song should sound great with just these three elements.
4 Other instruments come next in no particular order.
5 Finally, backing vocals get added.

 

[Robus]

kick, bass and lead vocal first. Then harmony vox, snare, toms, overheads and keyboards. Guitars last.

 

[ashcat_lt]

I usually just bring up all the faders and then start fixing whatever sticks out at me first. I suppose that's usually either drums or vocals first just because in the things I record, those generally require the biggest interventions, and they need to be right for anything else to make sense. I really just jump around willy-nilly until I can't find anything else to mess with, though.

 

[witzendoz]

I usually start with the drums, but only because it is a single instrument with multiple mics, so to be able to treat it like a single instrument it needs to be roughly mixed. It will get worked on again later when the mix comes together.

Bass next, then the guitars, keys etc. Then I treat the band as a single instrument while I sort out the vocals for tone and levels, etc.

Then I listen to the mix as a whole and adjust it all again, and again, making sure everything can be heard, especially the vocals, then look for any problems with mix clarity.

Finally does the mix now sound any good? If not roll around it all again. I constantly adjust things while the mix is playing on loop, sometimes things I do are undone again if they don't work.

And don't forget to change the volume, listen soft, listen loud, does it still sound good at all volumes? Multiple monitors if you have them.

And take breaks, leave the mix for half hour and leave the room, coffee, food, freash air, then come back, what does the first play after a break sound like?

Hope this helps, it's hard to explain mixing, to me its almost meditation I get so connected to it.

Alan.

 

[VomitHatSteve]

There is no particular best order of mixing tracks, and it mostly boils down to personal taste.

Yep. But I usually do:
1. Drums (kick, snare, OHs, toms)
2. Ancillary percussion (that, or I defer this to 9)
3. Bass
4. Lead vox
5. Rhythm guitar
6. Other rhythm instruments
7. Misc. lead instruments
8. BGVox
9. Additional weird noises.

 

[JDsound]

From a purely philosophical position, I would agree closely with [MENTION=179866]wentzendoz. However, it's probably best to just bring up faders in groups, and get a reasonable "balance and level", and then listen to the track a few times. The levels won't be right, and the mix won't sound good (yet), but it gives you an opportunity to listen to the track and find the interesting parts of the song... the parts that catch your attention.

Mixing is the art of capturing a listener's attention, so it's best to find those interesting parts and focus most of your energy on those. That is not to say that you shouldn't work hard on everything else, but you should think about it in a way that maximizes you're potential for capturing attention.

As an example, think about times you've listened to songs and certain things just stand out and draw your attention. Who knows, the drums on that track may have sounded like crap, but you didn't care, because the guitar parts were captivating. Again, I want to emphasize I'm not stating that you should ignore or slack on anything, just pointing out that your focus should be thoughtful and intentional.

Eventually you'll get to a point at which you can easily through a rough mix together, and in short time, make everything sound really good. But if your skills stop there, you'll never progress, because all you'll ever be able to do is get things sounding good. But, if you are a badass at making things interesting, drawing and keeping the listeners attention, and make them think, "wow, that's a cool sound", then you'll be ahead of most.

Sorry if this was tangential to your original question, but I find that looking at mixing in this way makes me feel more creative and keeps me motivated to get better and better.

All the best!

 

[thewonders]

Interesting responses. I tend to mix as others mentioned - drums, bass, lead vocals, then whatever is left. It seems like rock oriented guys do it this way. I've heard of pro guys who start with the vocals on pop records, since that's many times the most important element. I would suggest trying a few different methods and see which one works for you.

 

[mixsit]

I usually just bring up all the faders and then start fixing whatever sticks out at me first. I suppose that's usually either drums or vocals first just because in the things I record, those generally require the biggest interventions, and they need to be right for anything else to make sense. I really just jump around willy-nilly until I can't find anything else to mess with, though.

That's me. 'Faders up, 'Round and round on the big stuff. Then somewhere half way through the most of that I'll branch off focusing on combos of things ('what/how are these 'guys doing together?) and more and more single items, and automation.
Add.. Gain/clip automation should have been 'early on in there.

 

[JimmyS1969]

I usually start with the drums, but only because it is a single instrument with multiple mics, so to be able to treat it like a single instrument it needs to be roughly mixed. It will get worked on again later when the mix comes together.

Bass next, then the guitars, keys etc. Then I treat the band as a single instrument while I sort out the vocals for tone and levels, etc.

Then I listen to the mix as a whole and adjust it all again, and again, making sure everything can be heard, especially the vocals, then look for any problems with mix clarity.

Finally does the mix now sound any good? If not roll around it all again. I constantly adjust things while the mix is playing on loop, sometimes things I do are undone again if they don't work.

And don't forget to change the volume, listen soft, listen loud, does it still sound good at all volumes? Multiple monitors if you have them.

And take breaks, leave the mix for half hour and leave the room, coffee, food, freash air, then come back, what does the first play after a break sound like?

Hope this helps, it's hard to explain mixing, to me its almost meditation I get so connected to it.

Alan.

That pretty much my style as well. Though I tend to start mixing at the same time I start recording. So I usually have most things in order before I even reach the actual 'mix' stage.

But yeah, then I cycle back again and start with the basics as Alan does.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Kick, snare/overheads and vocals, then bass, then fit everything else around that. Then go back and fine tune, especially making the definition range of the bass fit with what was added later.

 

[cavedog101]

Drums....Bass...Lead Vox.....These are the fundamental of the song...usually. I will work on these until I don't 'need' anything else to get the point of the song and the arrangement across.

I will then make my stems for these and this is where I will bring everything else. I will not change the balance of the the first three ever after this point. If adding something tends to decrease the effect of anything then that thing gets worked on till it fits without changing the original three.

It's really surprising how calm this makes the master buss. Yet it still has impact and headroom.

 

[JimmyS1969]

Drums....Bass...Lead Vox.....These are the fundamental of the song...usually. I will work on these until I don't 'need' anything else to get the point of the song and the arrangement across.

I will then make my stems for these and this is where I will bring everything else. I will not change the balance of the the first three ever after this point. If adding something tends to decrease the effect of anything then that thing gets worked on till it fits without changing the original three.

It's really surprising how calm this makes the master buss. Yet it still has impact and headroom.

Ever? I find that odd man.

No disrespect but I do not think I have ever 'not' changed something I thought was perfect after adding other instruments...

I also find odd the 'stem' thing. A mix is a combination of how all tracks work together as a whole. If a 'stem' is just a group track, then it is still just a channel that things are placed in. I would never hold my breath and say those are final before all recording was complete. Hell, a flute tone could change the way I mix in a cello...

The genre is a huge factor in the way I would mix a song. Even the slight difference between rock and country (though very similar now), I will approach differently. Then the new metal stuff is way different. And then the pop (poop) stuff I work with is a whole different game.

But still, it starts with drums for me. Vocals are first in my head as far as production, but last in my order of recording.

 

[bouldersoundguy]

Yep, what gets added affects what was there first. Hearing is relative, not absolute.

 

[gecko zzed]

Mixing drums, bass and lead vox, getting them stable, then leaving them untouched thereafter is not an unreasonable approach. I don't think I would personally "not change the balance of the the first three ever after this point", but it would be illuminating to work to that rule.

I take the point that others have noted, i.e. the introduction into a mix of instrument B can change how instrument A sounds in the mix (and then again with instrument C), so there is a bit of juggling to make them all play nicely together.

However, I note also that altering the foundation of a building to accommodate changes to what happens on top is not good construction practice. And I regard drums, bass and lead vocal as the foundations of a song.

The benefit of working on those three elements then leaving them alone is that it can prevent 'instrument creep', i.e. you add in instruments B and C, but now you can't hear A, so you push A up. But now you can't hear B, so up it goes. But C disappears . . . and on and on until everything is way too loud and you end up with a mess.

And you can leave the foundation untouched if you know and understand how subsequent additions will effect the overall sound. It is a practice not unknown to the like of George Martin. They had to do exactly this through the limitations of four-track recording.

 

[cavedog101]

Mixing drums, bass and lead vox, getting them stable, then leaving them untouched thereafter is not an unreasonable approach. I don't think I would personally "not change the balance of the the first three ever after this point", but it would be illuminating to work to that rule.

I take the point that others have noted, i.e. the introduction into a mix of instrument B can change how instrument A sounds in the mix (and then again with instrument C), so there is a bit of juggling to make them all play nicely together.

However, I note also that altering the foundation of a building to accommodate changes to what happens on top is not good construction practice. And I regard drums, bass and lead vocal as the foundations of a song.

The benefit of working on those three elements then leaving them alone is that it can prevent 'instrument creep', i.e. you add in instruments B and C, but now you can't hear A, so you push A up. But now you can't hear B, so up it goes. But C disappears . . . and on and on until everything is way too loud and you end up with a mess.

And you can leave the foundation untouched if you know and understand how subsequent additions will effect the overall sound. It is a practice not unknown to the like of George Martin. They had to do exactly this through the limitations of four-track recording.

Everyone has their own methodology to this art. Some people paint and others draw.....they are still illuminating something in their efforts. In a multi-song production, sometimes the entire thing begs to be treated as a whole rather than 8-15 individual portions. Sometimes not.

My point of sharing my method is one born of many hours of slaving over a hot fader......And this is the personal part for me...YMMV....I found a much more cohesiveness to projects by using the method described here-in. For me , personally, it started to eliminate the constant mind changing and hand wringing and never actually finishing things to certain degree.

Of course, everyone here who does full-length stuff knows you're never 'finished' you simply 'abandon' things in order to move on.......

So, what works for me may not be someone else s cuppa joe, and though it may seem ridgid and unbending in how I worded my description, there's a lot of room available to make things kik ass, or be light, or take on a number of faces and emotions simply because you have a lot of lee-way with the melodic instruments.

But there's one thing that I am totally old-skool about no matter the genre.......Everything supports the vocal and the lyrics. Otherwise, why sing at all......

And yes, this stuff all comes from having to make decisions due to technical limitations back in the day.

 

[42low]

There is no particular best order of mixing tracks, and it mostly boils down to personal taste.

However, I do have a preferred order.


1 I get the drums sorted first.
2 I then bring up the bass so that drums and bass sound happy together
3 Lead vocals is next. All going well, the song should sound great with just these three elements.
4 Other instruments come next in no particular order.
5 Finally, backing vocals get added.

6 Master all (steps) together so that it sounds happy together.

It always happens to me that when or before i reach step 5 some step(s) earlier needs correction. Sometimes a slight detail, and sometimes something really different to compliment the total.

 

[Gtoboy]

ALL those previously stated will work, it will depend on what u feel most comfortable doing and with success comes confidence. I would suggest trying different methods until u find what works best for you. I, for instance, bring all faders up first, listen to track and get a "feel", I may or may not jot notes about things that are sticking out, not forward enough, clashing, etc but first listen is just to orient to tune. Next pass I start the note taking, listen, pause, note take, listen , pause , note take. Than, using my notes, I go back to kick, bass, snare, lead vocal, rhythm parts(melodic and percussive), backround vocals, feature instruments, level balancing ONLY, while noting what needs correcting-eq, compression etc. Next is surgery-using eq and compression to balance frequencies. REDO levels cause now everything is louder! ha ha.. Next place in space-reverbs, delays, compression and eq tweaks , panning, mutes-the creative sh-t. Back to levels. repeat as needed until magic oozes out of speakers, Note : frequent rest breaks and reference tracks are highly recommended. Izotope.com has a short series of helpful vids, also youtube

 

[ashcat_lt]

Wow. Note taking? I mean, you do what works for you. I dont have that kind of discipline I guess. I may do the first pass just all faders up, or wherever I leafy them at tracking, but I won't hesitate to start moving faders and even dropping on plugins. If I hear something I need to do, I at least rough it in when I hear it. Very often, I go in intending to just edit - comping or fixing timings or whatever it needs - but then get distracted by something that doesn't righ. It might not even be the instrument I was supposed to focus on, but in mind it's worth it. If you hear something, especially if there's a quick fix like a fader change, just fix it.

I've been doing just that with the album I'm working on now. A lot of the songs needed a little bit of editing, and I'm doing them one-by-one and sending test mixes to make sure the client is happy with the feel of the edits. Each new mix is closer to sounding like a real finished product, and at this point most of the mixing to do is just like fader rides and things.

 

[raybbj]

It's not so much order as it is your preferred process. Yes, if you are mixing acoustic drums, start with drums first, but after that, it's personal preference.

My process:
Drums
Guitars
Keys/Piano
Bass
Aux Perc
Lead Vocals
BU Vocals
Solos (Guitar, etc.)

I like to solo sub groups as well and take a listen.
Watch your DB levels. Don't over drive your main.