Which track should I've to bring first and adjust its level?

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semsem612

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Which track should I've to bring first and adjust its level on mixing?
should I've to begin with the vocal track or with the rhythm ones or what? and what tracks should I've to bring then?
I mean which track comes before which on mixing?
I always begin with the rhythm track followed by the base guitar then the guitar then the keyboards and finally i bring the vocal track. is this
a correct way or what? Thanks a lot.
 
There is no first step man. You start from what you start with.

There is no 'correct' way to mix.
 
Jimmy's right. There is no correct way. But to make your life easier, start with drums, or whatever percussion sound you're using. Get those balanced and leave some mixing headroom. After that, do whatever, but don't ever lose the kick and snare. If you find the drums being squashed out as you bring stuff in, don't keep bringing the drums up. Bring the other stuff down to get the drums back.
 
I agree with Greg. I find if I start with a good drum/percussion sound leaving headroom, then bring in the bass, then the rhythm instruments for an overall good balance of the music. Then bring the vocals into the mix last I get a decent mix fairly quickly to then fine tune the whole program. By that I mean listening to each track separately & fine tuning the SOUND of the track, not necessarily the level even though I have already done every track solo for sound. Then small adjustments for levels. Truth is what ever works for you on the equipment you have is what works for you. The sequence I use is what works for me. I will admit that sitting behind engineers that have far more knowledge & experience than me has led me down that path.
 
I disagree with the suggestion above, but mostly I agree with Jimmie - do it in the order that makes sense to you. But straight from the FWIW Dep't - I start with the vocal usually, if it's the most important part of the mix, cuz I want everything I do after that to adjust to the vocal, not the other way around. If you mix the drums and bass and guitars first, and then bring up the vocal, you might find yourself tweaking the vocal to fit into what you've got. I think it should be the other way round. But meh. Whatever.
 
Yeah, it really just depends on the particular genre and what is most important in any session. Whatever 'drives' the song is what I would focus on first.

Yes, I do mostly rock projects so the drums and bass come first for me typically. That does not necessarily mean that would be my approach for everything.
 
I like to just push all faders up to nominal gain to first get a sense of what is happening....IOW, what is obvioulsy too loud or too soft...and then from there I'll start to adjust faders/volumes.

That said, I tend to use the drums as my reference level....IOW, I'll always leave their faders at the nominal gain setting and move other track faders/volumes up/down as needed.
Once I have a good rough balance....then I will do more isolated fader adjustments...like muting all the vocals, leads, accent tracks and fine-tuning the levels of the rhythm tracks relative to the drums...and then bring up others. Usually the vocals/leads are last, but it's a lot of small adjustments back-n-forth with ever decreasing level changes until it all gels.
 
While there is no "correct" method, I found there seems to be two basic schools of thought:

1) drums first or 2) vocals first

Since most of what I mix are vocal driven songs - I bring the lead vocal up first and try to make sure I have a clean signal and then run through a compressor and parametric EQ. Once I feel the basic lead vocal should cut through effectively, I then bring the vocal down and bring up the drums. Once I have the drums where I want them, I bring up the bass instrument (bass guitar and/or synth bass).

Once the drums & bass have a solid mix, I bring the lead vocal back in to blend with the drums/bass. At that point I also try to make any effects choices on the voice and drums.

I then bring in the primary harmonic rhythm instruments (normally guitar, keys, organ, etc.). Then any secondary harmonic instruments (pads, strings, etc.). Lastly I bring in any harmony vocals.

During the mix, I periodical may isolate given combinations (such as the bass and all the guitars to make sure they work well and nothing is getting lost - or harmony vocals to make sure the harmony blend is working, etc.)
 
My current habit is to start by getting kick/snare/lead vocal all working together, then bring in the rest of the drums, then bass, then everything else.
 
After getting basic push mix levels and an idea of the song. Current mix process is

1.) Lead vocals
1a.) bk vocals
2.) overheads
3.) kick
4.) snare
5.) toms
6.) room (if available)
5.) bass
6.) keys (if available)
7.) guitars
8.) everything else

Then tweak as necessary
 
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