Ive been producing for fun for a while now and i barley started taking this serious. Ive been looking up alot of mixing recipes and still cant find what im looking for. I got EQing down but my question is where should the volume placement (dB) be for each individual track? People say the kick should be at -1db or -3db and sub bass should be at -10db or so, leads -3db etc etc right? well i took that advice and then i started clipping like crazy. i wont put a limiter on the master bus because i want to send in the track to get mastered and from what i know, ur not suppose to do have a limiter or compressor on the master bus… and thats why im SO confused!!! >.<
where should the kicks, snares, leads, bass, subass, etc actually be on the db meters so it can be ready for mastering?
Use your ears and monitor your levels so they never peak. Do what alchemy suggested and keep your levels no higher than -6db - -3db on the master. There’s no right or wrong way to mix, just use your ears and use personal judgment and taste to how you want your track to sound.
I usually start with the kick, bass, other percussion, then move onto leads, stabs, and pads.
What I learn to do after hurting my ears during experimentation without knowing anything ( play with formant filter on analog instrument with formant filter and resonance at loud volume …) is to use a Limiter on each channel and on the Master too when I work on a project.
I agree. thats all I have ever done, no exact db on each particular instrument or sound, just go with you instincts. and what YOU think sounds good. It’s your track!
As always, Tarekith providing some quality tips.
As others have already said, there is no tried and true recipe for mixing. It’s really all about balance, so just focus on that. Give yourself some headroom, you can always raise all the faders at the end to bump it up closer to 0dB.
My advice would be to limit yourself as much as possible, only reach for EQ, Compression, effects if you really need them. Focus on proper leveling and using EQ to fix problematic frequencies.
(Almost all professional engineers I know get an amazing amount of mixing done with limited tools. Some of them have even told me that as they continue to mix they prefer using less and less, so take that philosophy to heart.)
