Audio Mixing Tutorials

A Solid State Logic or “SSL vocal strip is a relatively streamlined way to EQ your vocals while also imparting a little analog sound to them. Let’s talk how to use an SSL to EQ your vocals with the best SSL vocal EQ settings to use in your next mix. SSL Vocal EQ Settings For… Read more: The Best SSL Vocal EQ Settings to Use

A big room kick is all about the body but doesn’t sacrifice its transient punch to draw the ear to the roundness of the rest of the tone. Let’s talk how to make a big room kick in your next mix, all in the box. How to Make a Big Room Kick There are a… Read more: How to Make a Big Room Kick – 3 Tips

Live sound is an especially tough nut to crack because you’re working in the moment without the luxury of the relaxed no pressure environment of the studio. You’ve also got reflections and other resonances being introduced in real time, all things which need to be accounted for. With all of that in mind, here are… Read more: The Best Graphic Equalizer Settings For Live Sound

Along with equalizers, audio compressors are the bread and butter of plugins which mixing engineers use to control their audio. Whereas equalizers concern themselves with the frequencies of your audio, an audio compressor is all about the dynamics. Let’s identify what does an audio compressor do and why it’s amongst the most important audio “effects”… Read more: What Does an Audio Compressor Do In Your Mix

Whenever you mic and record two different instruments/sources at the same time, you open the door for bleed between the microphones. This can introduce phase issues, but just as annoyingly it can muddy up your mix. The drum kit is arguably the most common culprit for audio bleed because even if you’re not recording the… Read more: How to Fix Drum Bleed in the Mix

Normally when I talk about reverb on this site, it’s rarely in the context of low frequency instruments. That said, I find that reverb on bass guitar can work in the mix when used effectively and just as importantly, when used responsibly. Let’s talk how to use reverb on bass guitar including the settings I… Read more: How to Use Reverb on Bass Guitar (With Best Settings)

When it comes to audio mixing, a big part of the battle is attenuating unwanted noise in all forms which it can take. This can be removing vocal breaths, bleed from other instruments like in the case of recording then mixing a drum kit, etc. In the case of string instruments, the infamous “finger sound”… Read more: How to Fix “Finger Sound” on Bass Guitar in the Mix

A limiter is essentially a compressor with a maxed out ratio and is designed to create a hard ceiling the peaks of your audio cannot permeate. While limiters are often used to maximize the level of a completed mix to make it commercially competitive with its peers, another practical application of a limiter is to… Read more: How to Use a Bass Limiter (With Best Settings)

A limiter is a useful tool for a number of different applications across both audio mixing and mastering. Essentially a compressor with extreme settings, let’s talk how to set up a compressor limiter in some common situations. How to Set Up a Compressor Limiter What differentiates a normal compressor from a compressor limiter is its… Read more: How to Set Up a Compressor Limiter

The cymbals of your drum kit and mix are useful for driving energy and marking the peaks of the mix in terms of energy. You also walk a tightrope when it comes to how to EQ cymbals in particular as one side leaves them dull while the other side leaves them harsh and grating to… Read more: How to EQ Cymbals – Cymbal EQ Cheat Sheet

Arguably the most important tool at any mixing engineer’s disposal is EQ. This plugin allows you to sculpt your audio, carving out the frequencies which are detracting from the sound or even accentuating the ones which aren’t. While there are many types of EQ, the most versatile type is undoubtedly parametric EQ. Let’s talk how… Read more: How to Use Parametric EQ to Improve Your Mix

I recently talked about mid side compression and how you can use it to correct issues on different levels of a mix or master, or even create some interesting aesthetic effects. Mid side EQ is another effect which exclusively targets one or the other, so let’s talk about what is mid side EQ and when… Read more: What is Mid Side EQ (And When to Use It)?

We always want the cleanest audio in the recording stage. This applies equally to laying down some vocal tracks or recording speech for a podcast, video, etc. One of simplest keys to attaining clean audio is to mitigate the plosive sounds, meaning those spikes in the 150Hz range on a voice when it enunciates a… Read more: How to Use a Pop Filter (Singing or Speaking)

There are a number of different types of equalizers you can use to sculpt the audio of your mix, and some are better suited for certain niche tasks than others. Let’s cover the different types of equalizers in mixing. Types of Equalizers Most equalizers fall into three categories: Parametric, Semi Parametric, and Graphic. There’s some… Read more: Types of Equalizers in Mixing – When to Use Each

A DAW or digital audio workstation is your connection between your audio whether you’re recording and mixing it. If you’re new to the world of home audio production, let’s talk what is the best DAW for beginners. Best DAW For Beginners Okay, starting out and strictly speaking, a DAW like Apple’s free GarageBand is most… Read more: What is the Best DAW For Beginners

Mid side compression is a tool which is especially useful in mastering but can be applied to any type of audio production where you want to isolate either the mid or stereo sides of your audio and compress them independently of one another. Let’s talk how to use mid side compression in your DAW and… Read more: How to Use Mid Side Compression (and Why Use It)

I recently talked about how to get clean vocals in both the recording and mixing stages of your mix. One of the elements I touched on to help achieve clean vocals was the importance of using a pop filter when recording vocals, so let’s briefly identify what is a pop filter in the realm of… Read more: What is a Pop Filter in Recording (And Why Use One)

Clean vocals are one of the nonnegotiables of a professional sounding mix. From recording to mixing, let’s talk how to get clean vocals in your mix. How to get Clean Vocals First and most obviously, recording clean vocals means less work to get them clean in the mix. This means: Of course we can’t control… Read more: How to Get Clean Vocals in Your Mix

A graphic equalizer has a lot more guardrails than most types of EQ, but in some ways that makes it easier to use than say a semi-parametric EQ which is much more common in mixing. Let’s talk how to use a graphic equalizer to dial in whatever type of results you want from your track,… Read more: How to Use a Graphic Equalizer in Your Mix

I say this all the time, but the kick drum is the anchor of the mix, and this is doubly true in a genre like techno which especially revolves around the kick and the role it plays in the mix. Therefore it’s crucial to get it sounding it’s best and it’s wise to begin with… Read more: Techno Kick EQ Cheat Sheet – The Best Settings