The Top 5 Mixing Mistakes And How To Avoid Them

Every day someone asks me to listen to a mix and give my opinion. I wish I had time to do it more than I do, but unfortunately I can't always get around to it. That said, there are a number of mistakes that keep cropping up with the mixes I do hear. Here are the top 5 mixing mistakes that I come across.

1. The vocal or lead instrument gets lost. Words get lost or the vocal seems buried during certain sections of the song. This is what automation is for. Go back and ride that sucker so every word can be heard.

2. There's a big frequency build up from adding EQ at the same frequencies to a lot of tracks. Everything sounds better with EQ added, especially when it's soloed. The problem is that if you EQ most of your tracks at the same frequencies, you'll end up with a lot of tracks that sound great by themselves that fight each other when added to mix. Better to do your EQing without soloing, or solo up several channels at the same time, in order to avoid the problem. And remember that you don't always have to boost the EQ. Attenuating a frequency can be more effective.

3. The stereo spectrum is mushy. This comes from taking panning for granted and automatically panning stereo elements hard left and hard right. When that happens it no longer sounds like stereo anymore and becomes "Big Mono" as my buddy mixer Ed Seay calls it. Just because a keyboard is in stereo, it doesn't necessarily mean that it should be panned hard left and hard right. The same goes for overheads. Many mixers intentionally stay away from hard left and right and try to give every track it's own place in the stereo spectrum.

4. There's too much compression. As the great engineer Joe Chiccarelli stated in my Mixing Engineer's Handbook, "Compression is like this drug that you can’t get enough of. You squish things and it feels great and it sounds exciting, but the next day you come back and you say, “Oh God, it’s too much.” Sometimes you have to really squash something so it works in the mix, but usually a little goes a long way.

5. There's too much low EQ. It's very easy to get fooled into thinking that you don't have enough low end either because you're mixing on small nearfield monitors or you're mixing too quietly. When that happens, you'll find that the mix sounds great in your room but way to boomy everywhere else. Take a listen to a recording that you really love first to see where the low end is at or take a look at a spectrum analyzer before you add any.

If you want to get some great mixing tips and tricks, check out my 101 Mixing Tricks coaching program and get 4 free tricks right away.

---

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.

5 Ways To Prevent Instrument Clashes In Your Mix

Regardless of the kind of music that you're mixing, it inevitably happens that that you find two instruments that are fighting for your attention. It might be the kick drum and bass guitar, it might be two guitars (a likely occurrence), or it might be a lead vocal against a guitar or rhythm instrument. Regardless of the instruments, there are 5 ways eliminate the problem.

1) Change the arrangement and re-record the track. This is probably the least desirable solution, but it's the best way to resolve any instrument clashing. Clashes usually happen because of an arrangement problem, and changing the part that the offending instrument plays or changing the sound will save the day. The only problem is the time and effort it takes to do so.

2) Mute one of the offending instruments so that they both never play at the same time. In this case, you're changing the arrangement with the mute button by only allowing one instrument to play at a time. This actually works very well as it simplifies both the arrangement and the mix.

3) Lower the level of the offending instrument. Both instruments can't live at the same volume, but sometimes it works if one is softer than the other volume-wise.

4) Tailor the EQ so that the offending instrument takes up a different frequency space. This is usually what most engineers do and why they get paid the big bucks (chuckle). By carving out a separate frequency area for each instrument, both can live together at the same volume.

5) Pan the offending instrument to a different location. Sometimes this works surprisingly well. By just moving one of the instruments a little in the stereo field, both instruments can have their own space. Many times guitars that clash with suddenly work together if they're panned wide left and right, but sometimes only a hair will work too.

The next time you have a problem with a couple of instruments clashing, remember this post. One of the 5 tips will always work.

----------------------------------

Follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating the music business.