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Audio mixing techniques largely depend on music genres and the quality of sound recordings involved.[3] The process is generally carried out by a mixing engineer, though sometimes the record producer or recording artist may assist. After mixing, a mastering engineer prepares the final product for production.
Before the introduction of multitrack recording, all sounds and effects that were to be part of a recording were mixed simultaneously during a live performance. If the recorded mix was not satisfactory, or if one musician made a mistake, the selection had to be performed over until the desired balance and performance was obtained. The introduction of multi-track recording changed the recording process into one that generally involves three stages: recording, overdubbing, and mixing.[6]
Modern mixing emerged with the introduction of commercial multi-track tape machines, most notably when 8-track recorders were introduced during the 1960s. The ability to record sounds into separate channels made it possible for recording studios to combine and treat these sounds not only during recording, but afterward during a separate mixing process.[7]
The introduction of the cassette-based Portastudio in 1979 offered multi-track recording and mixing technology that did not require the specialized equipment and expense of commercial recording studios. Bruce Springsteen recorded his 1982 album Nebraska with one, and the Eurythmics topped the charts in 1983 with the song "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)", recorded by band member Dave Stewart on a makeshift 8-track recorder.[8] In the mid-to-late 1990s, computers replaced tape-based recording for most home studios, with the Power Macintosh proving popular.[9] At the same time, many professional recording studios began to use digital audio workstations or DAWs, first used in the mid-1980s, to accomplish recording and mixing previously done with multitrack tape recorders, mixing consoles, and outboard gear.
A mixer (mixing console, mixing desk, mixing board, or software mixer) is the operational heart of the mixing process.[10] Mixers offer a multitude of inputs, each fed by a track from a multitrack recorder. Mixers typically have 2 main outputs (in the case of two-channel stereo mixing) or 8 (in the case of surround).
Mixing consoles can be large and intimidating due to the exceptional number of controls. However, because many of these controls are duplicated (e.g. per input channel), much of the console can be learned by studying one small part of it. The controls on a mixing console will typically fall into one of two categories: processing and configuration. Processing controls are used to manipulate the sound. These can vary in complexity, from simple level controls, to sophisticated outboard reverberation units. Configuration controls deal with the signal routing from the input to the output of the console through the various processes.[12]
The mixdown process converts a program with a multiple-channel configuration into a program with fewer channels. Common examples include downmixing from 5.1 surround sound to stereo,[a] and stereo to mono. Because these are common scenarios, it is common practice to verify the sound of such downmixes during the production process to ensure stereo and mono compatibility.
Any console with a sufficient number of mix busses can be used to create a 5.1 surround sound mix, but this may be frustrating if the console is not specifically designed to facilitate signal routing, panning, and processing in a surround sound environment. Whether working in an analog hardware, digital hardware, or DAW mixing environment, the ability to pan mono or stereo sources and place effects in the 5.1 soundscape and monitor multiple output formats without difficulty can make the difference between a successful or compromised mix.[21] Mixing in surround is very similar to mixing in stereo except that there are more speakers, placed to surround the listener. In addition to the horizontal panoramic options available in stereo, mixing in surround lets the mix engineer pan sources within a much wider and more enveloping environment. In a surround mix, sounds can appear to originate from many more or almost any direction depending on the number of speakers used, their placement and how audio is processed.
The goal of mixing is to bring out the best in your multi-track recording by adjusting levels, panning, and audio effects for each individual track. The aim is to sculpt your arrangement to make sense of all your sounds in relation to each other.
The subreddit is focused on the professional CRAFTS of mixing and mastering. Posts about recording, production, composition, etc, don't really belong here, we are not yet another general music production subreddit. We also DON'T do gear/software troubleshooting, plenty of other subreddits for that. Please read our about page to check a comprehensive list of what is and what isn't a valid topic for a post.
Don't link directly to a website, make it a text post. Avoid spam-y titles (such as: "The Best Mixing Online" or any other equally dumb click-bait title), be transparent. Introduce yourself to the community, describe what you do and feel free to link to as many things as you want inside ONE post (not every time you have a new thing). If you have a YouTube channel or something that is VERY mixing related, you are also welcome to introduce us to it and link to different examples from it (ONCE).
For this to be fair for everyone, you only get to post ONCE PER YEAR (ie: every +365 days) promoting either Mixing or Mastering services, or YouTube channel/blog/site/etc which is ABOUT mixing and/or mastering. Tagged with the right flair, service offering posts can be found at any time through the menu. This of course applies only to posts. You can still offer your services/link (rest of the rules applying) through comments in posts in which doing so makes sense (ie: service request posts).
You can't have the words mixing AND mastering on your post title or its contents, it has to be one or the other (including on your site), since mastering shouldn't be done by the same person mixing. It doesn't matter if you intend to practice both separately (ie: not mastering what you mix). Mastering should be offered only by those who are dedicated to mastering. You can read more about mastering here.
The following information on mixing music is excerpted from the Berklee Online course Art of Mixing, authored by Richard Mendelson and Alejandro Rodriguez.
If we need to define sound mixing with a single word, that word would be balance. Mixing involves combining all the sounds received from the multitrack recording and balancing them in levels, making some louder than others. At the same time, a mixing engineer will balance them in terms of panning, placing them in the stereo field: left, center, right, or anywhere in between. They will also balance frequencies, brightening some sounds, darkening others, taking some frequencies away, and using depth as another balance tool, to give the listener a sense of closeness or distance of a sound in a space.
The music industry has evolved immensely since it began more than a century ago. The origins of music recording involved a single step: musicians surrounding a horn, playing and singing as loud as they could, and mixing themselves by way of distance to the horn. Technology evolved from recording to a cylinder to recording to a disk, then to tape, from mono to stereo, then multitrack.
A bottom-up mix starts with the foundation of the mix, the basic tracks, i.e., the rhythm section and/or low end instruments, and then moves to the higher frequency instruments and ending finally with the lead instrument or melody instrument. Probably more mixing engineers work this way than the other. The danger of this method is not leaving enough space for the leading tracks; be sure to avoid that.
DEQ calculates mixing zones to be as small as feasible. The size of the area or zone varies based on how concentrated the wastewater discharge is, water quality standards, location of the discharge in relation to critical habitat or drinking water intakes, and size or flow of the waterbody. Not all permitted facilities have mixing zones. Most mixing zones in Oregon vary in size from 5 to 300 feet from the point of discharge.
DEQ does not permit mixing zones in locations where there is long-term (chronic) human exposure, such as wading beaches or drinking water intakes. Furthermore, DEQs water quality rules do not allow for the discharge of toxic pollutants in concentrations that would be dangerous for people and wildlife if they swim or float through a mixing zone. Figure 2 is an example of the type of modeling DEQ uses to evaluate the mixing zones and more information can be found at the CORMIX Mixing Zone Model home page.
How are mixing zones regulated?
The federal Environmental Protection Agency allows states to adopt their own mixing zone regulations as part of the states water quality standards (40 CFR 131.13). These state regulations are subject to review and approval by EPA. Oregon's mixing zone rule has been approved by EPA and can be found at Oregon Administrative Rule 340-041-0053.
In addition, there is both federal and state guidance on when mixing zones may be allowed. EPA provides guidance on mixing zones in Water Quality Standards Handbook, August 1994 and Technical Support Document for Water Quality-based Toxics Control, March 1991 PDF (6.5MB). DEQ has recently developed guidance documents to assist permit writers to properly size and locate the zones so that they are more protective of the environment and public health.
Who is subject to mixing zone regulations?
The mixing zone regulations currently affect about 300 facilities (including both municipal wastewater treatment plants and industries) that operate under existing water quality permits. DEQ will review and, if necessary, update each mixing zone every five-years during the facilities permit renewal cycle. Any permit applicants requesting a mixing zone would also need to conform to the mixing zone regulations.