📑 Sections (7)

1. The balance: half of the mix

How to build a balance that already sounds like a song before inserting plugins: the order, what defines each part and how to check it.

If you have to keep just one idea about mixing, it’s this: balance decides more than any plugin. Before EQing anything, a mix has to sound like a song with only faders and panning. If it doesn’t work there, no plugin will save it.

What matters most in this song

Not everything can be up front. Before touching a fader, answer: what should the listener hear in each part?

The typical rock and metal hierarchy

  1. The vocal, or whatever carries the melody.
  2. Kick and snare: the pulse.
  3. Guitars: the weight and energy.
  4. Bass: felt more than pointed out, but it holds everything up.
  5. Cymbals, ambience and details: they give context.

In an instrumental or a solo, the guitar becomes the melody. The hierarchy changes by part, and that gets handled later with automation.

The building order

From the bottom up
Kick and snarethe pulse
Rest of the drumscontext
Basswith the kick
Guitarsthe weight
Vocalup front

Work with the densest part of the song, normally the chorus. If it works there, the rest is easier, and if you build the balance on the verse, the chorus will overshoot.

  1. Everything down, plugins off.
  2. Kick and snare up to peaks of about −10 dBFS on the Main channel.
  3. Rest of the drums, without going over the kick and snare.
  4. Bass, until it holds things up without covering the kick.
  5. Guitars, until they push without hiding the snare.
  6. Vocal, until you can understand it without effort.
  7. Margin: Main peaks shouldn’t exceed −6 dBFS.
🔴 Set this NOW· in mixing

All later adjustments get decided in relation to this balance. EQing on a bad balance means fixing what was really a level problem.

How to know if a fader is right

  • Raise it until it’s too much, and lower it until it disappears. The right point is in between, and it’s usually closer to the low end than you think.
  • Listen at low volume: what matters most is still heard. Details can disappear.
  • Look away from the faders: close your eyes. The meter doesn’t know what song you’re mixing.

Panning is also balance

Moving something to the side makes room for it without lowering it.

  • Center: kick, snare, bass and lead vocal. They hold up the mix, in mono too.
  • Extremes: doubled guitars.
  • In between: toms, hi-hat and harmonies, depending on the image you’re after.

Check the balance in mono now and then: if a guitar disappears or the vocal changes a lot, there’s a phase problem.

Common mistakes

What NOT to chase yet

Quick path: balance

Quick path

  1. All plugins off and faders down.
  2. Work with the chorus.
  3. Kick and snare up to peaks of −10 dBFS.
  4. Add drums, bass, guitars and vocal, in that order.
  5. Pan as you build.
  6. Check at low volume and in mono.
  7. Leave the Main with peaks of −6 dBFS at most.

Expected result

Expected result

Without a single plugin, the song already comes across: you can follow the vocal, the kick and snare mark the pulse and the guitars push. It may sound raw, but it sounds like a song. Now it’s worth organizing all that: buses and routing.