Tag Archives: Mixing

Electronic Music

How to Produce Music and Music Mixing Techniques

I started to try and mix a few of my own songs a few months back and I found that there is a lot more to mixing than I first thought, a real science in fact! I thought about going to a music production school to take some lesson but I didn’t have the time or money. I have put a few points together that anyone who is about to mix a track for the first time or thinking seriously about music production. You should make sure of the following music production tips:

Make sure you do not use bad quality recordings – If you are recording a guitar or bass from an organic instrument you need to make sure the quality of the sound/recording is good or that all the audio within your song is at the same level of quality, otherwise no matter of mixing will fix it. Most people will aim for the best quality but, budget can affect this, so weight up at what the overall quality level you are wanting and stick to it for each track. This is one of the best music mixing tips anyone can without a doubt learn.

Fix all problems you might have with equipment/software before recording – Now, anyone recording anything ever will have had the nightmare of a piece of equipment not doing what it should or what it normally does. No matter how long it takes and how annoying it gets, always fix any problems with software or equipment before you sit down and start mixing. It can be very counterproductive to not sort these problems beforehand. At least get the anything that could cause a problem along the way fixed as much as you can. It is all very well knowing how to produce music but first you need to have everything in order before you hone in on your music mixing techniques.

Be realistic with what you can accomplish based upon your skills and equipment – Having high goals is great, but you are not going to make a home recorded song/album sound anything like a studio recorded album. It is worth remembering that the people (producers) mixing the songs and albums in these studios have many many years of experience. Having said that it is true to say that you do not have to have been to the University of Music to be able to mix and write your own songs.

Do what you can with what you have and do not be disheartened or intimidated by big artists that you like.. find some of the early songs or even demos if you can and see where they started.

There are many other music mixing tips to consider if you are interested in helping yourself understand how to produce music. I believe that if anyone ever wants to improve their music mixing techniques they should take a look at THIS website. It could be the case that you are stuck and do not know what to do next or it could be you are wanting to learn more skills and ‘tricks of the trade’, either way you should take a look.

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www.zylascope.com | Electronic Music

Electronic Music

Music Mixing Techniques and Music Mixing Tips

I recently realized that I did not know the music mixing techniques I thought I did and when I first started music production I learnt the hard way. I searched about for music production tips and music mixing online, during this time I found many opposing ideas that left me even more confused.

I am glad I did learn in the end though as I always thought there was something I was missing. I was right about that of course but I was looking in the wrong area; I thought it was with my song writing ability but the truth was I did know how to produce music. Here are a music mixing tips to consider and help you when you are mixing and recording music.

Write and record before doing any mixing – Before you start mixing make sure that the whole track is recorded (by you or someone else). This is rule number one on how to produce music. You cannot start to mix a track before it is finished as that would be like trying to decorate the insides of a house when the roof is not on yet. If you do start to mix a track before it is has finished being written it will never be finished because when you are writing you need to consider certain things and when mixing you consider different things. These two conflicting priorities will pull you right and left. If you are/have been doing this there is a good chance you are trying to use effects to mask a poorly written song or you need to learn and understand some basic music theory to pave a solid path forward. It is worth mentioning that you could be in need of some extra music production tips if you are having these problems when you do have a finished track

Always fix any problems with what has been recorded at the time of recording – If you are recording something or have been given a track from someone and you can hear that there is a problem somewhere in the track it is very important that this problem is rectified before going into the mixing process. It is important to set solid and clear boundaries between recording and mixing, I would say this is one of the golden rules that sits highly on the music production tips list. If you have just recorded a guitar part and something is not sitting quite right, maybe a note clash or something drops out of time briefly, fix it instantly. Either find a note that does not clash or re-record that specific bar around or in between the rest which works. Do not leaving it till the mix.

Arrange your environment before you start – Before you sit down and start to mix a track it is important to get everything arms reach and make sure you have everything needed out and close to hand. This may not be one of the most helpful music mixing techniques but it is important for concentration. It is no good if you have to keep getting up and going through cupboards looking for specific boxes or needing to use something only to find that you do not have the right cable or batteries.

Another thing to consider is R.S.I, this is very common if you are working on the computer and it is important to make certain adjustments to reduce the chances of this.

There are many other music mixing tips to consider if you are interested in helping yourself understand how to produce music. I believe that if anyone ever wants to improve their music mixing techniques they should take a look at THIS website. It could be the case that you are stuck and do not know what to do next or it could be you are wanting to learn more skills and ‘tricks of the trade’, either way you should take a look.

www.zylascope.com | Electronic Music