Mixing

If you recorded all of your tracks properly, you shouldn't have much fixing to do. However, tracks either don't come out perfect, or you'll be mixing a song that someone else recorded. In either case, there are a few basic guidelines to follow.

First, bring up a rough mix to hear if there is any major audio malfunctions. The kick drum should be punchy (if that's the sound you're going for), the snare and toms should cut through, and the cymbals should be crisp and clear. Listen to the bass. It should provide a punchy low end and still be articulated enough to determine the pitch of the individual notes. Now, listen to the guitars. They should have plenty of midrange. Listen to the vocals. Can you hear every word? Does it sound like the singer is right there in front of you?

After you know that there is nothing extremely wrong with your tracks, start bringing them up in pairs to check for conflicts. Solo the drums and the bass. You should be able to distinguish a kick drum and a bass guitar. If you can't hear these two equally when playing together, you have a frequency conflict. Try boosting the kick at 80 Hz, cutting it at 200 Hz, and boosting the bass at 150 Hz. If this doesn't work, try other frequencies. To solve frequency conflicts, you want to create sonic holes for the instruments, or they'll just end up covering each other until you have a big mess. Remember that the sound of the kick drum and bass guitar will usually establish the low-end for the entire song, so make it sound good.

If the drums and bass didn't introduce any conflicts, solo the drums and guitars. You won't usually find any problems here since the fundamental of guitar is very different than that of the drums. But, if you do, use the same techniques mentioned above, but with different frequencies. The guitars will sound best when you boost the low mids around 400 Hz for warmth and around 3 kHz for the edge necessary to punch through.

Now, solo the drums with the vocals. The only possible problem here is with the presence of the voice and the cymbals. The cymbals should be EQ'd at 12.5 kHz with a shelving EQ. The vocals will sound good when boosted between 1 and 5 kHz for presence. I usually boost closer to 5 kHz, as this is the range that sounds more pleasant.

Here's a better idea: don't EQ the vocals at all. When you equalize a sound, you increase the chances of it conflicting with another sound. Besides, vocals sound more natural without EQ. Maybe rollof a little low end to remove non-vocal sounds such as micrphone stand rumbles and loud music from the next room. Unless the person paying you wants you to EQ the vocals, keep your equalizing little paws off of them.

Anyway, you should now have no conflicts with the drums. Try bringing up the bass again and solo it with guitars. Is the midrange articulation of the bass separate from the midrange of the guitars? The midrange of the bass can be anywhere from 800 Hz to 2 kHz. When you solo the bass with the vocals, you shouldn't get any conflicts. If you do, it's probably the top end clicks, pops and fret noise of the bass. This area can usually be cut without ruining the bass sound.

Here's a tough one. Solo the guitars with the vocals. The combination of heavily distorted guitars and the musicians that play them can cause the guitar sound to take up huge amounts of sonic space. On the other hand, the vocals are usually the track's main feature, so they should sound huge. Well, if you used 3 kHz to enhance the guitars and used a low frequency roll off while recording, you shouldn't have much of a problem. The fundamental of the guitars will be between 400 Hz and 800 Hz. The fundamental of the vocal will be between 800 Hz and 1 kHz.

You should have a well-balanced mix. Now you can concentrate on things like compression, reverb and other effects.

Make a cassette copy of your mix and listen to it in different environments - on your car stereo, on cheap speakers, on good speakers, on headphones. Get other people's opinions of your mix. This will simulate the different environments that your recording will be heard in.