Let’s imagine the situation: you have taken the time to compose a nice piece, you have recorded each instrument separately under the best possible conditions, and you are now ready to begin the mixing phase.
Problem: where should you start?
Should you mix the vocals first?
The drums?
Is there a specific order of tracks to follow when mixing a piece?
As is often the case in the studio world, there are several possible answers, with each sound engineer having their own tips and preferences.
However, through this short article, I would like to help you start “from the right end,” that is, the one that makes sense for you and for the style of music you are producing.
Start with the Drums
Personally, I start 99% of the time with the drums (or the beat if applicable).
For me, it is the instrument that drives the piece par excellence, giving it its structure.
If you remove it, often the mix collapses.
By starting with mixing this instrument, it allows you to focus right away on the instrument that supports the piece — whether the drums are highlighted in the mix or not, by the way.
Once the drums are stable, mixed harmoniously with a sound that matches the musical genre / style you want to give to the piece, you can then build the mix around it incrementally.
You thus place the bass, guitars, vocals… in the space ensuring that it integrates into the groove.
As the drums are already mixed, the exercise becomes easier: you just need to position the instruments relative to this rhythmic reference.
If you are a beginner, this approach is the one I recommend because it is the simplest and most logical.
Start with the Vocals
Another option: mix the vocals first.
Generally, this strategy is effective if the piece is vocally dominant: a cappella singing of course, pop with just a bit of string instruments surrounding the voice, slam or rap why not…
Indeed, in dense music (I think of rock or metal in particular), if you start by mixing the main vocal track, you will struggle to bring out your instruments well because your voice will already take up all the space.
On the other hand, if the piece is primarily centered on a vocal performance, focusing on mixing the vocals first allows you to immediately give it the style you want before adding the elements of harmony or rhythm around it.
This way, you can ensure at every moment that the tracks you add do not harm the quality and intelligibility of the vocal track.
Start with the Key Passage of the Piece
Another approach, not incompatible with the first two: start with the key passage of the piece.
In all songs, there is always what I would call a characteristic passage, that is, a particularly important moment that is the keystone of the piece, usually with a marked groove.
This could be the chorus, but not necessarily.
By starting to mix this handful of measures, you ensure that the key moment of the piece is under control — that is, the moment with the most emotion is mixed as well as possible.
This will give you a sort of reference for mixing the rest of the piece.
Indeed, once the key passage is mixed, you can focus on what comes before or after, managing transitions more easily.
Your progression will be logical: from your reference / key passage, you can easily ensure that the different parts flow correctly and that the build-up is gradual.
Mix Everything at Once
Last option, which is not the one I recommend: mix everything at once.
Personally, I tend to mix one instrument first, then a second, then a third… etc.
I build the mix progressively and incrementally.
However, some sound engineers prefer to mix the track while constantly (or almost) listening to the entire mix — so all the instruments — and making various corrections as they hear problems.
For example, they will first focus on mixing the kick drum and bass, then equalize the vocals or guitars a bit, and then return to the drums… constantly refining the settings in the context of the complete mix.
So yes, it is important to always pay attention to the rest of the instruments when mixing a track, but I find that the approach “I mix all the instruments at the same time without following any particular order” is rather a bad idea if you are a beginner because you might get a bit lost.
However, as a mixing exercise, it can be a very good idea :)!
In conclusion
There you go, you now know the main ways to approach mixing a track.
If you are a beginner, I recommend starting with the drums: it is the most common but also the simplest approach. This will allow you to give rhythm to your track right from the start.
However, feel free to experiment with other techniques, all equally valid.