The 4 Fundamentals of Mixing Music

That’s composition. It’s arrangement for musicians, but for you, it’s composition. And it’s composition for the composer—because that’s what they do, thus the name. (Yes, my mind can go on like this.)

It’s dimension (high above it—though more frequency in this case), it’s subject highlight (oboe, then clarinet), it’s instrument relationships (bassoons and basset horns in supporting roles).

Dimension is about creating a 3D mix but composition tells you where to place the instruments and vocals in that 3D space. This is why I encourage people new to mixing or mixing new songs to listen to the original recordings of the songs so they can make composition notes that tell them what goes where (and if/how effects are used to accomplish it).

4. Style Target

Make sure you wear a black shirt when mixing. OK, it’s not THAT type of style of I’m talking about. I’m talking about creating a mix that mimics or best reflects the sound desired by the worship leader or the band’s “defined sound.”

Is the band acoustic-drive? Pop/rock? What is their style of music? Heck, I’ve heard a Christian punk/rock band that was outrageously loud (too loud, in fact) but their mix dimension, subjects and composition was amazingly tight.

Do you have a lead singer, an acoustic guitar and a piano? How do you think that should sound? Definitely not like a rock band.

Style target defines how you mix and what you do with effects.

Going even further, I’ve mixed contemporary bands for two churches of similar size but because one band used a keyboard as the primary lead instrument for every song, I had to mix them differently.

We do three services each weekend with the same format, same songs, etc. One Saturday and two Sunday. And while I can hit the mix the majority of the time, I’ve had a couple times when the next day the worship leader politely said I needed to boost or lower something. In other words, I wasn’t hitting the target.

Recap

For a quick recap, the four fundamentals of mixing music are:

  • Dimension
  • Subject (Primary Channels)
  • Composition
  • Style Target

As you begin your next mixing session, consider these four areas when making any mix changes.