Mixing & export
Balance your tracks, effects and EQ
A clear mix starts with parts that leave room for one another. Set their levels and positions first, then add processing with a purpose.
Start with levels
- Listen to the busiest section. It reveals overload and competing parts more clearly than a quiet introduction.
- Lower secondary tracks so the main musical idea is easy to follow.
- Use pan to position sounds left and right. Check that the overall balance has not become one-sided.
- Compare with the previous version at a similar loudness. Louder is not automatically better.
If you added separated stems, mute the original stereo track first. Otherwise you are judging a doubled arrangement.
Give each effect a job
EQ changes frequency balance. Reduce what gets in the way, such as unnecessary low frequencies in a secondary part. Boosting several regions heavily can make a mix louder and harsher without making it clearer.
A compressor reduces differences between louder and quieter moments. If a drum loses its attack, revisit the settings or reduce the processing. Reverb adds a sense of space; delay adds repeats. Too much of either can blur a rhythm.
Track controls and master controls act at different levels. Fix an individual problematic instrument on its track rather than changing the whole mix to accommodate it.
Open EQ and mastering
The EQ workspace handles frequency shaping and final processing. The master bus combines the arrangement before playback and mix export. Changes here affect the complete result.
Mastering settings include LUFS and true peak. LUFS helps compare perceived loudness over time; true peak describes peak headroom, including inter-sample peaks. They measure different things.
There is no single ideal setting for every piece of music. A quiet acoustic composition and a dense electronic track call for different choices. Gentle processing that preserves dynamics can be more useful than maximum loudness.
Check the finished sound
Listen to the beginning, the busiest section and the reverb tail. If possible, compare headphones with another playback device. Then export a WAV and listen to the downloaded file itself.
If you hear clicks or playback stops on a slower computer, check performance first. A technical playback fault is not something to fix with more compression or gain.