How to Practice Mixing
Reading time: 2-3 minutes
Today's post is a quickie. Let's talk about how to practice your mixing chops.
Mixing is no different than any other art form, it takes years of experience and intense practice to really get great at it. And let's face it, you're going to suck in the beginning. Thats ok! So how can we improve faster? How do we shorten the time it takes to master your craft? The answer is more deliberate practice. Here are some ways you can deliberately practice mixing and get better faster.
EAR TRAINING
There are several options for ear training software out there. Help you attune your ear to things like frequency and compression. All of these programs/apps will give you instant feedback and help pin point problem areas in your hearing. Then you can focus on those areas. These also provide a great warmup before you start a mix. Here's three to check out:
MULTITRACK MIX SESSIONS
A great way to practice is to get a fresh session of a song you've never heard, didn't record, and just start mixing. Each of these sites has a batch of mix sessions that you can download to work on:
OTHER TIPS
1) Take out one of your old sessions, make a copy of it, wipe it clean and start over. Don't think too much, see where it ends up.
2) Peruse through YouTube to find new techniques. After watching, spend some time working a new technique into your toolbox. Some search terms that can help find useful information include:
compression
reverb
eq
mixing tips
mixing tutorials
3) Find some producers that you love who do live streams on Twitch! What better way to learn than to watch the people that inspire you do what they do best. Two members on our team have great Twitch streams to follow:
Hope that helps guys! Thanks for reading :)
