Mixing Philosophy

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about mixing, and I’ve been there too, so I know exactly what people mean when they ask things like: How can I improve my mix? How many plugins should I use? Which plugin should I use? I’m not sure if my song sounds right. So I wanted to write a short article that could help you improve your music and maybe even change the way you think about mixing.

As you might know, I’ve interviewed more than 100 Grammy Award-winning engineers and producers. I’ve seen a lot of different workflows, a lot of “secret sauces,” and I’ve learned a lot from the best of the best. But let me tell you something right now: there are no real secrets. The biggest secret is simplicity. A lot of people are already telling you exactly what matters most — you’re just not always hearing it.

So let me give you a few things that can actually improve your mix right now. If you implement these ideas, your mix can instantly sound much better.

By the way, if you want to learn more about mixing, I’m putting together a course based on my mixing philosophy — the same philosophy I learned from more than 100 Grammy Award-winning engineers and producers, plus my own real-world mixing experience.

I took everything I’ve learned and translated it into simple language. So if you’re a bedroom producer, or a mixing engineer who wants to learn something new and understand my approach to making mixes sound clean and solid, click the link below and join the early access list. Once I see enough people interested, I’ll notify you first.

LINK: https://shop.meshplugins.com/pages/safe-mixing-couse

1. The Most Important Thing Is the Recording

The most important thing is not the plugins, not the DAW, and not your outboard gear. The most important thing is the emotion, the delivery, your ears, and the way the artist recorded the take. A great mix starts with a great recording.

The better the recording, the less you need to do in post-production. So the first tip is simple: if you are recording vocals or instruments, make sure they are recorded properly. This matters more than almost anything else.

2. Gain Staging and Level Balance

The second big thing is gain staging and volume balance in the mix. This is probably one of the most important things that can change your mix.

If you need more vocals in the mix, turn them up. If you want your drums to hit harder, make them louder. If you want the track to feel a little brighter, maybe turn up the percussion. Before you touch EQ, reverb, or any other effects, you need to get the levels right.

Gain staging is one of the most important parts of your mix, your song, and your beat. It can actually solve most of the problems before you even start adding plugins.

3. Panning Is Super Important

The next important thing is panning. Panning is super important. By using pan left or hard pan right, you can fix the other half of the problems in your mix. It can make your beat or song sound wider and more expensive.

In general, keep your low frequencies in mono and keep the lead vocal in mono. But at the same time, sometimes the style of the song allows you to break that rule. You can make bass stereo, or even make the lead vocal wider, if it serves the song.

But in general, if you can pan an instrument in your song, do it. Pan your ad-libs, pan your harmonies, pan whatever makes sense. Panning is one of the greatest tools for making your mix sound more open and professional.

4. Less Is More

Just think about how people were mixing songs in the ’80s. They had a console, basic compression, maybe a preamp, panning, and levels. A lot of those songs didn’t even have much reverb, and they still sound amazing to this day.

If you go back and listen to old-school mixes, they still sound incredible. And if you try to remix some of those records today from a modern point of view, you might actually lose the emotion and make them sound worse.

So when you’re mixing, keep this in mind: less is more. Always. If the recording is great, you don’t need much. Start with gain staging, then pan left and right, and then only add what is truly needed.

5. Don’t Use Plugins Just Because You Can

After that, you can apply a few plugins if the track really needs them. For example, if you think your vocal needs de-essing, sometimes the better move is simply to make it a little quieter. You do not always need to de-ess every vocal.

Sometimes, using a de-esser can take away some of the emotion. If the vocal was recorded poorly, then yes, you may need it. But most of the time, less is better. Add a little reverb, a little delay, and you’re probably good to go. Put a limiter on the master, and the song might already be done.

6. Your Taste Matters the Most

One of the most important questions in mixing is very simple: do you like it or not? If you like the mix, if you like how it sounds, then do it. Release it. Export it.

Your taste and your ears are some of the most important tools you have. Delivery and emotion matter more than rules. When you’re mixing, try to support the emotion of the song. There is no room for ego in the mix or in music. If something makes the song better, do it.

If you like using 10 compressors on a vocal, do it. If you want to use 5 soft clippers on the master bus, do it. Learn the basic rules first — and then break them.

7. Sound Selection Matters More Than Plugins

One of the best pieces of advice I learned from more than 100 Grammy Award-winning engineers and producers is this: if you like the song and you like how it sounds, just release it.

I’ve seen Grammy-winning producers who barely mix at all. They put a limiter or a soft clipper on the master bus, and that’s it. And when they release the track, it still sounds incredible.

The instrument choices, the sound selection, and the taste behind the production are often more important than any plugin. If you select the right sounds from the beginning, you will fix a lot of problems before they even appear in the mix.

Quick Summary: How to Improve Your Mix Fast

1. Start with a great recording or great sound selection.
2. Do gain staging. Balance the levels until the mix feels right.
3. Use panning. Pan instruments, harmonies, and ad-libs to create width.
4. Keep low frequencies under 100 Hz in mono, and usually keep the lead vocal in mono too (or EXPERIMENT!).
5. Use a simple limiter to make the track louder if needed.
6. If you like how it sounds, keep it. Don’t overthink it. Move on!

Sometimes you do not even need full mastering. Just make it loud enough, make sure it is not clipping too hard, and if it sounds good to your ears, you may already be good to go.

Learn Stock Plugins First

One more important note: try to learn how to use stock plugins first. If you can mix your song using only stock plugins, that means you are ready to level up your workflow.

Some of the best mixes are made with stock plugins or with very basic bundles like Waves or FabFilter. Learn how to mix with simple tools first. Then, when you try a third-party plugin, ask yourself one question: does this plugin really improve my workflow or my sound?

If a plugin gives you an extra 5%, then great — use it. But if you can already make a good mix with stock instruments and stock plugins, then you’re doing a great job. At that point, you do not need more plugins. You need better ears and better taste.

Plugins I Personally Like

At the end of this article, I just wanted to share a few plugins that I really like and use a lot in my mixes:

• Waves RVOX: I like using it on vocals because it is simple and easy to use.
• AutoTune Vocal Reverb: A nice vocal reverb option that works well.
• FabFilter Pro-L 2: One of my favorite limiters. I really like how it sounds.
• Soundtoys Decapitator: Great for saturation and adding character.

In my opinion, just using tools like these can already help you make a great mix. I’ll leave the links below if you want to check them out.

One More Thing: Networking Matters Too

And at the end, I want to mention one more thing. If you want to grow your career faster, get more placements, and get more clients, you need to learn networking.

I recently released my networking course, where I put together all of my personal experience and turned it into a practical course about networking — how to meet people, how to build real relationships, and how to get more clients and placements.

Without learning this basic skill, it can be much harder to grow. So if you want to level up your career, I’ll leave the link below:

https://shop.meshplugins.com/products/no-fluff-networking-music-industry

I came to the United States five years ago without knowing anyone, and I built my network from zero. I connected with more than 100 Grammy Award-winning engineers and producers. If I had not done it actively, it probably would have taken me 10 to 15 years. But because I moved with intention, people already knew me within the first two years.

I’m not selling you some magical secret pill. I’m just showing you how to shorten the line and grow faster. It still depends on you. But if you want to move faster, networking is way more important than most people think.