Mixing Plug-ins 101: How to Start Mixing

by Arthur Kody, iZotope Contributor September 28, 2021

Mixing is often thought of as a long and tedious process—involving countless hours tweaking, refining, and sliding faders until your ears bleed. But, it doesn’t have to be that way. With the right mixing plug-ins, mixing can be simple, easy, and fun.

Mixing Plug-ins 101: How to Start Mixing

by Arthur Kody, iZotope Contributor September 28, 2021

In this article, I’ll walk you through how to mix with plug-ins in order to get better sounding mixes faster. I’ll be using several different mixing plug-ins along the way, but you can get access to every plug-in in this article by becoming a Music Production Suite Pro
member.

I need to get back to this page to watch the video about creating stems…

Stems In Music Production — Everything You Need To Know | Production Expert

Stems are submixes of a larger mix, that when played together at equal volume will exactly recreate the full mix.

Typically, this will mean dividing larger ensembles, whether recorded naturally or artificially, into smaller subsections. An orchestral mix might be stemmed into strings, brass, woodwind and percussion, or a rock band into drums, guitars, keys and vocals. Crucially, stems are groups of elements that make up the final mix, not the individual elements themselves.

Tom Bullen | Production Expert — Author Bios

Tom Bullen is an audio engineer and editor based in London, working in both music and spoken word. He mainly uses Pro Tools and specialises in working to picture, having worked on hundreds of film and television scores in various capacities as engineer, assistant engineer and music editor. He has also recorded countless hours of radio drama and voice over. Having worked in professional studios for over a decade, Tom went freelance in 2020.

Are We Being Conned By Mixing Tricks? We Look At The Most Popular Ones | Production Expert

Some people refer to “mixing tricks” but are they really tricks? When is a technique just a technique? Julian looks at some common examples and decides.

I put an EQ as the first insert on my reverb AUX channels. When I insert reverbs I try to make sure that I adjust the filters that are built in to most of my reverbs. I think it’s better to be able to “see” the filter on the AUX channels.

Experts Discuss 5 Beautifully Mixed & Mastered Tracks from the Last 40 Years

by Jett Galindo, iZotope Contributor July 15, 2021

Don’t risk falling into the trap of making your records sound louder and brighter by default for no reason. Although mainstream music might deem it otherwise, there’s no one-size-fits-all rule to what constitutes a great-sounding mix and master. Many times, you get a better picture of the final sound by understanding the context behind the production—from the genre and arrangement down to the songwriting and the artist’s stories/influences.