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Mixing Songs and big Frustrations

Article | Jan 16, 2025

Someone on reddit asked a questions about mixing tracks:

Dead Gammit! I want to hire someone how can teach me how to mix kick and bass! Please Bitwig guru answer my call! I'm sick of reading books on mix engineering and watching videos. I repeat what I learn and I still don't get the results like I want. Don't waste your time with tips, I know them all and could make my on YT video haha.

And I wrote a small answer to that, here are a few tips how to ease the pain:

Alright, I’ll try to give you a few tips here in text form. If you want, we can dive deeper into this—just hit me up on Discord. Maybe I can help you better there, and if you want, you could upload a track or some reference material so I can give you more specific feedback.

First off, mixing and mastering are probably some of the hardest things to do in audio production. Everything is constantly in motion. You’re not just mixing and mastering for yourself but for others too, and everyone hears things differently. Then there are different playback systems: an iPhone sounds completely different from a club system. There are cars, radios, and so on. Sometimes people listen quietly; other times, they crank up the volume. The music itself can also vary—some tracks are designed for clubs, meaning they need to be loud and punchy, while others are meant to be quieter and more dynamic. Some tracks even shift between dynamic and loud within the same piece. So there’s a lot in play, constantly changing depending on the type of music you’re working on.

The kick and bass are obviously some of the most important parts since they form the foundation of a track. If you can get those right, the rest of the track tends to fall into place.

Here are a few tips you can try:

  1. Use reference tracks: Find songs or tracks you like, especially ones with kick and bass you admire, and compare your mix to them.

  2. Keep it minimal at first: Try building a track that’s super simple—just a bass, kick, snare, hi-hat, and maybe one lead sound. Fewer elements mean less to mix, so it’s easier to focus.

  3. Mix without dynamic processors: For practice, try mixing a track without compressors, limiters, or multiband limiters. Just use EQ and volume. This will help you get 90% of the mix right without relying on extra tools. Once you’ve nailed that, adding a compressor is just icing on the cake.

  4. Focus on kick and bass: Use tools like bandpass filters to really analyze what’s happening in the low end of your reference tracks. Pay attention to the relationship between the kick and bass. How loud is the sub compared to the kick? What happens in the mid-bass frequencies? Are there cuts or boosts in the reference tracks?

To start, simplify the process: fewer moving parts, focus on the low end, and use only EQ and volume. Once that’s solid, you can add a soft or hard clipper to control dynamics. If that works, slowly introduce compressors or multiband compressors.

Also, understand that mixing will always feel frustrating. Even seasoned pros struggle with it. Over time, you’ll develop a workflow that works for you, but the challenges never go away completely. The key is to embrace the process, find joy in solving the problem every time, and not overthink it. Trust your ears, take lots of breaks, and always go back to your reference tracks.

That’s pretty much it from me for now. Hope this helps!