Home Music Production Beginner Tips: Your Complete Guide To How To Mix Audio Like A Pro 2021

Do you want to know how Mixing Music is done? We can show up the light. Using either software or hardware equipment, this guide can be your one-stop source for music mixing.

Before we tell you what you need to properly mix music we thought we better spend a few minutes explaining what mixing music really is. If you know all about just skip it.  

What Is Mixing Music?

When you hear someone talking about mixing music, he or she could potentially be talking about one of two things. Firstly it could be the process of mixing down an audio track in the studio where the different elements of a track are carefully listened to and the different audio levels are adjusted in order to create a mix that sounds balanced.

Most likely though mixing music referrers to the process of taking two complete songs and adjusting the tempo and other characteristics in order to flawlessly blend the two tracks together. The most popular and well-known example of this is the classic two turntables and a mixer. Having been around for almost 25 years now the basic turntables and mixer setup lets you easily create amazing sound results with the ability to truly interact with the equipment. Although a simple description the art of mixing music can become as complicated as one wishes. Basic mixes can be as short as a couple of seconds or as complicated as a 3 minutes mix, which needs to be in perfect key. The possibilities are endless.

Recently with the surge in computer technology, the way people can mix music has drastically changed. Firstly the advent of CD mixers has enabled one to do everything and more than turntables could do, and now you can almost recreate the feel that turntables give you. Secondly, there are now many software solutions that can let you directly mix music on the fly on your computer. Read as we explain more.

So I Want To Mix Music

As mentioned the most traditional way to mixing music is done through records. Yes, good old-fashioned records. How it works is one you have set up two turntables your mixer controls your audio levels and EQ’s, which is the frequency of the audio feeds going into your mixer. Some mixers can be extremely complex and include different effects processors to further process your sound. What then must be done is for the pitch of your records need to be adjusted so that the two records are playing at the same temp here then the music will be able to flawlessly blend together.

First things first if you are going to mix using records you need to buy turntables and a mixer. Find amazing deals on complete DJ systems at zZounds. Furthermore, the record addiction will start to kick in and before you know it you will be spending too much money on vinyl. So BEWARE if you are on a tighter budget it is recommended that you purchase a CD set up, especially if you currently have a decent CD library for the music you are interested in mixing. The technology is quite sophisticated with regards to CD turntables and you can actually buy models that look and feel exactly like turntables. The Numark CDX is an amazing piece of equipment, and so is the Denon DNS5000. These two decks though are going to run you at about $700-$800 each, so if you have the money to spend either of these products is a must. On a budget, though we recommend the Pioneer CDJ100 for mixing music. These are quite a club standard and are likely to see them in a lot of lower-end clubs. This can be very important because especially with CD decks there is quite a difference between different CD players.

The piece of software which has really taken mixing music by storm is the Native Instruments Traktor DJ Studio This piece of software enables you to do things that CD player and turntables would have never of dreamed of doing. Many musicians are switching over to this piece of software on their laptops as compared to using individual pieces of hardware. You are able to edit tempo and pitch independently of each other therefore allowing one to further fine-tune the mix. Along with the filters and automation and easy control, this piece of software is an incredible find and an and inexpensive way to mix great music.

Like anything in music production the choice of how to do things can be quite overwhelming. One must think though it is not the equipment but the person who creates great music.