Understanding the basic mixing stages – Apple Logic Pro 9 User Manual
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Understanding the Basic Mixing Stages
Although there are no rules for mixing—except those learned from experience and a
good ear—mixing generally takes place in the stages listed below. The structure of the
sections in this chapter follows the same basic workflow. You may, however, find yourself
moving back and forth between stages as you work on the mix.
Stage 1:
Making Preparations
Take some time to prepare and preview your arrangement before you start mixing.
• Preview the tracks in your arrangement to see if you can group some of them in a
logical manner. If you have lots of drum tracks, for example, it can be useful to group
these tracks and link some of their parameters, which you can then adjust for the whole
group at once. For details, see
• Preview the tracks in your arrangement using the mute and solo functions. See
and
Stage 2:
Setting Volume Levels
Set the relative levels for each channel strip, to control the volume relationships between
your project’s parts. See
Stage 3:
Setting Pan, Balance, or Surround Position
Set the pan/balance/surround for each channel strip, to control their positions in the
stereo or surround field. See
Setting Pan, Balance, or Surround Position in the Mixer
.
Stage 4:
Adding and Routing Effects
After the basic sound and levels are the way you like them, you can add some effects,
such as reverb or chorus, to your musical parts. You also need to look at how you route
your audio to these effects. See
Adding and Routing Effects in the Mixer
.
Stage 5:
Controlling Signal Flow
There are many ways to control the signal flow in your mix, using inputs/outputs, aux
channel strips, output channel strips, multiple instrument outputs, and so on. See
Controlling Signal Flow in the Mixer
.
Stage 6:
Automating the Mix
Some parts of your project may benefit from real-time changes to levels, effects, or
instrument settings. This is best achieved with track automation. See
Stage 7:
Bouncing the Project
The last phase—which is not a mixing task, per se—is to render or bounce your project
to one or more files. See
.
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Chapter 27
Mixing