The First Stage of Mixing: Arrangement

One could argue that mixing is the most important stage in the record making process. I've mentioned before that it is the point where the album/EP/whatever will be made or broken, and I stand by that statement. What seems to be a mystery to many is that mixing does not begin during or after tracking. It begins long before in the arrangement stage and instrument choice (both type and quantity) is the most important step.

The biggest thing to remember when entering this process is always keep your end goal in mind. This may not always be clear at first, but once it is, never forget it.

It can be cool, depending on the style of music, to have many instruments going on at once. What you want to keep in mind is there is a threshold of too much. This, again, is extremely important if you're going for a clean and clear production style. If you're going for a big, chaotic sound then pile away but still remember that if you're looking for two or three things to specifically poke out in the mix, you still want to have a limit to the madness.

The other thing you want to keep in mind is the frequencies those instruments are occupying. This is especially important when you're implementing a healthy amount of synthesizers or electronic instruments in addition to live drums, guitar and bass. Certain synthesizers can occupy a lot of the same frequencies as overdriven or distorted guitars and the dominance battle will shortly ensue. If you're adding electronically produced drum loops/samples over existing live drums, then make sure you’re keeping that end goal in mind, decide which you want to be the prominent sound in the mix, and program accordingly.

All of the above decisions will be tested when it comes time for the mixing engineer to tackle the project. He or she can do much to carve out the appropriate frequency range for each instrument but there are only so many desirable frequencies to attenuate or increase in the spectrum. The more instruments you add, the more frequencies they'll take up and the more cluttered the mix will become. The biggest damage will come to your wallet as the more specific carving the engineer has to do, the longer the mix job will take, and the more money it may cost you.

The intensity at which you follow the advice I've laid out before you depends heavily on the sound and style of music you write and the production style you're going for. If you want the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound", then you don't have to be as picky although the choices you make are still important. If, however, you are looking for a much more clean sound where each of the instruments and elements can be heard in its on pocket of the mix, then follow this advice closely as it is extremely important and valuable for the quality of your end product.