Get Started Mixing Music - In Just 30 minutes

Check out our "Back to Basic" mixing guide!
Download the AUDIO FILES from the video plus our FREE guide: thinkspaceeduc...
How do you mix a track? Where do yo start? Join composer Guy Michelmore as he walks you through the process from start to finish in just 30 minutes. EQ, compression, reverb, balancing the mix and a work flow for putting the whole thing together. Better still, download the same audio files Guy is using and try it yourself at home.

[@embereyes]

“No point in listening to it in isolation” sadly I have no option but to listen to this in isolation. Great tutorial Guy

[@tedrowland7800]

@Ember Eyes: He was talking about soloing the track, that is "isolating it from the rest of the mix, so that the effects that are being added, is only to that track. You can then listen to it "isolated" while you tweak the effects. So he added it back to the mix, to listen to it with all the other instruments, instead of "listening to it in isolation".

[@marcodebrabander5751]

@@tedrowland7800 lol

[@Eloho-Inibi]

I just LOVE Guy! He teaches in a fun way making sure you understand and stay glued. I certainly don't get some of the terminologies, but I'll search them out. Thanks, Guy for this video.

[@emmanuelebin9427]

You've just got to love Guy Michelmore for his sense of humor and the way he makes things easy to understand.

[@GiuseppeVigliotti]

You are that kind of friend everybody need...❤️

[@raphaelzapp9204]

I am so grateful to have found your channel. Before I didn't enjoy DAW stuff and always found it dry. With you, for the first time, it's just fun and I learn so much in a short time from you!

[@madmatt112]

Every single video of yours I learn such wonderful things. Not just technique and tools - but ear, heart, and philosophy lessons as well. Thanks for everything you give us Guy.

[@nukeman444]

I can hear that song being used in our YT videos. Good piece.

[@samwebb5329]

This is just what I need right now, legend!!

[@florianb81]

i would love to see your Cocktail Recipe Guy. Hope you and everyone important to you is safe and healthy

[@betterday0894]

Thank you! I used to make music on pirated DAWs almost all of my childhood and teen years, and only just a few months back purchased my first Cubase license and some essential VSTs and am trying to dive deeper into it. You are really helping me along the way.

[@MrJazz-yp9wg]

I just love watching you work. You're so inspiring and I wish you would finish this tune and make it official. I could see myself on the boardwalk going out for a stroll. Lovely tune. I love your spirit. Thank you for just being you. You're a gift of God to us all.

[@salliemorrill2671]

I am so glad you focused on mixing. This clarified a number of factors for me signal processing, attenuation, & balance of instruments.

[@barryjenkins1179]

In Cubase, you don't need to duplicate and delete to have separate drum tracks (3:30). Just dissolve the part (MIDI > Dissolve Part) and it will give you a separate track for each note.

[@AlejandroMinnelli]

27:43 that strings part is beautiful... great video as usual Guy! Thanks for all the tips and tricks you share with us!

[@rajnaidu5521]

Tq, Man. For a newbie like me it's important practice ,,,🙏🙏🙏

[@davidrecchione8585]

Thank you so much for this and for all the videos. I’m so glad I found ThinkSpace years ago and became a student. After taking CO, MFTM and composers blueprint I’ve become a better composer and arranger. Thank you Guy and everyone at Thinkspace for all the help. Stay safe everyone

[@Saeedathar]

Absolutely Correct my friend. Arrangment is 80% mixing your music . If the sound don't blend in they will not blend in mixing. AGREED .... Thanks

[@bonniecorralmusic]

Thank you for this excellent intro to mixing!

[@liamfletcher1663]

Guy, you are an absolute joy to listen to. I'm a singer looking for someone that is you to give me and my songs the direction they need. Oh, if you only lived close by. 😕

[@ktdickinson]

Many thanks for posting this Guy - you helped de"mix"ify the whole mixing experience. Very helpful! My brain was making this overly complicated so this is a great simple way to look at it. Can't wait to apply this to non-"stinky" tracks (hopefully).

[@franckthames6549]

Hello Guy !! Un petit coucou de la France où tes vidéos extraordinaires m'accompagnes tous les jours durant le confinement... merci, merci merci !!

[@SafK]

Great video Guy - is there a video where you created the initial piece?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/r5TKY3SHbqmAd5Y

[@damesworld6617]

He just flexed on all of us in the intro

[@RobertForslund]

Great video, gotta love it! And it's nice to see Guy seems to be just as lazy as me when it comes to dusting! I think a good going over is in order! 😄👍 Thank you for the video, it is exactly what I need on a relaxed Friday afternoon! Stay safe out there! 🙂

[@silviodiego22]

Thanks for the unic and useful video!! I had many doubts about mixing. They're solved. Please keep on doing this magic. I really. Really like your timing and irreverence. Aways look like an informal friendly conversation! Hugs from Brasil!!

[@enigmasounds]

Thanks so much, really made me smile today.....and also learnt a few tricks to...Happy Easter!

[@clairecooper1754]

Wow, really clear helpful tutorial and in 30 mins. Many thanks.

[@SimonEarly]

most excellent work there Guy. jolly good stuff

[@hittjett]

This is very useful for pop tracks, but I would love to see your thoughts on this in an orchestral context.

[@PendelSteven]

Nice intro. My mind didn't went there, so I smiled. I picked up a few character EQ / channel strips. I got why those are... Useful from the Sie-Q which I got with Soundtoys 5, modeled after a Siemens EQ from the 60's: The W295b. Maybe not so useful for orchestral use, but in general music making it's nice to have plugins that have the same quirks, controls and specific frequencies of famous used EQ's / channel strips. And yes, I've used 'character' compressors before, like the Waves CLA-2A, which came with my Waves bundle. That one I picked up because I've seen it used in famous studios tbh. I still like these intro videos. Reminders, et al.

[@eaglechildkeys]

More mixing videos Guy! Great content ;-)

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Yes we will do

[@LadyLaVelleFilms]

I love this song, simple but moving. Thanks, Guy, for teaching mixing!

[@alexoftheway8169]

It is genuinely a nice track! It's been facinating to see what you've done and to learn about somthing new. Thanks for posting this vidio and loving your enthusiasm!

[@FelixSunMusic]

Thank you so much for this! Also, enchanting dance at 20:46

[@mickimarbhmusic]

Excellent Guy thanks for sharing 🙌

[@dino4t5]

Best user-friendly example of mixing I've seen. Thanks Guy. Btw..what is the headphone mic you are using? Great quality

[@taran_mitchell]

What a fantastic tutorial! Thank you so much Guy😎

[@arthurfarfoo1029]

Guy, you're such a legend ! =D Thanks for everything you do !!

[@martinmihaly9358]

Thank you for share ! Beautiful Music!

[@shan5445]

This has been the best example of mixing.

[@billbuffett]

Precious as usual. And how so effective this little tune is... Great!. Thank you, Guy...and that “dance” at the end of the video is everything 😀...is it part of the mixing process? 🧐

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Vital....

[@keiththeodosiou]

Guy, you make me laugh so much lol. Love it!

[@raymondspagnuolo8222]

So useful! And we all can enjoy ourselves with a gentle laugh or two! .... a really nice Big Mac! LOL!

[@sprkymrt]

Really great info. enjoyed. 💯 🤠🎧🙏❤️

[@samuelgl]

Hi Guy! Maybe a video about the best woodwinds and brass library as you already done the strings one? Thanks a lot for your videos!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Yup not a bad thought

[@Bobthesnob]

Not enuogh views... not enough likes! I hope you know how valuable this kind of thing is to people like me trying to get our heads around this stuff! Thanks so much!

[@gr500music6]

This is fantastic, as usual. (I find it's a good idea, given the benefits of constantly saving, to give the file a second name and work on that - especially if you're going to be deleting some info such as midi parts. That way you can easily get the original thing back if you have to.)

[@jakobus977]

That's the first time I've seen that eq trick. Love it!

[@ScottsSynthStuff]

Guy, I think you have your channels reversed somewhere in your audio chain. Watching you edit the mix, you have the snare and HH panned to the left, but in the audio track in the video, they are actually panned to the right.

[@christiaanveltkamp]

Very instructive for me, thanks a lot for the video

[@user-lt2rw5nr9s]

I would love to watch you make a rap instrumental.

[@marshallhughes4514]

Lin Manuel watch out.......

[@DPiano]

I really appreciate your (and your team's of course) great efforts, thanks for all informative and also funny videos :) Could you please make a video for mastering, too? I know it's usually someone elses work to do but it would be helpful for us to learn the basic principles. Thank you!

[@AndrewHubbardBadger]

Lovely, what adds a lot IMO is the panning, Bravo Guy, one of my weak spots

[@dustintheblacklight]

Very useful, thank you. I love the result and of course your final dancing! :-)

[@mdabaraka]

Hi Guy, thank you for your great videos. Is there a specific reason why you bounce tracks like the kick track stereo? Is there any advantages opposed to rendering it mono? Thanks Take care

[@CrisGarcia6]

I mostly use stock effects which I preferred

[@ceeelle9672]

Wow! I cannot thank you enough. Perfect. ❤️

[@sam909hc]

Thanks sharing your knowledge with us

[@JonathanVernon_AudioDesign]

When it comes to EQ/compression ordering, personally i'll use an EQ first to cut away anything that's completely unnecessary to the sound, which is usually the very lows and sometimes hissy highs. This means the compressor isn't affected by unnecessary things. I'll do the compression second and then use another EQ in the third slot. This third EQ is the main one used to shape the sound as I like. The reason i do this after the compression is because i'm more likely to change the EQ further down the line, and if the EQ has come before the compression then any changes made to it will affect how the compressor is working, likely meaning i'll need to also re-adjust the compressor.

[@BinarySounds]

Check if your compressor has low pass and high pass filters for this purpose. This will save you an EQ instance in your chain. I am using Reaper and the supplied ReaComp has hp/lp filters for this purpose. You can also narrow it down so it responds to a specific frequency in the signal and ignores everything else.

[@PANTECHNICONRecordings]

Sometimes (just occasionally!) those “mistakes” you spot when listening to tracks in solo are actually cool quirky details when put in context with the other parts, so it’s worth checking them both ways. Maybe that F# actually works against the F...

[@thesoundunit]

Thanks Guy stay safe.

[@pjdahmen]

Thank you for the great tutorial

[@project1265ffo]

Also thank you the TSE Mixing document. I will mix that one :) great job

[@martag.4594]

Yes this is exactly what i needed ! Thank you Guy.

[@ThaciaMoniqueOliveira2]

Great work!

[@chriscorry7290]

Hello Guy, another excellent video, but I couldn't follow the render step. How do you get that dialog box up? This is something that's so often missing from these tutorials (not yours, usually!) - what does one have to click on? In this case, with Cubase Pro 11, I had to go to the manual to find out - select a track, go to Edit>Render in Place>Render Settings. But it doesn't show up in the same way as here - is that a change in Cubase? Amazingly, it even rendered a midi track rewired to Reason! Worth the video for that alone!

[@danielscott63]

would you ever do a start to finish series? from making the track 2 mins long pop song style ish, through to mixing and mastering? over 7/8 videos maybe???

[@ImaginaryComposer]

I've been struggling with mixing the last few weeks. This was a great overview, exactly what I needed! That tip of keeping the piano as the ruler and then "perform" recording with each track was great. I'm certainly going to use that later today on my session!

[@aswinjohn1259]

wow!!great tutorial.I am ammature in mixing.This video give me an overall idea about orchestral mixing.But my doubt is whether gain staging is needed before these process?anyone please answer my question

[@RKSarathy]

Think Space Education turned into Guy Michelmore ☺️☺️☺️☺️

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

We're still Thinkspace Education of course but a number of people had said it would be easier to find if the channel had my name. www.thinkspaceeducation.com

[@scottyharp]

Was hoping to see this after yesterdays video!

[@dionysismaniatakosmusic]

Thanks for making this video.I find it really useful!

[@dfizzbom]

As it's been mentioned, a full and complicated orchestral composition would be helpful. A handful of typical tracks is one thing but a large track count score is a beast to wrangle in. As a composition goes along being built I find that by the end the track count can be large. Each instrument had a reason for being there but by the end there can be redundancy problems with instruments and frequency ranges. Thin out the instruments? Make them all work together? Quite a puzzle of instruments and frequencies to juggle. It's this that needs to be covered.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

It really is which is why we did this course with the3 legendary Jake Jackson! thinkspaceeducation.com/om/

[@longdashes]

This is splendid. Thank Guy! Could you maybe do a video on how to find the best used BPM? I am struggling so hard with this. More than with anything else. :(

[@stiffiron]

What do you want the various instrument levels to be? Are you trying to have each instrument the relative level it would be in an acoustic listening environment? Or do you just want to make the levels about even, instrument to instrument, so each instrument can be heard easily?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

I personally work out where the focus needs to be, in this case the piano, and build the mix around that

[@stiffiron]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation Thank you! That's very helpful! :-)

[@ServingMyJesus]

Would have started with a static mix then gain staging before going on to the work that you showed in the video?

[@LindaMissad]

Thanks, Guy. How did you decide what to put right and what to put left in the stereo field?

[@ZX-6R]

Hi Guy, thanks for the video. What about mixing orchestral music? And are you sure about the compression on the piano? Sounds weird imo... anymway, thanks a lot, tchin tchin!

[@jamesknightvo]

The very first thing I was taught on my BTEC audio production course was: "If you put sh!t in, you'll get sh!t out".

Yep, you can't polish a turd.

[@stutty1400]

GIGO .. Garbage In, Garbage Out

[@andrew1479]

Whilst trying to techno-babble a client who has just shovelled some crap audio to be mixed 'n' fixed, in your direction. You may use the following sentence, "ahh, I can see this material conforms to the international SISO standard". (SISO - Shit In Shit Out)

[@marekklucka4407]

Guy, if you try to combine recordings with VST sounds, how do you approach Reverb? Is it better to try to have the sound as dry as possible and then reverbing the final Stereo out to have it sound as in same room? Or do you actually prefer to have each instrument to have own sounds/reverbs?

[@BansuriVoyage]

sir, how imp is subwoofer in mix? i have genelecs 8030 which only go to 55hz. Now for below that i don't have any reference. Do you think investing in a woofer can be a game changer?

[@jetlussmedia]

which library specifically are you using here Guy? I love that piano and the strings

[@Larsmannetje66]

Hi Guy, thoroughly enjoyed this one as well! Could you explain at some time, when you’re done with the bar in your garden, what exactly mixing ends and mastering begins? That is still not really clear to me (aside from making sure the volume of separate tracks is consistent)...

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Mastering is what you do to the finished stereo audio file. Mixing is creating that stereo file. Often and preferably they are done by different people as well. Fresh ears....

[@marcusdekker]

@17.00 what s wrong with the the inbuild Cubase EQ?

[@elphenomen100]

Thanks for your videos and your inspiration! There are two problems I am currently dealing with: 1. Everytime I'm doing Automation (dynamics and axpression), then save and close it, the whole Automation is gone when I reopen the project. I'm currently using Spitfire Audio Originals in Maschine which is my 2nd Problem. I'm still not sure if Maschine is the software to go with if I will focus on orchestral music. Do you have any advice for this? Maybe you could do a video about this topic, I would appreciate it a lot!

[@lavderim77]

Than you for a good explanation

[@GamingNostalgiaRemastered]

I love this man. No homo.

[@timfunk2493]

Try Convolution Reverb Pro! You'll Love it!

[@theMixElite]

I would really like to know your favorite cocktails though

[@yurianvise1672]

Ha! I also saw your channel too, nice tips !

[@magruhn]

This intro xD incredible xDD

[@Andi-mb7mz]

Great video :) But I was really wondering why you rendered all the tracks in stereo. I was always told that mono instruments like kick drum and bass have to be recorded on mono tracks. I'm a little confused now...mono or stereo? What is right?

[@greggromano5577]

What open back headphones do you like to use?

[@roccor.5761]

Thank you so much... If you have multiple Hihats (or claps or snare ecc ecc), did you render in place every single chanel (sound) or the whole group?

[@lifeismusic3734]

learned something yet again :)

[@AndreasvanHaren]

SO not cocktail mixing? Can I request a video for that :) ?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Absolutely (hic)

[@stephensims2369]

I love these videos!!

[@linusolssonmusic]

I forgot to ask you this on the video game rescore video you did but ether way, would you like to try and compose an 90's 16-bit-alike video game cue with vintage sampling and all? I already know how to work with something like that but i'm just curious if you'd think that sounds like a fun video idea.

[@franm6569]

Thank you for this!

[@MrEduardoVelez]

Loved the intro. Thanks for the laugh.

[@AllanGildea]

Guy, yer a gem, thanks a mill.