How To 4 Mixing Mistakes You Have To Avoid

Mistakes we know everyone should avoid!

1 – Using EQ too soon:

Don’t use EQ without hearing the context of the song. The fundamental step before EQing is having a step back at your mix and listening to all the tracks together. Try to balance out those things first (with the faders of your volume) before applying EQ. For example, if you are mixing a mid bass, and you think there is too much bass in it, instead of simply EQing away bass, try to have a broader look at your song; you may notice that by just turning down the volume of the bass, it would fit your mix better.

2 – Using EQ in solo.

Using EQ in solo can be useful if you want to apply subtractive EQ (EQ where you remove unwanted frequencies to clean up a sound). However, you really have to think how the track you are mixing fits with the rest of the song. The reason people love to easy solo EQ is that you feel more confident about the changes you are making. In the end, it’s all about having a well-mixed song, with tracks that sounds well together. Pro tip: if you are not comfortable with doing that, you can always raise the volume of the track you want to EQ, EQ it, and then put it back to normal volume.

3 – Only boosting with EQ

This is more of a beginner tip but I’ve seen some people only boosting with EQ. While boosting could be really useful if you want to add clarity, bass or thump to your sound, it shouldn’t be reduced to that additive process. So, remove the frequencies you don’t want (for example, low frequencies of vocal sounds, any resonance) THEN apply boosting EQ.

4 – Experiment with EQ!

Often free and stock plug-ins are powerful, while there are so many alternative EQs you can experiment with. You might find that using a specific EQ works better for removing particular frequencies, certain EQs for mastering, and other EQ for adding certain frequencies. It’s all about trying out stuff, download some interesting plug-ins, testing them out for a week, and then uninstalling them.

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