Building a great mix starts with organizing how you approach it. To achieve the best mix for hip hop, break down your mix into a specific order of steps as the Pro's do. The following mix methods will help you avoid rushing or losing focus on achieving the best sound:
1) Place priority on mixing the drums & bass first. Achieving a soild drum & bass foundation gives your mix a strong backbone. If you focus on the drums and bass first, the rest of your mix will naturally fall into place.
2) Even though many producers mix the entire instrumental song before adding in the lead and background vocals - it's a big mistake! After you've built the drum and bass mix, move straight into placing your lead vocal tracks into the heart of it. Build a solid mix with these 3 components before adding in your other tracks.
3) After the drums, bass, and vocals are solid, add in your other melodic tracks such as guitar, piano, strings, etc. Leave out any percussion or sound effects at this point. Pan these melodic tracks around the lead vocal, finding a pocket for each addition. Make sure not to compete for the lead vocals attention, but instead support the vocals as complimentary.
4) Save the percussion and sound effects tracks for last. Typically it's wise to pan these last tracks outside your drums, bass, vocal, and melodic tracks. Use your percussion and effects tracks to fill in spaces in the mix that seem unbalanced. By this step your mix should be well shaped and balanced!
1) Place priority on mixing the drums & bass first. Achieving a soild drum & bass foundation gives your mix a strong backbone. If you focus on the drums and bass first, the rest of your mix will naturally fall into place.
2) Even though many producers mix the entire instrumental song before adding in the lead and background vocals - it's a big mistake! After you've built the drum and bass mix, move straight into placing your lead vocal tracks into the heart of it. Build a solid mix with these 3 components before adding in your other tracks.
3) After the drums, bass, and vocals are solid, add in your other melodic tracks such as guitar, piano, strings, etc. Leave out any percussion or sound effects at this point. Pan these melodic tracks around the lead vocal, finding a pocket for each addition. Make sure not to compete for the lead vocals attention, but instead support the vocals as complimentary.
4) Save the percussion and sound effects tracks for last. Typically it's wise to pan these last tracks outside your drums, bass, vocal, and melodic tracks. Use your percussion and effects tracks to fill in spaces in the mix that seem unbalanced. By this step your mix should be well shaped and balanced!
