
By Craig Anderton
Do you think of mixes in absolute terms, or relative terms? Knowing the difference, and when to apply which approach, can make a huge difference in how easily mixes come together. This can also affect whether you're satisfied with your mixes in the future.
Mixing is about achieving the perfect balance of all of a song's tracks. When you start mixing, or if you mix in parallel with developing a song, your mixing moves are absolute moves because you haven't set up the relationship among all the tracks yet. For example, the guitar might be soft compared to the drums and bass, so you increase the guitar's level. At that point, you don't yet realize that when a piano becomes part of the mix, the guitar will mask it to some degree. So, now you'll need to readjust the guitar's level not only with respect to the drums and bass, but also in relation to the piano.
The further your mix develops, the more important the relative balance among all the levels becomes. Remember: Any change to any track has an influence on every other track. I can't emphasize that enough.
A Different Way to Finish a Mix
At some point, your mix will be almost there. That's when you notice little flaws. The drums are a bit overpowering. The bass needs to come up. The background singers don't have quite the right balance with the lead vocal. Two keyboard parts are supposed to be the same level, but one is slightly louder.
The absolute approach to addressing those issues would be to make those changes. The kick comes down a bit. The bass comes up. You balance out the background singers and the keyboards. Then you render another mix to see if the problems have been addressed. It's better, but now the bass is masking the low end of the keyboards. So, you bring up the keyboards a bit, but now they step on the background vocals
If you're not concentrating on how the tracks fit together in relative terms, then you'll constantly be chasing your tail while mixing. You'll keep making a series of absolute adjustments, and then wonder why relatively speaking, the mix doesn't gel.
The Relative Approach to Mixing
VCA Channels are the key to relative mix edits, because they can offset tracks easily compared to the rest of the mix. Take the example above of the drums being a bit overpowering, the bass too soft, etc. Rather than try to fix them all at the same time, here's what I do:
1. Choose the issue that seems most annoying. Let's suppose it's the drums being overpowering. I always start with fixing tracks that are too loud instead of too soft, because lowering the level of the loud track will make all the other tracks louder, relatively speaking.
2. Select the drum tracks (or drum bus) and choose Add VCA for Selected Channels.
3. Lower the VCA channel for the drums by (typically) -0.5 dB, but no more than -1.0 dB.
4. Not change any other track levels. Now it's time to render a new version of the mix, and live with it for a day.
Having softer drums will change the relative perspective of the entire mix. Maybe the bass wasn't that soft after all; maybe it was just masked a bit by the kick. Maybe the rhythm guitar is actually louder than it seemed, because its percussive strums were blending in with the drum hits-but the strums weren't noticeable until the drums were softer. And so on.
That -0.5 dB of difference will change how you hear the mix. -0.5 dB may not seem like much, but that's just one perspective. A different perspective is that it's making every other track +0.5 dB louder than the drums. So, you need to evaluate the mix with fresh ears, because that one change has altered the entire mix.
An advantage of using VCA channels is that when you add the VCA Channel, its initial setting is 0.0. It's easy to see how much you've offset the track level with the VCA, compared to (for example) changing a drum bus fader from -12.6 to -13.1. It's also easy to get back to where you started in case after listening to the track, you decide other tracks were the problem, and the drums need to return to where they were. Just reset the VCA to 0.0.
Let's suppose that after listening to the rendered version a few times at different times of the day, it seems like the drums fit in much better with the overall mix. Make the change permanent by de-assigning the tracks to the VCA Channel, and then removing the VCA Channel. (Or, leave it in and hide it if you think you might need more changes in the future.)
Next, let's suppose the bass still seems a little soft. I'll repeat the four steps listed above, but this time with the bass track, and raise it by +0.5 dB (fig. 1). Then it's time to render the track again, and live with it for a day.
Figure 1: A VCA channel has altered the drum mix by -0.5 dB. That VCA Channel is about to be removed, because -0.5 dB turned out to be the right amount. Meanwhile, a VCA Channel has been added to see if increasing the Bass level by +0.5 dB helps it fit in better with the mix.
It might seem that this one-track-at-a-time approach would take forever, especially because sometimes you may need to revise earlier changes. But it can save time, for two reasons:
Mixing sessions don't go on for hours. Because you listened to the rendered mix with fresh ears and know what you need to change, you make the change. After rendering the new mix, you're done for the day, aside from listening to it several times under various conditions. Your final mixes now become 5 to 10 minutes at a time spread over multiple days. An additional advantage is that you always hear the mix with fresh ears, instead of having listener fatigue set in during a long mixing session.
Often, after taking care of the most problematic tracks, other issues resolve themselves because they weren
Most recent headlines
04/09/2025
Monumental Sports & Entertainment (MSE), in collaboration with Dalet, has been a...
21/05/2025
TAG Video Systems, the leader in software-based IP media probing, monitoring, visualization, and analytics, and swXtch.io, the leading provider of cloud-based m...
21/05/2025
NEW YORK Comcast Advertising has launched a new AI creative platform that will make it much easier for small businesses and local advertisers to market and prom...
21/05/2025
NEW YORK Prime Video has released some of its tech plans for the NASCAR Cup Series, which begins on Sunday, May 25 at 5 p.m. ET with the Coca-Cola 600 from Char...
21/05/2025
MONTREAL Matrox Video has announced that it has successfully completed the AWS Foundational Technical Review (FTR) for Matrox ORIGIN....
21/05/2025
WASHINGTON Clarence Hau, NBCUniversal senior vice president of standards, policy and advanced engineering, has been named the 2025 recipient of the Advanced Tel...
21/05/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
As part of the Tawazun Economic Program, Thales ...
20/05/2025
Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.2 of just:in mac capture solut...
20/05/2025
Press Release: ToolsOnAir to release version 2025.1 Playout solutions for macOS.
Vienna, Austria. May 9th, 2025 ToolsOnAir, a leading provider of broadcast...
20/05/2025
By Bailey Pennick
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festi...
20/05/2025
Throughout the month of May, Spotify is celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month by amplifying the many artists, creators, and authors who share th...
20/05/2025
It's officially summer on Spotify and, once again, our team of best-in-class...
20/05/2025
Extended agreement includes Local TV and OTT measurement and Digital Content Rat...
20/05/2025
Apple Intelligence, the personal intelligence system that delivers helpful and relevant intelligence while taking an extraordinary step forward for privacy in A...
20/05/2025
NEW YORK Amazon Publisher Services (APS) and independent sell-side advertising company Magnite are collaborating more deeply on streaming TV through the APS Tra...
20/05/2025
NEW YORK Nielsen and Sunbeam Television have announced an extension of their agreement to include ABC Miami, which will begin broadcasting as part of Sunbeam in...
20/05/2025
WASHINGTON The FCC has approved Verizon's $20 billion acquisition of Frontier, which was first announced last Sepembert. As part of the agency's decisio...
20/05/2025
Netflix and PBS have announced new deals with Sesame Workshop that will see new episodes of Sesame Street stream on Netflix and air on PBS Kids....
20/05/2025
MUNICH ARRI has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its lighting subsidiary Claypaky to EK Inc., a major Chinese designer and manu...
20/05/2025
LIVONIA, Mich. Spectrum News has expanded its reach with the launch of Spectrum News Michigan....
20/05/2025
From Death Becomes Her to Dead Outlaw, Boston Conservatory Actors Are Killing It...
20/05/2025
Space42 to establish new Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite manufacturing ...
20/05/2025
20 May 2025
Beeline Uzbekistan Moves its Headquarters to Tashkent's IT Park...
20/05/2025
Praise for series two:
Daily Mail - 5* It's a murder mystery masterclass
Heat - 4* Marlow's giving Midsomer a run for its murder money
Daily Tele...
20/05/2025
May 20th, 2025 #ChanelTribeca2025 #Tribeca2025 #CHANELinCinema
Press assets available HERE
Tribeca Festival and CHANEL Unveil 2025 Artist Awards Program
Thi...
20/05/2025
Broad strategy: DAZN on creating the perfect ecosystem between broadcasters, spo...
20/05/2025
Storytelling, monetisation and engagement: Making the pitch for AI in sports bro...
20/05/2025
FanDuel Sports Network Rolls Out WireCam in Cincinnati; Milwaukee Is Next, With ...
20/05/2025
UEFA Europa League Final 2025: Broadcast facts and camera plan for Tottenham Hot...
20/05/2025
NBA Eastern Conference Finals: TNT Sports Bids Farewell With Upgraded Tech, Onsi...
20/05/2025
NBA Western Conference Finals: ESPN's InsightCast' Features Avatar Shot...
20/05/2025
Tuesday 20 May 2025
To view this content, please enable our use of cookies. To ...
20/05/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First Look at Almost Cops and Announces Release Date
Entertainment
20 May 2025
GlobalNetherlands
Link copied to clipboard
...
20/05/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 19, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that C...
20/05/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. - May 20, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today announced that
the company will showcase breakthrough broadband innovations at ANGA COM 2025. P...
20/05/2025
Today, Apple unveiled an exciting lineup for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), including the Keynote and Platforms State of the Union. Taking p...
20/05/2025
Industrial AI is transforming how factories operate, innovate and scale.
The convergence of AI, simulation and digital twins is poised to unlock new levels of ...
20/05/2025
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
73% are investing in AI-specific security tools ...
20/05/2025
Genomic data shows widespread mpox transmission in West Africa prior to 2022 global outbreak Scripps Research scientists, in collaboration with researchers in N...
19/05/2025
For the past decade, Spotify's Fresh Finds playlists have served as a launchpad for emerging independent artists, helping them break through and connect wit...
19/05/2025
Eurovision delivers strong Total TV audiences for SBS, dazzling more than 2.21 m...
19/05/2025
Airlines lead the way as more Kiwis pack their bags for travel at home and abroad
Auckland - May 14, 2025 - New data from Nielsen Ad Intel reveals a strong yea...
19/05/2025
Smallgoods, snacks and ice cream shows large growth
Sydney - April 30, 2025 - Nielsen Ad Intel data released today has revealed a 6% increase in advertising in...
19/05/2025
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. New streaming bundles launched over the past year by both distributors and streamers are generating strong consumer interest in 2025, according...
19/05/2025
Mistika Workflows Upgrade Includes Amberscript, DaVinci Resolve, MASV, Pulsar, Y...
19/05/2025
Berklee's Summer in the City Returns with Free Concerts Throughout the Bosto...
19/05/2025
Planetcast Media Services, a leading international media technology and broadcast services provider, will showcase its powerful NexC media distribution platform...
19/05/2025
VuWall and Guntermann & Drunck (G&D), technology leaders in video wall management and KVM systems, will showcase their latest innovations at InfoComm 2025, boot...
19/05/2025
Kiloview, a global leader in AV-over-IP, is set to showcase its latest AV-over-IP innovations at InfoComm 2025 in Orlando, FL, from June 11th to 13th. Featuring...
19/05/2025
Back to All News
Eva Longoria to Direct Kim Kardashian in Comedy Feature The Fi...