How to Achieve a Good Mix and Mastering in Electronic Music Production

Perfecting Your Mix: A Comprehensive Guide

Our South America Avenue label manager, Lucas Gomez, has shared an insightful guest blog post on achieving a good mix and mastering in electronic music production. Whether you're a rookie or looking to refine your skills, Lucas’s tips will help you elevate your productions to a professional level.

Introduction

Mixing and mastering are two crucial stages in electronic music production. A well-done mix ensures that all elements of a song are clear and balanced, while mastering finalizes the production, ensuring the track sounds good on any playback system and meets the volume standards of digital platforms.

Mixing

Mixing is the process of combining and adjusting all the individual elements of a recording into a final stereo track. Its goal is to ensure that all components (vocals, instruments, effects) are heard clearly and coherently. Here, the volume relationship between tracks is determined, and EQ, compression, and effects are applied to achieve sonic cohesion. Below are the key functions and techniques used in mixing:

Project Organization

• Labeling and Coloring: Assigning names and colors to tracks makes it easier to quickly identify each element, improving efficiency during mixing.

Equalization (EQ)

• Purpose: EQ is used to adjust the frequencies of tracks, removing unwanted frequencies and enhancing those that make each element sound good.

• Techniques:

  • Low-Cut Filtering: Apply a high-pass filter to instruments that do not need low frequencies to avoid masking the bass and kick drum.

  • Mid-Range Boosting: Slightly boost the mid-range frequencies of vocals and lead instruments so they stand out in the mix.

  • High-End Attenuation: Reduce high frequencies if there are harsh sounds or to add more smoothness.

Compression

• Purpose: Compression controls the dynamics of tracks, reducing the difference between the loudest and softest parts.

• Techniques:

  • Soft Compression: Use a low compression ratio (2:1 or 3:1) to level vocals and instruments naturally.

  • Parallel Compression: Mix a compressed signal with the original signal to maintain dynamics while increasing perceived volume.

Panning

• Purpose: Panning distributes sounds in the stereo field, creating a wider and clearer sound image.

• Techniques:

  • Main Elements in the Center: Place vocals, kick, and bass in the center to be the core of the mix.

  • Secondary Elements to the Sides: Pan guitars, synthesizers, and effects to the sides to create space and clarity.

Reverb and Delay

• Purpose: Adding reverb and delay provides depth and dimension to tracks, simulating different acoustic environments.

• Techniques:

  • Subtle Reverb: Use short reverb on vocals and main instruments to add presence without making them sound distant.

  • Vocal Delay: Apply short to medium delay on vocals to create echoes that add texture without masking the words.

Mastering

Mastering is the final process in audio production. Its primary function is to optimize the mix to sound good on all playback systems and meet the volume and quality standards of digital platforms. During mastering, volume levels are adjusted, additional EQ is applied, dynamics are controlled, and the final file is prepared for distribution. Below are the key functions and techniques used in mastering:

Dynamic Control

• Purpose: Ensure that the track has an appropriate dynamic range, avoiding distortions and maintaining volume consistency.

• Techniques:

  • Limiters: Use limiters to avoid volume peaks that can cause distortion.

  • Multiband Compression: Apply compression to different frequency bands separately for more precise dynamic control.

Final Equalization (EQ)

• Purpose: Make subtle tonal adjustments to the overall mix to correct any imbalance that persists after mixing.

• Techniques:

  • Tonal Problem Correction: Identify and adjust problematic frequencies that can cause listening fatigue or imbalance.

  • Enhancing Desired Characteristics: Slightly boost frequencies that enhance clarity and brightness without making the sound harsh.

Stereo Enhancement

• Purpose: Ensure the mix has a wide and detailed stereo image without losing coherence and focus.

• Techniques:

  • Stereo Wideners: Apply stereo widening effects to give a greater sense of width.

  • Mono Compatibility Check: Ensure the mix sounds good on mono systems, where widening could cause phase issues.

LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale)

• Purpose: Adjust the perceived volume level to meet the standards of digital platforms.

• Recommended Levels by Platform:

  • Spotify: -14 LUFS

  • Apple Music: -16 LUFS

  • YouTube: -14 LUFS

  • Tidal: -14 LUFS

  • Amazon Music: -14 LUFS

Conclusion

Achieving a good mix and mastering in electronic music production is an art that requires attention to detail and a deep understanding of the available tools. By following these tips and adjusting LUFS levels according to digital platforms, you can ensure that your music sounds professional.

1. To master, in fact, lufs are important, but many times people configure their LUFS correctly, but it goes beyond 0 DBFS and that is not good either. That is why it is also very important that you do not exceed 0 dBfs.

2. During mastering, volume levels are adjusted. // Yes, this is true, but only on the stereo track.