I often hear mixes whether they are instrumentals or full songs that have that muddy bassy clumsy sound and distorted high end, so I felt a simple solution for starters would be to write this post!

To answer the question in the heading… Stay out of the RED!!!! The peak level indicator is there for a reason. Perception of the ear is amazing through numerous types of speakers BUT watching that sound through your channel meters clearly keeps you out of trouble.

Your speakers will trick you if you are not accustomed to how they play back your sound. So in other words, get to know your speakers first! See.. I know the scenario… You’re trying to make that bass thump, and your speakers (depending on what you are using) may not reflect that bang – therefore you pull that fader up to the skies, and the end result becomes drastic!

Another helpful tip is to consider similar frequencies (kick-drum/bass-line/bottom-keys) and spread them slightly into the panning field away from each other. It’s also golden to apply subtle EQ/dynamic processing to color them differently so they don’t beat each other up in the end process. The same goes for similar high frequencies.

Also keep in mind, if your track is hot when you mix it down to 2-channel… and then you go to master it by stretching out that waveform i.e. brick-walling… simply equals total disaster! Also note analog recording is a lot more lenient in handling the signal above 0, however even it too becomes a ‘hot mess’ when pushed too far.

Hopefully this is helpful for you. If you have any further questions or comments… I’d love to hear from you. Also, if you ‘like’ this post, please click or retweet below.

About the Contributor Lady Tha ProducHer is an entrepreneur who loves people, plays piano, produces music in her production studio, loves to write, and does graphic and web design. Visit her Official Website at www.ladythaproducher.com