The “Static Mix” is the foundational step in the mixing process, where you set the relative volume of all your individual tracks before applying any effects. It is critical because getting the initial volume balance right accounts for up to 80% of a great mix.
Volume is Your Primary Equalizer.
A core concept in mixing is that the volume fader acts as an equalizer. Changing the level of a track fundamentally changes how its tone is perceived in the mix:
• Loudness Perception: Our ears do not perceive all frequencies equally. Louder sounds are perceived as having more frequencies at the extremes (more lows and highs), a phenomenon related to the equal-loudness contours (or Fletcher-Munson curves).
• Rebalancing Tone: By increasing an instrument’s volume, you subjectively boost its low-end (making it sound “fatter”) and its high-end (making it sound “brighter” or adding “presence”).
• Masking: If a track is too quiet, its critical frequencies may be masked by louder instruments, leading to a perceived loss of clarity or detail in the muted track.
• The Goal: You should aim to achieve the desired tone for each instrument primarily by setting its volume, reserving EQ for fixing problems or surgical adjustments.
The Height Order Method
To build your static mix, adopt the “height order” approach, focusing on importance rather than mixing chronologically.
1. Identify the Foreground: Determine the most important element(s) of your mix—typically the lead vocal, or the primary rhythm elements (kick, snare, bass) in modern genres.
2. Set the Loudest Element: Set the level of your most important instrument first, usually around -8 dB to -6 dB, ensuring plenty of headroom is available on your stereo mix output.
3. Build the Foundation: Introduce subsequent instruments in descending order of sonic importance, balancing them relative to the foreground elements. This helps avoid running out of space or power for key instruments later.
4. Monitor Critically: Listen carefully for fader instability—if you find yourself constantly wanting to adjust a fader, that track has a dynamic range problem that requires further processing (like compression or automation).
Key Tip: Checking the Mono Fold
As you build your balance, routinely check your mix in mono (where the left and right channels are summed together).
• Clarity Check: Mixing in mono forces all sounds to stack up in the center, immediately revealing frequency masking issues and clutter that stereo panning might otherwise hide.
• Translation Check: Since music is often played back in mono (e.g., on phones, club PAs, or certain radio transmissions), checking mono compatibility is essential to ensure your mix translates well to a wide audience.
