The only time you want mud.

Aaaah, mud. Good for rolling around in while wearing your sumo underwear (if you’re in to that sort of thing), but not so much for mixing.  Here’s the thing with mixing…the more tracks that you have, the more information tends to build up and cause havoc.  What may be a harmless low rumble in one track becomes a deafening wall of MUD across 50 tracks.  Get rid of that mess!

Today’s Tip: Use high pass and low pass filters. A LOT!

There is very little in one of my mixes that doesn’t hit a high or low pass filter of some kind.  And filtered pretty aggressively, too.  Do you really need 80hz and below in distorted guitars?  Or in vocals?  Do you really need 10k and up in a bass guitar?!

No, no, and no.  Clear that junk out and start cleaning up your mixes.  Take a listen to these two examples.  The first is the final completed mix.  The second is with all of the filters taken off. Especially listen to the clarity in the low end.  In the first mix, you can clearly hear the kick/bass combo and there’s room to breathe down there. The second non-filtered mix feels weighed down, bulky, and clunky with less distinction between the instruments.

And these are extremely well recorded tracks.  Tracks that aren’t as well recorded get chaotic real quick without high pass filters.

Use filters and cut the mud!

Dig the song?  Check out Mantl!: