Mixing Basics: Making Your Track Radio-Ready

Mixing is where a collection of individual sounds becomes a cohesive song. The goal is clarity: every element should be audible and sit in its own space. Before you touch a single plugin, start by setting your levels. Pull all faders down, then bring them up one by one, starting with the most important element — usually the vocal or the lead melody. This process, called gain staging, ensures you have headroom and nothing is clipping before you start processing.

EQ (equalisation) is your most powerful mixing tool. Use a high-pass filter on almost everything except kick drums and bass to remove low-end rumble that muddies your mix. Cut before you boost: if something sounds harsh, try cutting around 2 to 4kHz rather than boosting other frequencies to compensate. Each instrument should occupy its own frequency range. If your vocal and synth pad are fighting for the same space, carve out room in the pad to let the vocal breathe.

Compression controls the dynamic range of a sound, making quiet parts louder and loud parts quieter. For vocals, a ratio of 3:1 or 4:1 with a medium attack is a good starting point. For drums, faster attack times tame transients while slower attacks let the initial punch through. The key is subtlety: if you can obviously hear the compressor working, you have probably gone too far. Use your bypass button frequently to compare the processed and unprocessed sound.