When to mixdown?

[mromgwtf]

I have a big dilemma going on in my head about this. Usually, when you mix you use things like EQ/compressor/change volume. Ok. And mixdown is a process that happens after you produce the song.

But I have no idea how to produce the song without using things like EQ and compressor or changing volume in the first place? When I produce a track I do it like this for example:
- Add a kick, find a good volume for it, put izotope alloy on it and process it.
- Add a snare, do the same.

Am I not doing a mixdown while still producing a track? I hope you understand me.

And what if I want to do a proper mixdown after having everything done? (whole song composition, drums, leads basses basically whole song without mixdown and master)
Do I have to compose the song without using things like EQ or compression and having that ugly not-mixdowned sound while producing?

[Icetickle]

Look at the "mixdown" as the final mix you are going to do when everything is laid down in your daw.
Everyone is mixing along the way.

AND PROPS FOR IZOTOPE ALLOY! +1

[Sheff]

just do it all as you go along.

i normally mix everything down as i go, once ive finished the song ill save a copy, then set all my channels to 0db and start again mixing it all down properly

[mromgwtf]

just do it all as you go along.

i normally mix everything down as i go, once ive finished the song ill save a copy, then set all my channels to 0db and start again mixing it all down properly

I'll do the same.

[zosomagik]

just do it all as you go along.

i normally mix everything down as i go, once ive finished the song ill save a copy, then set all my channels to 0db and start again mixing it all down properly

My mixes suck because my monitoring situation is stupid, but yeah this is pretty much what I do. Mix as you go along so it's tolerable and then once your done do it again proper.

[SunkLo]

It's also nice to bounce out wavs of everything including sends. There's something nice about having rendered waveforms of your dry and processed tracks and being able to automate them as audio. There's the added bonus that it's easier to chop and rearrange parts.

I've been toying with the idea of trying to keep things live instead of bouncing for a mix. I might try hiding all the audio and midi tracks and just having automation lanes in the track control panel. I'd go through each track, pick a few parameters I'll want to automate and activate their envelopes. With enough color coding and track folders I could probably keep it pretty streamlined while still maintaining the flexibility of midi.

But yeah either way, just like everyone else, do the bare minimum for a mix while producing. Once you can make it sound dope with a weak mix, you can move on and start dialing stuff in. Otherwise it's the classic trap of spending the majority of your inspired production time doing non-creative technical tasks.

[Sheff]

But yeah either way, just like everyone else, do the bare minimum for a mix while producing. Once you can make it sound dope with a weak mix, you can move on and start dialing stuff in. Otherwise it's the classic trap of spending the majority of your inspired production time doing non-creative technical tasks.

Basically this. A big mistake i used to make, and still do sometimes is getting caught up trying to Eq or compress or mixx something and spending so long on doing it that id lose focus on everything and just get stressed or lose my work flow