Part 5 of 31 – Where you put the volume faders and pan pots at the beginning of the mixing process has tremendous influence on the sound of your final mix. Before you jump into processing, you want to create a great static mix.
Mix With Only Volume And Pan
If your tracks had to stay at only one volume and pan position for the entire mix, where would they be? This is the question you want to ask yourself as you begin the mixing process. Get the mix to sound solid with only volume and pan and you’ll be setting yourself up for success.
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My name is Graham Cochrane and I'm the founder of The Recording Revolution, one of the world's most loved audio recording and mixing blogs with over 200,000 readers each month. 
Excellent video my brother! My question is this, In the past I have heard both you and Joe mention mixing in mono. Now I know this is for a static mix, however what do you do with the faders after you get your static mix? Thank you and God Bless!
-Tal
Hi Tal. Well the static mix is a starting point. For the most part I try to leave the faders there for the remainder of the mix. But later on I will add automation as needed.
Hey Graham,
This is an awesome tip that ensures that I am setting a path for mixing with a purpose. This changed the way that I approach mixes. Thanks!
Glad to hear Robert!
After a thousand years of tracking my own stuff I’ve decided to start doing something about getting some mixes together. Until now everything was considered a “project” or a “work in progress” and so rarely became finished. Graham – I know you’ve talked about this before, and you’re so right!
So now I’m finding myself coming back here for mixing tips (instead of recording tips) and finding gems like this one. The bare bones volume / pan concept is simple and extremely powerful. I’m getting example tracks from Mike Senior’s website to practise on and this barebones thing is the first thing I’ll be trying. If nothing else it helps me to learn the actual track! 🙂
Thanks a bunch, all the very best to you, and sorry for the long note! 🙂
Love it! Glad to help.
Great tip! However – I tend to mix as I produce (electronica, house etc) – what is your take on that?