Mixdown in its most simplistic form is the process of separating and balancing the different elements of a track/recording. It is complete myth that the mixdown can transform a sonically horrible track into something amazing. Almost any mixer will tell you that the most important factors in a good mix are good arrangement and the correct source sounds.

Source Sounds
In these articles I am primarily focusing upon electronic music, though I think a lot of things carry over to any form of music. The great thing about electronic music is the flexibility you have with getting sounds right in the first place.
I have always found that there are three key foundations to a mix - the kick, bass and snare. I usually spend more time on these elements than the rest of the mix put together.
The biggest mistake I think you can make here is simply judging these three elements based upon how good they sound in isolation. You have to listen to how well the elements work together, do they have there own space in terms of frequencies? for example if you are using a sub bass, does using a subby kick really helping to separate the elements?
I don't always think you can predict how things will work together either, the phase relationship between these three main elements only becomes apparent when they are playing together, so I often end up completely changing the sounds and samples used as a part of the mix. Obviously if I'm doing this for an artist rather than myself, there is a fine line and you have to consult!

Mults
Getting a kick right for a specific mix can involve a number of little tricks. As I've already said, aiming to get the best sample/sound is the first step. However some times I find that one kick/snare doesn't have everything I want, so rather than attack the poor thing with copious amounts of phase shifting EQ, I layer(mult as it is known) two kicks/snares together. Typically I will find one kick with the punch that cuts in the track, and then I layer a more sub bass kick, often an 808 kick underneath. This way you get to use the volume faders for the two kicks like bass and treble controls on the kick drum. The same is true of snares I will often mult a punchy snare with a nice bright clap sample to build the sound I am after.

Tuning
Tuning is something I am personally a stickler for, though I know some people don't. I like everything to be in tune as much as possible with the music. I find it helps to sit things easier and also achieves a smoother finished product. You might wonder how you know when kick or snare is in tune and I guess it does take come practice; however I find the easiest thing to do is slide the pitch knob up quite a way until the kick starts to sound more like a musical note, as you shift it you should be able to here a tuned note. I usually find the root note pitched an octave up and then pitch down an octave from there. So I might find the kick is in tune at +9 Semi tones, so I would then pitch it down by 12 semi tones which would end up being -3semi tones. Ultimately this can work wonders, but if it doesn't sound right, then it isn't right- these things are always worth trying though!

Envelopes
Before you ever reach for a compressor your first tool is the volume envelope on whatever is triggering your drums, using the ADSR you can completely change the transient footprint of a sound and it is a lot easier/controllable than using a compressor. I usually start by having no attack, no decay, no sustain and no release -so no sound at all!, I then carefully bring up the decay until I get the drum cutting through into the mix in a nice way, but not allowing it to boom excessively, I then bring up the sustain a little just to make it sound a little more natural, remember that is the sustain is up full then the decay slide has no effect!
If you have multed drums, try taking a bit off attack of the element that you are no wanting the punch off, this can help to sit the two mutled drum samples together better.

© Nathan Boddy 2006 unauthorised copying or duplication prohibited.

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