Your first mix: the five moves that matter

To mix a song as a beginner, you need five moves, in this order: balance the volume faders, pan parts left and right, cut clashing frequencies with EQ, smooth out levels with gentle compression, and add a little shared reverb for space. Most of a good first mix is the first two. The traditional way makes every move by hand; the AI-assisted way runs a mix pass on the same faders and effects and leaves you to adjust. This page walks through both.

This is page eight of module 3, after escaping loop hell. The series hub is what is a DAW, and the DAW mixer explained page covers the controls.

Before you start

• Loop the busiest section. Mix the chorus first; if it works, the quieter parts usually will.
• Turn everything down. Start with faders low and leave headroom on the master. If the master meter is hitting the top, everything is too loud, not too quiet. See gain staging.
• Pick a reference. A released song in your genre, played at the same volume, tells you when your low end or vocal is off. See reference tracks for mixing.

The five moves

1. Balance

Start with the kick and bass, then add the lead (vocal or melody), then everything else beneath it. The lead should be clear without sounding pasted on.

2. Pan

Keep kick, bass, snare and lead vocal in the centre. Move chords, hats, guitars and backing parts off to the sides. Then check in mono that nothing disappears; see mixing in mono.

3. EQ

Cut before you boost. A high-pass filter on every part that isn't bass or kick clears the low end. If two parts mask each other, cut a little from one where the other is strong. Our EQ basics guide has the details.

4. Compression

Use it to keep a vocal or bass at a steady level, not to make things loud. Small amounts on a few tracks beat heavy amounts on all of them. See compression basics.

5. Space

Put one reverb on a shared send, and feed a little of several parts into it, so they sound like they are in the same room. Delay on the lead adds depth without washing it out. See reverb and delay basics.

The AI-assisted mix

AI mixing help now sits inside mainstream DAWs and plug-ins. Producers use it already: in Tracklib's 2024 survey of 1,107 producers, reported by Music Business Worldwide, 45.5% of those who used AI used it for mastering and EQ plug-ins. Apple's Logic Pro ships a Mastering Assistant you can adjust.

The version that suits a beginner is the one that mixes your session rather than handing back a file. Veena, a free AI DAW in the browser, documents its Mix and master flow step by step:

1. Parts. Say what each part is (drums, bass, keys, lead vocal) and how important it is.
2. Clean and Character. Extra stages appear for vocal parts.
3. Mix. Choose a genre and a space: Dry, Ambience, Room, Plate or Hall. Press AutoMix.
4. Inspect. The help page says "the song stays as separate editable tracks", so every level, pan and effect the pass set is a control you can open and change.

You can also ask CoProducer in words: "mix this pop song, with the lead vocal forward, bass centred and a room around the backing vocals." The help page says a smaller follow-up can adjust a part's importance or the amount of space without rebuilding the song.

The key difference from the traditional route is order of work. By hand, you build a mix up from nothing and judge it at the end. With an AI pass, you start from a balanced mix and judge it immediately, which is what the five moves above are for: you now use them to correct, not to construct.

How loud should it be?

Not very, for now. Spotify says it adjusts tracks to -14 dB LUFS by default: "Negative gain is applied to louder masters" and positive gain to softer ones (Spotify). It recommends targeting -14 dB integrated LUFS with a true peak below -1 dB. A mix crushed to sound loud gets turned down anyway, and keeps the damage. Loudness is a mastering job; see should beginners let AI mix and master? and what is LUFS.

Three checks before you call it done

• Phone or laptop speakers. Can you still hear the bass and the vocal?
• Low volume. Is the lead still the clearest thing?
• Fresh ears. Take a break and listen once more; see ear fatigue and mixing breaks.

What we think

Learn the five moves by hand, and use an AI pass as your starting point. Mixing is a skill of judgement more than technique: knowing that the vocal is buried matters more than knowing which compressor setting fixes it. An AI mix that lands on real faders and effects gives a beginner a balanced reference in their own song, and the fastest way to train judgement is to disagree with it and change things. Never accept a mix you can't open, and never hand your first mix to a tool that returns only a file.

Next in the module: should beginners let AI mix and master? For a checklist of common traps, read bedroom mix mistakes.