2025 - 09: Inside My Mixing Practice - Chasing Emotion in Every Detail

Mix Artist Studio Newsletter September 2025

Dear Artists and Music Creators,

When I sit down to mix a song, I don’t think of it as polishing sound. I think of it as stepping into the emotional world of the artist, and my job is to make sure that world is fully alive when the listener presses play.

Getting Ready for Mixing

The process starts well before any fader rides. When I receive the multitracks from a client, the first step is to bring order to the chaos: files renamed, colour-coded, grouped. A rough balance emerges during this stage, but my real focus is on clearing obstacles. Home recordings often come with extra challenges: odd room tone, edits that need smoothing or brittle top-end from budget microphones. Sometimes the performance itself needs a subtle polish; a phrase nudged into time, or a vocal tuned just enough to let the emotion shine. These are the things that can pull me out of the song if left unaddressed, so I tackle them first. This can take several hours; however, if I recorded the song at Mix Artist Studio, it's usually just a matter of minutes. Often I’ll do this groundwork on a separate day, so that when I finally sit down to mix, I can approach the music with fresh ears and total creative focus.

My Mixing Practice in Action

And that’s where the real magic begins. For me, it always comes back to the faders. Riding the vocal is one of my greatest joys in mixing. I’ll sit with it, eyes closed, tuned into the performance while moving the fader ever so slightly.

Mixing in progress - lots of 'hands-on' automation passes

A word pushed up to grab your attention, a phrase tucked back so the next one lands harder, always keeping the vocal in the sweet spot, hovering just above the instruments. I’ll ride the reverb and delay sends too, shaping them like instruments in their own right. More space on the chorus to make it soar, a touch of echo on a line that deserves to hang in the air. To the casual listener, these moves are barely noticeable. But they’re what keep a song alive, unpredictable, magnetic. They hold you on the edge of your seat without you quite knowing why. That’s the emotional glue I’m chasing.

This is why I never mix under pressure. My best hours are in the quiet of the morning, once the kids are off to school. That’s when I switch off my phone, turn off the internet, and immerse myself in the sound. Sometimes a song comes together in a single day; other times, I pause when fatigue sets in and return the next morning with fresh energy. The music deserves me at my best, not pushing through just to get it done.

From Mixing Pitfalls to Mixing with Intention

There’s a common misconception I see online: that mixing is about plugin chains, or secret settings - like following a formula.

The truth is, great sound rarely comes from stacking processors in the order someone suggested online.

Instead, it comes from careful listening to the recordings. When I listen, I try to imagine how the artist moved when they performed; their body language, the energy of their performance. Then I use whatever tools are needed to bring that forward. Sometimes that’s just careful EQ and a touch of compression. Other times it’s more involved. But it’s never a formula. Each mix is a custom solution, built on the heart of the performance.

The faders are my instrument, mixing is my art

And when it all clicks, that’s the magic moment. Recently, I was wrestling with a song that didn’t feel right no matter what I tried. It finally came together when I focused on bass and vocal. I pulled the channel compressors back until they did very little. Then I automated both with fader rides until the two elements kept their relation and interaction throughout the entire song. Finally, I added a second gentle compressor (post the automated faders), which now received a steady signal and worked gently without ever compressing much. The most effective compression effect, achieved with the least amount of gain reduction.

Now that the bass and vocal had become the pillars of the song, I mixed the other elements around them. Suddenly, I really felt the song and loved every element. The mix felt natural, effortless, organic. As if the song had been waiting all along for me to uncover it.

A message I received after sending out a mix

That’s the thrill I chase every time I mix. Not just balance and polish, but the spark that makes a recording leap out of the speakers and connect with a listener’s heart.

If you’ve got tracks waiting to be mixed, I’d love to help you find that spark.

Warm Regards,

 

Jan 'Yarn' Muths

[House Engineer & Studio Manager]

Mix Artist Studio

www.mixartist.com.au