What's the very first step in mixing?

[woojinlee_]

.

 

[Adrian-MarQ]

Adjusting levels and pan positions is a good place to start before playing around with a bunch of plugins. That and fixing obvious things that stand out to you...

 

[j.troup]

Always gain staging...

 

[jBam]

All faders down... (or at least all channels muted)

Then bring up your chosen dominant level-maker to whatever level you like to start at (for me, that's the kick --> -6dB)... and go from there!

 

[DarkRed]

I basically validate that I have the correct routing matrix/mix template for the particular mix and this job always requires custom steps to be performed. My mixing strategy is very focused around balance.

 

[loekthuss]

usually cleaning up the mess i made when writing is my first step, like labeling mixer tracks and deleting stuff i dont use to save cpu ( i have a shit computer). after that comes leveling.

 

[Ddream]

Remove whatever limiter or compressor you have in your master channel.

 

[JC Biffro]

Gain staging and levels. Ensuring none of your channels are clipping before you begin.

 

[TimHeroic]

1. Double check everything: no clipping anywhere, no unnecessary effects from the VSTs.
2. Organise everything. Label, name, group, color everything to your liking. Setup your buses, route and setup your signal flow.
3. EQ on everything, and start filtering out the unnecessary frequencies.

 

[Tjbenz]

eq

 

[SwagProductionz]

i mute instruments and do the percussion first.. specifically the kick