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THE ULTIMATE
MIXING WORKFLOW
CHECKLIST
BY HRITHIK SHARMA
(PRODBYLAX)
 HEY!
THANKS FOR DOWNLOADING
THIS FREE CHECKLIST THAT
WILL HELP OPTIMISE YOUR
WORKFLOW WHILE MIXING
YOUR TRACKS BUT....

LET'S CLEAR FEW THINGS BEFORE WE START

DISCLAIMER
THE ACCOMPANYING DATA IS NOT GOING TO TURN
YOU INTO A PROFESSIONAL MIX ENGINEER
OVERNIGHT. THAT WILL TAKE HUNDREDS 
IF NOT THOUSANDS OF HOURS.

HOWEVER, I SPEND A GREAT DEAL OF MY TIME

TRYING TO OPTIMISE MY OWN WORKFLOW
TO MAKE & MIX BETTER SOUNDING
MUSIC FASTER.

SO THIS CHECKLIST IS MEANT TO HELP YOU CUT

DOWN ON THE TIME IT TAKES TO GET
GREAT SOUNDING MIXES.
CONTENTS

MIX PREPARATION
MIX BALANCING
MIX CLEANING
MIX COMPRESSION
MIX BUS PROCESSING
AUTOMATION
MASTERING CHECKLIST
MIXING CHECKLIST

THIS IS ALSO THE ORDER IN WHICH I APPROACH THINGS

WHILE MIXING/MASTERING. WHEN YOU TACKLE THE MIX
WITH A STRUCTURE, NOT ONLY IT MAKES THE PROCESS
FASTER BUT ALSO TRAINS YOUR MIND TO FOCUS AT ONE
ASPECT RATHER THAN DOING EVERYTHING
SIMULTANEOUSLY.
 CONTENTS
MIX PREPARATION
IN THIS STAGE, WE PREP THE MIX I.E. COLOR CODE, TEMPO
SETTING, PROPER NAMING ETC SO THAT WE DON'T GET
CONFUSED WHILE MIXING.

SET UP THE SESSION 

IMPORT AUDIO FILES, CHECK DAW

SETTINGS (MATCH WITH FILES)

SET TEMPO AND KEY OF THE SONG

COLOR CODE YOUR SESSION

SET BASIC REVERB AND DELAYS SENDS

SET BASIC AUTOMATION

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USEFUL) MUSIC PRODUCTION TIPS AND TRICKS.
 CONTENTS
MIX
MIX BALANCING
PREPARATION
IN THIS STAGE, WE BALANCE THE TRACKS JUST WITH
FADERS. NO EQ, NO COMPRESSION. JUST PURE LEVEL
BALANCING. MAKE SURE YOU LEAVE HEADROOM THO

MUTE ALL THE TRACKS

UNMUTE TRACKS ONE BY ONE WHILE

BALANCING THE TRACK WITH FADER

DO THIS UNTIL A ROUGH BALANCE IS

ACHIEVED

AFTER EVERY TRACK IS UNMUTED AIM

FOR 6 OR 5DB OF HEADROOM ON THE
MASTER FADER (USE YOUR EARS!)

MAKE SURE THERE IS NO CLIPPING

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 CONTENTS
MIX
MIXPREPARATION
MIX BALANCING
CLEANING
IN THIS STAGE, WE WILL MAINLY USE EQ TO DEAL WITH
UNWANTED/PROBLEMATIC FREQUENCIES THAT ARE
PRESENT IN OUR MIX.

REMOVE NOISE, CLICKS AND POPS

FROM TRACKS

ADD HI-PASS FILTER ON TRACKS AND 

CLEAN APPROPRIATE TRACKS

REDUCE BREATHS FROM VOCALS

(AROUND 10DB)

ADD HI-PASS FILTER TO VOCALS TO

REMOVE LOW END RUMBLE

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USEFUL) MUSIC PRODUCTION TIPS AND TRICKS.
 CONTENTS
MIX
MIXCOMPRESSION
MIX BALANCING
CLEANING
PREPARATION
IN THIS STAGE WE WLL 'FINALLY' ADD A COMPRESSOR
BUT WAIT... BEFORE YOU GO AND PUT A COMPRESSOR
PLUGIN ON EVERY TRACK, LISTEN ONCE MORE AND
FIGURE OUT THE TRACKS THAT ACTUALLY NEED IT.
DON'T PUT COMPRESSION ON EVERY TRACK!

COMPRESSION ON NECESSARY TRACKS

USE A MULTIBAND COMPRESSOR TO

TAME ANNOYING FREQUENCIES

COMPRESS THE DRUM BUS TO GLUE

THE KIT (SSL OR API 2500 STYLE
COMPRESSOR)

COMPRESS THE KICK/SNARE TO ADD

PUNCH (FET STYLE/AGGRESSIVE
SETTING)

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 CONTENTS
MIX
MIX
MIX BALANCING
CLEANING
COMPRESSION
PREPARATION
MIX BUS PROCESSING
TIME TO PROCESS THE DIFFERENT BUSSES THAT WE
CREATED EX. DRUM BUS, BG VOCAL BUS ETC.

USE MID/SIDE EQ TO DO SOME

CORRECTIVE EQ

USE SSL (OR VCA) COMPRESSOR TO

"GLUE" THE MIX TOGETHER

USE PULTEC STYLE EQ TO OPEN THE

MIX AND GIVE IT MORE BODY (SMILEY
FACE CURVE)

USE A SATURATION IN A SUBTLE WAY

(TAPE, TUBE, ETC.)

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USEFUL) MUSIC PRODUCTION TIPS AND TRICKS.
 AUTOMATION
THIS IS THE TIME TO ADD SOME MOVEMENT THROUGH
AUTOMATION AND PROVIDE THE AUDIENCE WITH 'EAR
CANDIES' SO THAT THERE IS NO LOSS OF ATTENTION!

AUTOMATE DIFFERENT DELAYS

THROUGHOUT THE SONG

USE DIFFERENT FX ON DELAYS AND

REVERB (DISTORTION, FLANGERS, ETC)

AUTOMATE VOLUME TO BRING OUT OR

BACK OFF ELEMENTS

AUTOMATE FILTERS, DELAYS AND

REVERBS TO ADD EXCIMENT AND
DEPTH

USE SUBTLE AUTOMATION WITH

PLUGINS LIKE TRANSIENT DESIGNERS,
EQS, CHORUS, ETC.

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USEFUL) MUSIC PRODUCTION TIPS AND TRICKS.
 MASTERING
CHECKLIST
LET' S MASTER THE TRACK TO MAKE IT RADIO READY.

GET THE MIX RIGHT

CLEAN UP THE INDIVIDUAL TRACKS

CHECK YOUR LEVELS (NO CLIPPING)

BOUNCE THE FINAL MIX

LISTEN CRITICALLY

TEST IT ON DIFFERENT DEVICES

(PHONE/BT SPEAKERS, CAR ETC)

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MIXING CHECKLIST
SET UP TRACKS

CLEAN UP AUDIO

LISTEN 

STATIC MIX

MIX BUS

PANNING

EQ

COMPRESSION

ADD REVERB

AUTOMATION

CHECK THE MIX

LOVING THE CONTENT?

FOLLOW PRODBYLAX FOR MORE FREE (AND ACTUALLY

USEFUL) MUSIC PRODUCTION TIPS AND TRICKS.
 WE DID IT!
HOPEFULLY, AFTER APPLYING
THESE TIPS YOUR PROCESS IS
MORE STREAMLINED AND
OPTIMISED.

HOWEVER, IN CASE
OF ANY CONFUSION
RELATED TO THIS,
YOU CAN WRITE ME
ON MY INSTAGRAM
(@PRODBYLAX) AND
I'LL BE HAPPY TO
HELP YOU OUT.

HOPE YOU ENJOYED

AND LEARNED
SOMETHING. I WISH
YOU ALL THE BEST
AND I HOPE YOU
ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS
SOONER THAN EVER!

-HRITHIK