Mixing - or mixdown - is the process of taking all the individual recorded tracks - audio and MIDI - and distilling everything down to two audio signals, left and right, for playback in stereo. This can involve adjustments to each track's amplitude (volume), equalization (think tone control), pan position (placement in the stereo field), outboard effects, and so on.

In practice, mixing starts before the first signal is recorded. Mic selection and placement, channel strip settings, and numerous other factors affect the recorded signal in ways that will affect the eventual final mix. I typically don't spend much time EQ-ing things going in; I prefer to get the best possible signal recorded and use volume, EQ and panning in mixdown to accommodate the interaction of the recorded signals.

A final mix is done after the client has finished recording. It's at this point that I (often alone) will go in and start "massaging" things. This is where I remove extraneous noise and add signal processing where necessary or appropriate. If I have done my job right, and the musicians performed well, there should not be too many surprises at this point. I'm not a big fan of "fix-it-in-the-mix" - I prefer to deal with problems at the source. But occasionally something (lip smacking, sibilance, plosives, bad edits) will get missed. In that case, I will do as much as I can to fix or minimize the problem. If it is still obvious or objectionable, a re-take may be necessary, but this is very rare.

Finally, the whole thing is sent as a stereo mix to the Alesis Masterlink hard disk mastering recorder. From there, the mix can be auditioned, and a CD-R can be burned for preliminary evaluation.

what is mixing/mixdown?