Violet Recording Editorial Team

Learn how to prepare a mix for mastering: leave headroom, bounce a clean stereo file, fix problem frequencies, and hand off a mix that…

Mixing vs mastering explained simply: mixing balances the tracks inside a song, while mastering polishes the finished stereo file for loudness and release.

Learn how to tell when a mix is finished — the ear checks, reference tracks, and technical signs that show your mix is done…

Learn how to balance levels in a mix step by step: set a static rough balance by ear, use fader moves and gain staging,…

Learn how to mix in a small room with no treatment: set up monitors and seat right, tame bass buildup, cross-check on headphones and…

Learn how to tune vocals naturally with transparent pitch correction: retune speed, scale settings, manual pitch moves and by-ear tips that keep a vocal…

Learn how to de-ess a vocal: find the sibilance frequency, dial in a de-esser, and tame harsh S and SH sounds by ear without…

Learn how to glue a mix together using bus compression, shared reverb, saturation and smart gain staging so your tracks feel like one cohesive,…

Learn how to use a bus compressor to glue a mix together — attack, release, ratio and gain-reduction starting points for the mix bus,…

Learn how to gain stage a mix from input to master bus so every track keeps clean headroom, avoids clipping, and your plugins behave…