How to mix a song: which video to watch

Michael from In The Mix works through a complete song mix in FL Studio, dragging in stems, setting a top-down balance, adding reverb and delay on vocals, EQing instruments, side-chaining the bass to the kick 25:45, automating the vocal fader 20:35, and closing with a global EQ pass 29:20. Nothing is hidden — before-and-after comparisons appear at every stage, including the guitar and piano adjustments around 9:00.

watch on YouTube → 32:15

Why it ranks here: This is the only video in the pack that shows the full arc of a mix session rather than isolated techniques. The top-down mixing approach — getting the overall balance right before touching individual tracks 2:00 — is demonstrated rather than just described, and you hear why it matters. A commenter who makes a living from production wrote that the videos 'upgraded and solidified' everything they knew; another specifically called out the efficient use of mostly free plugins as genuinely useful for home mixers. Nothing is skipped to keep the runtime tidy.

~32 min · intermediate · FL Studio shown, principles apply in any DAW

In The Mix's 10-minute essay distils a decade of lessons into six areas: why clashing tracks are an arrangement problem rather than a mixing problem 0:58, how phase cancellation between layered kicks and bass can silently destroy a mix before you add a single plugin 2:10, why mixing in solo misleads your ear 6:00, where the loudness debate actually stands 4:33, and how much online mixing advice is unreliable 6:50. No DAW is shown.

watch on YouTube → 10:49

Why it ranks here: The value here is in correcting wrong mental models that make mixing frustrating. The point at 1:21 — that if elements refuse to fit together the fix belongs in the arrangement, not the mix — is the kind of thing most tutorials skip. The phase section 2:10 is concrete: check waveform polarity when layering samples before reaching for any processor. A professional mixing engineer and tutor who has taught hundreds of students commented that this channel is 'one of the few on YouTube that's no-nonsense'. The gear section 7:52 is also clear-eyed: understand your equipment's limitations rather than upgrading past them.

~10 min · all levels · conceptual, no DAW required

Wick from wickiemedia explains what mixing actually is — fitting multiple recorded tracks into two speakers — using animated diagrams throughout. The video covers how volume controls depth, panning controls left-to-right position, and frequency determines perceived height, building toward a 3D mental model of a stereo field 1:49–2:34. It then shows how EQ and compression each serve that spatial goal.

watch on YouTube → 6:07

Why it ranks here: Someone who spent a year trying to understand mixing wrote that this video taught them in five minutes. The 3D stereo field diagram is specifically praised in multiple comments as the thing that finally made the concept click — one commenter described feeling their life changing. This is a conceptual foundation video, not a step-by-step practical guide. Watch it before any of the others if the vocabulary of panning, EQ, or stereo image is unfamiliar. The tutorial is from 2013 but the theory is not software-specific and has not dated.

~6 min · beginner · no software required

Graham from recordingrevolution introduces the static mix — a fader-and-pan balance with no EQ or effects — as the essential first step before touching any plugin. He demonstrates in Pro Tools by pulling all faders to silence and building a working balance from scratch, targeting 5–6 dB of headroom on the master at the loudest part of the song 10:13. The video is part one of a multi-part series.

watch on YouTube → 12:59

Why it ranks here: The static mix is a specific, actionable technique that the other ranked videos assume you already know. Getting a solid balance before adding effects means that when you do reach for EQ or compression, you're refining rather than compensating. A commenter noted it was the first time they had heard anyone mention the static mix despite reading everything they could find on mixing for 14 years. A viewer tip in the comments is worth adding: play the finished mix back at very low volume — if every track is still audible, the balance is solid.

~13 min · beginner · Pro Tools shown, concept applies everywhere

Sage Audio builds an alternative framework for EQ by working from the physics of individual notes rather than broad frequency labels. The argument is that knowing a bass guitar's fundamental at A1 (55 Hz) and its harmonic series — 110 Hz, 165 Hz, 220 Hz and so on — tells you exactly which frequencies matter and which are noise, making EQ cuts more targeted 2:28–4:50. Applied examples include tracing a vocal nasal resonance to a specific formant cavity rather than reaching for a generic high-mid cut.

watch on YouTube → 10:23

Why it ranks here: This reframes EQ from the typical muddy/bright vocabulary into something more precise. A viewer who described never being able to understand words like 'muddy' or 'clear' wrote that the video's graphics made the concept immediately understandable. The harmonic approach narrows the problem space: instead of sweeping across hundreds of frequencies, you have a short list of mathematically predictable candidates. One commenter cautioned — accurately — that the approach can tip into over-surgical mixing if taken too literally. Treat it as a sharper lens for diagnosing problems, not a formula for every decision.

~10 min · intermediate · conceptual, DAW-agnostic