How To Mix Songs Together In 2025

Understanding the art of DJing and mixing songs provides valuable insights into the audio-mixing process.

Many DJs also produce their own songs, making it crucial to learn how to mix music to deliver a professional sound.

In this guide, we’ll explain how to transform a rough mix into a highly polished finished track that fits seamlessly into your DJ sets.

What Is Mixing In Music?

Mixing music is fine-tuning multiple audio tracks in a song structure to blend elements, balance frequencies, and introduce effects.

Audio mixing is an essential skill for anyone who wants to become a DJ producer. It expands on concepts that DJs are familiar with but takes a more in-depth approach.

Mixing in music production incorporates three key stages: organization and gain staging, followed by balancing and panning.

It concludes with applying effects to add depth and character before preparing the track for the mastering stage.

Why Is Mixing In Music Important?

With more music released than ever, high-quality mixing is critical for aspiring producers looking to break into the music industry.

Audio mixing can transform a pedestrian-sounding track into something unique, with a sense of style and presence on the dance floor.

While learning to make beats is exciting, mixing ensures they sound impactful and work harmoniously with other track elements.

The process clarifies and balances a track’s elements, from the lead and background vocals to acoustic instruments and percussion.

It also creates depth and a sense of space, adjusts dynamics, and highlights instruments and vocals to enhance the listening experience.

Mixing And Mastering: What’s The Difference?

While mixing and mastering share similar attributes in the music production process, there are important distinctions to consider.

The mixing process involves balancing all the individual tracks of a song, ensuring that they complement each other effectively. 

In contrast, mastering focuses on the entire track, utilizing post-production techniques to optimize the mix for various sound systems and streaming services.

The process is typically handled by a dedicated mastering engineer with high-quality tools, which creates optimal audio quality before commercial releases.

How To Mix Songs In 10 Steps

Mixing is essential for achieving professional-sounding results, whether working on your first song or improving past attempts.

Let’s explore how to mix music in detail, from selecting a digital audio workstation to using the tools and plugins to produce the best-quality audio files.

Step 1: Choose A Digital Audio Workstation

Before mixing music, you must invest in a digital audio workstation with the relevant tools and features to complete the task.

Whether remixing a song or mixing an original track, a DAW is designed to balance sounds, adjust equalizers, and layer effects onto channels.

Track routing, effects processing, panning and fading controls, and other tools are all presented in a DAW and can be applied to specific track elements.

Some of the best music production software allows for updates and plugins, such as dedicated compression tools and effects.

They also allow you to export the finished results to various supported audio file formats so they are ready to be included in your next DJ set.

Step 2: Organize Your Tracks

As every DJ appreciates, organizing music libraries is crucial for performing engaging DJ sets that can adapt to requests and the audience’s mood.

The same principle applies when mixing music, but it focuses on the track’s most important elements so they can be emphasized individually.

These elements are common throughout all types of music production, with percussion, vocals, bass lines, and effects generally having dedicated tracks.

This separation allows for fine-tuning the specific frequencies associated with each element without impacting other song elements.

It can also help with track routing, a process that routes audio signals between tracks or subgroups to streamline mixing.

Step 3: Improve Levels With Gain Staging

Once your tracks are organized, adjust the levels and fine-tune the volume to ensure that the elements stand out in the mix.

Also known as gain staging, this process is essential for ensuring your music is heard as it should be, with a good mix of range for each component.

Work through each element of the track and increase or decrease the volume fader, paying attention to quieter components that may need to be increased.

The idea is to develop a mix in which each element does not compete with another for space but works together naturally.

You can streamline the process by using the volume unit (VU) meter, which is featured in most DAWs and shows the track’s stereo audio level.

Step 4: Adjust EQ For A Balanced Mix

The equalizer, which adjusts levels across the frequency spectrum, provides a more nuanced method for controlling the levels of a song’s elements.

Using the EQ to blend frequency ranges is a common DJ mixing technique that applies here, balancing low, mid, and high frequencies between tracks.

The goal is to amplify or cut levels within certain frequencies to carve out each element in the mix and avoid clashing sounds.

Sound effects and other elements often exist in overlapping frequency ranges, and this process allows you to isolate the core sound and cut out unwanted noise.

When possible, this process should be applied throughout the recording process since it will save time when fine-tuning at this stage of production.

Step 5: Apply Pitch Correction Where Needed

Any DJ who has used harmonic mixing in their sets knows the importance of understanding the key when blending melodies.

This principle applies to mixing a song and can be extended to other track elements besides the lead melodies and chords.

Drums and other percussion that sound off in the mix may need to be pitch-corrected to align with the song’s key.

If you’re unsure which key to use, use the Camelot Wheel to check other complementary keys that will work well.

Other creative ways to apply pitch correction in mixing include doubling up a vocal track and changing the key on the duplicate.

This approach will allow you to apply harmonies to a double track, resulting in a richer, more pleasing sound that elevates the song’s vocals.

Related reading: Find out how much music producers make.

Step 6: Introduce Panning & Stereo Effects

A common mistake beginner music producers make is leaving all of the elements sat evenly across both track channels.

While some song elements work well in this way, others can be placed independently on the left or right channels to create unique effects.

Percussive hits, such as closed hats and other short, high-frequency hits, are a good example, as they can be spread between channels.

Panning from one channel to the next is another common production technique that elevates basic sound elements to create more interest.

Other techniques, such as stereo widening, enhance the overall soundscape and deliver a stronger sense of movement in the song.

Experimenting with stereo-based effects can result in unique sounds, and many free VST plugins offer specialized tools for this purpose.

When used correctly, these panning and other stereo-based effects are powerful tools for developing a lush and expansive sound.

Step 7: Enhance Dynamic Differences

Dynamics in music refer to the differences between a track’s quiet and loud elements, which can be further refined through production techniques.

They can help mitigate excessive loudness and control volumes for a sound as it plays out in the track.

Music production software includes a range of tools for applying dynamic changes, one of which is compression.

Several subcategories of compression are available, including sidechain, multiband, and bus compression.

Each can be applied to individual or grouped instruments, and these elements can be separated in the mix for a clearer overall sound.

Compression brings more clarity and distinction between basslines and kick drums, allowing each element to cut through the mix.

Gates, expanders, and limiters, each of which can be applied to elements, are other tools that can improve a song’s dynamic presence.

Step 8: Introduce Atmosphere With Time-Based Effects

Radio DJs who have produced DJ drops for their broadcasts will be familiar with the application of time-based effects to add drama and excitement.

Tools such as delay and reverb effectively add atmosphere and a sense of presence, giving flat-sounding elements a vivid sense of space.

Reverb is the go-to effect in music production, particularly for enhancing drums and emulating their sounds when played in larger rooms.

Similarly, the delay tool can create an echo effect that expands the song’s soundscape in an atmospheric manner.

It’s also an effective tool for fleshing out short percussive hits, duplicating and fading them to save time applying them individually.

Other time-based effects, such as the flanger, phaser, and chorus, can be introduced sparingly to accentuate sound effects and vocals.

Step 9: Test The Track On Different Speakers

Whether producing music on standard PC speakers or using high-end dedicated monitor speakers, testing on other systems is critical.

This step allows you to check the track for imperfections and ensure the frequency spectrum is clear and balanced on low-quality speakers.

When listening to your work on different systems, pay attention to the bass, melodies, vocals, and other elements to see if they sound clear.

You can also test them in different environments, repositioning the speakers or listening to the song on a car stereo system.

This process will help you identify problem elements that sound fine in production but need further tweaking to optimize for other systems.

Step 10: Complete The Mastering Stage

Once you have completed your audio mix, it’s time to prepare the song for finalization by a mastering engineer.

The process is straightforward. It begins with exporting the track in a lossless format, such as WAV, to avoid low-quality MP3s.

It should use a 24-bit depth and a sample rate that matches the original recording, with a lower peak decibel that leaves headroom for mastering.

While some producers apply normalization and dithering to projects, this should be avoided if you’re using a dedicated mastering service.

Likewise, to optimize the mastering process, you should remove any limiting or master bus compression you’ve used before exporting.

While many producers use professionals for mastering, it is possible to perform this process using consumer production software.

New AI-powered mastering tools and plugins are available in some digital audio workstations (DAWs), which can significantly improve the mastering process.

If you master your own music, make sure it’s optimized for any streaming platforms you intend to share it on.

Once you are happy with the results, the song is ready to share with your audience and other DJs interested in playing it live.

Recommended Music Mixing Tools

Music production is becoming increasingly popular, and there is no shortage of free and affordable music-mixing tools you can use for composition.

Here’s a selection of tools and software you can install on your computer and create a professional mix:

• Ableton Live: One of the most popular music production applications, Ableton Live has all the features needed to create a balanced mix and color-code channels for a streamlined workflow.
• FL Studio: Originally Fruity Loops, FL Studio’s simplified tools and intuitive user interface make it ideal for DJs new to music production.
• Audacity: If you are on a tight budget, Audacity’s free-to-use status and approachability will help you learn the basics of audio mixing before committing to paid software.
• Pro Tools: Pro Tools can maximize the iterative process for more experienced producers or those who want to explore more complex processes.

With many tools offering free trials, you can test them out and explore their workflows and features before deciding whether to invest.

Summary

Whether producing hard-hitting techno tracks or melodic EDM, understanding the audio mixing process is essential for creating a lasting impression.

By adhering to the steps in this guide, you can clearly understand the role of a mixing engineer and optimize the frequency spectrum.

As you gain experience, you will be able to make informed mixing decisions based on a better understanding of the process for producing a high-quality finished mix.