Let’s discuss top-down mixing: what it is, what it isn’t, and how you can prep for success if you decide to use it in your projects. We’ll also examine some pros and cons of this approach and discuss why many contemporary mixing engineers advocate it.
- What Top-down Mixing Is
- What Top-down Mixing Is Not
- Pros of Top-down Mixing
- Cons of Top-down Mixing
- Techniques & Gear
What Top-down Mixing Is
Top-down mixing is when you begin the mixing process by placing signal processing (EQ, compressors, etc.) on your mix bus and listening to all the tracks through the mix bus before modifying individual tracks or instrument buses. In other words, top-down mixing is when you shape the overall feel and vibe of the song before performing surgery on any guitars, vocals, etc. By comparison, bottom-up mixing would be putting EQs, compressors, etc. on every track or instrument bus, getting them to sound great individually, and then blending them together in the mix bus for finishing touches.
What Top-down Mixing Is Not
Top-down mixing is not mastering. While mastering engineers are known for having a handful of beloved gear or plug-ins that they run everything through, setting up signal processing on your mix bus is not the same thing. Mastering involves metadata, preparing songs for distribution, ensuring consistent playback on different systems (headphones, car and laptop speakers, etc.), and more. While a top-down mixing approach behaves similarly to a mastering engineer’s workflow, it’s neither completing the same processes nor fulfilling the same purposes. Just because you put a limiter on your mix bus doesn’t mean you’re suddenly in the realm of mastering.
That said, many mixing engineers do mix into a limiter on their mix bus to have a general idea of what the song will sound like when mastered. Clients may like hearing this “pre-mastered” version of a mix in addition to hearing the actual mix, and mastering engineers may find it a useful reference. Just make sure you bypass the limiter before bouncing your actual mix to give the mastering engineer some headroom!
Pros of Top-down Mixing
Speed is the first (and possibly most significant) benefit of top-down mixing. For example, renowned Grammy-winning mix engineer Craig Bauer knows (after more than 30 years of mixing) that most of his EQ moves will be in the low-mid range. So, he always places an EQ on his mix bus with a slight dip at 180Hz and a nice gentle curve. This saves him a ton of time (and CPU!) by having this processing on his mix bus at the start of projects instead of going through each track and making those EQ moves individually for every song.
Top-down mixing also employs a “big picture” approach, which many mix engineers find helpful. Working with the overall feel of a song from the very beginning — instead of starting by obsessing over the details of individual tracks — can offer a more intuitive approach. If you find that you often suffer from “analysis paralysis,” then you may want to try top-down mixing.
Another often overlooked benefit of top-down mixing is that it helps you hear how your gear works. For example, putting a Solid State Logic G Comp 500 Series Stereo Bus Compressor on a single track will give you some idea of what it does, but throwing it on a mix bus and putting loads of sonic content through it that covers the entire frequency spectrum will give you an excellent idea of what it does and how its different settings affect each frequency range.
When used with a tool like the Sonible true:balance spectrum analyzer plug-in or the Blue Cat Audio FreqAnalyst Multi real-time spectrum analyzer plug-in, top-down mixing can help you hear and see your plug-ins and outboard gear in a whole new light. This information will help you make more intelligent mix decisions about which tools to use in which situations. Also, your DAW likely has some great tools already available for obtaining this sort of visual information.
Here’s an exercise for you. Drop your favorite EQ on a track, and don’t touch any knobs or faders whatsoever. Then, use the cross-platform DDMF PluginDoctor to analyze what your EQ is doing. You may find that many of your plug-ins add something to your tracks as soon as you insert them — even if you haven’t changed any settings yet!
Cons of Top-down Mixing
You should be aware of some potential downfalls to top-down mixing. The first is that top-down mixing really relies on having tracks that are recorded well. Obviously, this is important for any style of mixing, but it’s critical with top-down mixing. Because you begin by working with the general sound and feel of the song, if the tracks generally sound bad from the beginning, then there’s not much you can do with top-down mixing. Even if you have a Manley Massive Passive stereo tube EQ on your mix bus and you try to run a bunch of poorly recorded tracks through it, the result will be — as they say — “Garbage in, garbage out!” In this situation, it’s probably best to go with a bottom-up approach and surgically optimize each track before trying to get the song vibing as a whole.
Another potential pitfall of top-down mixing is that it’s very easy to overdrive your mix bus compression. Because you’re presumably beginning with compression on your mix bus, any additional compression you apply to individual tracks or instrument buses will have a domino effect (this is even more of an issue if you mix into a limiter). Therefore, it’s crucial to have accurate monitoring and reliable visual information.
Finally, I’ve found that top-down mixing doesn’t work well for songs with diverse stylistic changes or wide dynamic ranges requiring a lot of automation. However, for songs where the style and dynamic range are consistent, top-down mixing can get you to a finished mix faster. Well-recorded punk, rock, metal, and certain genres of jazz and acoustic folk tracks will benefit most from a top-down mixing approach.
Techniques & Gear
Generally, mix buses don’t have effects like reverb, delay, distortion, etc. What you’ll find most often on mix buses are things like compression, EQ, console saturation/emulation, tape saturation/emulation, and limiters. You may also find stereo widening tools, but many engineers stay away from them and instead use M-S techniques or duplicate mono tracks and then hard pan them. These tools glue everything together and help each individual component breathe.
Let’s look at each of these individually with some suggested initial settings. Bear in mind that these are very general setting recommendations. Achieving the best results depends on your ears and the material you’re working with. It also goes without saying that your very best gear and plug-ins should be on the mix bus!
Mix Bus Compression
Compression is easily the most common processor you’ll find on a mix bus. VCA-style compressors are typically preferred for mix bus applications, as they glue everything together and tame transients without squashing them entirely. For the sake of brevity, I’ve thrown limiters in here as well. If you decide to use a limiter, then use it subtly (maybe at -0.5 to -1 gain reduction). And always place the limiter at the very end of your mix bus chain, and make sure you bypass it before bouncing!
Here are some gear recommendations:
- Solid State Logic G Comp 500 Series Stereo Bus Compressor
- API 2500+ Stereo Bus Compressor (or in plug-in form: Universal Audio UAD API 2500 Bus Compressor Plug-in)
- Dangerous Music Compressor
- Neve 33609/N Discrete Stereo Compressor/Limiter
- Universal Audio UAD Fairchild Tube Limiter Collection Plug-in
- iZotope Ozone 10 Advanced Mastering Software Suite (for limiting)
Here are some general compression settings to begin working with:
- Ratio: 2:1 and maybe 4:1 can be used for material with sharp transients (like rock and metal).
- Attack: 30ms is a safe bet.
- Release: This is largely dependent on the tempo of the song. Many high-end compressors feature an “auto” setting, which tends to work well. If you want to experiment some more, then 100ms or 300ms are good starting points.
- Gain Reduction: Shooting for 4dB of gain reduction is a solid idea. You may want to aim for less than that (maybe 2dB) if you’re working with soft, mellow material. Heavier songs may sound better if you apply even more gain reduction.
Mix Bus EQ
There are loads of great EQ options. Here are some of my favorites:
- Dangerous Music BAX EQ Mastering and Mix Bus EQ
- Universal Audio UAD Pultec Passive EQ Plug-in Collection
- Universal Audio UAD Hitsville EQ Collection Plug-in
- Heritage Audio LANG PEQ-2 Program Equalizer (2 for stereo)
- Maag Audio EQ4M Mastering 6-band Parametric Equalizer (though this has “Mastering” in the title, it’s great for mixing, too)
I prefer not to make huge EQ moves on my mix bus; it just makes me nervous. But many awesome mix engineers will perform huge, broad EQ strokes. Again, it ultimately depends on the material you’re working with and your ears. Here are some general mix bus EQ settings to start with:
- A slight dip at 180Hz with a gentle curve (à la Craig Bauer)
- A low shelf of +1-2dB around 50Hz to 150Hz
- A high shelf of +1-2dB around 12kHz to 18kHz (the Maag Audio EQ4M listed above is particularly great at opening up the top end of a mix)
Mix Bus Console & Tape Emulations
Assuming that you’re not mixing on a high-end analog console, such as the Rupert Neve Designs 5088 32-channel analog mixing console with automation, then console saturation/emulation or tape simulator plug-ins are very popular mix bus choices for gluing a song together:
- Slate Digital VCC Virtual Console Collection 2.0 Plug-in Bundle
- Universal Audio UAD API Vision Strip Plug-in Collection
- Universal Audio UAD Studer A800 Multichannel Tape Recorder Plug-in
- Baby Audio TAIP Tape Emulation Plug-in
If you’ve gain staged correctly, then getting good results with any of the products above is relatively easy. Tape plug-ins in particular round off drums while applying punchiness in a very musical way.
Is Top-down Mixing Right for You? Give It a Try!
Top-down mixing is just one of many approaches you can take to mixing. There is no right or wrong way, and top-down mixing isn’t “better” than any other style of mixing in the same way that a hammer isn’t “better” than a screwdriver. It all depends on what the song needs. Sweetwater Sales Engineers have in-depth knowledge of mixing techniques and mix bus compressors, EQs, and all others forms of audio gear. If you have a question on which mix bus software or hardware processors are right for you, then don’t hesitate to get in touch with them at (800) 222-4700!