# Build the Mix

> Every fader starts down. Bring a song's parts up by ear until your mix matches the original, with meters on your mix. Free balance ear training.

Page: https://mixchops.com/balance/build

The exercise runs at [https://mixchops.com/balance/build](https://mixchops.com/balance/build) in any modern browser, with headphones or decent speakers.

## Build the balance *from silence.*

Every mix starts with the faders down. Here a song comes as its parts, all off, and you bring them up by ear until your mix sounds like the song’s own. Each fader has a hidden trim, so the right spots are different on every part and you can’t just line them up. Once two parts are up, your mix plays at the same loudness as the reference, so only the balance counts.

### How it works

1. Press Play and listen to the Reference.
2. Bring up the drums, then the bass under them, then the rest. Moving a fader switches to Your Mix, and the meters light up.
3. Flip between Reference and Your Mix until they match, then check.

### How it’s scored

How close your mix comes to the song’s own balance, at any overall level: 100 is exact, 0 is no better than pushing every fader to the same spot. A part left off counts against you. Soloing a part costs 4 points, once a part; muting is free. Pass with a 65 average over five challenges.

### Levels

Five levels: three parts, four parts, then the whole song. On the last two you only get the Reference twice through, then once, and finish from memory. It’s part of [Mix Chops Pro](https://mixchops.com/pro), every level.

[Before this: From Memory](https://mixchops.com/balance/from-memory) · [Next: Ride the Lead](https://mixchops.com/balance/ride) · [All balance exercises](https://mixchops.com/balance) · [Learn: How to build a static mix](https://mixchops.com/learn/build-a-static-mix)