Learn mixing by ear
Learn EQ, compression and mix balance with explainers, listening demos and short practice routines. Hear a change on music split into separate instruments, compare it with the original, then train the skill in an exercise.
Explainers
The ideas behind EQ, compression, balance and space, each with a demo.
- Trains: Identify
What is EQ?
What an equaliser does to a sound, on a full mix: a range of frequencies turned up or down.
Hear it - Trains: Identify, Sweep
What each frequency sounds like
Play each of the nine bands boosted or cut, on noise and a mix, and learn a name for every one.
Hear it - Trains: Sweep, Restore
Parametric EQ
Frequency, gain and Q, the three controls on every bell band. Hear what each one does.
Hear it - Trains: Cuts Only
High-pass and low-pass filters
Take out everything below or above a point. Where a high-pass goes on a vocal, and when it goes too far.
Hear it - Trains: Cuts Only
Shelving EQ
Lift or lower everything above or below a frequency, and how a shelf differs from a bell and a filter.
Hear it - Trains: Fix the Mix, Hunt
Mix problems you can hear
Muddy, boxy, honky, harsh, sibilant and dull: what each sounds like and where to look for it.
Hear it - Trains: Compressed or Dry, How Much, Attack
What does a compressor do?
It turns the loud moments down. Hear it on drums with the levels matched, so louder is never the clue.
Hear it - Trains: Parallel Blend, How Much
Parallel compression
Blend a hard-compressed copy under the dry part: the hits keep their punch and the body comes up.
Hear it - Trains: Match the Space, Front to Back
What is reverb?
The sound of a space: hear its tail in the gaps, and what the send, decay and pre-delay do.
Hear it - Trains: Restore the Balance, Build the Mix
Gain staging
Set the level at every stage so nothing clips and level-sensitive plugins are hit right. Then the faders are up to your ears.
Hear it - Trains: Daily Session
Mixing on headphones
It works if you know what your headphones hide. Check the low end, then train on what you mix on.
Hear it
Practice guides
How to train a skill by ear: a routine, what to listen for, and the exercise that drills it.
- Trains: Identify, Daily Session
How to train your ears for EQ
A short daily routine: start on pink noise with a few bands, move to music, and learn the neighbours you confuse.
Practise it - Trains: Compressed or Dry, How Much, Attack
How to hear compression
Hear the hit, tail and gaps on drums, then test yourself. A five-minute routine for learning to recognise compression.
Practise it - Trains: Daily Session, Restore
Critical listening
Listening for what is actually there: what critical listening is, why loudness fools it, and how to practise.
Practise it - Trains: Hunt, Sweep
How to find resonant frequencies
Find a ringing frequency by ear with a narrow boost and a sweep, then cut it, and practise until it gets quick.
Practise it - Trains: Cuts Only, Fix the Mix
Subtractive EQ
Fix a sound by taking away what is in the way rather than adding more. When to cut, and how to practise it.
Practise it - Trains: Fix the Mix, Solo to Context
How to fix a muddy mix
Mud is the low mids piling up. Find the part adding the most with the band playing, then cut there.
Practise it - Trains: Restore the Balance, Louder or Softer
How to build a static mix
Set the faders before anything else: an order to build it in, what to listen for, and how to check the balance.
Practise it
How the demos work
Every demo plays in your browser, most of them on music split into separate instruments, so a move can be made on the whole mix or on one part of it. Press play, then flip between the two sides. Where the point is the tone, the processed side plays at the same loudness as the clean side, so it can’t sound better just by being louder. Each demo says whether its levels are matched.
Use headphones or decent speakers. Laptop and phone speakers can’t play the lowest bands, so the low end turns into guesswork.
Ready to practise? Choose EQ ear training, compression ear training, or balance ear training. Each module has exercises you can start without an account.
Choosing a trainer? See free EQ ear trainers, compared and SoundGym alternatives.
Looking for which frequencies each instrument lives in? That’s the EQ frequency chart on danmurtagh.com.