A Techno Music Programming Masterclass With The Black Dog

Mixing and balancing parts

When mixing your track, you need to use level adjustments and equalisation (EQ) to ensure that each sound is distinct.

Here we’ve used an EQ effect to remove some low frequencies from the pad sound. Play the two boxes together, with and without the effect (use a comment -- to remove the push_fx line).

The bass line is much more distinct if we apply the EQ. Also experiment with level changes.

You can use panning to help separate different sounds. But don’t go too mad; remember that your track needs to sound good on a single speaker too!

Expert tips from The Black Dog

A compressor effect automatically lowers the volume of the loudest parts of a track. This can add “punch” and help to control levels. We use compression on individual parts, and the whole mix.

Try this with and without the push_fx command, which adds a compressor effect.