Phase 5
Commitment
“Unfinished music has zero value.”
This is where most people stall.
Not because they lack skill - but because finishing forces exposure. Decisions become public. Taste becomes visible. There’s no hiding behind potential.
Phase 5 is about commitment as a practice, not a personality trait (we're not getting married here).
At this stage, the track already works. The remaining work is not creative exploration. It’s decisive execution.
This phase focuses on:
Decisiveness — choosing this version and letting the others die
Completion — defining what “done” actually means
Letting tracks leave the studio — releasing control as much as files
Staying in the game — building output, not perfection
Mixing here is not about polish for its own sake. It’s about impact, translation, and intent. The goal is not flawlessness — it’s clarity across systems, spaces, and contexts. Keep in mind that every track has it’s own balance.
Finishing is a muscle and releasing becomes a habit.
Confidence comes from repetition of the above.
Most producers don’t fail because they’re bad. They fail because they never close the loop. Unfinished tracks don’t teach you anything. Finished ones compound.
The framework only works if it loops.
Commit → release → begin again.
Feel an overall shape - Start with volume and panning
Before EQ and compression - set levels and get a feel for where the sounds sit in space.
This is where most of the mix actually happens.
If you can get a feel for the overall shape and colour of the record, everything downstream becomes a lot easier.
Use the kick as your reference point
In most club-focused music, the kick is the anchor.
Set it first.
Then build everything around it.
If the low end doesn’t feel right:
No amount of EQ will fix it
No mastering chain will save it
At that point I might suggest at least trying a new kick as a reference and see if it’s better or worse. Bass should support the kick, not compete with it. If they’re fighting, one of them has to change and usually the answer isn’t processing. It’s choice.
Key also plays a part here. If a kick and a bass are in the same key, they’re friends, locking hands naturally and propping each other up. If they’re out of key, they’re out of phase, dissonant and butting heads. A simple tuner or spectrum can be used to help determine key of each.
Panning is arrangement, not mixing
Panning isn’t just about width, it’s about clarity and space.
If two elements occupy the same space:
One must move
Or one must go
Don’t rely on EQ to solve spatial problems.
Spread things out first.
Mono elements feel powerful.
Wide elements feel decorative.
Let that guide your decisions.
Loudness lives in the mids
This is one of the most misunderstood parts of mixing.
Many producers chase brightness, thinking it equals volume.
It doesn’t.
Perceived loudness exists in the upper and lower mids, the former providing clarity and the latter giving punch and body. e.g if you look at a classic snare recording played on a spectrum the peak fundamental wave is actually likely between 150hz - 300hz.
Highs should feel sweet.
Not sharp.
Not aggressive.
If your mix hurts, something earlier is wrong — often balance, not EQ.
As a rule of thumb I’d avoid hyped top end entirely, preferring clarity in the mids and letting air come naturally from the source. If lo-fi style samples have been used for top end elements a touch of saturation / excitement can help with that.
Don’t mix against physics
If you’re forcing a sound to behave unnaturally, stop.
Ask:
Is this the wrong sound?
Is this fighting the role it wants to play?
For example:
A long sub bass will take a lot of work to become punchy
A noisy hat will rarely be crowbarred into something soft
A dense pad will never feel “light” (unless comb-filtered to within an inch of its life)
Good sound choice beats clever processing every time. Fix the problem at the source whenever possible.
Compression is not a solution - it’s a support
Compression should support dynamics, not erase them. A mix with no movement feels flat, no matter how loud it is.
Spike Stent (Bjork, Depeche mode) is known for using very little compression, sometimes none at all - because he believes dynamics are part of the emotional impact of music.
You don’t need to go that far, but the philosophy holds: Compress because it’s required, not because you feel like you should. Main uses for compression in a typical scenario:
Controlling dynamics of a recorded vocal
Glueing drums and percussion together with parallel compression
Catching peaks on the mix buss to help downstream on the master.
Glue comes from relationships, not plugins
A mix feels “glued” when:
Levels work together in homogeny
Sounds leave space for each other
Dynamics breathe together
Bus compression can help. Parallel processing can help. But they don’t replace balance.
If you mute all processing and the mix collapses, the foundation isn’t strong enough yet.
Reference without copying
Reference tracks are tools, not targets. Every track has it’s own nuanced balance.
Use a reference track with specificity:
Check low-end balance
Compare midrange weight
Sense overall density
Don’t try to match EQ curves and don’t try and chase loudness. Ask yourself, does my track feel comparable in weight and movement?
If yes, you’re close. If no, look at balance first.
Mix fast, trust instinct
Endless tweaking kills perspective and objectivity. Part of the reason this framework works so well is that tracks can finished with pace and a reasonable sense of confidence in part due to the objectivity one can maintain in that timeframe.
Albini talks about committing early and moving on, because overthinking leads to sterile results. This mindset is liberating especially to an ex-infinite tweaker. Set limits. Make decisions and commit early.
You can always come back later.
But you can’t mix confidently if you never finish.
Key takeaway
Mixing isn’t about perfection. It’s about impact, honesty and balance.
If the idea is strong and the sounds are right mixing becomes simple
Get the relationships right. The rest follows.