26/11/2025
➡️Muddy Mix and common reasons behind it:
1️⃣Too many instruments in one section
Sometimes the problem is not on your mixing skills, but too many fighting instruments at once, and trust me, it's hard to balance too many instruments,so try to remove some from that section
2️⃣Not making use of filters
There are 3 main filters to make use of during mixing
✅Low pass filter/high cut - remove inaudible highs from an instrument,e.g Kick drum
✅High pass filter/Low cut - remove all low frequencies from an instrument,e.g vocals or piano
✅Band pass filter - only allow certain frequencies to be audible and remove the rest,e.g on background vocals, you may choose to allow only upper mid range frequencies to pass to avoid clashing with main vocal
3️⃣Frequency Masking (check past posts for this one,or I'll leave the link In the comments section): when too much instruments share the same frequency range,they may muddy your mix,e.g 4 bass layers, layered kick, pad layers, multiple piano and guitars,too many vocal layers
4️⃣Lack of dynamic range
Once your instruments play at about the same volume level, the sound becomes flat, making it harder to know which instrument requires which effects,so ensure that you categorise your instruments into 3 parts, namely
✔️Main Elements (most audible)
✔️Support Elements (mid volume level)
✔️Atmospheric (very low volume level)
5️⃣Relying too much on effects:
Once your production depends on effects, that usually means two things:
➡️Your samples are of low quality and naturally lack clarity
➡️You don't compose with the end picture in mind, for example if you don't know what genre you plan to create, you'll throw in unnecessary instruments,so ensure every instrument you include has a purpose,if it doesn't,then remove it
That's it for this tip remember to follow TJ Tunez Universe for more tips and tricks like this
