#216: I Tried Top-Down Mixing — Here’s What Actually Happened

What if a better‑translating mix starts before you touch a single channel plugin? I put top‑down mixing under the microscope and share a candid, first‑hand evaluation: what worked, what didn’t, and how a few smart moves on the mix bus reshaped the entire project in less time and with fewer plugins. Rather than a tutorial, this is a field report packed with practical takeaways you can try on your next session.

I begin by setting a clear vision using references—one in the same key for tonal and energy alignment—and a bounced static mix for instant AB checks. From there, we build a lean, disciplined master bus chain: gentle resonance control, broad‑stroke EQ shelves, an SSL‑style bus compressor, and subtle tape saturation. Those small, wide moves made a big difference early, tightening low‑end focus and smoothing top‑end glare while preserving macro and microdynamics. With the canvas set, we move through subgroups—kick and bass, drums, synths, vocals, FX—pushing fixes upstream and only dropping to track level for surgical EQ where it truly matters.

Not everything got faster. Saving time on tone and dynamics meant time‑based effects arrived later, and finding the right reverb balance took more iteration than usual—proof that arrangement and spatial design can complicate a top‑down flow. Still, automation needs dropped thanks to better macro balance, CPU use fell with fewer chains, and translation improved across volumes. You’ll hear why starting at the mix bus can prevent “getting stuck in the weeds,” how to pick effective reference tracks, and when to abandon restraint for a precise channel tweak.

Suppose you’re curious about master bus processing, top‑down mixing, and faster decision‑making without sacrificing quality. In that case, this session offers a straight‑talk guide to trying it responsibly on your own productions before rolling it out for clients. Listen, steal the framework, then run your own experiment—and tell me what you discover. 

Links mentioned in this episode:

Listen to Narcissist 

THE UNSEEN DANGERS OF TOP-DOWN MIXING

Where Top-Down Goes WRONG

TOP DOWN MIXING - the SECRET SAUCE

Why Top-Down Mixing is the GOAT

Top-Down Mixing: The Secret To Better FASTER Mixes?

Chapters

• 0:45 Why Top-Down Mixing Matters
• 2:52 Core Philosophy: Mix Bus First
• 3:53 Subtle Moves, Big Results
• 4:13 Speed, CPU, And Fewer Plugins
• 4:36 Start With A Solid Static Mix
• 4:57 References As Your North Star
• 6:29 Defining Vision: Bass And Vocal
• 6:54 Mix Bus Chain Walkthrough
• 8:01 Moving To Subgroups And Tracks
• 8:39 When To Process Individual Tracks
• 9:11 Time-Based FX: Later And Harder
• 10:37 Automation And Arrangement Factors
• 11:25 Loudness, Translation, And ABing
• 11:58 Project Overview And References
• 13:07 Mix Bus Settings In Detail
• 14:18 Static vs Top-Down AB Moment
• 15:16 Takeaways: Faster, Fewer Moves
• 17:01 Challenge: Try Top-Down Yourself

Transcript

Marc Matthews: 0:23

What if I told you that the secret to a balanced mix that translates across all systems starts long before you do any processing of individual tracks? I'm pulling back the curtain on my very first top-down mix evaluation and answering the question: is top-down mixing for me? You're listening to the Inside the Mix podcast with your host, Mark Matthews. Welcome to Inside the Mix, your go-to podcast for music creation and production. Whether you're crafting your first track or refining your mixing skills, join me each week for expert interviews, practical tutorials, and insights to help you level up your music and smash it in the music industry. Let's dive in. Hello folks, and welcome to Inside the Mix and a big welcome if you are a new listener. So, in this episode, as I mentioned in the introduction there, I'm going through the evaluation of my first top-down mixing session. Now, in my 10 plus years of music production in various guises, this is the first time that I've ever done top-down mixing, and I was inspired to do this after my conversations with Brian Skeele in episode 215 and Nate Kelms in episode 197, both of the Inside the Mix podcast. So do go check those episodes out where we drill down a bit deeper into the top-down mixing process. So a quick disclaimer on this episode: this isn't me educating you on how to use the top-down mixing process or go through a top-down mix. This is just my thoughts and opinions on what I experienced going through this process for the first time. When learning something new, I generally go through my due diligence process. So obviously, I had those conversations with uh Nate Helns and Brian Skill, but I also did some research of my own and found some really good instructional videos on YouTube. And I'll put a link to those videos in the episode description. So if you want a breakdown or a play-by-play of how to go through the top-down mixing process, I've linked, or rather, I put some links in the episode description that you can use to uh to educate yourselves, much like I did. So some inspiration for you, and you'll find that in the episode description. So the core philosophy of top-down mixing or master bus processing, as some do call it, is to start at the mix bus or the master bus, whichever, whichever sort of version you want to use of that of that name. And basically, you're listening to the mix as a whole, as really you should do any when it when it comes to mixing, but you're not focusing on the finer details. So you can think of it this way: the what the way I did it and the way I sort of got from the from the research I went through was you've got sort of bus compression, you've got EQ, maybe maybe some saturation as well. And that's pretty much what I did. But what I found were these broad strokes worked really well in sort of like low and high shelves, and then if I wanted to boost something in the in the mid-range, quite wide cues, but at the same time, I wasn't going too crazy with my with my game, with the boosts that I was using, or the cuts as well, to be honest. Can't remember if I did any cuts. I may have done. Um possibly. But anyway, what I was finding was I was just making these subtle changes, but it was having a huge impact on the overall sound of the mix. And I mean, to cut a long story short, what I found was when it actually came to the full mixing process, it was significantly shorter in terms of time and effort, really, and also in CPU processing, because I found I was using fewer plugins because I was doing it from the top down, I was starting at the mix bus, then my groups, then my individual tracks. When I did get down to the individual tracks, I was finding that I might have just put some EQ on there and then I might have done a low shelf on a vocal or a high pass on a vocal or something like that. Now there is one point that needs to be made with regards to this, I think, and this is my personal opinion. All of this is my opinion, by the way, folks. So it's um you can sort of take it or leave it if you will. But basically, you need to start with a good static mix. If you don't have a good static mix and arrangement, to be honest, obviously uh a good mix is underpinned by a good arrangement, then you are starting on the back foot. So you've got to have a good static mix and a good arrangement before you even think of going to that, sort of starting at the top and working your way down with this mixing process. And uh one tip I did get from one of these videos in particular was to bounce the static mix and then re-import it as a reference so you can quickly A B between what you're doing with your top-down mix and your static mix and see what changes you're making and whether you're making the right movements, the right moves, let's say. I'm gonna quickly go through the process I went through when it came to my my top-down mix for the first time. So I've got my notes to my right here. So I've got initial listening and vision setting. So I wanted to ascertain what the song was trying to be. I knew the genre and I knew the knew the mood and the core elements, but this is really where a reference track helped me, a reference track, sorry, helped me. Obviously, I've got my static mix reference, but I always use another reference. Um, I'm always inspired by another song, to be honest. When it when it comes to making or creating my own music, I always use a song as uh as a reference in terms of the production, the arrangement, and the mix and the master. And what I really found helpful here in particular was a song in the same key. So I could make movements knowing that this is a commercial, commercially successful song with a very good mix master, and I want to sort of emulate what's going on there. And then air quotes, I wanted to identify my north star, which was kind of like the focal point of the song. So using the reference track again, I identified okay, well, I really want the bass to push forward the track. I want the bass to be really um prominent, as bass should be. I mean, I love bass, I love a prominent bass, and you'll find that in my productions. But I really wanted the bass to drive the song forward and then the vocal. For me, it was about bass and vocal in this particular. I will play it at the end, I'll do an A-B so you can hear the difference between the static mix and sort of my my third and final mix. But yeah, I I identified that I really wanted the bass and the and the vocal to be prominent in this particular production from my reference track. So having identified the direction I want to take the mix, I then moved on to actually starting the top-down mixing process. And on that mix bus, it really is. I think I started with Soothe 2, just tickling some resonant frequencies, set at about 25% to be honest, in terms of wet and dry. Then some EQ, some broad strokes with some with EQ, and then some bus compression using the Waves SSL bus compressor, which I absolutely love by the way. I think I've used it on every production that I've done since I can remember, to be honest. And then I used the slate digital tape emulation. I can't remember what it's called. Or well, when we go over to the project in a minute, I'll be able to name it in particular. Um, and that's what my mixed bus looked like. What I found was when I A-B'd my top-down mix bus to the reference track, the the difference was quite stark, to be honest, even with just subtle movements, which I think was was when the pennies sort of dropped a bit in terms of oh, I can okay, I can see how I could achieve high-quality mixes, possibly a lot quicker. Uh, and this was before I'd even moved on to the subgroups. So having done the mix bus, I was happy with the mix bus, I then moved on to the subgroups. So I've I've grouped instruments in terms of drums, synths, vocals, FX, some samples, and I think I did a kick and bus um stack as well. And then I treated those individually. And then I moved on to the individual tracks. What I did find, and when I was doing my doing performing my due diligence in my research, it's important just because you're doing the top-down and you are yeah, you've got that top-down view, and you're going from the mixed bus to the groups, do not uh discount going in and performing some processing on the individual tracks themselves. Just because you're doing the top-down doesn't mean you cannot do the individual tracks. You do need to pay attention to those as well. But on the flip side of that, what I did find was when I did do any processing on individual tracks, and I think I mentioned this earlier in this episode, it was pretty much just EQ, to be honest, if I remember rightly. It was just EQ. Whereas before, I'd have uh vocal chains, for example, or something along those lines. It was pretty much just EQ, and maybe some creative effects if I'm doing some side chaining or something along those lines. So having gone through the mix bus, the groups, paid attention to the individual tracks as well, remember that's important. I then moved on to time-based processing, and this is where it's different to what I would usually do, because in my bottom-up mixing approach, which is what I've done since day dot really, I would do the drums, well, mainly kick and bass, and then vocal. And in when I do the vocal, that's also when I introduce time-based processing, because I like to get the vocal sitting where I want it to be, because it's the focal point for me in the mix. Um, if it's a vocal-led mix, for example. So I usually introduce time-based processing like delay, reverb, and chorus sooner. However, in the top-down mixing approach, I introduced it later. And what I did find was it took me a bit longer, and it could be to do with the arrangement, it could be to do with the track, to be honest. But I did find it took me longer to find the point whereby I was happy, and I thought the time-based processing processing was conducive, conducive to the mix. It did take me longer. I was just I struggled a bit to get the reverb to sit where I wanted it to sit. And again, it could be because of the arrangement, it could be because of the track, but in this instance, that's what I found. Usually it's a lot quicker for me. And when I go through this process again, maybe two or three times, I'll be able to make an informed decision whether or not whether or not that's the case. Because it could be just this mix. And then I moved on to automation, and I moved on to automation at the same time I usually would. I get a nice mix, sort of sat where I want it to be, and then I use automation just to move things around, add some interest, bring things in and out where where needed. Um, notably, really, what I found was I probably used less automation than I usually would. Now, in particular with this arrangement, I think there's less instrumentation compared to other songs. So that could be the reason why. But I found I used less automation, which was quite interesting. Again, until I've done this two or three more times, possibly maybe even five times, I'll be able to make an informed decision on whether or not, okay, I can see now, in general, with this approach, I use less automation. But that I could be totally wrong, to be honest. Well, I might do five more mixes and think I do I need to use more. Who knows? Uh, if you know, let me know. And then I moved on to loudness and translation. So A being it with the reference track, with my static mix as well, making sure I was happy with the overall tonal balance and just the overall sort of loudness of the track and the macro and microdynamics of the track as well, of the mix rather, before then moving on to the mastering phase, which I haven't got to yet with this particular track. It's also important to note that I did this over multiple sessions. I'd always come back with a fresh set of ears, listening at high and low volume, just so I can make those finer critical adjustments that I need to. So before we wrap up this episode and my thoughts and evaluations on the top-down mixing process, let's quickly dive into logic and have a have a look at what I did. Just an overview, if you will. Uh, so you can see here here's the I say see here, if you're listening to this, I'll describe it to you. Well, we've got my references. So I've got my uh my narcissist. This is the track. So just to throw this out there as well, folks, I haven't trialed this on a client's project. I did it on my own project. So I'll do this on my own projects first before I'm totally happy to sort of release it into the wild if it's the technique I'm gonna use. So I've got my reference, my static mix. And then I've got my reference, which is in the same key in this instance. I'm not gonna play it so I don't get stung by YouTube with a copyright claim. And I've got another reference, which was my arrangement reference, which is a Calvin Harris tune called Blessings. I think the other one's Calvin Harris as well, featuring Neo, which is my reference in the same key. So I've got two references there. Well, I've got two references plus my static mix. So technically, I've got three references, but two sort of commercial release references. And I've got my groups. I've got kick and bass, drums, tops, uplifters, synths, samples, effects, and vocal. So those are my groups that I have. And then if we go over to the mix bus, on the mix bus, I've got oh, I was right, my my memory was right. I've got Soothe 2. Uh, I've got this. There's a nice preset on here which I which I tweak called Kiss in the Mix, which is quite nice on Soothe 2. Um, Infinity EQ, as you can see here, some very subtle but yeah, sort of wide EQ um movements, Q movements for these EQ movements. And then I've got the SSL bus compressor. Compressor. Compressor. God, put my teeth back in. The SSL bus compressor, which I love. And uh you can see I've got that going on here. Four to one ratio, very slow attack, um, moderately fast release for this. And then I've got the virtual the virtual tape machines is what it's called. That's what the slate digital ones called, the virtual tape machines. Okay, so that's my mix bus. Now I'm not saying copy that by any stretch. This is what I did for this one here. So this is subjective, this is my view of this mix. So that's not me saying copy these movements for your top-down mix or even use these same plugins. This is just what I've used. Okay, so I've teased it for long enough now. Let's have a listen. So we'll listen to the static mix first. So I'm gonna play the static mix for this Tune Narcissist, which is gonna be out on October the 17th, by the way, and I'll put a link in the episode description. Okay, and now this is mixed three using the top-down mix approach. I wait for that uh that reverb and that delay to decay. Uh, but there you go, folks. That is how I use the top-down mixing approach. And hopefully you can hear from the static mix, to be honest. Uh, that sort of underpinned this top-down mixing approach that I've got here. And you, I mean, you might listen to this and think, actually, well, that doesn't really work, and I would have taken it in a totally different direction, which is fine. That's the great thing about music, right? Everybody's got their sort of opinions and the way they would approach things. But again, folks, this isn't me directing or telling you how to use the top-down mix. This is just my thoughts and opinions and my evaluation of it. Uh, in short, with my sort of evaluation and my and to summarize, really, I'm gonna use it again, again on my own productions before I decide whether or not I'm gonna release, uh, use it on client productions faster. It I find it is definitely faster. I got to a mix that I was happy with a lot quicker. Certainly a mix I was happy to share with others for feedback. And uh I was also finding that I was making fewer movements overall, fewer movements overall with this. I wasn't getting stuck in the weeds with in particular because what I find with with with the with the sort of bottom-up mixing, you can get stuck in the weeds, maybe you're mixing a particular instrument, it's just not sitting right, and you get stuck there. Whereas when you go the other way, you're sort of listening to things holistically, which I quite like. But I still did go in and dive into individual tracks. So I didn't get stuck in the weeds so much. I say that actually, to be fair, I did with the reverb, with the time-based processing. I found that tricky. But I think it could well be because of the track rather than the process. So I'm waffling a bit here, but quicker, uh less processing, broader strokes, but really you gotta have a good static mix to begin with, and a good arrangement. So there we go, folks. That is the top-down mixing technique. Um so my challenge to you take one unmixed track, I'm looking at my notes here, and commit to mixing it using the top-down mixing technique. Use those resources that I've linked to in the episode description and do some research into the process and have a go yourself. See how you find it, and come back and let me know. There is there is rather a link in the episode description, so you can send me a message, maybe with a link to the mix itself, so I can check it out and give it a listen. And then if you release it, let me know. And then also I could uh link it in an episode and give you a shout-out as well. So you can send me a message on that. But that's my challenge to you. Do some research like I did, and have a go at the top-down mixing process, or rather technique. If you're enjoying these episodes and you would like to support the podcast, please do join my YouTube membership for less than the price of a coffee per month. You'll get access to membership perks like loyalty badges, priority reply to comments, episode shout outs, and early access to episodes of the Inside the Mix podcast. Just click the link in the episode description. And until next time, stay inspired, keep creating, and don't be afraid to experiment inside the mix.