Denver Recording Studio

After a long session, it is often beneficial to “zero out” or start over with your mix.  This gives you an opportunity to start fresh and give yourself a new perspective.  “Zeroing out” refers to the removal of all automation (panning, volume changes, etc) plug-ins, sends and any other alterations made to the dry mix that changes the sound.  After this is done, arrange your tracks from the bottom up; start with your drums and work your way up from there.  Mute your vocals and leads, then begin mixing at this bottom level.  Bass goes on top of drums, rhythm guitars come next, and so on. 

 Zeroing out a session and walking away are crucial to discovering what sounds you’ve really got on your plate.  By doing this, you give yourself time to get away from tracking and remove the piece-by-piece sound accumulated during tracking.  Any professional will tell you zeroing out is an absolutely essential step to achieving the sound you’re after.