3/2 Mixdown

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  1. The Meter shows both peak and RMS output levels for the track. While monitoring, however, it shows peak and RMS input levels. Peak meters show sudden changes in level, while RMS meters give a better impression of perceived loudness.

  2. The Volume control adjusts the track’s output level. With multiple tracks selected, adjusting the volume of one of them will adjust the others as well.

  3. The Pan control has two different modes: the default Stereo Pan Mode, and Split Stereo Pan Mode. In Stereo Pan Mode, the Pan control positions the track’s output in the stereo field. To reset the Pan control to center, click on its associated triangle. In Split Stereo Pan Mode, the sliders let you adjust the position of the track’s left and right input channels separately. Double-click on the sliders to reset them. You can switch between the two pan modes via the Pan control’s right-click(PC) / CTRL-click(Mac) context menu. With multiple tracks selected, adjusting the pan knob for one of them will adjust the others as well.

  4. To mute the track’s output, turn off the Track Activator switch. With multiple tracks selected, toggling one of their Track Activators will toggle the others as well.

  5. Clicking the Solo switch (or pressing the S shortcut key) solos the track by muting all other tracks, but can also be used for cueing (see 15.6). With multiple tracks selected, pressing any of their Solo switches will solo all of them. Otherwise, tracks can only be soloed one at a time unless the CTRL(PC) / CMD(Mac) modifier is held down or the Exclusive Solo option in the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences is deactivated.

  6. If the Arm Recording button is on, the track is record-enabled (see Chapter 16). With multiple tracks selected, pressing any of their Arm switches will arm all of them. Otherwise, tracks can only be armed one at a time unless the CTRL(PC) / CMD(Mac) modifier is held down or the Exclusive Arm option in the Record/Warp/Launch Preferences is deactivated. With Exclusive Arm enabled, inserting an instrument into a new or empty MIDI track will automatically arm the track.
If anything is missing, make sure the Mixer Selection buttons are all activated


1. Set the balance 

  1. Turn every track off

  2. Loop the loudest section of your song (chorus? drop?)

  3. Set the most important track (vocals? kick drum?) to -12 dB. This is your Guide track. Turn it on.

  4. Turn on the the next most important track and adjust its level until it matches. Do NOT increase the level of your Guide track from step 2.

  5. Continue this process for the other tracks, until you get the balance of this section right. 

  6. Check that the Master channel does not go into the red.

2. Use EQ to shape the sound


One of the most common reasons why a mix sounds unclear or 'muddy' is that instruments are clashing in the low frequencies. You can add Audio Effects / EQ Eight and set it up like above, to remove the low frequencies for almost every track except for the beat and bassline.

3. Use Reverb, Echo, Delay to add space

One way to add Reverb is to drag an Audio Effect / Reverb onto every Track (this is called an Insert)



Another way is to use the Return tracks. Ableton gives two Return tracks by default: A has Reverb, B has Delay. To send the Audio of your track to Reverb, increase the first 'Send', located just below your Volume control, from [-inf] to around -10 dB or -5 dB.

4. Use one of the Audio Effects Racks to finalise the sound

Ableton has a number of presets under Audio Effects Racks / Mixing and Mastering, which you can add to the Master channel at the end, to give a final shine to the sound. Some you can try
  • Master Punchy Dance
  • Master Stereo Enhanced

5. Export your song to WAV / MP3

  1. To export to MP3, go to the menu File - Export Audio/Video
  2. Set the Render Start and Render Length
  3. A fast way to set both the Render Start and Length values is to select a range of time in the Arrangement View prior to invoking the Export Audio/Video command
  4. Selection 'Master' so that you export all of your music, not just one track
  5. If you want WAV (higher resolution) make sure Encode PCM is on. If you want MP3 (smaller file) make sure Encode MP3 is on.













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