13 Tips for Mixing and Producing EDM

For the past 40 years EDM has hit the airwaves, with subgenres like house, techno, and dance-pop making crowds go wild. So what are the tried and true tricks of how to produce and mix professional EDM for yourself? 

We sat down with Andrew Eisele, who brings over twenty years of experience to the table. A former teacher at Full Sail, Andrew not only worked with premier acts in the house, techno, and Miami bass scenes—people like DJ Magic Mike and Lady Miss Kier (of Deee-Lite“Groove is in the Heart” fame)—he also expanded into the live circuit. Now, he co-owns and runs The Brown Note here in Brooklyn, a club regularly featuring prominent acts such as Truth, Claude Young, Paul Johnson, Youngsta, and more.

This puts Andrew in an interesting position, as he boasts mixing, producing, teaching, live-sound, and sound-installation bona fides. He was gracious enough to sit down and walk me through his process, and you are about to be the beneficiary of this conversation. Whether you’re a producer or a mixer, you’re sure to get something out of the following interview.

I’ve been producing across several EDM genres for over 15 years as well, and I'll be demonstrating some of Andrew’s top thdown below. We’ll also explore some common EDM production techniques and how to achieve them using plug-ins. Let’s dive in!

This article references a previous version of Neutron. Learn about Neutron 5 and its powerful features including Assistant View, Target Library, Unmask, and more by clicking here.

1. Define your low end

Let’s start with the bass. Andrew said this:  “With all dance music—it doesn’t matter which genre—you always have to pick where the low end is coming from. Because low-end frequencies are so big, and they take up so much room, you can’t have things fighting for it. Straight off the bat (and I know a lot of producers do this), it’s common to cut everything from 120 Hz on down except for your kick drum and your bass.”

To achieve this in your mix, use a plug-in like  Neutron  with a high-pass EQ filter to cut frequencies below 120 Hz.