[MUSIC] The music production process is kind of like an inverted pyramid. It starts with a ton of different tracks and clips and regions and eventually winds it's way down to being a single two-track piece of audio. And one of the most important parts of that is how we combine all these different elements and that's done through the, through the mixing process. And the role of a mix engineer or your role as the mix engineer is going to be to adjust the various levels and the relative levels between all your elements to give that pleasing final two track mix. So, we are going from multitrack to two track stereo in the end. Now, mixing is a deep topic and it's something you'll be struggling with for the entire time that you work with music production. There's no doubt about it. There's just so many options. Just look at all the knobs and faders and effects. There's just so much to learn there. But the first step is going to be to learn the most important tool, which is the Mixing Board. And it's going to be your main control for amplitude and volume throughout your project. And one thing to consider with mixing we can't cover everything in mixing we only have six weeks and its just a part of the process. But the thing I'd really like you to consider with mixing is going to be the perspective of the listener. It's easy when working in music production to be hearing it over and over again. And be thinking kind of, in your mind, fine-tuned and, individual things. But as a mix engineer, you really want to be thinking from the listener's perspective. What is the first-time listener really going to hear and focus on in your music. And actually that term focus, that's hugely important in mixing. And for me, what I think that a mixing engineer, his primary role is to kind of guide the listener through this complex sonic environment. Right? Is to say, okay now, listen to the bass. Now, check out the melody. And you want to really think about that clear path through the music. And if you can decide on that before you start mixing, if you can decide, for this section I would like the listener to hear the melody. For this section, I want them to focus on the bass. That's a great starting point for mixing because it's going to give you a clear focus and kind of a checklist to follow. I'll have them do this and then that and then that. After that, the question becomes, how do you focus the listener on a specific element. And the most important thing is volume. The louder the thing is, the more focus it's going to have. And that's where the mixing board really comes in. Because you're adjusting the relative levels between all these elements. And if you have one thing louder than another, it's going to be the focus. There are other factors and we'll cover them in the later weeks. But we're going to start with the Mixing Board. And the Mixing Board is not just your volume control. It also allows you to route signals to various places and various groups throughout your mix, which is really one of the most important things it does. So, in this lesson, we're going to look at the Mixing Board and just see how it functions. And my hope is that at the end of this week, you understand this device, you've kind of demystified it. because it really can be intimidating at first. There's so many knobs, and so many faders, and so many ins and outs but the truth is, it's modular. You learn one channel strip, and it just repeats over and over again. So, if you learn one, you'll understand the bulk of the device. So, let's check out the next part.