We have all heard that song that says"started from the bottom, now we here". This is the situation most home studio owners face at the beginning of the Music production journey. I sincerely hope we get "here". The journey is a long and interesting ride,but in this article i will share with you, 5 things that will save you from the agony of hell and the devil's grin, in as few words as possible. Lets go there.1. AVOID CLIPPING
As much as possible, always make sure none of your tracks in your DAW goes beyond 0db. From what i have learnt, when you are clipping a track digitally, what you hear is totally different from what you should be hearing on the selected track(s). This can lead to poor mix judgement and unnecessary delay in achieving a balanced mix.The same applies for your plugins, Do not clip in your plugins. Save yourself some time for other important tasks, and pull the channel fader down or place a limiter if you must.2. USE VARIOUS HEADPHONES
As we know, some of us who are just starting out cannot afford near-field monitors, and we keep disturbing the peace with our Abominable mixes. When i listen to some of my old mixes, i wish i could have my chromosomes swapped for a pair of monitors. Imagine mixing on a speaker that wont reveal anything below 80 Hz and above 6 kHz. That's not good. However you can get better results using a combination of headphones from those on your mobile phone to studio grade headphones. Trust me, its tried and tested. You will find out your mix will be better.
3. PLACE A LIMITER ON YOUR MIX BUSS As more tracks are included in your session, there is noticeable increase in energy at the mix buss, therefore it is very likely that clipping will occur at the mix buss. It is advised that all individual channels should be properly adjusted and a limiter be placed at the mix buss. Please Note that the Limiter should be as neutral as possible.No gain boosting no addition of any frequencies whatever, just limiting. And i believe you will begin to hear your lost kick drum and buried synths 
4. IDENTIFY THE LEADING INSTRUMENTSBased on the music genre, there are different instruments which are expected to play the most prominent role for a particular song. Once you have identified that, place it in the right place within the stereo image, and mix other instruments in the track to blend to it. Sometimes the problem of a mix might just be the relationship between the Kick drum, and the Snare, many a time the kick and the bass guitar. Let the mother give birth to the child. 
5. USE ANALYSERS Sometimes when we cant just seem to get it, analyzers can go a long way to ease the process of mixing. You can throw in a trusted recording for reference and see how it goes through the analyzer, and then model your mix accordingly. A frequency analyzer can help you to reduce clashing frequencies eg between the kick and the bass guitar. Also some analyzers can help you have more control over the stereo width of your tracks , and the overall mix in general.
. Ok pals, i hope you guys were able to learn a few things here. Please do share your ideas in the comment box.You can listen to some of my mixes here, share your ideas at the comment box, and follow me on twitter 
