All you need are a few simple tools, whether it's for mixing or IKEA shelves

Published: Tue, 05/05/15

I've been doing a lot of handyman work lately.

I guess it comes with the territory of buying a house and buying a bunch of furniture.

Especially when that furniture is from IKEA...

I've lost count of how many things I've screwed together in the last week.

But it also taught me a lot about being prepared.

The first time I put something together I just ripped everything out of the box and started to piece it together. I flipped to the first page of the instructions and was stopped immediately because I didn't have the right tools.

So I stood up and got the tool I needed.

I got halfway through the instructions and realized I needed a second tool.

So I put the half-finished shelf down, walked to the shed and grabbed the next tool I needed.

I finished the shelf finally and although it was frustrating to put together I felt good about myself.

The next time I put something together I started with asking myself:

"What tools do I need?"

So I grabbed everything I needed so I could just sit down and put everything together without having to waste time wandering around the house looking for my tools a bunch of times.

Usually I only needed about three to five tools:

Allen Key
Screwdriver
Hammer
Drill

That was usually enough for everything from putting shelves together to hanging up curtains.

It's the same with mixing. You only need about 4-5 tools when you're mixing:

EQ
Compression
Saturation
Reverb
Delay

Of course, there's plenty more to choose from but they're not necessarily needed.

For instance, I have a screw machine I use whenever I need to screw a ton of screws for a project. But most of the time a normal screw driver works just fine.

So even though you might want to use your fancy channel strip plug-in that includes effects, transient designers, amp simulators and stereolizers you don't need them all the time.

Sometimes you just need a simple EQ, a compressor and some spaces to get you there.

Speaking of EQ, I always feel a well EQ'd instrument is the perfect foundation for further processing. If you have EQ problems you might escalate the situation if you ignore it and start adding more plug-ins.

That's why I created my hour long tutorial video on mixing with just EQ. It'll help you get the perfect foundation for your tracks to make your mixes shine.

Check it out here: