A mix of samples and Sonic Academy's KICK plugin.

KICK does a great job of nailing the sub and low end, and then I use other kick samples as layers to build the rest. Often KICK is enough on it's own to get something decent straight off the bat, and saves the tedious job of trawling through hundreds of samples for 'the right one'.

Didn't realize they'd updated Pro-C! Going to have to put the demo through it's paces.

Has anyone given Pro-C 2 a good whirl? I need a decent work-horse compressor and it looks like it now fits the bill!

For low bass control I use A1StereoControl - a freebie that does quite a decent job at stereo adjustments. Maximus does a good job of it too. I try to leave stereo separation aside unless it's for a creative effect or absolutely necessary (moving white noise FX further from the centre to free up high end for other sounds).

I see a fair few producers use stereo separation for a lot of jobs where panning will well and truly suffice. It starts to make your track very difficult to mix if you overdo this effect, especially because phase issues and phase cancellation start cropping up a lot. I try to limit it to layers or background sounds where their prominence isn't as important as other parts.

Samplemagic AB is pretty good. You can have up to 8 reference tracks.

+1 to Magic AB, great tool that one!

The issue with using reference tracks for spectral analysis only, rather than using your ears, is that peaks and overall balance suggest nothing more than the average volume and tonality of the track. Use a combination of visual analysis and detailed listening instead. Have your ears do most of the reference work, then use analysers to check parts more difficult to pick up on (such as low end or transient spikes).

Find the track in their project that is Armed for recording, and disable it. It sounds like it's recording a webcam or a mic connected to your computer.

Without getting too far into the specifics of it, the db meter is correct. If you've turned the volume fader down on the kick's Mixer track, the -10db you're getting is just the read-out from the Mixer track. The actual signal going into the Mixer is still -6db, and this is really, really important to remember for all audio going into the Mixer.

If you have a channel, sound, synth, etc, that is already clipping the output BEFORE it gets to the Mixer, lowering the volume fader in the Mixer will NOT prevent that clipping from happening, because it's not actually lowering the original signal - just the mixer volume. The initial volume of a sound before it hits the Mixer stays the same. The Mixer just acts as a gain stage so you can then balance that sound with others in the mix.

This is really important to remember when designing synth sounds. If you clip the audio in the plugin, it's not going to go away just by turning down a Mixer or Channel knob - it has to be treated at the initial source first.

+1 for FreqEcho.

The old Kjaerhus Classic bundle's Delay tool is still a favourite of mine for simple delay lines. That, and the old TAL Dub II and III

I don't like the method because it can't account for the fact that you want some elements in the mix to be louder/in the front and others to be quieter/in the back.

I think it might be more useful for mixing stems than for mixing individual tracks/elements.

For precisely this reason, it's not a mixing technique you'll want to rely on. It is, however, a really good way of understanding how loud and upfront each part of the spectrum can be!

It still works well for getting the balance right between the bass, mids, and treble, but much like the EQ charts, use it as a rough guide only.