It is the process of combining, blending, and balancing all individual recorded tracks and elements of a song to speak to each other and sound cohesive by generally using panning (positioning sounds in the stereo image), EQ (adjusting the volume of different frequencies), compressors (controlling dynamic range and shaping tone), and adding effects such as reverb, delay and chorus.

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To put it simply, when taking a group photo, taller persons will be placed at the back so that they will not block or cover shorter persons, and main members of the group will be asked to be in the center of the frame and more focused. In audio mixing, it is the same where main sound elements of the song are usually in the center and sound more upfront such as vocals and kick drum while supporting elements like guitars and percussions are placed on the side to form a full spectrum of sound image to human ears. Of course, there’s more to it than that where each music genre has different methods and approaches of mixing sound elements. This is just a general explanation of audio mixing.