I talk a lot about how one of the first steps in building a great mix starts with getting great sounds from the source, making sure the instruments are sounding their best before you put a mic on them.  Drums should be tuned and the heads in good shape, guitar tones dialed in, etc. that's the obvious, but it also includes balancing keyboard patches and playback tracks.

When you’ve got a keyboard player with a variety of keyboards, synths, and rack full of sounds it’s very important to work to get not only the levels, but the tones balanced.

It’s equally important with playback tracks or stems that can come in many different configurations and from many different sources.

I’ll start with keyboards

There is often a big difference in what the keyboard player hears coming from their keyboard rig through their IEMs and wedges, versus how it translates through the PA. 

For example, they could be compensating with extra high end on a patch to...