drymixed

Drymixed is a term used in audio production to describe a mix or stem that preserves the dry, unprocessed sound of tracks. "Dry" refers to signals without effects such as reverb, delay, chorus, compression, or other processing. Dry mixed tracks are typically contrasted with "wet" tracks, where effects have been applied. The term is common in music recording, film scoring, and game audio, and it often appears in project notes, stems, or export options.

In practice, a dry mix is created by routing recorded performances to separate channels or buses with no effect plug-ins inserted, or by exporting stems that contain only direct, unprocessed signals. This allows engineers or composers to re-apply effects, change levels, or re-balance during a later stage of production without needing to re-record.

Benefits of dry mixed material include flexibility, easier re-amping of guitar tracks, consistent processing across variations, and a clean reference for mastering. A dry mix also provides a predictable baseline for applying adaptive processing in post-production, such as dialogue mixing for film, where different environments may require different reverbs or dynamics settings.

The phrase drymixed is not a standardized technical term with a single formal definition; usage can vary by studio, DAW, or project. When encountered, it generally signals that the material is meant to be re-processed or re-balanced in later stages.