Part 1
First off there are 4 simple rules to getting a good mix.
1. Samplerate and bit depth
2. sound selection
3. EQ
4. compression
The sample rate is almost as important as the mixing itself. the default samplerate for hip hop n Rnb is 44.1kHz. Some ppl use 48kHz but for the most part it will be down converted because all Cds are 44.1kHz. The samplerate is how many samples a second are being produced. The higher the samplerate the more the clarity and detail. It ranges from 44.1 to 192kHz. Each samplerate has its own usage but nobody uses higher than 48kHz for what we do. Bit depth is possibly the biggest part of mixing, most people mix at a BR of 16. This is ok but not the best, i recommend 24bits because of the increased headroom (very important). HEadroom makes the difference between a beat that can be used and a beat that is unusable. If there is no headroom after u mix a beat there will be no room for the vocals if that is the next step. So always leave some (3-6db works best. Also 24 bit has a lowered noise floor which is invaluable for vocals.
When you start a beat think very carefully on which drum samples you pick. Make sure they compliment you instruments both sonically and pitch wise. Best way to do this is to use use a pitch or transpose knob to lower the pitch of a drum that is too high vice versa. If the drums seems to light but is perfect for the song try pitching it down a few cents. it should add more thump to it. Also trim the silence off your samples, it helps keep the sample tight and to the point. Silence on drums samples can carry hiss, and thats a pain in the ass to fix later if you don't handle it in the beginning. Fl has a trim knob USE IT!
Eq is the workhorse of mixing. use it to shape the tone of instruments and drums. Eq is supposed to be used to save frequency space when mixing. I.E if you have a kick and a bass playing at the same time you will have to eq to keep distortion from occurring. Since a kick and sub bass occupy the same freqs you have to balance it. So what do u do? Sub bass is usually felt more than heard so for that you would highpass (cut all highs) to about 110Hz. That means no freqs past 110 will be audible. For the kick its a lil more complicated. Kicks have from low to mid and some highs. The best you can do is use your ears. Since the sub bass is at 110Hz and below you would generally want to lower the 110Hz freq by a db or twoso the bass rings thru clear. The mid bass would be left alone if its not conflicting a sound but, the highs must be checked. Highs control the character of a drum, smooth or harshness can be added. It can also make a drum stand out more depending on how u eq it. Most of the time I cut 16kHz to 10kHz cause its neither used or has very little effect. This lets my highs breathe and gives my drum a smoother quality. Every instrument has a place in the freq spectrum your job is to learn where everything fits and use eq to make it fit perfectly.
Compression is perhaps the most misused and abused of them all. Compression limits the dynamic range of anything its in control of. IT DOES NOT MAKE IT LOUDER! That means if you have a sound that takes up a lot of spectrum space it needs to be compressed. Compression also can be used to sharpen or dull depending on its settings. When you compress try to keep in mind that it is very easy to overcompress and add distortion so pay attention. Compressors seem to make a softer instrument louder because it limits the dynamic range to its strongest freqs and you are allowed to add post gain thru knobs. You are actually destroying the delicate detail in the samples when you compress. So use it on kicks, snares, percussion, samples, basslines (especially if u get high levels of distortion), and synths. Basically anything that takes up too much spectrum space and conflicts with other sounds needs to be compressed. Eq and compression work in tandem so keep that in mind.
On to part II...
Part 2
This will cover 5 topics and how to go about doing them.
For you to properly mix you will need; Active Monitors, a audio interface supporting 24bit audio and asio or pci card, a midi keyboard/controller w/ pitch and mod wheel, trained ears, and patience.
1. Fx - How and when to use them.
2. VsTi - tracking and why should I
3. Channel routing (mixer and bus)
4. Channel muting (midi)
5. General and Fx automation
Fx is the most recognizable part of mixing. It adds spice to a dull mix easily but beware too much spice gives u the shits (literally). Fx should always be used sparingly. reverbs should be light and almost unrecognizable unless a situation calls for it to be heavier. Most tome it is used on percs, snares, samples (when chopped), and instruments that need to carry. NEVER load a sound with reverb cause it sounds good, that is a common mistake it only makes things sound cluttered. Chorus/Flanger are used to make a sound stand out and when used in moderation with eq and compression can make great SPECIAL EFFECTS. Don't ask people to send you SPECIAL EFFECTS anymore, just expirement and make them so that ur music is more original (originality is god in music). Delays can be great used on drum hits or instruments if they dont carry long enough and respond poorly to reverb. Beware though delays are tricky to trigger and maintain, some plugins have bpm sync that greatly helps (waves). If the delay carries too long you will clutter your freq and cause delays to appear uncontrolled. When adding a delay mute everything else and check how long it lasts. Adjust as needed till you have a delay that fits your needs. As always use sparingly. Tube Amp and modelers add warmth and vintage sound to anything it touches with crystal clean accuracy, too much can cause harshness and/or ears bleeding. There are other effect but I am trying not to drag this topic out. Pretty much anything goes in Fx as long as u think realistically.
VsTi are god sent for those not blessed with rack or true keyboard sound. There is one major setback and its a given, cpu and ram. Too many of these can severely lag audio so the simple solution is to track them out without Fx. That way your cpu load is its lowest if you dont have a audio interface or have a cheap setup (completely software based). Tracking of VsTi's allow more cpu power for effects.
Channel routing for effects makes all the difference in a slower pc. Thats why its such an important topic in mixing. Routing drums to their respective compressors/effects can add a deeper level of control to them. Recommend this if you have a lot of percussion/drums but limited cpu ram to support multiple instances of plugins. This also works with sounds of similar natures. In FL this also helps to make tracking out songs easier. If you group similar sounds to a mixer channel you can take advantage of the split mixer tracks function when rendering. Beware though they will spit the channels exactly as u have them, so if you have sounds in the wrong mixer channel fix it before rendering.
Channel muting via midi controller helps create drops on the fly and is invaluable when working with computer based sequencers (especially FL), abuse it. Its very simple to set up if you follow the manual to ur sequencer.
Automaton is the hardest thing to do but has the biggest payofdf if done correctly. Automation allows u to create realistically played instruments even if you don't know a thing about playing the actual instruments. IT can be used to control anything. I.E. lets say you wanna turn a boring last note into a cresendo (long rising chord that usually ends abruptly) You could use the volume knob to automate a rise from 50% volume to 100% within 2 beats and back again. Simple just like that you've created a more fluid note instead of choppy midi melodies. You can also automate the muting of FX including parameters and on/off. Automation is a workhorse when used on a mixer. You can become your own compressor by lightly fading channels down that seem to get to loud in a mix and back up when
Part 3
You just learned how to mix a beat down and you ready to move on but you dont understand why you had to mix your beat and leave so much headroom (3-6db). You ask me if beats are supposed to be their loudest to bump hard? NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! In leaving headroom you have ensured that when its time to mix it will be easier for you. Human voices are the trickiest to record and to mix in so I will give you some of my patented tips to start you off. *DO NOT TRY TO MIX MP3 FILES USE WAV OR AIF FILES ONLY, MP3 IS A LOSSY FORMAT AND IS USELESS UNLESS FOR WEB LISTENING*
Materials needed: Condenser (most widely used), Dynamic mic (of course with a decent pre amp for loudness), eq/compressor/reverb/delay/etc plugins, and a fresh night of rest (in the morning its easier to mix because your ears are fresh and rested).
1. Recording - how hot is too hot
2. Eq - how not to screw it up
3. Compression - To compress or not to compress that is the question
4. FX - You guide to pimping vocals
5. Tips and tricks of the trade
First off shoot the guy who told you to record as hot as you can without clipping. He lied to you and spread the biggest crock of s*** myth of engineering. The best levels to record at are closer to 6-12 db under clipping, and the rms should not exceed the loudest sound (for hip hop this is the snare). if your snare's peak is -12db then your vocal should peak around -11.5 to -13db. This is negotiable due to the different types of pre amps there are out there and the software that ur using. Some may be a little louder than the figures shown but the overall message still stands CLIPPING IS A NO-NO, AND RECORDING TOO HOT WILL CAUSE IT.
Eq is the thing that sits a vocal in correctly, there is no magic template to get it right every time there is only trial and error. Just make sure you save different versions for comparison. One thing for sure is that all vocals need some degree of high passing (cutting lower freqs). For all vocals I cut 110Hz and below (thats the rumble area/plosive area), it seems to help the vocal float in the instrumental. Adlibs and overdubs are trickier but you must remember that they need more EQ than the main vocal, and they need to be considerably lower than the main vocal. The chorus depending on whats done in it will be pretty easy to eq.
Ok lets say you got 10 tracks of vocals playing at once with the beat but you cant seem to balance them so they dont clip. Compressor to the rescue!!!! Slap a few on the loudest tracks and watch the top end clear up (depending on settings). This works almost 90% of the time unless you're screaming into the mic. Beware too much compression will strip the emotion of a take right out of it. So make sure to keep the compression ratio in mind. Also make sure to give the compression a pretty fast release time, too long of one will cause the vocal to become dull. Keep your threshold around -16 to -12db to catch only the peaks and not the rest of the vocals. Last but not least apply gain when need and only when needed.
If you did this right when its mastered the vocal will sit seamlessly.
Fx is fun to play with on vocals but the truth is too much of it can ruin a track so keep it simple. The same rules that apply to mixing beats apply here too. Remember to always check your meters, some plugins boost their sound automatically so be ready to adjust it. Reverb is the most often used tool here, remember to keep it light and almost nonexistant on main vocals. On Adlibs and overdubs it depends on the sound that you are aiming for on that perticular phrase.
******TIPS******
1. Leave the main vocal untouched unless it needs to be edited and repositioned because of a off take.
2. Cut all breaths and other noises including silence from adlib/overdub takes.
3. mute the beat and double check the whole entire track to see that its even and consistant.
Props go to MeccaStyles of soundclick forum
props for posting.
but still, he had the patience to write all that, so I won't critisize his work lol 
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