Check the documentation on your four-track pertaining to mixing your music. It won’t give mixing tips but it will tell you how to properly connect your four-track to the tape deck that will create your final product.
There are two challenges you now face when it comes time to doing your final mix. One is called the Fletcher Munson Effect, and the other is Masking. We will look at both of these briefly.
The Fletcher Munson Effect refers to the fact that if you listen to sounds (music) at low volumes you will not hear the lows and highs very well. They will be lost to you. This is not to say that you should blow your eardrums out by playing your music through your headphones at a high volume. It may be easier to simply forgo the headphones altogether and to listen to your mix through a stereo receiver with speakers. Try doing this at different volumes until you are satisfied with what you hear. Remember that anyone who will be listening to your song or demo will not necessarily be listening to it at the same volume.
That leads us to the other challenge you will face – masking. This is perhaps the trickiest part to master and also the one that takes the most experience. Masking means that sounds with similar frequencies will hide, or mask, each other. Simply put, instruments that sound great when soloed may sound muddy when mixed together. This is where you have to play with the EQ on your recording so that each and every instrument can be heard the way you intend them to be. One way to do this is to solo different pieces together, and gradually you will find a sound picture you like. For example, try listening to the bass with the kick drum. They may have a very similar frequency so play around with the levels until both can be heard clearly. Then solo the vocals with the guitar. Then try the guitar with the bass and drum. This will take some time but it is essential to a well-balanced mix.
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