I want to send my songs to a mix engineer for mixing, but I'm confused about the protocol for some things.
Once I have my song "finished" no FX, but all the editing and the volume, panning balance for how I essentially want the song to sound, I don't know what to do from there.
Do I keep the volume of each track as I have it in my rough mix before exporting, so as to show the engineer the relationship I want between leads/harmonies, etc, or... do I even out each track volume to some magic number before export so as to give the engineer the ability to raise volume without adding more noise?
Do I send them a a set of tracks with all tracks at some set level for headroom purposes and that's it
Or do I send them a set of tracks at the level I'd roughly put them in the mix?
Also, do I send a set of tracks with some rough fx printed on them to show kind of the overall sound that I'm looking for?
Do I Do This Before Exporting Tracks For Mixing?
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- KVRAF
- 3850 posts since 5 Mar, 2004 from Millicent Australia
The best rule is Ask Your Mix Engineer. Contrary to Level 0 chatter, we are not automatons all doing the same things - assuming we have collected all da shizzle Tipz n Trix to roll out on demand. We are all Artists - assuming you hired a real Mix Engineer and not just another Fiverr Freddie.
What I would prefer:
- All tracks consolidated and exactly as you want them as performances (ie don't expect me to fix your performance as that never leads to a better outcome - talk to me first if unsure). All Lead Vox on one Track, Doubles on the next, Harmonies on the ones after.
- Turn off ALL processing from compression, eq to delays, choruses etc. Brutal I know. But nothing worse than being asked to create a Scene & Story for the Song when all the decisions are already baked in and not what I would do. The exception being things that are integral to the performance, e.g., if mixing Metallica, I expect guitars to come with Cab drives etc. If unsure, send both wet & dry clearly labelled.
- Export as close as you can to raw performances so if your recording came in at -6dB but your fader has it at -24db, I want the -6dB. I will note it is louder than your Guide and adjust. Or more accurately will assess every sound for where I feel it needs to be to tell the Story of YOUR Song.
- Same again with Panning etc. If your performance means that you played softer in the pre-Middle 8, that tells me something. Example, I just got sent a track to Master and there is a fade out at the end which is ugly. Fading is fine but the way it was done is just blunt. Better to...
- Show what you were thinking in the Guide Mix so I would have seen that fade and probably followed, only more elegantly.
- Name everything really usefully. The best method here looks like:
1. Kik
2. Sn
3. HH
...
9. Bass
10. Piano
11. Synth Pad
12. Kazoo
13. Guitar 1
14. Guitar 2
15. Vox Lead
16. Vox Double
17. Vox Backing
Note Track name DOES NOT read:
-SONGSNAME_V545578_Ted1964GibsonSGblueSunburstGreenPickguardGeorgeBensonRevSlashRevRev_ChorusII_ThirdTakeWeLikedBestEvenThoTedSedItSux
as that wastes lots of space and tells me nothing. If I really need to know who played what exact instrument, I will ask. Note, I rarely ever ask, as no one cares. I care what role this Track/Part plays. That and wasting 30+mins renaming to Guitar I is aggravating.
The numbering means that it flows into my DAW exactly as you had it, which tells me something. I may rearrange, but that is then a me thing.
What I would prefer:
- All tracks consolidated and exactly as you want them as performances (ie don't expect me to fix your performance as that never leads to a better outcome - talk to me first if unsure). All Lead Vox on one Track, Doubles on the next, Harmonies on the ones after.
- Turn off ALL processing from compression, eq to delays, choruses etc. Brutal I know. But nothing worse than being asked to create a Scene & Story for the Song when all the decisions are already baked in and not what I would do. The exception being things that are integral to the performance, e.g., if mixing Metallica, I expect guitars to come with Cab drives etc. If unsure, send both wet & dry clearly labelled.
- Export as close as you can to raw performances so if your recording came in at -6dB but your fader has it at -24db, I want the -6dB. I will note it is louder than your Guide and adjust. Or more accurately will assess every sound for where I feel it needs to be to tell the Story of YOUR Song.
- Same again with Panning etc. If your performance means that you played softer in the pre-Middle 8, that tells me something. Example, I just got sent a track to Master and there is a fade out at the end which is ugly. Fading is fine but the way it was done is just blunt. Better to...
- Show what you were thinking in the Guide Mix so I would have seen that fade and probably followed, only more elegantly.
- Name everything really usefully. The best method here looks like:
1. Kik
2. Sn
3. HH
...
9. Bass
10. Piano
11. Synth Pad
12. Kazoo
13. Guitar 1
14. Guitar 2
15. Vox Lead
16. Vox Double
17. Vox Backing
Note Track name DOES NOT read:
-SONGSNAME_V545578_Ted1964GibsonSGblueSunburstGreenPickguardGeorgeBensonRevSlashRevRev_ChorusII_ThirdTakeWeLikedBestEvenThoTedSedItSux
as that wastes lots of space and tells me nothing. If I really need to know who played what exact instrument, I will ask. Note, I rarely ever ask, as no one cares. I care what role this Track/Part plays. That and wasting 30+mins renaming to Guitar I is aggravating.
The numbering means that it flows into my DAW exactly as you had it, which tells me something. I may rearrange, but that is then a me thing.
Benedict Roff-Marsh
http://www.benedictroffmarsh.com
http://www.benedictroffmarsh.com