How to prepare
I
get this question most often from my students and starters who wants to mix a song faster to deliver for their clients . Well , there is no way you can mix a song within 10 minutes ! Well , a rough mix ? Yes , but not the Final mix . Always take time to analyse the song first and get what the singer is trying to convey on this song . Also talk to those who arranged the music and try to understand what they want and not what we want ! We are just there to craft their song and polish their mixes so that its well received by the public audience . Most of sessions which comes from various DAW ’ s are not well organised when we receive it for mixing . We cannot blame the programmer or the producer for this . We have to find a solution so that we can work efficiently during our entire mix session . Below are the tips which will help you to work faster on a mixing the project faster .
Prior to mixing , all the tracks should be edited and the clean up of unwanted sounds should be removed in your session . Insert your markers according to the song and keep them ready for the mix engineer and also get the tempo and meter from your programmer . This was it helps you to assign time based effects .
Preparing your DAW SessionTemplate
1 . First identify the type of file ie . the audio resolution of the file wether its 44.1KHz or 48KHz and the bit rate is 24- bit or 16-bit . Now set your session to the same bit rate and resolution .
2 . Have a template set in your DAW for the Drums , Bass , Guitars and name the tracks and keep it organised .
3 . Now colour code the tracks so that larger track counts are visible for the eyes and easy to mix .
4 . Set the High pass filter were ever needed . And also insert the Compressor were ever needed in your session .
5 . Assign the Aux sends and returns for Effects buss and insert your favourite Reverb and Delay plugins in your buss .
6 . Also create group buss for Vocals , Guitars , Drums , Synth and pads etc . This helps you to quickly adjust the overall levels in your final mix .
7 . Keep your favourite Master chain of plugins ready and insert them into your Master buss Fader .
8 . Also do insert your Peak Metering plugin in your Master Fader .
The Score Magazine
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