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About This Multitrack - Mike Senior - 25-04-2012

You can find the multitrack files for this project in the 'Mixing Secrets' Free Multitrack Download Library.

Before posting a mix, please read The Three Commandments!
Please post your mix as a new thread, rather than as a reply to this sticky.

Here's some more project info you might find useful:
  • About The Raw Multitracks: This is a lovely-sounding multitrack all round, and also a very nicely paced arrangement, so it's a great one to begin with if you're just getting to grips with the fundamentals of balancing.
    • The main live drum take here features stereo overhead mics, supplemented by kick, snare, hi-hat, and two tom close mics. In addition, there's a mixed-percussion overdub featuring conga, tambourine, cymbals, and shaker, all captured with a close mic (which sounds like it's near the conga and tambourine) and a stereo overhead pair.
    • The upright string bass on this track is dual-miked, while the acoustic guitar is presented as separate mic and DI tracks.
    • Rounding out the arrangement are a track of miked accordion, two different clarinet overdubs, and the lead vocal track.
  • Challenges You're Likely To Face:
    • Even though this multitrack is quite simple, there are still phase considerations to take into account given the multi-mic/DI approach taken with the drumkit, bass, and guitar.
    • The ride is quite strong in the tom mics, which might cause balancing difficulties. However, I'm inclined to think it's a blessing in disguise... Wink
    • Upright bass is often a little tricky to handle, because there's usually the odd note that seems to boom out over-prominently on most instruments. This applies in this specific case too, despite the fact that the bass capture is pretty nice in a general sense.
    • With any acoustic music, one of the tough things is always to try to retain a solid balance and rich sustain without ending up with an over-compressed result.
  • Some Mixing Tips: Although I've not mixed this particular track myself, here are some suggestions that come to mind:
    • The bass part is likely to need the most careful work in terms of trouble-shooting, in order to deal with some unevenness in the musical line. In particular, the sub-80Hz region feels rather inconsistent -- I suspect that evening that out a bit might be most of the battle won.
    • Parallel compression and automation are likely to give the best results on a track like this, because of the way they can add sustain and maintain the balance without wrecking the nuances of the short-term performance dynamics.
    • You shouldn't need much in the way of send effects to make this track shine. Indeed, it'd be very good practice to try to build up a mix of this track without any send effects at all.
    • This is the kind of track where the vocal is so important that I'd consider automating not just the fader level, but also the EQ if necessary.

If you have any other general questions about this multitrack, just reply to this post and I'll see what I can do.