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About This Multitrack
#1
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: A nicely ordered project this, so you don't really need to think to hard about things from an arrangement perspective and you can just get on and mix.
    • The drum tracks comprise stereo overheads, and single close mics for the snare and two toms. Instead of a kick-drum close mic, you get a trigger signal which you can use to insert your own choice of sample. In addition to the live parts, there is a tambourine loop track.
    • The bass part is DI'd.
    • There are three electric guitar parts, each with accompanying double-track.
    • There's a single stereo grand-piano part.
    • The lead vocal is provided across two tracks to allow for overlaps, and there's a double-track of it for the choruses. The backing vocals comprise one double-tracked female line, and four male lines, all but one also double-tracked.
  • Challenges You're Likely To Face:
    • The snare and tom close mics aren't particularly natural-sounding, and the snare presentation in the overheads is a bit muffled, so you'll have work to do to get that sound to compete with the cymbals. The overheads image is also very widespread, and therefore may suffer significant balance changes in mono.
    • The guitar arrangement is fairly static, so it may be difficult to pull off real pop-style dynamic contrasts without doing some multing and/or layering of additional parts.
    • Although the lead and backing vocal performances are all very committed, they've been quite heavily processed with real-time pitch-correction, and it's tricky to avoid the artefacts of this from showing through if you bring the vocals as far up front as a pop track tends to demand.
  • Some Mixing Tips:
    • Start with the vocal. Seriously -- she puts in a star turn performance-wise, so make the most of it! Smile
    • I'd probably trigger not only a kick-drum sample, but also a snare, and maybe toms too.
    • A bit of subtle (or not so subtle!) distortion on the bass will help it cut through the mix.
    • Multing is your friend here, not just in terms of varying the guitar arrangement, but also for making the most of the vocal sound in different parts of the song.
    • I'd personally reimport some of the lead vocals into something like Melodyne and try to iron out the printed-in pitch-correction misfires.
      There's lots of discussion available about this multitrack over on Mixoff.org, where it served as the basis of a mix-off competition presided over by engineer Arthur Walwin. The winning mix can be found here, but there are plenty of other versions on that thread too. (And you're welcome to post mixes for feedback here as well, of course!)

If you have any other general questions about this multitrack, just reply to this post and I'll see what I can do.
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#2
i'm a perfect newbie, i've spit out a rough mix tring to simply level all the volumes, adding some basic EQs and using BBE's vst suite boost.

I will not upload my mix for now.

After listening to some mixes of this production, those taken from mixoff thread, i've to say that replacing sounds of kick and snare with hi quality studio samples truly goes beyond the mixing job.

it's almost like.. cheating!!

none of you agree? hehe
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#3
(01-10-2012, 08:53 PM)c3kkos Wrote: i'm a perfect newbie, i've spit out a rough mix tring to simply level all the volumes, adding some basic EQs and using BBE's vst suite boost.

I will not upload my mix for now.

After listening to some mixes of this production, those taken from mixoff thread, i've to say that replacing sounds of kick and snare with hi quality studio samples truly goes beyond the mixing job.

it's almost like.. cheating!!

none of you agree? hehe

It's "almost" cheating but if you bring the velocity through your trigger too you could just say you let the artist "borrow" your studio drums hehe Big Grin

I only replaced the kick because it was only a trigger anyway and I think I did ok shaping the snare so I didn't replace it because it seems to fit.
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#4
Replacing kick drums is not cheating at all.A mixers job is to make that track sound the best he can
so if the sample kick is better,use it.
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#5
(15-07-2013, 05:43 AM)takka360 Wrote: so if the sample kick is better,use it.

What he said.

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#6
I wouldn't know where to begin with drum replacement. I'll have to look up how to do it in Logic - if it can be done in Logic - and try it out sometime.....and use a smile curve nu-metal Kick in a soft jazz track, for example LOL! Big Grin
So many songs, so little time!
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#7
(15-07-2013, 11:05 AM)Dags Wrote: ...and use a smile curve nu-metal Kick in a soft jazz track, for example LOL! Big Grin

I don't know -- I'd be more tempted to do it the other way round and give Linkin Park the lounge jazz treatment...

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#8
(16-07-2013, 07:15 AM)Mike Senior Wrote:
(15-07-2013, 11:05 AM)Dags Wrote: ...and use a smile curve nu-metal Kick in a soft jazz track, for example LOL! Big Grin

I don't know -- I'd be more tempted to do it the other way round and give Linkin Park the lounge jazz treatment...

+1 on that one! Smile

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#9
Is there really a piano here ? not in my zip file.
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#10
Hi Mike,

Can I use this for my mixing tutorial in youtube?
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