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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:
    • The drums on this production are from a Steven Slate software instrument, so all the virtual close-mic signals (kick, snare, hat, ride, crash, and three toms) are completely free from spill. Two of the three stereo drum room tracks feature only the kick, ride, toms, and one of the cymbals, while the remaining room track has the room signals from kick, snare, hat, and the other cymbal.
    • There's a single track for bass guitar, and then five tracks of electric guitar, comprising two main double-tracked mono parts and a stereo solo track.
    • The main lead vocal is accompanied by five tracks of backing vocals.
  • Challenges You're Likely To Face:
    • Virtual-instrument drums don't respond to most of the mixing approaches you'd apply to real multitrack drum recordings.
    • Although the bass is nicely played and recorded, there are lots of tracks that are competing with it in this mix, and it won't sound good in the mix unless you clear some room for it.
    • The vocal recording is tonally rather inconsistent, so even if you smash it with compression you'll still have trouble getting the singer to sit in a solid position in the mix balance.
    • The drums, cymbals, and guitars are all fighting with the vocals in the 3-5kHz presence region, so getting the vocals to cut through the mix clearly is tricky.
  • Some Mixing Tips:
    • Don't spare the high-pass filtering here -- you need clear low end on a track as fast as this.
    • Rather than trying to emulate normal drumkit-mixing techniques, it's probably best to treat these drums as you would samples in a programmed track, and then use the room mics as you would reverb returns.
    • Ducking the bass guitar in response to the kick-drum hits (or simply bussing kick and bass through the same compressed group channel) may help even out the low end.
    • There's a 146Hz resonance on one of the guitar mics during the prechoruses which probably won't help the overall mix balance, so consider notching that out with EQ.
    • Some 3-5kHz EQ cuts on the drums and guitar channels will help the vocals come through more clearly.
    • Frequency-selective dynamics processing and/or automated EQ may be necessary on the vocals.
    • I remixed this song for Sound On Sound's January 2011 'Mix Rescue' column, which not only shows how I approached this multitrack myself in practice, but also includes a selection of audio files demonstrating the effects of some of my processing decisions.

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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