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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 very simple multitrack, comprising just mono tracks for kick (x2), snare, hat (x2), vocals (x4) and a stereo sample loop.
  • Challenges You're Likely To Face:
    • The arrangement of this track is currently very static, whereas most commercial tracks have much more light and shade, both from moment to moment and between verse and chorus. As such, it's tricky to keep the listener's attention, despite the committed vocal performances.
    • Most of the musical material is locked into the sample loop, so you'll have to think creatively if you want to break out individual elements, or rebalance the sounds against each other.
    • The only track with stereo information in it is the sample, so the rest of the arrangement is in danger of sounding rather narrow if you're not careful -- especially if you decide to drop out the sample at any point for arrangement variety.
    • There's a fair amount of plosive popping on the vocal tracks, and not a great deal of 'air'.
  • Some Mixing Tips:
    • Get the basic beat sorted before you bring in the vocals and sample -- unless that works, everything else will be built on shaky ground.
    • I'd probably add a bass part to underpin what's in the sample, as well as giving me the option to drop out the sample without dropping the bass.
    • The biggest job here, to my mind, is developing the arrangement. There's plenty of material to work with in the sample, and there's also very little variation in the drum programming in its raw form, so make the most of both those opportunities. For a load of tips on manipulating the main stereo sample here, have a glance at this article , which I wrote with exactly this kind of project in mind.
    • When you're trying to come up with arrangement ideas, it helps to take inspiration from the vocal parts. If a particular phrase feels like it's particularly engaging, then drop something out in the backing, or put in some kind of edit/fill, to draw more attention to it.
    • A 100Hz high-pass filter and a little boost at 15kHz or so should help the vocals sound a bit more natural. I'd probably also give a little push at 1.2kHz too to make the lead feel a bit more forward and solid.

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