Week 17: Seminar - Mixing Session

We used this seminar session to mix the band recording from last week. Below is a step-to-step breakdown of how we approached the mix including the final bounce down:

1. Solo Kick Drum [solo mode – switch off latch – >Preferences
2. Insert Shelving EQ on kick drum – apply high shelf EQ to get rid of cymbals and snare
3. Send to Noise Gate
4. {On Desk} Press ‘Switch Active’ – cycle through to find ‘Gate’ – Press ‘Switch Active’ again.
5. Set Threshold, Attack, Release and Ratio
6. Apply 4-Band EQ to boost kick drum and achieve a ‘thud’ sound. If clipping after gain is lowered, input can also be decreased.
7. Drag Snare track next to Kick track
8. Apply EQ on snare to get rid of ringing sound [ low Q = narrow bell, high Q = selective]
9. Apply compression to snare
10. Pan Hi-hat slightly to right (left handed drummer)
11. Drag two overheads next to Hi-Hat
12. Pan over-heads hard right and hard left.
13. Toms: use Beat Detector to define toms and remove unwanted noise
14. Create stereo aux track – label ‘drum mix’ – Send to BUS 1 & 2 Stereo. Set the input of the aux track to BUS 1 & 2.
15. Select all drum tracks > Track > Group (label) > OK
16. Apply Compression to bass guitar (so that overall gain can be increased.
17. Apply EQ to bass guitar to increase lower frequencies
18. Apply EQ to Electric guitar
19. Apply compression and lower shelf EQ to vocals
20. Create stereo master fader {A1 & A2}
21. Insert > Plug-in > Max It [to increase overall volume level of song – must be the final stage of mixing process]
22. Mix Down: Highlight song area in timeline > File > Bounce to Disc [Source = A1 + A2, File type = Wave, Format = Stereo, 16 bit, 44.1 Hz > Bounce > Choose Location.