As I stated in my project update, due to the current circumstances in the world I was unable to get my recorded track from the college, and nor did I even have access to a DAW. Logic Pro unfortunately wasn’t an option for me as I use a windows PC, However I did manage to get my hands on Ableton Live 10 for free for a period of 90 days. I have zero experience with Ableton live 10, so this is a big learning curve for me but hopefully I can produce a professional sounding track by the end of the project.
Unfortunately I couldn’t re-record my track or anything, however I did get hold of the raw audio takes from one of the collaborative project songs and fortunately the band line up is virtually the same.
So, I ended up mixing our original track called “Not Sure” in Ableton Live 10 and here is the process I went through.
Drum Kit Mixing
After importing all of the .wav files into my Ableton Live project, I began the mixing process of the track with the kick drum. To start with I began using the built in EQ and quickly realised that this wasn’t as versatile as the ones I have become accustomed to. Although with more experience with this program I would imagine that it can be just as effective as any other EQ, I had decided to download an external plugin of an EQ similar to the ones I have used before called the TRD Nova.
With this now working I began by applying a high pass filter to help cut down background noise. I then boosted the 50hz frequency range by 3db to give the kick a bigger sound, and I also raise the 3000hz frequency range by 1.5db to give the drum a little bit of a punchy sound.
In addition to this, I applied a noise gate to the track which cut out virtually all of the spill from the other drums.
The use of the EQ and Noise Gate applies to every drum in my mix. the noise gate is more or less the same for each drum, maybe with slight tweaks, but the EQ can really vary.
Here is the EQ I had done on the snare drum:
For the snare I again used a high pass filter to remove the unused frequencies, then boosted the 200-300 range to add some thickness. I cut out a little of the 1k range to try lower the ‘boxiness’ of the snare, and slightly boosted the 2k range by about 1.5db to add a small amount of attack.
Next, I applied some EQ to the Hi-Hats:
On the HI-Hat’s the only major thing that was applied was the high pass filter cutting out sound from 200hz and below. This helped remove spill from the kick drum and both tom’s. I slightly boosted the 450 range and the 10k range to fill out the hat’s and give them a sharper sound.
Now for the rack and floor tom’s the use of a noise gate was crucial. This helps to remove the ringing from the tom’s after they’ve been struck, and also cut out all of the spill from the rest of the kit. As for the EQ, they were more or less the same, both using a high and low pass filter to cut out unwanted frequencies, and slightly boosting the 100 to 300 range to add a little more depth.
Finally, the overhead drum mics. For the overhead mics I wanted to leave them relatively untouched because the raw audio here was really good, and makes the drum kit sound really full. The only real change I made to the sound itself was applying a high pass filter to try place a little more emphasis on the cymbals, but not enough that the rest of the kit can not be heard. I then proceeded to pan the tracks, one to the left speaker and one to the right, and this adds another layer of depth to the drum kit, and makes it feel more like it’s in the room with you.
Bass Guitar
Next I figured moving onto the bass guitar would be a good idea as I would then have the backbone of the song mixed together.
As the bass take was through a DI box, I added a virtual 4×10″ bass cabinet with the effect of a close on-axis dynamic microphone to give the sound some depth and authenticity.
As for the EQ, I used a high pass filter as usual, but then however boosted the 1.5k range rather than the bass end. This gave the bass a punchy attack sound which I personally really like. I also cut out some of the mids as they overpowered the sound at times.
Rhythm and Lead Guitars
Firstly, I began with the two guitar tracks recorded by another student which were both DI’d. For their rhythm part, which leads the song in and is really the main chunk of the rhythm section, I firstly applied a virtual guitar amp and cabinet. When using the amp and cab, I applied a slight crunch sound using the blues amp, to give the guitar a bit more bite than before.
I then added light chorus and delay to the track because I wanted a ‘spacey’ vibe and to build up the texture with the guitar parts only being single tracked. Here is the EQ from this track as well:
I used a high pass filter, and raised the low end by a few decibels to thicken the sound. I also raised the 3k range to keep the guitar sounding bright. Finally, I lowered the mids to allow space for the vocal parts to cut through the mix better.
As for the lead part here, it maintained the same EQ settings, and effects rack as before with some minor adjustments. I increased the output volume and gain on the amp to make this lead part cut through more. I also made the delay effect more prominent as it works really well with the part in particular.
Next up were my guitar parts, both rhythm and lead.
Firstly, rhythm guitar. For this track I again went with the blues amp plugin and cabinet for that clearer attack and authentic sound.
Something else worth noting here, is that my playing style is rather different to my colleague’s, being from a background of heavy music. This means I was more heavy handed in my part as is clearly shown by both rhythm parts when put side by side:
The waveform on the bottom track (my part) is much thicker than the other guitar which in turn means this runs the risk of drowning the softer track out. Therefore, I applied the use of a compressor to bring those large volume spikes down to a similar level of the other guitar. Once this was done I tweaked about with the EQ setting until I found something that worked appropriately.
I put more focus on boosting the lower frequencies on this part and decreasing the higher ones as the other guitar was filling those frequencies much more and this let both guitars cut through the mix really well.
Now for the lead guitar part, which in this case was just an actual solo.
Firstly, I decided against using a compressor on this part despite the big variety in volume for the part:
The waveform of the solo is huge in comparison to the backing guitars here, however this gave the section really interesting dynamics, and at no point was the guitar clipping so I chose to leave it as it is.
Here is what I did add to the track though:
Firstly, I changed the amp to the rock preset and then tweaked with the sound until I had an appropriate level of distortion for the style, and a good amount of volume coming out. Also worth noting is I again used the 4×12″ speaker cab plugin. I then added a layer of chorus and delay to lift the texture of the solo, and add to the overall vibe. Finally, here is the EQ for this channel:
After applying a high pass filter, I boosted primarily the 3k range as this is where the solo was sitting mainly. I then reduced the range of about 750hz as this was clashing with the background guitars and making it sound a bit ‘noisy.’
Vocal Mixing
The vocal takes I have for this song are to an incredible standard of professionalism due to the recording session we had being at an external studio with top of the range gear and facilities. This also means that I had multiple takes for the vocal parts and this allowed me to double track the whole thing. This removes the need for trying to replicate this full sound by using chorus typically and it also gives the track much more soul I feel. Here’s an example of the double tracked vocal parts:
For the first singer’s parts, not much editing was required as they cut through the mix just fine, and the double tracking gave them a real impact. I did use some mild EQ, but this was mainly to cut unwanted frequencies by using a high and low pass filter:
One more change I did make for these tracks was reducing the output volume by 3db as this singers voice is naturally louder than the other when singing at a normal volume.
Finally for the second singer, who also had doubled up vocal lines, I also applied some tweaks of the EQ:
The changes here are very similar to the other vocals, however with a slight boost to the high end as this singer had a higher voice. I also boosted the output by 6db as this was the lead vocal part for the song and needed to cut through just a little extra.
One more change that I had to make here was that in the final chorus the singers voice began clipping and becoming distorted as they began to sing with more power. I used a compressor lightly here to bring the levels back down and this finished off the part nicely.
With the bulk of the mixing done and the occasional tweak here and there, I moved onto balancing all the levels, adding any panning and necessary automation to the track so it was ready to be mastered and bounced down. Here’s some pictures of the mixer after the levels were set:
Mastering:
I used three audio effects to master the track, and did this by adding them to the master track in Ableton Live. I used an EQ plug-in, the Multiband Dynamics plug-in, and a limiter as well:
On the EQ I increased the high end frequencies slightly as this made the cymbals of the drum kit cut through the mix so much better and sound really good. I also boosted around 100hz to bring up the bass end of the tune as the mid frequencies were already at a good level.
Next, I used the Multiband Dynamics effect to balance the levels of the low, mid, and high frequencies. You can see all my settings in the screenshot above, but essentially I lowered the high and low end more so than the mids as this gave what I felt was the best balance to the song.
Finally, I applied a limiter to the track. I did this as some streaming platforms require your tracks to be of a certain level to upload them. So to start with I set the ceiling of the limiter to -1db as this is appropriate for most platforms, and then increased the gain to a point where the track is as loud as it can be without distorting the mix.
With this all in place, I can finally bounce down the track in its finalised form.
Here is the track with nothing edited, completely as it was recorded:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FM_NrPnBqTpc01qUoxdDiHTcRC7GDFEN
And finally, here is the finished mix:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-Ba2DcqemCWTXzTwdfiHGBLGFNrYx7ru/view?usp=sharing
References:
Carter, M., 2014. How To Mix Hi-Hats And Cymbals. [online] TalkinMusic. Available at: <https://talkinmusic.com/how-to-mix-hi-hats-and-cymbals/> [Accessed 10 May 2020].
Carter, M., 2014. Snare Eq: How To Get Phat & Punchy Snare Using Eq. [online] TalkinMusic. Available at: <https://talkinmusic.com/snare-eq-phat-punchy-snare-eq/> [Accessed 10 May 2020].
Senior, M., 2012. Mixing Bass. [online] Soundonsound.com. Available at: <https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/mixing-bass> [Accessed 10 May 2020].
Tokyo Dawn Records. n.d. TDR Nova | Tokyo Dawn Records. [online] Available at: <https://www.tokyodawn.net/tdr-nova/> [Accessed 10 May 2020].
Weiss, M., 2018. Tips For Mixing Drum Overheads — Pro Audio Files. [online] Pro Audio Files. Available at: <https://theproaudiofiles.com/tips-for-mixing-drum-overheads/> [Accessed 10 May 2020].