The recording process is daunting for many, however like most things, it all depends on how well prepared you are going in… We wanted to break down the process of prepping recorded tracks for a mix. This will give you a better understanding of what to expect when you go in to mix your tracks in the studio. In order to demonstrate this process we have teamed up with Liam Richards, a singer/songwriter from Perth who is working with Simon towards his debut EP here at Artisan Music. Check out the behind the scenes making of the mix, The Greenroom…
Mix-Prep
This is also called a “progress bounce”. A progress bounce is a RAW levelled mix that is unaffected by any EQ or compression, limiting, reverbs, delays etc. After each recording session you should receive a progress bounce of the day’s work. It’s purpose is to focus on the arrangement and recording quality.
What you hear in this file is the raw, unmixed tracks from the drum recording, with the bass. The tracks are not aligned and unaffected.
Prep
During the mix-preparation process, the individual drum tracks are silenced or gated to eliminate the spill between drum mics. After they have been silenced, the drums are easier to quantize or align to the beat. This can be changed from 1/4 note to 1/8th note and so on, for full versatility with alignment. The bass is then aligned to the drums to create a tight performance.
In this file, some of the drum tracks are mildly affected with EQ or compression.
Final Mix
This is the fully affected and aligned, final mix of the track! This also includes reverbs to fatten out various parts of the kit, such as the snare. I use a different reverb for the snare and the rest of the kit (snare has one reverb, the rest of the kit has another).
