If you are looking for a complete recording project to mix for practicing purposes, then you can download this project (right click then save as, the file size is around 145MB).
After downloading; unzip the file. Below are the recorded tracks to be mixed with their respective file names:
1.) Kick drum: kickdrumfinal.wav
2.) Snare drum: snaredrumfinal.wav
3.) Ride cymbal: ridecymbalfinal.wav
4.) Acoustic guitar: acousticgtr.wav
5.) Bass guitar: bassguitar.wav
6.) Lead vocals: leadvocals.wav
7.) Backup vocals: backupvocals.wav
After downloading, confirm its MD5 checksum to make sure the project is not corrupted during the download. This is the original MD5 checksum of the audio_samples_for_mixing.zip file:
47c1802db8e2dd4f9a8a3a1600908906
Read this tutorial to learn the details on finding the MD5 checksum of a file.
There are only 7 tracks to be mixed. All tracks start from zero so there should no timing/synchronization issues when you are importing them to your DAW. All tracks are recorded dry (without any effects) and it’s recorded in 32-bit float/44.1KHz mono. More details of this project below.
Background of this Recording Project
This song is entitled “Overtime” which I have written the lyrics and music. I recorded this project around 6 years ago using my first recording setup. I am using an old/crude digital recording setup such as the following:
a.) Creative Audigy SoundBlaster PCI sound card
b.) Xenyx 502mixer for preamp
c.) SM58 vocal microphone
d.) Adobe Audition 1.5 for tracking
This is the recording signal chain:
Instruments — > Behringer Xenyx 502 — > Creative Audigy Sound Card — > Adobe Audition 1.5
The acoustic guitar and bass is DI directly to the mixer. It’s not using guitar and bass amplifiers. As you may have observed; it does not sound as superb and exciting as those recorded using an amp.
There is no 24-bit recording setting in Adobe Audition 1.5 but only 32-bit float which has the same resolution as the 24-bit audio. I recorded at 44.1 KHz sample rate which is enough, so the resulting recording is in 32-bit/44.1KHz WAV format. I set around -6dBFS maximum headroom for all recorded tracks, so that the possibility of clipping is minimized.
The drum tracks (cymbals, kick drum and snare) are obtained using Hotstepper, they are not recorded live with a real drum set. Instead the drum tracks are sequenced using the software and imported as 32-bit float/44.1KHz audio.
I plan to add several tracks to beef up the production but I decided to mix the original project to make it sound more raw and lively. I intend to use this project as a demo.
My own version of the mix
I render my first mix of the song last 6 years ago. This is my original version of the mix (before mastering):
I give emphasis to vocal clarity more than any other instruments. Also I didn’t apply much FX to the mix because there are only very few tracks. I would like the mix to retain its original sound as much as possible. This is done by applying very minimal effects processing. Lot of effects takes away much of its live presence and punch.
I am using Adobe Audition 1.5 to mix the song (although now I am using mostly REAPER for all of my projects). I emphasize on EQ effect to bring out the clarity of the percussion instruments. I apply just a little reverb only on the snare and cymbals. The following are the EQ settings applied on Adobe Audition parametric EQ:
Kick drum:
Boost +9dB at 80Hz Q=1.0 (To bring out the clarity on kick drum fundamental sound)
Cut -8dB at 150Hz Q=1.0 (Cut a hole in the upper bass frequency spectrum for bass guitars)
Snare:
Boost +4dB at 100Hz Q=1.0 (To fatten the snare drum sound).
Cut -8dB at 2000Hz Q=1.0 (Bring up the clarity on vocal sound, prevent snare sound conflicting with vocals)
Boost +4dB 8000Hz Q=1.0 (Brighten the snare strings sound)
Ride cymbal:
Cut -4dB at 600Hz (low shelf filter) (Reduce annoying metallic ride cymbal sound)
Cut -4dB at 3000Hz Q=1.0 (Prevent ride cymbal sound to conflict with vocals)
Boost +6dB at 12500Hz Q=1.0 (Brighten the cymbal high end sound)
In mixing the guitar, I manually doubled it in the mix (since there is only one guitar track in the recording) following the guitar double tracking method. One guitar is pan left (around -70%) and the other to the right (+70%). A mild reverb and audio compression is applied. I use the following EQ setting:
Cut -6dB at 200Hz (low shelf) (Increase clarity of bass and kick drum)
Cut -6dB at 800Hz Q=1.0 (Remove the annoying acoustic guitar mid-range frequencies)
Cut -9dB at 3000Hz Q=1.0 (Prevent guitar sound conflicting with the vocals.)
Boost +3dB at 6000Hz Q=1.4 (Brighten acoustic strings sound)
For the bass guitar, I intend to mix it to sound above the kick drum sound frequencies to give it a more raw country sound. There are no other effects applied except EQ and slight compression:
Cut -5dB 40Hz low shelf –remove very low bass frequency rumble. I find this inappropriate for this song. This is a rare bass guitar EQ setting. I don’t use this setting often for many songs.
Cut -10dB at 80Hz Q=0.8 (Increase kick drum clarity)
Boost 10dB at 150Hz Q=1.0 (Increase bass guitar notes clarity)
Cut -6dB at 500Hz (high shelf) = (Remove bass guitar high-end notes. I seldom use this EQ setting for mixing bass, but I find out the bass guitar sound sits clearly in the mix after this setting.)
Finally the vocals, I apply a plate reverb but the reverb processing is very minimal. Listening to the mix, you won’t notice the reverb settings at all. But I use this to make the vocals sit clearly in the mix (more details here). These are the EQ settings:
Cut -3.5 dB at 200Hz low shelf (Reduce some bass in the vocals, this depends on the song and the singer.)
Boost +3.5 at 3000Hz Q=1.4 (Improve lyrics clarity on vocals)
Boost +3.5 at 15000Hz Q=1.4 (Improve vocal high-end)
Most settings I used for mixing vocals are illustrated in this tutorial.
Tips on mixing this project in your DAW
Below are some tips on loading the tracks to your own DAW (for example REAPER).
1.) To insert recording tracks, go to Insert — > Media File. Select each WAV and load it to REAPER.
This is how it looks like after loading:
complete mix
As you have observed all tracks starts from 0; you simply need to position all tracks from the zero timeline and everything will be synchronized. Some DAW might resample to another sample rate (such as 48 KHz) for compatibility with your hardware. This is OK as long as no real time dithering during the mix. You should be mixing at 24-bits (or 32-bit float or higher) resolution.
2.) Since all recordings does not have any effects applied directly on the waveform, you will have the complete freedom to choose what FX you like that can provide the best sound. The objective is to have the best mix as possible by implementing the following simple rules:
a.) The lyrics of the vocal can be clearly understood.
b.) Each of the instruments should have its own position in the mix. This means you can clearly spot the kick drum, snare, guitars and bass guitar to the mix. They should not be drowned or dominated entirely by other musical instruments.
c.) Put some adequate headroom in the mix down result. This will be useful for mastering. I put around -3dBFS maximum after mix down. For more details read this guide.
You can share the resulting mix with us by uploading it to SoundCloud and then let us know. Let’s see how your own version would sound like.
Note: The recording project files include a license. Make sure you are aware of its terms of use and limitation.
Readers Remixed Version on This Song
This post has been quite for a while but I received several re-mixed versions by several of the blog readers. I provided them the feedback.
The one that standout so far is from instagram @locbeatx.
Here is the version:
I like the country feel remix with some vocal effects on it.