Mixing

Preparing your tracks for mixing can be a bit of work, but it pays off in the final product!

Export at the same sample rate you use in your DAW, preferably 44.1 KHz. There’s no advantage to going above that, despite what you heard on YouTube.

32-bit float is ideal but properly dithered 24-bit works too. The volume doesn’t matter as long as nothing is clipping.

Render mono sources as mono and stereo sources as stereo, with every track starting at the same time, preferably on the downbeat of the first measure.

Anything I know I’ll need to compress, I’d like to get raw. Everything else can be pre-mixed to save time.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

Synths – send me whatever comes out of the synth
Bass – send without reverb or delay
Drums – send totally raw
Vocals – send totally raw (after any pitch correction)
Everything else – use your best judgment, or send both raw and effected versions

Center all stereo files, but feel free to include your pan position in the filename, e.g. “Moog Pad R25.wav”

Speaking of filenames, it would be nice but not necessary for you to prefix groups like this:

VOCALS – Lead
VOCALS – Harmony 1
VOCALS – Harmony 2
DRUMS – Kick
DRUMS – Snare
etc…

If you’ve got a reference mix, please include that too! You might also note the BPM in the filename. Drum and vocal submixes are welcome but not essential.

If you feel that reverb, delay, or something else I asked you to remove is an essential part of the sound, please include an effected version for reference.

All mixing is performed at $140 per hour. Mastering is included in that process at no extra charge.

When I master a track that I mixed, I don’t use any EQ. Tonal issues are always addressed at the mix level.

How long it takes depends on the complexity of the arrangement. Most take 2-4 hours, assuming the vocals are usable as-is.

Feel free to email me with any questions!

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