Mixing and mastering

Original Material
Mixing

Organisation
The first project for this assignment was to mix original material provided to us to a high standard. In order to do this the first thing I did was organise the tracks so that I was able to work on the mix in an efficient and comfortable fashion. This was achieved by first colour co-ordinating the tracks, for example making all of the brass tracks blue, this shows me and anyone else who may use my mix that these tracks are directly related. Another example is the guitar tracks, I turned these green, but also turned the bass track a different shade of green to show that while these tracks are related, it is an indirect relationship. I also grouped the same coloured tracks next to each other in the project so that they could be easily worked on in session and I wouldn't have trouble finding them in the project or accessing them when needed. The next step I took in organising the tracks was cutting out any unnecessary parts of the track where there was silence or background noise which could take away from the quality of the track. This also allowed me to have more freedom to use effects as I was not worried about accidentally emphasising the rustling of a shirt or breath intake noises made by a singer.
Another organisational technique I used was to group related tracks together in 'sends'. This not only gave me another way to easily keep track of each audio line, it also allowed me to add the same effects simultaneously to the related tracks. This helped create a sense of uniform to the songs and created a more professional effect. I did this to the brass tracks, guitar tracks, and vocal tracks.

EQ
The next step that I took was to EQ each track. I did this by opening the EQ menu and dragging the frequencies to the volumes I felt fitted each track well. I started with the drums. For the kick I raised the low end considerably in order to increase the boominess of the track, however I also slightly raised the higher-mid range to create a thicker cracking sound that I felt would give more impact to the backbone of the song. Then I proceeded to mix the snare, I raised mostly the mid range on this in order to give it a solid thumping sound that I felt would keep the drums level, but impactful. I also slightly lowered the highest frequencies in order to reduce the sharpness of the initial hit and therefore slightly blunt the sound into a comfortable range. The cymbals and high hat were relatively easy to EQ, I simply raised the high end in order to make them more potent in the final mix. I then went on to EQ the bass and guitar tracks. For the bass track I cut the high end sharply, and raised the low end to give a more rumbling feel to the bass. For the guitar track I slightly raised the low end and mid range, but on the solo track I actually lowered the low end and raised the high end in order to make it stand out against the rest of the song, this also added emphasis to the parts of the solo which are played further up the neck. For the trombone I made it slightly more bassy, and raised the high end of the trumpet to create a sharper sound.

Compression/Expansion
Compression is the process by which specific frequencies can be controlled to specific, lower volumes. Expansion is the opposite and boosts the volumes of frequencies past a specific point. I did not use expansion in this mixing project as I felt that it was if anything, too loud at times. This led me to believe that I should use compression. I used compression on the vocals in order to balance the sound and stop the high notes that the singer reaches from becoming too piercing, this allowed for a more balanced sound to the vocals and also allowed the backing vocals to accompany the lead in a more comfortable manor. I also chose to use compression for the trumpet. This was because I felt that at times the trumpet became somewhat overpowering at points when it should have been more in the background of the song. By using some compression on the track I was able to create a more focused and balanced sounding brass section in the mix, as the trombone also benefitted via symbiosis from the improved trumpet track. I then decided that the trombone still needed to be slightly compressed as the brass section was still slightly too cutting for the rest of the track. However I believed that this was fixed one the compression was added.

Reverb
I used reverb on some of my tracks not only to emphasise the importance and potency of the tracks, but also to create a larger room feel to the song in order to simulate a more concerted piece. One of the tracks I felt it was most important to add reverb to was the lead vocal, I did this using the roomworks insert. However upon reflection I felt that the backing vocals also required some reverb in order to create the larger sound effect that I desired. Because of this I removed the lead vocal reverb and instead added reverb the vocal send that I had set up previously. This allowed me to simultaneously add reverb to all the vocal tracks which allowed me to not only create the desired effect but also keep the tracks balanced. When using reverb I tried to use a small amount as to not over power the rest of the tracks and also to avoid alienating the vocals tracks from the overall project.
Upon doing this I felt that some more tracks required reverb in order to effectively complete the large room effect I was trying to achieve. I also felt that giving other tracks some subtle reverb would allow the stronger reverb effects on the vocals to integrate better into the project. I once again used the roomworks insert but this time on the brass send in order to give the brass section a more choral tone, I believe that this allowed me to achieve the desired effect.

Pan
I also used Pan when mixing the song. This allowed me to create a sense of depth to the tracks and also change the sonic dynamics of the song somewhat. I only used subtle pan in the range of between 5-20 in either direction. The first thing that I used pan on was the backing vocals. I panned the first to the right and the second the left to create a thicker more active vocal section. I also panned the guitars and bass tracks to opposite sides, and then did the same with the trumpet and trombone; with trombone on the same side as guitar and trumpet with bass. The contrast of the tones of these instruments allowed me to create depth to the sound of the song but without sacrificing the balance that I had worked to achieve throughout the project.

https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/stick-together-mix

Mastering

Real Time Mastering
There are two ways by which a project can be mastered. The first is by bouncing the project into one audio track and then mastering that track separately. The way that we mastered this track was by actually using the in program mixer to mix each individual track simultaneously by using the stereo output channel. This not only allowed me to improve the project as a whole, but also go back and edit the mix if needed at any point.

Multiband Compression
The next thing I used to master the track was multiband compression.This was added by using he mixing interface and opening the inputs for the stereo output track which encompasses all of the other tracks. I found this particularly useful as it allowed me to keep the entire track at a balanced level by separating the frequencies of the track into sections and compressing them individually. I increased the ratio and threshold slightly on each of the tracks just to make sure that the sound didn't become to harsh at the more intese and powerful moments of the song, but I increased the ratio most on the mid range as I felt that this was necessary to stop the vocals and guitar from becoming too overpowering over the rest of the tracks.

EQ
I also decided to do an overall EQ on the stereo output track in order to once again make sure that the balance was an absolute presence throughout the project. I also felt that doing an overall EQ would help me to sweeten the sound by making sure that it had the extra touches that it needed to make it very even. I slightly raised the low end to a smooth level which I felt created an extra layer of subtle thickness to the bass and the heavier drums. I also did a very slight raise at around 3k which allowed the vocals to still stand out after the heavy alteration they had received to make them less cutting in previous steps.

Mix Level
I put the mix level of the track at -0.45. This is because the mix level of the track should always be aimed at around 0, as the mix level is measured mostly in the minus range. Having a mix level that is too low will cause the track to play too quietly on most sound systems. This is why when when mixing i found it useful to pre set the mix level and then control the volume on the mac's own volume setting and mix each individual track based off of the mix level. This allowed me to know that the project would play at an appropriate level when completed.

Sweetening The Sound
In order to make sure that I was always doing what was best for the track I took regular breaks throughout each session and listened to other music or media to make sure that I had fresh ears for when I came back to the project. This allowed me to see clearer what I needed to do for the mix. I also got my peers to give their opinion on the mix when I made an important change to see if my decision was a wise one, and to make sure that I wasn't negatively impacting on the song.

https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/stick-together-master

Yellow Cover
Mixing

Organisation
Once we had finished mixing and mastering the original piece that we had been given, we were then tasked with mixing and mastering one of the tracks we had created in a previous project. I chose to use the yellow cover which I had created for the recording a pop song project. The first step I took was to organise and streamline the project. This first thing I did was to cut out all the dead space in each audio track, this allowed for minimal background noise in the project as well as making it easier to mix and master later on in the process. It also made for a smaller file which takes up less data space. The next thing I did was colour code each track by similarity. This allowed me to edit specific musical sections of the song with ease, and also made locating and keeping track of the audio files much easier. I then proceeded to group the tracks by sends. This allowed me to simultaneously edit groups of tracks in order to create balance and uniform among within the project. The sends I created were guitar, vocal, and piano. As these were the instruments with multiple instrument tracks. I also used the mixing screen to adjust the volume levels of each track as I felt that some of them needed to be adjusted, such as the ukulele and vocal.

EQ
The next thing I did was EQ the tracks. For the guitar I used the EQ on the guitar send, but put less of the send effect on the 2nd guitar track as this created a slight raw tone to the back of the track. I used a moderate low shelf for up to the 2k frequencies to make a more vibrant feel to the guitar in general, followed by a sharp drop in the high end which severely reduced the sound of clicking on the strings which I felt created a much more professional tone. This then evened out toward the very high end.
Then I EQ'd the bass. I first created a massive drop in the high end as I felt that this was not needed even slightly in the bass track, then I raised the low end with a brief but noticeable spike at around 50 in order to maximise the potency of the range at which the bass mostly plays. I felt that this crated a very smooth bass tone. After this I EQ'd the ukulele track, this was tricky as it was an unusual instrument to EQ. I decided that the best sound was given by harshly reducing the low end, and creating smoothly melded spikes around the 3.5k and 7.5k ranges, as this created more vibrancy in the tone which I felt was the main purpose of the ukulele as a lead instrument.
Then I moved on to EQing the vocals. I decided the use the same technique as I had on the guitars to maintain some of the raw tone from the original unaltered audio. I boosted some of the high end on the lead vocal track as this was the area at which the vocalist became the most quiet and gentle, so I felt it needed to be boosted somewhat. Then on the vocal send I slightly lowered the EQ at the points where the vocalist became too sharp.
After this I EQ'd the piano, once again using the previous technique that created the raw tone I felt grounded the song by only EQing the lead piano track. I did this by creating a spike at around 1k where some key points in the song were present, and then creating a gradual rise which evened out towards the the end to add more emphasis to the build ups the pianist had created.
The last track I had to EQ was the tambourine. I did this by drastically reducing the low end and creating a very slight raise at the high end. Not much high end alteration was needed as the track was already very self sufficient at the high end.

Compression/Expansion
Once I had finished EQing the project I started to used the compression and expansion inserts. I used some compression on the guitar send in order to cut some of the moments when the guitar levels slip out of unity with the rest of the track. But on the piano and tambourine tracks I made it heavier. On the piano this was to stop it from overpowering the vocals at the more intense and musically dense parts of the song. And on the tambourine it was to cut the very brittle clacking present when the tambourine was being hit heavily during recording.
Due to the gentle and soft vocal nature of the singer, I felt it was necessary to use expansion on the vocal send. This was in order to stop the vocals from weakening at certain points in the song where the vocal tracks are more calm, I felt that this strengthened the tracks in order for them to be potent without being overly loud.

Reverb/Delay
I felt that reverb needed to be present on many of the tracks in the project in order to create a thicker and larger sound. This was necessary due to the light sonic nature of almost all of the audio tracks aside from the bass and tambourine. I first added reverb to the ukulele track as I felt due to the fact that it was the lead instrument it needed to be a more potent and vibrant track. By using the reverance insert I was able to create subtle and gentle reverb which immediately gave a much more professional feel, it also created a very smooth feel to the ukulele by overlaying on each stroke of the strings. This softened the tone of the track. I also used reverb on the vocal send using the room works insert. This allowed me to create a larger room effect on the vocals which created a more symphonic tone; I used this very subtly in order to not overcrowd the vocals as I had already included a second vocal track to create the double vocal effect. I also used roomworks on the piano send in roder to create the same effect as the vocals only slightly stronger. I used the same insert as I felt that the piano and vocal tracks complimented each other extremely well and I wanted that unity to remain. After this the only remaining track was the tambourine. I felt that the tambo track was actually quite dull, and needed to be made more interesting and bright in order to give it purpose and influence within the track. I did this by first adding ping pong delay on an insert. This created an echo like effect which immediately gave the track more power, I then added reverb using reverence. This allowed me to create the brightness on the tambourine I had been unable to achieve prior. I feel that the reverb I added to the project made a huge impact of the final piece as really allowed me to achieve the tone that fitted the song best.

Pan
I used pan in order to create depth to the project. I first did this by moving the acoustic guitar tracks to opposite sides of the pan scale. I also placed the tambourine slightly left, this created a very heavy imbalance and so I decided to move the secondary piano track and ukulele track slightly right in order to maintain unity but also create a more interesting field of depth. I kept the vocals central as well as the main piano track (due to the complement of these two parts together) as I felt that this anchored the song and created a more focused feel to the heart of the project. I felt that due to the rich deep tone of the bass, I felt that keeping it central was creating a sense of planar flatness to the low end of the track which took away from the rest of the project. However this also meant that whenever I tried to pan the track it created a heavy imbalance on the project, in order to counteract this I copied the bass track and panned the two tracks to 30 right and left respectively. This allowed me to not only maintain balance but also add depth to the low end of the project.

Automation
I also used some automation on tracks that vastly varied in volume levels such as the vocal and tambourine. This allowed me to manually input volume levels which I then gradually and smoothly faded in and out of each other to make sure that each track was at a suitable and effective level at all times.

https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/yellow-mix

Mastering

Post Mix Mastering
For the mastering of this project I used a different kind from the original piece. For this piece I bounced down the finished mix on to a completely separate audio file at 16bit; this is due to that being the CD quality we needed. I then put the new audio file on a completely separate cubase track and mixed it as if it were an individual track.

Multiband Compression
I used multiband compression to slightly raise the lower end frequencies. This created a heavier bass sound which I felt was necessary to ground the otherwise light and bright track. I also slight increased the compression ration on the mid to high end just to ensure that at certain points in the song where the it becomes more passionate and intense the viewer is not subjected to harsh or sharp sounds.

EQ
I EQ'd the track with the intent of brightening the sound and making the track more impactful. I did this by creating EQ spikes at around 300 and 3.5k. This brightened the strings and vocals to allow for a more interesting and pretty sound. It also made the track sound much clearer and each piece was much more noticeable as an individual piece as opposed to just blending into the background of the track.

Mix Level
I put the mix level of the track at 0. This is because the mix level of the track should always be aimed at around 0, as the mix level is measured mostly in the minus range. Having a mix level that is too low will cause the track to play too quietly on most sound systems. This is why when when mixing i found it useful to pre set the mix level and then control the volume on the mac's own volume setting and mix each individual track based off of the mix level. This allowed me to know that the project would play at an appropriate level when completed.

Sweetening The Sound
In order to make sure that I was always doing what was best for the track I took regular breaks throughout each session and listened to other music or media to make sure that I had fresh ears for when I came back to the project. This allowed me to see clearer what I needed to do for the mix. I also got my peers to give their opinion on the mix when I made an important change to see if my decision was a wise one, and to make sure that I wasn't negatively impacting on the song.

https://soundcloud.com/user-401119215/yellow-master