OK so I'm mixing down my breathe remix. Keep in mind i've never actually done a mixdown before. Just got a couple questions maybe you lot could help me out with (well I'm sure you could actually).
Now... I've created the remix in Reason, and exported source .wav format files for various components of the track. Just from reading some really basic documentation, I've gathered that the following should be rendered in mono: kick/bass drum snare drum(s) sub bass and the following should be rendered in stereo: synth / pads basslines (sometimes anyway. a friend of mine said it can be either mono or stereo as long as you don't pan them) cymbals (hats / crash / ride) percussion (i.e. congas) vocals Question 1: in what format should I render breaks - mono or stereo? Now... I'm taking these separate parts and creating master source files in Logic. First I convert the files (the ones I've exported from Reason) to mono format, then open them in Logic. I have one Logic arrange file for all drums / percussion (so one wave file with all kick/bass drums, a separate one for all snares, a separate for all hats, etc. - you get the idea). I removed all the effects applied in Reason, and am using those inherent to Logic or my VST library. As I do this, for any one audio track that needs to be rendered in stero, I've applied mono -> stereo effects. When I'm satisfied with levels, I bounce the master mix for that section to a single .wav file. I repeat this will all elements, so I've ended up with something like 5 master .wav files - one for all drums, one for synths, one for subs, one for basslines, one for vocals. After opening all of these master .wav files up in sound forge to check the peaks, I've applied normalization subjectively, depending on the overall loudness of any given track. For some tracks, I noticed that there are irregular peaks, where some parts of the track are much louder than others (I see this happening on some snares or rolls). Question 2: How can I lower the volume of these peaks without losing dynamics? Can this be achieved using Dithering? I know next to nothing about dithering. My extremely basic understanding is that it adds some kind of 'complimentary noise' that prevents dynamics from getting ruined. A little help? When is it best to apply dithering if it is necessary to apply it at all? Question 3: Once I have all my master .wav files laid out and ready to mix, would I need to apply any Equalization *during* the mix? The only parts of the track I've applied any EQing to are drums and vocals. I've heard that for soft synths you don't need to apply any EQing per se, but I am skeptical. I'd just like to make sure that I don't do something unnecessary if it can be avoided. Question 4 (possibly a subset of question 3): Do I need to separate the different components into discrete frequency ranges using EQing / filtering? My friend Adam told me that this is how he builds his tracks - he basically sets aside parts for each discrete frequency range so that it is balanced throughout (roughly) the entirety of the tune. Any and all help would be very much appreciated. Thank you. :) ~Andy --- Drum&Bass Arena Producers Discussion List http://www.breakbeat.co.uk You are currently subscribed to dnb-prod as: [email protected] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
