It’s impossible at this stage to know exactly how many pieces of music I’ve mixed in the past 10 years but I can say for certain that I still get the same surge of excitement each time I load up a new project, hit play and start to mix. I’m comfortable with various genres ranging through Pop, Rock, RnB and Hip Hop.
I mix ‘in the box’ in Logic Pro X and Pro Tools, and I use a few select bits of outboard gear for effects, delays and reverbs. My rig is loaded with plugins from UAD, Waves, Soundtoys, Oeksound, Native Instruments, Spitfire Audio and my own custom sample packs and virtual instruments. My monitoring is courtesy of Focal and my trusty NS-10s.
Files you’ll be sent:
Full Mix
Instrumental Mix
PA Mix
Delivered at 24bit, 44.1kHz (unless otherwise stated)
FAQs
What is Mixing?
Mixing is the process by which an audio engineer balances all the different parts of your song (e.g. the drums, bass, keys and vocals) using volume, panning, EQ dynamic processing, and spacial processing. This is delivered as a “pre-master” which then goes off to the mastering engineer for mastering.
How is Mixing different to Mastering?
Think of mastering as the final polish to the mix. What we’re trying to achieve at this stage is to make the mix sonically competitive with other tracks in a similar genre and/or to meet the technical requirements of streaming platforms.
The role of mastering has changed over the years. For many years there was the “Loudness War”, where recordings were pushed as loud as possible to compete on radio. This was at the cost of dynamic range and there are many records which are cited as the epitome of this war, such as Oasis’ Whats the Story Morning Glory, RHCP - Californication and Metallica - Death Magnetic. When streaming services introduced normalisation to their platforms in the 2010s, mastering engineers were no longer cajoled into “pushing it just a bit louder”. Daft Punk - Random Access Memories is a perfect example of a beautifully dynamic record that isn’t loud, but my word does it bang.
How long does it take?
This depends on the complexity of the track but a typical turn around is 3-5 days.
Why get someone else to mix your record?
Your head’s been deep into making a record, you might have spent days, weeks or even months working on it. It’s a natural human reaction to lose objectivity when you’ve heard something over and over whilst listening critically. Mixing is the perfect opportunity for an objective set of ears to professionally fine tune the sonics and make your track hit that bit harder or to eek out that extra bit of emotion.
Does mixing include vocal tuning?
Mixing does not include vocal tuning. This however can be done for an addition charge of £40 per single lead vocal.
Can I get stems printed?
Yes! Stems are available for an additional charge of £25 per track.
What files do I need to send to have my work mixed?
For mixing it is usual to send the mixer all the elements of your project as separate audio files. There are cases in which it is better to consolidate some tracks down to a single file, for example you might have a tonne of vocal stacks that would be more manageable if bounced into one audio file. If there are specific effects or processing that you want to keep the same, then print them, as it saves the engineer time trying to recreate a sound you, as the artist or producer, are already happy with. I personally always ask for an additional unprocessed version of the lead vocal, that still has pitch and time correction. I require delivery of audio files at whichever sample rate and bit depth there were recorded at (e.g. 48k/24 or 44.1k/16 etc). I will send a google drive link to which you can upload your files. Once I’ve had a look at the files, I may request additional files if I feel we need them to elevate the project.