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Preparing Your Music Tracks For Mixing |
Use the following instructions for preparing your mix sessions to send to us for online music mixing.
Choose the instructions below that match the mixing/recording system used for your song(s).
Choose the instructions below that match the mixing/recording system used for your song(s).
Questions? We are here to assist!
Pro Tools
How do I prepare my ProTools mix to send to someone else?Before saving a copy of your Pro Tools session it is good to get rid of any unused audio files. Go to the right of your edit window and click on the bottom corner of the screen. This will open the audio files menu so you can see everything you have done so far. When you are ready to save your project for mixing go to the region list at the top of the audio files. Choose SELECT - UNUSED AUDIO EXCEPT WHOLE FILES. All of the files that you are no longer using will be highlighted. Now, from the region list select CLEAR. A new dialog box will appear, click REMOVE. This will remove much of the unnecessary clutter in your session and help keep the file size more manageable.
Now save the session with all the audio files. Go to FILE - SAVE AS and choose SAVE COPY IN. Be sure to check INCLUDE - AUDIO FILES in the dialog box and save the session to somewhere on your computer that you will remember and that has enough space for your full project. We recommend saving this as a temporary version on your Desktop which you can remove after you transfer it. Give it a name that clearly identifies it by artist name and song title.
There are numerous versions of Pro Tools and it is generally recommended that you choose to save it in the most current version that you have available so that it will maintain all the same features. Some of these features may not transfer to your mix engineer if versions differ, so be sure to include a WAV or MP3 audio file reference of how the mix sounds to you on your system.
Logic Pro
How do I prepare my Logic Pro mix to send to someone else?For projects mixed in Logic Pro, the FILE - SAVE COPY AS function allows you to save a project with all associated files. Use the INCLUDE ASSETS checkbox in the dialog box that appears to include the AUDIO FILES. In the ADVANCED OPTIONS you should turn on the COPY checkbox to choose the option to have all external files copied into the project folder so everything will be consolidated together into one folder. Turn on the COPY EXTERNAL AUDIO FILES TO PROJECT FOLDER checkbox to create copies of these in your project folder. Turn on the COPY EXS INSTRUMENTS TO PROJECT FOLDER and COPY EXS SAMPLES TO PROJECT FOLDER checkboxes, as well. Also turn on the COPY ULTRABEAT SAMPLES TO PROJECT FOLDER and SPACE DESIGNER IMPULSE RESPONSES TO PROJECT FOLDER checkboxes to create copies of these files in the project folder. If the "Save as Folder" option is selected you will need to send both the LOGICX file as well as the Audio folder for each song as the audio tracks will be contained within the Audio Folder. If the "Save as Package" option is selected the LOGICX file will contain all necessary audio tracks within it.
Once saved the Logic Pro project is now safe and consolidated, allowing you to move or copy the entire project. The project folder should be named according to the artist and title of the song.
Garage Band
How do I prepare my GarageBand mix to send to someone else?For Garage Band projects you can simply provide the GarageBand BAND file for each song you want mixed. This is the file that it creates when you save the session. Be sure to name it with the song title. Most professional mixing studios, including Crazy Daisy Productions, will open your GarageBand project in Logic Pro for access to more professional mixing tools and therefore better sounding results. GarageBand online manuals can be found at - support.apple.com/manuals/garageband
Fruity Loops
How do I prepare my Fruity Loops mix to send to someone else?For Fruity Loops projects you should choose EXPORT from the FILE menu. Then select the option to export as a "Zipped Loop Package". This will create a ZIP file containing the FLP mix session file plus all associated audio files for the mix. Save it in an easy to find location using the name of the song for clear identification. FL Studio online user manual available at - image-line.com/support/flstudio_online_manual/html/title.htm
Cubase
How do I prepare my Cubase mix to send to someone else?For your Cubase project you should look through your audio files and eliminate unnecessary audio files (takes you didn't keep or parts no longer in use) to minimize the space your project will take up to make it quicker and easier to transfer. An easy way to do this is choose SAVE TO NEW FOLDER under the FILE menu. You will be asked to give the project a new name, which should be the song title, and you can then select the options to MINIMIZE AUDIO FILES and REMOVE UNUSED AUDIO, both of which will reduce the saved material to the absolute minimum required for the mixing project. Do NOT select FREEZE EDITS as this locks in all changes and won't allow additional adjustments to be made. If you saved any effects or channel presets, save those and send them along with your project as well. The new folder you create when you save your mix this way will contain a Cubase CPR mix session project file and an Audio folder containing all the associated audio files for the song.
Reaper
How do I prepare my Reaper mix to send to someone else?In your Reaper mix choose FILE - SAVE PROJECT AS. Then select an easy to find location where you want to save the copy of the mix to be used for transferring, such as your desktop, and name it with your artist name and song title to make it clear to the engineer. In the dialog window, check both the Create Subdirectory and Copy All Media boxes, which will create a folder specifically for this song in the chosen location on your computer and put copies of all associated audio files within it. You will need to send this entire folder to the mixing engineer.
Audacity
How do I prepare my Audacity mix to send to someone else?Within your Audacity mix session, select FILE - SAVE PROJECT - SAVE LOSSLESS COPY OF PROJECT. Choose and easy to find location on your computer, such as your desktop, and name the copy of this file with the artist name and song title for clarity. Audacity will create a new version of your mix with all associated audio files in the location you have chosen. The new version will include both an AUP file of the name given, plus a folder with the name given followed by "_data". Both of these items need to be sent to the mixing engineer in order to transfer the complete mix session as saved, including all associated audio files. More details at - manual.audacityteam.org/man/file_menu_save_project.html
Magix Music Maker
How do I prepare my Music Maker mix to send to someone else?With Music Maker, Samplitude, and other Magix programs you may have the option to do a multi-track bounce of all individual tracks which you can then provide to your mixing engineer to use in recreating the mix in another platform. See this YouTube video for details - youtube.com/watch?v=zBbNmTXI-_g. If this option is not available in your version of the program you can also create your own stems one at a time.
- 1. Solo the first track in your mix, and ONLY that track.
- Select a time range from the very beginning of the entire song to the very end of the entire song. Do this even if the first tack only plays for a small portion of the song.
- Bounce (or Export) the full song as a stereo WAV file, giving it a file name that indicates what sound is included in that first track.
- Now un-solo the first track, solo the second track, and repeat the process.
MixPad
How do I prepare my MixPad mix to send to someone else?You can save your song project as a MPDP file with a DATA FOLDER(has the same name as the project file with a ".ProjectData" extension) and then load it for use again later. When you save a MixPad project, all audio files are saved into the project's data folder. This means that if you want to move your project to a different computer or location, the things you need to save are the project file (song title with MPDP extension) and associated data folder (folder with the song title and ProjectData extension). Sending both of these to your mixing engineer will allow them to fully open the song in MixPad on their own system. More details at - help.nchsoftware.com/help/en/mixpad/win/work_project.html
Mixcraft
How do I prepare my Mixcraft mix to send to someone else?As described on YouTube at - youtube.com/watch?v=i7Kcx7TMYAA: within your Mixcraft project for the song, click FILE - COPY PROJECT FILES TO - ZIP FILE. Save it somewhere easy to locate, and give it a name that represents the artist and song title for clarity. We suggest saving it to your Desktop so it's easy to find for transferring to your mix engineer. This will put all the necessary audio and mix session files into a single ZIP file that can easily be transferred to your mix engineer.
Studio One
How do I prepare my Studio One mix to send to someone else?You will need to make sure you include: Media Folder, Stems Folder, Bounces Folder, Cache Folder and the .song file itself. One way to be certain you get the entire song file would be to "Save as new folder" under the File tab and save it to a new location. We recommend saving it temporarily to your desktop so it's easy to find. Be sure to give the folder the name of your artist and song for clear identification. More details on the Presonus website at - support.presonus.com/hc/en-us/articles/210040393-File-Management-Sharing-Songs-With-Other-Studio-One-Users-
Cakewalk/Sonar
How do I prepare my Cakewalk/Sonar mix to send to someone else?As we don't use Sonar here, you will need to export all the individual tracks as audio stem tracks that can be reassembled by your mixing engineer in a different DAW in our studio. Here's a helpful article on Sweetwater Sound's website with instructions on how to export audio stems from your Sonar project - How To Open Sonar Projects In Other DAWs
Other Mixing and Recording Software or Hardware/Portable Recording Systems
If you did your recording or mixing in a software program not listed above, or used a portable recording system, we can still help with your mixing project. Contact us and let us know what mixing system you are using and we can assist you with preparing the files. Often this will consist of exporting "stems", which are audio files exported containing the sound of one or more similar elements within the song, such as "Drums" or "Backing Vocals". In this way the mix can be recreated in a professional mixing platform your mix engineer has available.Raw Recorded Tracks
If you happen to only have raw audio files instead of a mix session file, you can send all the files to your mix engineer who will be able to create a new mix session for the song from those tracks. If the audio files are not clearly labeled with their sound contents, be sure to indicate to the engineer what sounds to expect, particularly if you have multiple takes of one or more of the recordings and wish to have the engineer build a comp track using the best aspects of each take.
Helpful Hints For Getting the Best Results From Your Recorded Material and Mixes
- Take the time to set up your recording so everything comes out sounding clear and full and distortion free.
- Turn off all unnecessary electronic devices, fans, and other sources of noise when recording with microphones to avoid extra noise.
- Label all track strips as clearly as possible indicating what sound each track contains.
- Listen to songs by well-known artists with a sound style similar to your own to provide you with a guide for how to assemble your own tracks. Also, be sure to let your audio engineer know which artist(s) you referenced so your mix can be finished with the same sound style in mind.
TRANSFERRING YOUR MIX FILES TO THE MIX ENGINEER:
If you're only sending a single song one easy option is to make a ZIP file out of it for transferring. Right click the mix session file (plus any Audio Files folders that may be required for your session as noted above) and choose "compress..." on a Mac or "send to -> compressed folder" on Windows. If you have multiple songs then you can turn each song's session into it's own individual ZIP file. Then you can use the mixing studio's website to transfer your ZIP files when you place your online mixing order. You can also use a third party file transfer system such as dropbox.com or wetransfer.com or share a file or folder from your Google Drive.
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Links to online sound and music resource pages
We've assembled a list of a few useful resource pages to assist you with your music production, promotion, and other aspects of the music business.Music Resource Links
NEWS
Veteran L.A. #recording engineer Barry Rudolph provides insights on #micing and recording #drums, with a wide range of successful methods and options in this ProSoundWeb article -
www.prosoundweb.com/the-wonderful-world-of-microphone-techniques-for-drums