mixing down

lets say I've finished a track off, how do I mixdown properly?

I mean with the levels, the level on the output has to be below -3db right?

Well, I've always heard you want to get it closest to 0 as possible, and I always try to get the mixdowns closest to 0 as possible.

Although I have heard you want to keep it to -3 so when someone masters it they have headroom to work with.

So im not too sure. just make sure everything is clean and fits nicely in its own space and moving the faders down a bit if you need to to -3 shouldnt be that much of a problem I reckon.

yes record at a good healthy level but leave some headroom for the mastering engineer.

try to get a good balance between the relative levels of all the sounds.

what you don't want is a situation such as a toppy vocal over a dull backing track (or vice versa) - this is a nightmare to master and will never sound right. it's OK if everythings dull or everything's bright, as we can add or take away top end in mastering, but we can't change individual sounds once it's mixed.

if you compress your mix - less is more - the mastering engineer can always compress it more (on a flashy expensive compressor to boot) if it needs it, but it's hard to put dynamics into a flat mix

oh and watch out for sibilant vocals - another mastering nightmare.

D

nice feedback, thanks

Well, I've always heard you want to get it closest to 0 as possible, and I always try to get the mixdowns closest to 0 as possible.

Although I have heard you want to keep it to -3 so when someone masters it they have headroom to work with.

So im not too sure. just make sure everything is clean and fits nicely in its own space and moving the faders down a bit if you need to to -3 shouldnt be that much of a problem I reckon.

Where do I have to look in Cubase to check whether or not it's near o or -3? when I mix down?

[subvert]

Well, I've always heard you want to get it closest to 0 as possible, and I always try to get the mixdowns closest to 0 as possible.

Although I have heard you want to keep it to -3 so when someone masters it they have headroom to work with.

So im not too sure. just make sure everything is clean and fits nicely in its own space and moving the faders down a bit if you need to to -3 shouldnt be that much of a problem I reckon.

Where do I have to look in Cubase to check whether or not it's near o or -3? when I mix down?

look at the peak level indicator under the track your bouncing (probably the main Stereo Output)



A generic checklist for producing a mix for mastering would be:

1) Make the mix sound as good as you possibly can. This is so important. Dont do a half baked job, or even a 98% job thinking 'its ok, the ME will fix that in mastering'.
Sure, in many cases things can be fixed in mastering but the end result will never be quite as good as if we didnt have to fix it

2) Provide a stereo mix. Mastering can be done from stems (eg Vocals, Drums, FX, Bass, Misc sounds etc) but that should only be necessary if the mix is deficient, and at most mastering ouses is chargeable at a higher rate since there is more work involved (essentially we're also doing some mixing for you in this context)

3) The track should be provided at 24bit or 32bit at the original project sample rate (44.1KHz, 48KHz, or 96KHz preferred, but 192KHz also supported)

4) Remove any and all dynamics processing from the 2-track master buss. Specifically limiters and loudness maximizers etc. Gentle (1-2dB GR max) compression is ok, provided it was mixed through the compressor from early on (and as such will have affected all the individual track mixing decisions you made throughout the mix), and not something just slapped on at the end (in which case. remove it)

5) The mix should peak at no higher than -3dBFS and ideally no lower than -6dBFS