So I usually create my tracks (mainly using vsti, midi) in cubase and then I mix in it. (I think it's called mixing in Box)
But I'm only starting to mix now.
I would like to know if any of you work like that, and if you have any tips how to work that way, because sometimes I'm reading stuff on the internet and on books about mixing and everything is about when you record tracks with mics not using midi or virtual instruments.
I don't Know if I should export all tracks individually and then import them to audition or cubase to mix it.

Can you help me?

 

I basically learned how to mix my own tracks just by following theses tutorials "5 Minutes To A Better Mix". They're in my opinion the best *free* ones available.

 

So, yeah - that's pretty much how everyone is doing it these days.

DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation. That means writing, producing, recording, arranging, editing, mixing and mastering. Some might use additional software like wave editors and stand-alone programs.

I've used Cubase since 1996.

 

Hello, to make a good mix, when you finish the song with VSTi's render all tracks to WAV stems and here you can start the final mix.

 

Few answers and allready a lot of content.

@Phenomboy
Thanks I will watch every video of that link seems really good.

@baxter
How do you do it in cubase, after you record arrange and edit, what is your first step to start mixing? Do you render all tracks to wav link remixerone said? If you do how do you do it?

@remixerone
In cubase how do you render the track to wave without exporting them and then importing them again?

thanks a lot guys really helpful stuff

 

You may find AudioSex Academy useful and I will be adding more to it shortly. It also includes the 5 Minutes To A Better Mix in table of contents format so it's easy to find what you want and there are other great videos as well.

 

i use Cubase 5 and i Mix every thing Audio and Midi in the same project some people export every thing as Audio Wav Files and then Make another project and then Mix it the only advantage to Doing it that way to me is it saves CPU Power if the original project has a lot of Midi Files But if your computer is strong enough then you should have no problems i'm on a Mac Pro Quod and i have mix up to 50 Audio and Midi Tracks real time with plugins one thing in Cubase that i do is ( Don't Use The Master fader/Master Buss to adjust the Volume for Going into the Red clipping Keep it at 0 db and adjust all the other track Volume to composite for clipping on the Master Buss i know there is a lot more to it then that but that is just one thing that helps me

 

@Catalyst
Hi there. i already skimmed through that topic is really cool, I will definitively take a closer look to those vids

@lyric8
Hi lyric8 thx for your answer, i probably will start exporting because my pc is not in best shape (I'm trying to save some money to buy a better one just for music and video).
About the clipping, I usually star my session with a set That I created where I have a couple groups that I root my vsti to and those groups are like -5db at least, I to that so I can record and play around with sound without getting any clipping. Once I finish recording and arranging I take them out of those groups and start mixing around.
That is what I do. Do you have any tips? Am I doing it right or is it wrong to do it that way?

One more question, how do you get your levels with vsti? Do you regulate the vsti volume output Knob until it hits on 0.0db on the mixer?

 

I do all my mixing and mastering "in the box" and alot of others do it as well. It's easy and you don't have to pay for equipment or expensive plugins because pretty much everything you need is inside your software (cubase). What you need to do is learn the basics of mixing: EQ, compression, reverb, delay, saturation/distortion. Focus on understanding why and how to use these tools and how they affect your overall sound. You're going to need to do alot of experimentation and trial and error stuff until you get the hang of it. Listen to professionally produced songs and get to know how they sound on different speakers and headphones so you can get your ears adjusted to studio produced music.

There's no need to export your tracks you can mix them right where they are in Cubase or any other software you might use. Make sure when you record nothing is clipping as was already mentioned and position your microphones to get the best possible sound before you even begin mixing.

As for regulating levels you can start off by just adjusting the track faders and they do not have to be hitting at 0db. This is a matter of personal taste and whether or not you have the attention span and are attentive enough to keep an eye on your levels. If it makes you more comfortable to set the plugin volumes so that the track faders are at 0db then by all means do it.

There are tons of tips you can get online for producing your own music. If you ever have any specific questions I'll be more than happy to help you out with them whenever you want, just send me a msg.

Hope this helps and like I said I'll be more than happy to help you out if you have any questions

Fuad

 

Yes Group Tracks are good i do that to all my Vocals group 1 Drums Group 2 Instruments Group 3 and so on and another thing i High Pass/Take out every thing at least 100 Hz listen with your ears for more or less...except for the Drums and Bass Guitar/synth Bass

 

Hi,
do you have something to listen your sound ?
I mean by that as speakers and/or headphones . Plus a 'lil radio or a laptop or a smartphone ( to test your work on this support too)
Why ? Because to sculpt your track, your sound, you need to have a good perception of what you're doing . So good speakers and good headphones will help you first of all to hear and understand clearly what this or this plugins do. Try to listening carefully . Learning how listening this type of sound, this type of sounds family etc …
Then you can do almost what you want . It ask time to learn as others mentioned before but it worth it for sure.

Mixing call to the engineer/producer, visions of what this track should be. How it could work ? Less drums for more rooms to melodies, voices ? Inverse ? Both front ? All this kind of questioning help to begin a mix more precise.

Plugins, Tools, are today obviously powerful. But using them without a vision doesn't help at all, and so won't be efficient. I 'm telling that 'cause people have a tendency to be too much into "tool" "how to do this sound" ; "what is the best plugins for this this or this ?" While there is few basic rules that all creative and hard worker guy and girls often forget : Learn how listening and having a real vision.

Be aware I'm not saying that you haven't any vision or don't know how listen etc …

This topic makes me thinking loud and it's just a way to explain if people have a vision, and be creative with it even if you're clipping, really ! Sometimes digital saturation gives a wonderful color .

But it's a question of nice balance of learning like hell and right after, forget everything ;-)

Cheers

 

@fuad
thanks for your answer. I will definitively ask you a couple advises along the way.

@lyric8
One question, how do you set parallel drums for some NY compression? do you create an effects channel get your compression and eq there and then go to the Drums Group and get the send to 0db? Do you use the prefader button?

@Davea
Hi there, I recently bought some ATH m50, and I also have my yamaha hs80m( wich probably wasn't my best choise size wise because the room where I work is too small for some 8" monitors I will have to give some treatment to my rooms I will check around the forum also for the best way to do it), and also the laptop speaker.
I will start running my song trough all the speakers I can.

@AudioSex.pro
This is a really nice group of people that I found over the internet, I'm really liking it.
I would only suggest to get tapatalk(if you need any help just ask me). tapatalk Now it's free and a really good addiction to the forum.
PS: At least I couldn't found this forum on the tapatalk app

 

rflip
Thanks for the kind words mate, glad you're liking it here. I think you'll find this a different kind of forum experience than you're used to, especially in the music world. We've got a lot of smart, talented people here and there is so much knowledge in these forums it's staggering, never mind the fact that you can ask a question and get an answer on pretty much anything. Knowledge, wisdom, music, tutorials, we're releasing an album together, we've got a new sample dump which will become a repository of free samples, etc. all in a friendly atmosphere with awesome people. It's what we call a no-brainer. And I was actually thinking about some kind of chat system for a while now so after we finish off the new Audioz we'll get to work upgrading here. I also would like to see a little box that appears as soon as replies have been added to a thread you're on, that would be really cool too. Thanks for the suggestion and welcome aboard.

You're going to really appreciate everything I just said when I tell you that we have the answer to your parallel compression question in AudioSex Academy And it's more than just YouTube videos there are also suggestions for external resources such as books, websites, etc. so definitely check it out. I have big plans for that section.

Here I pulled it for you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2aliCdOIE8

 

Hi! I will share my current workflow but I'm in no way stating this to be the "right" way.

I recently changed my workflow to accomodate for some limitations that I have and that, probably, most people don't have.

I use FL Studio, version 10, and I used to mix in the same project as the arrangements. For me, the advantage to this workflow was that mixing was very much an integral part of the arrangement stage, where usually you only lay some tracks and play with stuff. This way, when a song was finished, most parts of the mix were already pretty solid.

But after a while I started to perceive some limitations in my perspective due to this workflow. As I'm primarily a songwriter and not a mixing engineer, I noticed that my arrangements were starting to sound motivated more by "gimmicks", tricks of engineering, than by truly heartfelt emotion and creative process.

I found it very easy to lose myself in huge reverbs, complex LFOs and cascading delays and, also, losing perspective of where SHOULD the song go, regardless of sound effects. So I kicked this workflow almost completely. (I say "almost" because ten years of habit is a very tough thing to break).

Nowadays I tend to work very hard in the arranging part. In this stage, I can sometimes add an effect or try to experiment with stuff that might end in the final mix, but mostly I try to concentrate in the arrangement. After I finish this part, I export every instrument as a 24bit WAV, re-import the files and finally, start to mix, focusing on this specific task, with no distractions (nor the temptation to change a synth line or two).

I think this workflow really forces me to concentrate in the details of each creative stage, so I can deliver a mix that, as simplistic and flawed as my mixes often are, I can feel that was the result of my very best effort.

Again, this is my personal experience and I'm no way saying that this is the "best" way of working! I hope this is of some use to you!
.

 

I fucking hate bouncing to audio, it must be the most annoying thing when producing...but alas, I'm still in the processing stage of my production life so I will get CPU overloads and buffer underruns alot...

Ideally, I'd leave everything in midi and bring in my processed audio...which I do and then master my shit as I go along. I just hate bouncing to audio until the very last mix and master...totally ruins my creative process...

 

@Catalyst
Hi there, well I said tapatalk because nowadays I check almost all my forums on the iphone and now the tapatalk app is free so anyone with a smartphone can get it, and it's pretty is to install. I have a forum online with phpbb and it just took a few step to get tapatalk running. And if you have tapatalk on your Browser (like in chrome) it display that pop box saying you have a PM.(I don't know if it also displays with an answer to your topic)
I'm really liking this forum, it as a good vibe to it.
Do you have a topic or a link with that project(album and sample dump)?
I check the video that you put it there and I was glad to see that I'm doing it right(NY compression).
Hope I can help other users and the community.

@Bud Spencer
Hi Bud, I really get what you are saying. I was thinking about changing my work flow just like you did. and your answer kind of gave me the green light to do it.
I think I kinda get lost creating a track and I always think that it isn't finished, and in the end I don't actually finish any track just get excited with a new sound and jump into making another track. So I think that changing my work flow to the same that you described will kinda "force" me to finish a track and then mix it.

@Xsze
Hi Xsze "In the studio with", where can I watch it? Is a series right?
Sorry my ignorance.
The only show of that kind that I usually watch is Dave Pensado's Place.
I will definitively change my work flow to get my best performance on either producing and/or mixing.

 

^ I actually wen't through that same thought process as well. I created my own templates, but then I was like, 'nah fuck it', it's not like I'm producing for anyone or I have a certain style right now...I just wanna have fun and experiment and do whatever. I hate the idea of always having to have a 'certain sound'. Who cares, it's just music, and I just do it for fun. If I wanted to make a million dollars, I would've helped my brother stock broke...

It's like we're on the same level Xsze

Hope you'll pull something out for us for the album man

 

I have the EXACT same experience that Bud Spencer.
I usually write in FL and it´s my main DAW because it was my first DAW a lot time ago and during the years it was more and more handy for me. The problem is that sometimes I ended with some sound-issues because writing and mixing simoultaneously, and it´s easier to get lost or fix something problematic.

Now I prefer to work in the arrangement in FL and maybe make a raw scketch of some EQing, Delays, Reverbs IF it´s essential for the song, just to have a more overall view about the final sound and set my 'goal'. But when it comes to mixing I render every track dry and start a 'just-mix' session in PTools, so I can be focused only in that stage. I know that every approach is personal but in my case I found better results working in that way and less distractions duric the process.

There's no need to export your tracks if your computer can handle a lot of processing, but if you´re starting maybe is better to go step by step and have a clear workflow.

 

Glad to be of assistance, mate! Regarding you finding it difficult to finish a track, I have the same problem. I think any creative person will often struggle with the idea of defining a boundary, a definite "end" to a piece of art; specially when it comes to one's creation. For me it's always very, very hard to acknowledge when it's time to stop. Also, it's easy to start so many songs at the same time and get lost in so much amazing possibilities. Generally I feel that the sketches of my songs are much more interesting than the final product, because they are so pregnant with multiple possibilities whereas the final product is so... static, immutable, defined.

I feel immense proximity to the same anxieties that pain the amazing architect Frank Gehry and that are depicted in the documentary "Sketches of Frank Gehry". In it he discusses some of these topics. If you're interested, here's the link to the IMDB profile for this film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446784/ I've watched it a few years ago and liked it very much!

 

I find FL Studio to be amazingly good in providing means and tools in the songwriting stage (despite some indispensable things still being inexplicably overlooked, like the impossibility of randomizing quantization/note timing). But when it comes to mixing I think there's so much counter intuitive stuff! It pains me, because this is the DAW I'm most comfortable with (I use it since version 3.0) but it sucks to watch a mixing tutorial only to later find yourself scratching your head trying to replicate the same workflow/results in FL Studio.

On a side note: the extinction of "pattern blocks" in FL Studio 11 made me VERY angry!! But, well, beggars can't be choosers.