Got hired to mix Full Length album, advice needed!

[TomDeGrazia]

So I got hired to mix a full length album and I was wondering how the users of this forum would go about it. Like a step by step breakdown of what you would do. This is my first time mixing this many songs at once and I am curious to hear any methods used. What I recieved as far as files are: Quantized un-sampled drums, all raw guitars/bass, Reason instruments turned into .wav files, and un-edited vocals for 10 songs. Any advice would be very appreciated!

 

[GarethSE]

Mix one track as good as you can possibly get it, save mix preset
apply other raw files to the same mix preset, tweak automation and volumes and such, done

 

[TomDeGrazia]

Well yea but would you edit all the drum tracks first, or maybe edit all the vocals first? Etc.

 

[GarethSE]

well you said you got quantized drums so you're all good there
as for the vocal edits, how id do it is id mix that first track, apply the mix template to the next song, drop the vocals in, edit them, then just make sure it was all balanced, move on to the next track.

 

[TomDeGrazia]

Yea good idea. When I say edit drums I mean sample them, make sure all the velocity's are good, etc.

 

[colonel kurtz]

well you said you got quantized drums so you're all good there
as for the vocal edits, how id do it is id mix that first track, apply the mix template to the next song, drop the vocals in, edit them, then just make sure it was all balanced, move on to the next track.

eh...personally i would go through and edit all the vox on all tracks before mixing - but that's just me

when it comes down to it, you need to find the workflow that you're most comfortable with!

 

[TomDeGrazia]

Yea totally. I just got hated on by some guy on another forum for asking the same question...Just to put it out there I'm not a huge noob or anything..you can hear my work at www.myspace.com/theatticrecordingstudio. I'm just curious about other member's ways of mixing a project so big.

 

[Trevoire520]

I'd get one song fully edited, then get the mix done. Edit the rest of the songs, tweak the original mix if it needs any changes, and then transfer mix settings to the other songs. Then do any automation & final mix tweaks for the different songs.

 

[DaveBlack]

This may be a given and I'm not trying to undermind anyone's advice but I would make sure all of the songs were recorded in the same sessions, straight through. Applying the mix settings as a template may not transfer over well if tracking was done even the slightest bit differently.

 

[ForefrontStudio]

wow dude. digging on your recordings. great work!

 

[smy1]

I'd get one song fully edited, then get the mix done. Edit the rest of the songs, tweak the original mix if it needs any changes, and then transfer mix settings to the other songs. Then do any automation & final mix tweaks for the different songs.

Yea, and make sure to get an approval from the band regarding that fully mixed song. That way you got them off your back and can mix the rest of the album knowing that you are on the right path ...

And I agree with ForefrontStudio, your stuff sounds really good. Doesn't hurt that the bands know how to write a song, either ...