1/ Why should I choose you to mix our songs?

 

Having been in the music business as a professional musician for many years I understand the work involved, the sacrifices made and the emotional connection you have to your music. I will provide a professional sounding mix at a very reasonable price. Working together I will make sure the process is stress free, your expectations are met and that you are delivered a record that you can be truly proud of.

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2/ Do you accept Pro Tools sessions?

 

As I mix in Pro Tools myself yes I can accept Pro Tools sessions. Please make sure that the session is tidy, has been stripped down to only the tracks that are needed and all virtual instruments and special effects are committed to audio. The best way to ensure that you are not sending unnecessary audio files with your session is first to ‘save as’ ie ’PrepToSend’. Delete tracks that are hidden and deactivated. Then navigate over to ‘Clip List’ and select from the drop down menu ‘Unused’ then ‘clear’. Click ‘remove’ (do not select anything that will delete from your disk!). Then select ‘Save A Copy In’ ensure to tick ‘Audio Files’ and ‘Main Playlist Only’ in items to copy. Rename and save to your preferred location elsewhere. Test the new session. Only the audio files used will be copied over to the new folder. This in turn ensures that ALL your relevant audio is now in one place as previously the session could have been reading audio from different locations.

 

It is often the case that effect plugins you are using may not be on my system. Please refer to my plugin list. If I don’t have a plugin that is doing a very specific job and you want to preserve the sound then please commit it to audio.

 

3/ How should I prepare my files?

 

Bounce out your audio as wav/aiff 24 bit files. It is recommended that you turn off common processing like compression/EQ/reverbs/delay as I will be using my own processes for this. Make sure all your files are consolidated (start from bar 1). Although this means many of the files will contain long instances of silence, it will ensure that when imported all the audio lines up correctly. Once your files are ready it is advisable to quickly test them by importing them into a temporary session to make sure everything is in sync, all the audio is there and nothing is clipping or has been bounced out too quiet.

 

4/ What should I include with the song files?

 

Please provide along with your song files:

 

A rough mix of your track

 

A reference song that you like, something that gives me an idea of the vibe the mix should take

 

A ‘notes’ page - Include song tempo, your vision and ideas for certain sections. You can also provide a link to your reference song. Provide any notes you think could help

 

5/ What if I have some effects I’d really like to keep?

 

Standard compression/EQ/delays/reverbs will be handled with my own processing. If however you have a plugin inserted which is either dynamic (moving filter/chorus for example) or something that is integral to the sound then bounce out the file with the effect added. If you are unsure or would like me to recreate or improve on an effect you can also include an ‘extras’ folder within you song folder. In here you can include a dry version and a wet only version. Be sure to explain important effects and the contents of the ‘extras’ folder in your notes.

 

6/ Do you edit drums and tune vocals?

 

During mixing if I notice a couple of beats that are out of time or a note or two that require tuning correction I shall apply this no problem. However, if I feel the drums need to be fully edited and there are many vocal stems that are out of tune, then fixing this will be reflected in the fee. I shall of course discuss this with you if this is the case unless we have agreed before hand that you will be requiring these treatments. If your budget is very low then I highly recommend that you treat your tracks accordingly before sending. If you do not have the time/software or confidence to execute such tasks then I can take care of it for you.

 

7/ How should I send you my files?

 

You can send me files however you feel comfortable. Most clients send via Drop Box or Wetransfer (which offers 2GB per send for free). For ‘free’ Wetransfer you may only be able to send two songs at a time due to the file size limit but you can send an album via as many we transfers as you like. Zip your uploads into a single file per send to help save space and also to ensure I receive everything. 

 

8/ Will the final mix also be mastered?

 

No, I am not a mastering engineer but I can recommend a mastering engineer to you that should fit your budget. Mastering is an important process that should be taken care of separately by a qualified mastering engineer. It is a different skill and requires different equipment. I shall however provide you with a ‘temporary master’ alongside the final mix in which the ‘loudness’ will be at an industry standard, more than sufficient for early promo such as for your website or YouTube etc.

 

9/ How many revisions am I allowed?

 

As many as you like! My goal is to provide you with a mix you are completely satisfied with. Usually a mix will go through a couple of small revisions but providing I have been given a suitable set of notes, a rough mix and/or a reference track, then the first draft should be very close.

 

10/ How should revisions be handled?

 

During the revisions process I will take one person as point of contact. Once you (point of contact) have received the first mix, keep it for a day and give it a good listen and share it with your band members/producers. Gather everyones comments and compile a single list of tweaks and email the list to me. This way I can focus on all the comments in one sitting. Once I have finished I will send over a new mix and we can repeat the process.

 

11/ How long will a song take to mix?

 

This depends on a number of factors: How heavy is the track count? How many stems are there per instrument? Are there large stacks of vocals? How much preparation is involved? (editing/tuning/tidying). As you can see it is difficult to predict. The target I like to set myself is one day for a song mix with a morning to check with fresh ears before sending. Revisions can be done quickly as and when I receive your comments. If there is a lot of preparation needed on a multi song project like an EP or album I like to take care of this in batches. This allows me to focus purely on the job of mixing for three or four days before preparing the next batch of songs.

 

12/ How much do you cost?

 

Cost will depend on budget and how much preparation is involved before mixing starts, this is why there is no fixed fee advertised online. Please provide as much information about the project as possible in the ‘get a quote’ form. Once a fee is agreed the figure will not change providing all information including editing/tuning was clearly stated. Time will not be a factor as mentioned before we will work it until you are happy.

 

13/ Do you require payment upfront?

 

Before starting mixing I will require half the agreed fee upfront. I will send a preliminary invoice which will reflect this. Information on payment procedure will be included on the invoice. Once the final song has been signed off by yourselves you will receive a second invoice for the final half of the fee. You will receive delivery of the final Hi Rez mixes as soon as the final payment has been acknowledged by my bank.

 

14/ What mixes will I receive?

 

For the first draft and subsequent revisions you will be sent a high quality MP3/AAC with a split second break somewhere in the song file (it will be placed somewhere unobtrusive). This is to ensure that these mixes are not accidentally used for mastering or simply taken for use without final payment of the invoice. Once the mix/mixes are to your satisfaction and you have officially signed them off you will receive a final invoice. Once paid you will be sent 24 bit WAV’s of the final mix/mixes. If you require different versions, for example, instrumentals/single edit I can provide these too.

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15/ What plugins do you have?

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Here is the full list of plugins on my system:

 

Digital Work Station - Pro Tools 2019 Perpetual

Annual Plugins and Support

 

ACME

Tansient

 

Celemony

Melodyne Assistant

 

Eventide

Fission, H910 Harmonizer

 

Fabfilter

Pro-G, Pro-MB, Pro-Q2, Pro-Q3, Saturn

 

Flux

Bitter Sweet

 

Joey Sturgis Tones

Finality (advanced/lite), Gain Reduction, JST Clip, Sub Destroyer, Tominator, Toneforge Guilty Pleasure

 

Liquid Sonics

Lustrous Plates

 

Native Instruments

Guitar Rig 5, Phasis, Replika

 

Plugin Alliance

Cleansweep V2, Digital V3 Mix, Dyn Eq V2, Mega Single, Refinement, Saturator V2, Stereo Maker, Subfilter, Subsynth, Spectrum Mapper V2, Maag EQ4, Noveltech-Character, SPL Passeq, SPL Transient Designer, Unfiltered Audio G8, Vertigo VSM3

 

Slate Digital

Everything Bundle

 

Soundtoys

Everything Bundle

 

Universal Audio

Amp SVT-VR, Marshal Plexi Classic, Oxide Tape, AKG BX20 Spring Reverb, RAW, Neve 1073 Preamp + EQ Collection, UA 610-B Tube Preamp + EQ, Fairchild Tube Limiter Collection, Softube Amp Room, Little Labs IBP Phase Alignment, Helios Type 69 EQ, Neve 33609 Compressor, Teletronix LA-2A Legacy Limiter, UA 1176LN Legacy Limiter, UA 1176SE Legacy Limiter, Pultec Pro Legacy EQ, Realverb-Pro Room Modeller, Pultec EQP-1A Legacy EQ

 

Valhalla

Freq Echo, Valhalla Room, Space Modulator

 

Izotope

Vinyl, De-Click, De-Hum, Voice De-Noise, De - Clip

 

Waves (V9)

 

Abbey Road Chambers (V10), Abbey Road Plates, Aphex Vintage Exciter, API 2500, API 550, Bass Rider, CLA Effects, CLA Vocals, CLA-3A, dbx160, De-Esser, Doubler, InPhase, Kramer HLS, Kramer Tape, L1 Limiter, Manny M Reverb, Maserati Groups, Maxx Bass, Metafilter, Morphoder, MV2, NS1, Puigchild 660, Puigtec EQP1A/MEQ5, R-Bass, R-Channel, R-Compressor, R-DeEsser, Real ADT, R-Verb, Scheps Omni, Soundshifter, Pitch, SSL Bundle, Trueverb, Ultrapitch

 

Oeksound

Soothe

 

Refuse

Lowender