V-Cert Music Technology Unit 04 - Mixing multi-track audio

Unit 04 Mixing multi-track audio (T/504/0823) The learner will: 1 Be able to use audio effects processing during a multi-track audio mix The learner can: 1.1 Connect effects processors using inserts, sends/returns 1.2 Describe the basic functions of commonly used effects processors 1.3 Select an appropriate effect for a sound source 1.4 Justify the choice of selected effects on technical and/or artistic grounds The learner will: 2 Be able to mix multi-track audio 2.1 Play back and monitor recorded tracks 2.2 Assess the quality of individual sounds 2.3 Add EQ to enhance audio quality 2.4 Apply effects processing to individual sounds as part of the recording/mixing process 2.5 Balance sound sources 2.6 Record/save final mix 2.7 Observe appropriate health and safety procedures during mixdown Range: Effects processors: hardware/software signal processors; digital effects; multi-effects Sends/returns: pre-fade; post-fade; send master; auxiliary/send returns Functions: eg compressor; noise gate; EQ; distortion; reverb; delay; chorus EQ: eg bass, middle, treble, shelving, swept mid Balance: use of channel pan and fader controls when mixing to stereo; use of delay and reverb to add space and depth

Unit 04 - Mixing multi-track audio The learner will: 1 Be able to use audio effects processing during a multi-track audio mix The learner can: 1.1 Connect effects processors using inserts, sends/returns 1.2 Describe the basic functions of commonly used effects processors 1.3 Select an appropriate effect for a sound source 1.4 Justify the choice of selected effects on technical and/or artistic grounds Unit 1 - 30 Hours 1.1-1.5=15 2.1-2.7=15

Effects Processors SOFTWARE EFFECTS PROCESSORS Digital effects that are found within software packages such as Cubase and Logic.

Effects Processors HARDWARE EFFECTS PROCESSORS Rack mount units a larger version of a stompbox, usually with more effects available and more ability to tweak / tailor / edit parameters.

Effects Processors EFFECTS PEDAL Guitar pedal - Stompboxes, or effects pedals, are designed to be positioned on the floor or within a pedalboard and operated with the user's feet.

Effects processor diagram Send to input Jack lead Computer Output to return Jack lead USB Cable Mixing Desk

Effects pedal diagram Guitar Guitar amp Jack lead – Guitar to input Jack lead – Output to amp Guitar pedal

Effects processors Type Description Software Processor (Cubase) Advantages and Disadvantages Evaluate against other types Software Processor (Cubase) This is a digital plugin / application / tool / device within a sequencer that allows the user to edit and create effects. Advantages: You can tailor the effects to make / create your own unique sounds. Disadvantage: Not practical for live situations Software vs hardware Hardware Processor (Rack mount) This is an effects processor that lives within a rack mounted system. Commonly used at live venues and in recording studios Advantages: Higher quality sound in comparison to guitar pedals. Disadvantage: usually very large and heavy. Hardware vs Stomp Stomp box This a small devise that sits in front of an amplifier and is operated by foot. Advantages: portable, light and cheap. Disadvantage: Quality isn’t usually great and you are limited in your editing options Stomp vs Software

Auxiliary sends/returns Type Description Advantages and Disadvantages Pre-fade A PRE Fader aux is sent out BEFORE the volume fader. any volume changes made on the fader are not reflected in the send. Advantage: Allows complete control over the wet and dry signal – allowing you to completely remove the dry signal out of the effects Disadvantage: Continual balancing is needed. Post-fade A post fade is where the fade position affects the amount of signal that is sent to the auxiliary. Advantage: The volume of the original source is not affected and therefore much easier to balance. Disadvantage: changing the volume fader position changes the amount of signal being sent to the aux. Auxiliary sends/returns They are commonly found on mixing desks and allows you to add additional hardware. Advantages: You can add external devices such as hardware effects processors Disadvantages: Clutter

Functions Function Description What's the use of the function When would you use this EQ High, Mids and Lows – not volume. It is the colour / tone of a sound source. To change the tone or bring parts forward in the mix without boosting volume To hear an instrument or voice more clearly Balance Balance is the overall mix of volume and panning combined. To get a pleasant / nice overall mix of volumes that work well together When recording a band / musicians Compressor Compresses an existing signal. compression reduces the volume of loud sounds or amplifies quiet sound When you want to get a consistent volume Noise Gate A noise gate will get rid of any unwanted noise / frequencies. Gets rid of distortion When there is unwanted noise. EQ: eg bass, middle, treble, shelving, swept mid Balance: use of channel pan and fader controls when mixing to stereo; use of delay and reverb to add space and depth

Effects Effects Description What sound source would this be used for Distortion Created by compressing or clipping the peaks of a sound source / wave which results in a large number of added overtones Guitar Reverb Reverb is the acoustic environment that surrounds a sound. reverb refers to the way sound waves reflect off various surfaces and the very slight delay before reaching the listener’s ear Any instrument that you like. Vocals commonly use reverb to sound / stronger. Delay Signal is repeated after sound source has created it. It can repeat a number of times or just the once depending on the users needs. Chorus An audio signal that is first delayed by a small amount. (Typical delay times are small, in the range of 5 to 40 milliseconds.) This produces a doubling effect. Keyboard / Guitar / Vocal

Effects Effects Technical justification Artistic justification Additional information: Justification can be technical (reducing noise, masking errors, positioning in mix etc) or artistic (adding depth, imitating an environment etc), or a combination of both. Effects Technical justification Artistic justification Distortion Adding a number of overtones Adding warm defying character to the guitar. Reverb To create a live feel. Mask slight errors. Make the singer seem stronger Delay Repeating the sound wave Making it seem like there are many guitars / singers singing Chorus Adding depth to the vocal. Create a desired tone. Effects

The learner can: 2.1 Play back and monitor recorded tracks 2.2 Assess the quality of individual sounds 2.3 Add EQ to enhance audio quality 2.4 Apply effects processing to individual sounds as part of the recording/mixing process 2.5 Balance sound sources 2.6 Record/save final mix 2.7 Observe appropriate health and safety procedures during mixdown Range: Effects processors: hardware/software signal processors; digital effects; multi-effects Sends/returns: pre-fade; post-fade; send master; auxiliary/send returns Functions: eg compressor; noise gate; EQ; distortion; reverb; delay; chorus EQ: eg bass, middle, treble, shelving, swept mid Balance: use of channel pan and fader controls when mixing to stereo; use of delay and reverb to add space and depth

Additional information: Candidates must perform at least one independent mix leading to an acceptable musical outcome. Candidates could be observed carrying out mixes, and the record of observation used as evidence. Written reports making use of annotated photos and/or video recordings/logs/diaries may be acceptable. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rubin_production_discography - He is a producer. This is what you will be doing.

Assessment PASS MERIT DISTINCTION 2.1 Play back and monitor recorded tracks Candidates play back and monitor recorded tracks Candidates demonstrate critical understanding in their playback and monitoring of recorded tracks Candidates show insight and perception in their playback and monitoring of recorded tracks demonstrating 2.2 Assess the quality of individual sounds  Candidates assess the quality of individual sounds  Candidates demonstrate critical understanding in assessing the quality of individual sounds  Candidates demonstrate insight and perception which informs their judgement of the quality of individual sounds 2.3 Add EQ to enhance audio quality Candidates add EQ to enhance audio equality Candidates demonstrate critical understanding which informs the use of EQ to enhance audio quality  Candidates demonstrate fluency and originality which informs their judgement in their use of EQ in enhancing audio quality 2.4 Apply effects processing to individual sounds as part of the recording/mixing process Candidates apply effects processing to individual sounds as part of the recording/mixing process Candidates demonstrate critical understanding which informs their application of effects processing  Candidates demonstrate fluency and originality which informs their judgement in their application of effects processing 2.5 Balance sound sources Candidates balance sound sources  Candidates demonstrate critical understanding which informs their application of balancing sound sources  Candidates demonstrate fluency and originality which informs their judgement in their application of balancing sound sources 2.6 Record/save final mix Candidates record and save the final mix  No Merit for this AC  No Distinction for this AC

Quality of sound Tracks Reason for choice Guitar 1 On sound cloud there are two recordings for the piano, guitar , female and male vocals. You must select one of each and give reasons for you choice (signal strength, musician errors etc.) Quality of sound Tracks Reason for choice Guitar 1 I chose guitar 1 as guitar 2 had many playing mistakes and although I enjoyed listening to the tone of GTR 2 it was very bassy. Piano 1 Piano 2 was miles out of time and the balance was not consistent. Female 2 Female 2 was a much stronger performance in terms pitch and dynamics Male 2 Male 2 was a much stronger performance in terms pitch and dynamics https://soundcloud.com/vcertloops/sets/dock-of-the-bay-105bpm/s-FOuhg

Playing back and monitoring recorded tracks After importing all of my pre-recorded tracks. I pressed the play button and listened back to what I had.

EQ Similar to the bass guitar I decided to boosts the bass drum with a slight cut in the mids to produce a clear and powerful bass drum tone. For a clearer recording I have decided to cut the mids on the female vocal and boost the Hi’s slightly. This brings the performance forward in the mix without adjusting the volume. I decided to take the high end out of the bass line to produce a smooth low sounding bass line For the snare drum I have boosted he lows and the Hi’s but cut the mids. I felt the snare was buried in the mix and this brought it out.

Effects AUTO-TUNE The first effect I added was the Auto tune feature as the original sound source was out of tune in many places. Above is a picture of how I edited the parameters to get a nice in tune performance. I had to change the key to G major (as that was the key of the piece) and increase the tolerance and speed. I did not want it to sound like a robot so the tolerance is 22 and the speed is 74 out of 100. The same process was repeated for the boy part.

Effects Girl Track These are the effects I have chosen for the girl part of my track. I have already mentioned the auto tune so won’t go into detail with that but as you can see I have included Chorus and Delay. The chorus was used to fatten up the melody line and make the vocals even stringer. I tried a Phaser but that sounded too wooshy. The delay was used after listening to Queen’s prophet song which utilised delay to the max. After trying that I found too much delay overpowered the melody line so I opted for a minimal but effective amount.

Effects Boy track For the boy I have added chorus and pitch correct. You can see the parameters and how I’ve edited them in the screenshot above. I chose a thick chorus to fatten up the track.

Effects Piano Snare The piano was sounding really good as it was so I decided to add reverb make the part larger and increase the stereo spread of the track. To bring out the snare I simply added a little bit of reverb .

Effects Guitar The guitar part is now barely recognisable. I have added chorus and distortion to beef up the track as well as a strong reverb. All of the parameters have been edited by me too.

Balance This was the original balance of all of the instruments / sound sources This is my current volume settings after editing the balance of every track.

Balance When I imported all of my audio files the volumes of every track were set to 0. This is the volume setting that I have changed to.

Panning Before I made any edits to my panning all of my tracks were panned in the middle

Panning I have now edited my panning to this When panning my track I decided that I would pan the OH L & R 100% to the Right and left channels. This is how they were recorded and will produce a nice wide stereo spread for the drums. I split the guitar and piano very slightly in opposite ears to also give a nice balance a bring clarity to the piece. Finally the same was applied to the male and female voice.

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Health and safety poster Create a poster to identify all possible risks when working in a recording studio. No leads / trip hazards No liquids No extensions on extension All electrical equipment PAT tested Eye care Ear care Regular breaks

Health & Safety poster

UNIT 1: TEACHER FEEDBACK Set up and operate a digital audio workstation Name:……………………….................................... Tutor:……………… Unit Positive Improvements Current grade 1.1   1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6

UNIT 1: QUESTION & ANSWER Set up and operate a digital audio workstation Candidate Name   Candidate Signature Assessor Name Assessor Signature Question Response Assessment Criteria Date