Any musician in creating his ownthe composition sooner or later collides with the fact that the recorded instrument parts or vocal tracks among themselves need to be reduced, that is, to make all instruments sound natural and not overlapping each other. About how to reduce the tracks, then we'll talk. But we will consider not only the manipulations associated with the composition of professional sound, but also some actions that may be needed, for example, to combine two audio tracks into one mix or associated with cross-laying one track to another. This will determine the choice of the preferred program and the actions performed in it.
How to reduce tracks: a general idea of the actions performed
The first thing we will touch on is the information, so to speak, inclassical understanding, when in one mix you need to adjust the sound of each track. Here the most important thing is not only to adjust the volume, but also to set the optimal level of dynamics with frequency processing of the track in such a way that the instrument also sounds without distortion, and the frequencies of different instruments do not cause side effects. How to reduce tracks? Most sound engineers in the simplest case for the master track, not to mention the processing effects of each track, recommend using a bundle of compressor and equalizer (although in fact, such tools can be much more). In addition, you should not get carried away by effects for individual tracks, because too many of them can cause the instrument to sound distorted, or the frequency will be lost on the track (for example, if the reverb level is too high). On the master track of all kinds of delays, chorus, flangers and reverbs do not set (so you can lose the natural sound, and even the drums crush).
On the other hand, mixing tracks canrelate not only to setting their parallel sound, but also to combining several tracks in a certain sequence so that they sound one after the other without interruption and with the same loudness (or they are superimposed on one with attenuation and increment or without it).
What to use as software?
As for the choice of the program, for the most partTo the account, all such packages can be divided into two types: music sequencers and audio editors (or similar applications in the form of virtual studios that combine the capabilities of both types of programs). The first type includes packages like FL Studio, Cubase, Cakewalk Sonar, etc. In the second class, there are programs like Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro editor), Sony Sound Forge, Cockos Reaper, Acoustica Mixcraft and many others. Among professional studios, primacy, no doubt, belongs to the most powerful Pro Tools package.
Mixing, connecting and overlaying tracks on the example of the Cool Edit Pro editor
So, for the beginning we will consider some operations withaudio files using the example of Cool Edit Pro. Despite the fact that it is not currently being released, the program for a novice user is much simpler than its counterpart in the form of Adobe Audition, although most of the functions remained unchanged.
So how to mix tracks in this app? Suppose we need two tracks to sound parallel.
To do this in multi-track mode, upload toeach track is an audio file and set their position relative to each other. It is better to impose effects on each track separately, but it is better to adjust their parameters or the volume of each track on the remote.
How to connect two tracks, for example, to the secondstarted to sound right after the end of the first? In normal mode, the cursor is positioned at the end of the first track, and then the second is inserted as a file. You can also pre-process the tracks so that one has fading out at the end, and another has a fade out.
They can also be positioned as desired on a multitrack grid, and without using it - apply the Crossfade cross-over effect as usual.
В принципе, любая такая программа для сведения tracks has similar tools, and in any application they are called exactly the same. To equalize the volume, the easiest way is to use the normalization function (Normilize), and to limit the sound of the peak frequencies - the limiter (Limiter).
Mixing tracks in FL Studio
Now a few words about the popular FL sequencer.Studio. Basic operations remain unchanged, but even if you use only the built-in tools of the program itself, you can achieve a very impressive result.
First you need to associate each track withfree mixer slot, using the appropriate function, after which you can add effects to the tracks and adjust other parameters like volume or panorama on the remote control, and not in the step sequencer.
By default, the Fruity Limiter limiter is installed on the master track, in which you can switch to compressor mode and select the desired preset.
Также можно воспользоваться одно- или multi-band compressors, in which the possibilities are somewhat greater. The main thing here is not to crush the overall sound. Particular attention should be paid to the frequency of convertible tracks. It is better to pre-process them with a parametric equalizer, setting the optimum sound with cutting out the peak frequencies.
If you use VST effects like EZ Mix,the choice of preset modes for the information that on the master track, that on a separate track, can be significantly expanded. In addition, the saturation effects look good on the master track. But the expansion of the panorama due to the installation of Stereo Enhancer is better left on each individual track.
Recommendations finally
And of course, this is only the very first elements innote Absolutely all actions and capabilities of such programs cannot be described simply physically. Regardless of which program is used to mix the tracks, it remains to add that in many respects mixing depends on both musical instruments and vocals. Thus, the main elements of the drum set (bass drum and snare) should be strictly central in the panoramic relation, and the hatches, cymbals and toms can be scattered around the panorama. If you use drum plugins like Superior Drummer or Steven Slate Drum Sampler, you don’t need to worry about volume and panorama. Keyboard games look good in stereo expansion. Bass guitars - strictly in the center. Leading or rhythm guitars can be distributed over a panorama, and when using a drive, use stereo widening or a small percentage of the delay for leading parts. But, in order to fully learn the note, do not be afraid to experiment, and for the final processing for the first time, the AAMS program is not a bad fit, in which, after analyzing a track by any professional artist, you can set similar sound parameters for your own composition.
