I know that much of the mixing process can be confusing to self-releasing artists and musicians. This is a quick checklist you can use to make sure you haven’t missed anything when sending tracks to a mixing engineer. These items are covered in more detail in my article here.
Tracks
- All tracks labeled properly and sensibly. E.g. Kick, Gtr 1, Lead Vocals.
- No tracks included that you don’t want in the mix.
- Nothing is cut off the end of the tracks – for example that guitar note you let ring, or the dying tail of a cymbal. If unsure just add extra silence at the end.
- All edits are made cleanly – you’ve done your best to remove clicks and pops and cross-fade your edits.
- Track processing is off (eg: EQ, compression) unless you are 100% sure about it.
- For processing you wish to keep, it’s best if the track is duplicated and labeled appropriately so that both wet and dry versions are exported. An explanation should be added to your notes and/or the files name so I know what processing you’ve added.
- Keep any creative and/or send effects and provide stems. They may be used in the mix or as a reference.
- Drums are separate tracks.
- Multi-mic’ed instruments as separate tracks unless you are 100% sure on the mix of them. If in doubt provide both with an explanation in your notes.
- No tracks are clipping (i.e. in the red). Ideally they will be at -6dB Peak or -18dB RMS.
Files
- All exported files start at the very beginning of the song so that I can line them up when I import them.
- All files are .WAV or .AIFF format, 24bit at the same sample rate you recorded them at. (I mix at 48k but prefer to do any sample rate conversion myself to ensure it’s done properly.)
- All files are in a folder which is named after the song with the BPM and key included: e.g. My Song – 120BPM – C#m
- Multiple songs are inside a folder with the artist or band name
- Provide a Bounce/Print of your rough mix as a reference (optional)
Additional Info
- Any additional info about the song is included inside the song folder as a .txt document.
- Include any and all information about the song, music, recordings and effects that you feel could help the engineer understand your work.
- Include a note of any additional mixes or files you need – for example instrumental, radio edit, stems for remixing etc…
- Include track reference(s) if relevant – song and artist name