Welcome to the Musicians Collaboration Mix Clinic, aka MCMC. This purpose of these clinics are to improve our skills and to gain insight on techniques which will give us better sounding mixes.
The playing rules:
1. Think of this exercise as a pretend paying job to mix a song for a band. The mix that you provide should be something that the band will like listening to. They picked you to mix the song - put your heart into it!
2. You cannot add any instruments. No additional recording is allowed. We will allow sliding things around to correct timing, or to re-use parts for a different section of the song. For example, copying and pasting a cymbal crash.
3. Although it is very common practice among top mix engineers, drum sample replacements are not allowed. We want to learn how to use techniques which make parts sound their best. Simply replacing a kick drum with a sample isn't going to teach you anything.
4. You can use Autotune, Melodyne, or any other pitch tuning tool to correct or alter any part.
5. You do not need to use all the tracks. You can also mute sections of a track where you feel it's necessary. Keep in mind though, you should have a good reason for doing so and you'd need to sell the band on the idea.
6. Make your best mix and post an MP3 or Wma in the applicable MCMC thread. I recommend a 192 bit rate MP3.
7. Although it's not necessary, I strongly recommend a detailed description of the steps taken to create your mix. Things like plug-in use and settings, approximate EQ values, and production decisions are all good information that others can learn from.
8. During the course of the clinic, I will allow second and (third) final mix submissions. If you feel you've made some improvements based on listener feedback, outline the changes you've made and post the new mix. You must leave the previous mix for comparison.
9. Regarding 'mastered' mixes. There is no rule here. What we're typing to do is make good sounding music. If you want to do something along the lines of 'mastering', by all means do so. Keep in mind that more damage can be done during 'mastering' to an otherwise good mix. You don't get points for the loudest mix. What we're looking for is a mix we'd all want to listen to.
