This sets an important baseline to better understand the vision you have of your song before mix and mastering changes are made.

After spending hours of work on a single project, your brain will quickly become familiar with the general tone and feel of the mix. Even if it’s poorly and/or unmixed, the repeated listens may naturally make you preferential to this rough version, even after hearing a professional mix and master.

WHY: this rough, pre-master mix will show the general direction you are trying to take your song before sending it off to be professionally mix and mastered.

• It will also act as a rough reference point to make sure everything is included and arranged correctly when exporting.

You must bypass/mute/turn off all plugins (including mastering plugins and limiters) on your master channel - there should be nothing active on your master.

UNLESS: you are automating something like an ‘Endless Smile’ washout effect (with reverb and delay) - you can keep that active on the master.

Now if this sounds confusing, here’s how to know when to bypass plugins on the master:

• If they are used as a musical element (like reverb and delay washout on a build up), keep it active.

• But, if it used as a mixing element (like EQ, compression, stereo widening, and/or limiting, etc.), turn it off.

WHY: if anything is on your master, it will also affect the individual layers throughout the mix and therefore limit options during the final mastering stage.

Add a gain utility to either increase or decrease the gain/volume of your master so that the loudest point peaks at around -6 dB.

PRO TIP: You should go to where the loudest point of your song would be (usually somewhere in the drop), and make sure the peak volume does not go louder than -6 dB.

WHY: this extra ‘head room’ will create enough space to make changes to your song without having to worry about any clipping or distortion at 0 dB.

DO NOT: export every single layer you have. Instead, you will need to export similar sounds into various groups.

Here’s a list of sounds I recommend you group together:

• Kick

• Bass

• Drums - better to create sub-groups of the drums for more control:

  • Claps

  • Snares

  • Hi Hats

  • Shakers

  • Fills

  • Toms

  • Perc Hits

• Vocals:

  • Dry (no effects)

  • Wet (with effects)

  • Background Vocals

  • Ad-libs

• Synths

• Keys

• FX & Atmosphere

• Stabs

• Impacts:

  • Sub Boom Hits

• Sweeps:

  • White Noise

  • Cymbals

  • Risers

When exporting vocals, including both a dry and wet version of the main vox is helpful.

• But, it’s okay if you’re unable to do that because of the nature of the vocal stem having effects already baked into it.

If you have multiple sounds blended together that make a single sound, please export a single layer and group it according to that sound.

• For example: if you’re using 4 different clap samples mixed together that create a single clap sound, please export it as 1 single layer.

• Another example: if you have a conga groove made up of multiple tom and hand drum samples, export it as 1 single layer.

• Another example: if you have a random hi hat that only plays once every 30 seconds, group it in with the other hi hats, and export it as 1 single layer.

Automation: leave it as you made it.

Sidechain: leave it as you made it.

• However, if there appears to be major issues with the sidechain, then you may need to re-send the stems with the sidechain bypassed.

Do not forget to include the Return FX/Bus FX stems that you may have been using for each group in the stem lists.

When you export, please name your master file of audio stems:

• Name_TrackTitle_BPM_Key

• For Example: Tiesto_TheBusiness_120bpm_Abmin

• Another example: Blake_MasterMySong_126bpm_G#maj

For individual stems, streamline the entire process when you name the stems:

• SongName_Track#_InstrumentType

• For example: TB_04_MidBassPluck2

  • TB would stand for ‘The Business’ in the first example above.

• Another Example: MMS_05_SubBass1

  • MMS would stand for ‘Master My Song’ in the second example above.

WHY: when sending songs to be mixed and mastered, a lot of time is taken organizing and formatting all the layers before any mixing work begins. Therefore, by naming everything in an organized manner, the actual mixing process can happen much sooner. This then helps increase the turn around time to receive your final master back sooner.

• Also, when discussing revisions/notes or re-sending updated stems, the communication process of making adjustments becomes much easier.

• For example: “I noticed the 07_SynthPluck1 sounds a little too bright in the 2nd buildup. Can you lower everything above the 7000Hz range by like -2dB in the second build up from timestamp 2:06-2:47?”

File type: .WAV audio

Format: Interleaved (this means the audio will be in stereo)

Bit Depth: 24-bit

Sample Rate: 44100 Hz (44.1 kHz)

Dithering: None

Normalize: Off

Remember: Do not send the DAW file of your project, only send exported audio files within their respective groups.

Make sure every single stem is exported from the exact same starting point.

• If this is done incorrectly, all the stems will play at random times and ruin the entire mix.

WHY:

• WAV audio format is a high quality lossless file type (MP3 is compressed and much lower quality in sound).

• 24-bit depth allows for a more dynamic volume and higher frequency range when at the 44.1 kHz sample rate.

• Dithering adds hidden digital noise to your mix which can be undesirable in the pre-master phase.

• Normalization mode will export the audio at a consistent signal (above the desired mixing and mastering -6 dB target level) which will end up being closer to 0 dB.his is done incorrectly, all the stems will play at random times and ruin the entire mix.

PRO TIP:

• Streaming platforms will only accept high quality, lossless audio file formats like WAV.

• They will not accept MP3.

Include 1-3 reference track files (mp3 or wav is fine, but preferably wav) within the entire project folder.

• Do not send a link to Spotify or Soundcloud, send the actual audio file.

PRO TIP: when choosing which songs to reference, here are a few things to consider:

• Find a song in the same genre as yours, you want to be very specific.

• The same (or very close) BPM is important.

• The reference should have relative commercial success and not be some obscure song that was probably not professionally mixed and mastered.

• Unless the song was mix and mastered to purposely sound distorted (like Million Dollar Baby by Tommy Richman ‘VHS’ version), it probably is not a good reference track.

  • Remember, you want the mix and master to sound clean, clear, transparent, and loud.

Our ears can play tricks on us, especially after hearing our same song repeatedly during the production process. We tend to get used to sounds that may have initially been poorly mixed.

• With that being said, a reference track can be an invaluable tool to put your song in perspective against a proven commercially successful mix.

WHY: the purpose of a reference track is give your song a list of targets to aim for:

• Clarity

• Dynamic Range

• Loudness

• Bass power

• Vocal character

CONSIDER THIS:

• You’ve made a Tech House song and it’s featured in a playlist of 10 songs that include: Fisher, Chris Lake, Disclosure, John Summit, and Mau P.

• Now your song plays next… if it does’t instantly sound professional along those artists, you have failed to deliver a professional sounding mix and master to listeners.

• Therefore, you typically want high quality, professional, and commercially successful reference tracks.