How many tracks are your mixes?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Teacher
  • Start date Start date
Teacher

Teacher

New member
i found that as i started progressing as a mixer my track counts have increased because of mults, submixes and aux sends...

i used to have almost always less then 24 tracks more like 16-20 usually

now my mixes average around 30-40 tracks

and they definitely sound a world better

i mostly do rap and rnb stuff btw...

and i mix in the box

how about yall?
 
Last edited:
I'm just wondering how you came up with the correlation between being a good mixer, and track count?????

For me - it varies with every project, and depends entirely on the scope of the project and context of each song. On a client's album I'm currently working on they range from under 16 tracks to a full 24........
 
Blue Bear Sound said:
I'm just wondering how you came up with the correlation between being a good mixer, and track count?????
Click to expand...

i didn't say that there was a correlation...but i think electronic stuff is different then live stuff because with electronic stuff you basically have to get the sound in the mix...so cuz of this i find my self doing more mults to get that bigger 'hyper realistic' sound cuz most synths don't sound that great without doing your own tweaking...as well as reverb, delay, flanger etc. sends to give space to instruments since you can't really effectively mic a synth or can you?
 
Last edited:
I average 8-10 these days. Sometimes as many as twenty, but it's rare.
 
can the type of music be mentioned as well...i wonder if my theory is correct or if i got my head up my ass like most of the mixers mixing today with 100+ tracks...i still can't fathom that many and using all of them!
 
Not counting the sequenced bass and drums, usually not that many. The one tune I have that is a departure from basic power trio stuff has about 20.
 
Anywhere from four to thirty, depending on the project.
 
If I'm referring to the right thing, I would say anywhere from 5 to 15 tracks per song.
 
Teacher said:
i found that as i started progressing as a mixer my track counts have increased because of mults, submixes and aux sends...

i used to have almost always less then 24 tracks more like 16-20 usually

now my mixes average around 30-40 tracks
Click to expand...


Everyone's got their own style, and it sounds like you may have stumbled upon yours. Guys like Mutt Lange and Phil Spector have made very lucrative careers using the same kind of approach.

I think it's interesting, because I've kind of gone the opposite path. I started out thinking I needed 100 tracks, but as I've "progressed" as an engineer/mixer, I've noticed myself stripping things down a lot more . . . focusing on a few really good sounds/textures, and throwing out whatever doesn't really ad anything.

Some things like handclaps or background vocals, though -- sometimes you can never have too many layers of those. :D
 
I use anywhere from 2 to 24 (+effects returns). I think the high track count stuff is often (NOT always) a way of putting off commitment and decision making. It comes from not having a clear idea of what the song/arrangement is. There are, however, (infrequent) exceptions. A good song, with a proper producer and pre-production rarely needs lots & lots of tracks.

Scott
 
It's interesting that the really 'loud' bands have smaller line ups - thinking of for example The Who, Free, Led Zep, The Jam, Red Hot Chillis. U2 don't count because they have extra musicians hidden away. Watching Jane's Addiction live on TV last night, they had a fantastic sound with guitar, bass, drums and vox. (This is also our line up so I'm particularly interested).

Our stuff typically has 10 - 14 tracks for mixing.
 
I know this is a ridiculous notion to be sharing on the home recording bbs, but there's something to be said for lo-fi 1-track songs recorded on handheld tape recorders.

I'm usually 1 to 10, but I don't have any drum tracks.
 
I just finished the basic tracking of a 13 song commercial project, and we ran the gamut from medieval to blues to folk to early metal. Mo more than 12 tracks on any song, minimum is 4. Most of it ran 8-10 tracks, but we did use a lot of African percussion (one drum w/ 2 mics). The track count may increase a little, though, as the mixing engineer may wind up doubling some tracks, or even adding one or two.Richie
 
i use an avg of 32-48 tracks... sometimes more it depends on the song and the artist(s)

i producer more R&B than hiphop these days and i use Nuendo 2.1
 
Teacher said:
i found that as i started progressing as a mixer my track counts have increased because of mults, submixes and aux sends...
Click to expand...


mults (what's a mult?), submixe, and aux sends will not increase your track count. It will increase the number of channels you are using on your DAW. Number of channels is not the same as track count.


My track count ranges from 16 at the least to a full 32.
 
Lately my songs are averaging between 12 and 24 tracks. Straight up rock-n-roll music here.
 
12-16

using a drum machine its usually 1 drum track, 1 bass, 2 guitar(one guitar doubled), 2 lead(1 lead doubled), 2 main vocal(doubled), 2 backup vocal(doubled), and then if i decide to have a friend or someone come in on the song then I'll double them unless i want it to be quiet.....i'm all over the place, rock, rap, tad bit of funk and pop. none of that screamo.
 
Typically
3 for drums
2 for doubled rythym guitar
2 for doubled lead
1 bass
1 keyboard
2 for doubled vocal. I'll actually use 4 -6 tracks but pick the best 2 for the mix.
3 - 4 backing vocal
And maybe another couple for percussive effects

Any more than that and it starts getting out of control. Which can be fun in its own way
 
Teacher said:
i didn't say that there was a correlation...but i think electronic stuff is different then live stuff because with electronic stuff you basically have to get the sound in the mix...so cuz of this i find my self doing more mults to get that bigger 'hyper realistic' sound cuz most synths don't sound that great without doing your own tweaking...as well as reverb, delay, flanger etc. sends to give space to instruments since you can't really effectively mic a synth or can you?
Click to expand...
I feel u Teach. I do R&B and Hip-Hop too and I recently realized (from using samples) how much more full synthesized music sounds when it's layered. I only have 32 tracks and 9 times out of 10 i'm using all of them.
 
Typically 7 tracks for drums, 2 per guitar, 2 for bass. Vocals are whatever they are. On average 16 to 24.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top