mixing down to stereo .wav (final, but not master)

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welldonep

New member
howdy people . . . well, i've searched the forum for this, but could not find an answer, or more specifically, perhaps the answer i was looking for. here's the deal . . . i've recorded many a song on my br8 (DAW), and recently started using CE to edit the tracks, clean them up, etc., . . . i will be needing to do final stereo mixes soon, and was wondering about mixing in CE. i understand the 'mix down to file' function, but i would like to control the volume of tracks, etc. . . . more in the way of mixing on a console down to a stereo pair of tracks. in other words, can i 'arm' a stereo pair of tracks, and mix say 10-12 tracks down to those two. is this possible? i am new to CE, so please pardon my ingnorance here. thanks for any suggestions/advice.

cheers~ -peter
 
To mix down into stereo using Cool Edit set the volume levels you want and then use the Pan buttons and then after you get that right and add what effects you want then click down mix down all waves and that will be your stereo mix using cool edit
 
welldone, you don't arm tracks for a mixdown. While you're in multitrack, you set the level of each track so it sounds good when you play everything back together. As RD pointed out, you can also pan tracks and add effects if you like. Then, when everything sounds the way you like it, and nothing's clipping, you click on Edit>Mixdown, and Cool Edit will make a stereo mixdown of everything on the multitrack screen. At that point, it'll kick over into the edit screen, and you can convert the mix to CD quality and save it as well.
 
welldonep said:
but i would like to control the volume of tracks, etc. . . . more in the way of mixing on a console down to a stereo pair of tracks. in other words, can i 'arm' a stereo pair of tracks
Click to expand...
Dude...It took me forever to figure this out..."WHERE ARE THE FREAKIN' SLIDERS SO I CAN "MIX" DURING MIXDOWN????

It's very easy, and I'm giving you a picture that should help. In multitrack, there's this little button up top with 3 white dots on it. Then there are some buttons to the left of it. Click on that 3 dot button, and you'll see some lines pop up on your wave files that are in the mulittrack mixer. Those lines can be manipulated by clicking on them and moving them up and down...to adjust the volume of tracks WITHIN the tracks before you mix. Hell, I may just post 2 pics: (Mostly b/c I learned this right here by somebody posting a similar picture awhile back...NOT from reading the manual...although it's there, but I skipped over it).

Here's the first one.
 

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Here's another one showing the white dot button, using the "db" (volume) envelope.

Obviously, all the freakin' arrows were added by me.

:D

Hope this helps. It's very easy, but it's a bitch if you don't know it's there. LOL.
 

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Chris . . . thanks so much for taking the time to respond in such detail. This sounds like what I need . . . I will try this this evening when I get home from work. I greatly appreciate your help!

Cheers to you!

Peter
 
Virtual Mixer? Not sure what you are referring to . . . but you have made me curious. I have been primarily a Cubase user, but recently started using CE Pro to do quick editing of tracks. I felt fairly comfortable in the environment, so I thought I'd give a go to see if it worked out for me. This way of mixing is not as natural to me, so I'm wondering what you are referring to by 'Virtual Mixer'. In Cubase, I simply arm a stereo pair of tracks, and mix in either real time, or record my moves so they are automated . . . which seems more like conventional mixing to me. It just seems a little odd to press a button to do a mix. Perhaps I'm simply missing the idea here.

Cheers~ Peter
 
It's just a (slightly) different way of looking at things. The "mixing" in CEP, in my opinion, is what you do when you're playing all the tracks back and getting the levels and panning the way you want them. The "mixdown" button is just the last thing you push to make that happen once you've already "mixed" in preparation for the processing.

I've done my fair share of "mixing" on a 4 track, where I've had one track that might have an electric guitar intro at the beginning of a track, then acoustic rhythm track for a couple of minutes, then an electric lead, then more acoustic, then maybe a bg vocal at the end...(sound familiar?). Anyways, mixing was a very ACTIVE process as I had to jack with the level meters in real time knowing that the electric guitar solo was WAY louder than the acoustic rhythm part, so I had to remember to jump on that fader at 1:56 or I'd have to start over.

In CEP, the envelopes can act much like automated faders (which, like automated faders) you set up to trigger at certain points in the mixdown.

There is a virtual mixer in CEP 2.0 (actually, there's one in 1.2a if you want one...just open up the individual sliders for each of the tracks and line them up next to each other on the screen..PRESTO, "virtual mixer"). Anyway, in 2.0, under "View" in Muti-track, just click on "Show Mixers Window." In fact, this is the only way I've been able to see the master slider that used to just be there in CEP 1.2a. This feature lines all the track faders up next to each other so you can get rough levels. Then, once I've got them close, I drag that mixer window all the way over to the left so that it just shows the master slider, and I use the "envelopes" discussed earlier to bump or reduce a track's volume just in certain places (ie., the automated faders).

That's digital "mixing." The "mixdown" button is just the processing of what you've already mixed. And I definitely mix in real time...I'm just not recording it permanently until it's ready for the "mixdown" button :D
 
Chris . . . thanks once again for a thorough and understandable explanation. Yes, it is indeed 'digital mixing' . . . and I am new to this, so thanks for understanding, and helping me to understand. I have always done the more 'active' mixing as you described. I am recording digitally on a DAW (Boss BR-8), but thus far, I have simply been doing quick onboard mixes on the BR8 itself, which is more like 'old school'. Only recently that I started bringing tracks into Cubase, and now CE. So much to learn, but I'm having some fun with it. Thanks again for your time.

Cheers! Peter
 
No problem at all...this is a topic I can relate to, because I was reluctant to use a computer to do ANYTHING related to music. I started out using CEP just to mix tracks imported from a Tascam. Then, as I got more familiar with the program, I ended up ditching the recorder and using CEP for EVERYTHING (recording, mixing, editing, EQ, FX, compression, limiting).

At the risk of sounding like a Syntrillium plant or something, this software has everything you need to get "pro" results, except maybe for mastering; provided you have a good mic and a good soundcard to record through...most of the presets in version 1.2a require some tweaking to be useable, but there are actually several in 2.0 that I couldn't make better...The only reason I haven't personally gotten "pro" results has more to do with recording technique...it ain't the software holding me back.


















(not a Syntrillium plant)
 
Chris . . . one more question if I may. You mentioned some presets in CE 2.0 (which is what I am using) that you feel are very good presets w/o much need for tweaking. May I ask which one's you prefer to use . . . especially anything related to EQ, and/or EQ and compression on bass tracks, as I'm finding this to be particularly difficult? Thanks much!

Peeeder
 
welldonep said:
Chris . . . one more question if I may. You mentioned some presets in CE 2.0 (which is what I am using) that you feel are very good presets w/o much need for tweaking. May I ask which one's you prefer to use . . . especially anything related to EQ, and/or EQ and compression on bass tracks, as I'm finding this to be particularly difficult? Thanks much!

Peeeder
Click to expand...
Well of COURSE you'd ask about EQ and Compression presets...LOL. I was referring mostly to some of the reverb presets in 2.0 (vocal - "nice presence" never draws any complaints; and "small concert hall" is good for slower vocal stuff and especially backups). Also, I usually throw the "vocal - natural reverb" on the entire mix when I wanna' barely glue it together without being able to hear reverb.

For EQ - As I'm sure you know, it's very specific to the instrument or the vocalist. For example, I have a problem with the mighty "S," especially when I record with a condenser; so I created a parametric EQ setting called "SSSsss Killer" which is a 10db cut right at 4150, with a Q of 5...but that's right where MY sibilance is...most people's is higher. To figure out where it was, I just recorded a series of "S's" and ran the "analyzer" (under the ANALYZE tab to see where the peak was). I have similar presets for all my acoustics, which basically involve some pretty large low end cuts and a high end boosts. About the only preset that I use for EQ with any frequency is the Mackie Mid Cut, b/c it's just easy.

For Compression - Here, I have one I use a lot. "VocalComp, 8:1, -24, Fast Attack" - I love that preset. Honestly, I use that compression setting for bass a lot too, b/c I play an acoustic bass about 1/2 the time, and it's a pretty dynamic instrument. For electric bass, I'll give you a compression preset that I love, but ONLY if you listen to it and think it sounds like something you're interested in. Otherwise, people who know something about compression will laugh (screw them ). I've got a cover tune up on my page now that totally sucks, but that has a good example of a compressed electric bass. www.nowhereradio.com/honestmango/singles
"RAIN"

Lemme' know,
chris
 
You are a swell feller Chris. At the risk of thanking you more than you would like to be thanked, much thanks. I did indeed listen to to the tune you referenced, as well as "Old Yeller" and a couple of the others. You got it goin' on mon! Nice work. It sounds like you've been doing this for a while. I've been playing (guitar, mandolin, +) for about 13 years now, and have a couple of major label releases with my previous band . . . The Rosemary's (a 90's dream-pop/manchester-ish sounding unit. I've been using the BR8 for pre-production for my next release with my very own band (The Clarkes) . . . named after the shoe that gets you to the show on time! And have realized along the way, that we probably will not have to go into a studio . . . to simply do it ourselves. Anyway, don't want to get too far off topic here. You've been a great help. and it is greatly appreciated. And yes, I'd love to know the bass compression preset.

Cheerio.

-peter
 
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