You put your heart and soul into your music.
Don’t Let Your Mix Break It.
You have worked hard on your music
You want it to be heard and appreciated by both current and future fans.
The last thing you want is to hate the sound of your own songs for the next decade. I’ve been there myself, and it’s a terrible feeling.
The mixing and mastering process of your music can either make it or break it, so make the most of it.
“Once you release those songs,
they are out there….forever“
Let’s create something that makes you proud.
You’ve written songs you believe in. You have a vision for the sound.
Now it’s time to put your baby into the hands of someone else.
That’s where I come in.
Blueleaf Studio will work with you; turning your vision into a finished, polished recording that you feel proud of and that you and your fans can enjoy for the rest of your lives.
So, What do you get?
(Spoiler alert – You get a damn good mix for one thing!)
Let’s start with the obvious, shall we?
Mixing
This is the bulk of the work.
This can include, but is not limited to:
EQ, compression, parallel compression, limiting, normalization, saturation, automation, delay, reverb, creating busses and sends, balancing levels, and generally making things sound awesome
Re-Amping
If you are using a guitar or bass, you may well have spent a great deal of time coming up with your own tones.
As a guitar player, I respect that 100%. But I also understand it.
But there’s just one problem: those sounds were created in a “vacuum”.
This means that whilst your tones may sound AMAZING by themselves (or in a rough mix), they were created without any context of the other elements that might be in the final mix (including drum and bass tones).
This is where my experience and re-amping services come into play.
At no additional cost, I will work with you to find tones that best fit your final mix. This may be as simple as tweaking your initial sound, or it may be a case of creating new tones entirely.
Either way, we always work with what best fits the final mix.
The same rule applies for bass re-amping: whilst we can always explore tones you have, it comes down to getting the best result in the final mix.
Pro Tip: Always use new strings when recording bass!
Old strings can have a massive negative impact on your final bass tone (far more so than with a guitar). New strings will help your music shine.
Synthesis and Programming
Sometimes productions need just a little help to achieve the goals of the mix.
If your production is lacking in an area and needs some extra re-enforcment by way of synthesis or sampling and programming then we’ve got you covered.
With access to ton’s of hardware and software synths, we will find any tones needed to support your sound, from subtle sub-bass reinforcement to ambient textures and pads.
These additional sounds don’t necessarily change your production in obvious ways but are usually introduced to support of enhance existing elements.
Drum Samples
When mixing this type of music, drum samples typically play a large role in the final sound. I love to use the natural drums wherever possible, but this is entirely dependant on external factors that are out of my control.
Creating usable natural drum tones requires an audio engineer that knows his room and what mics to use.
The drum kit itself needs to be a decent quality and it needs to have brand new drum heads that have been broken-in and tuned properly.
The drummer needs to be a hard hitter, with a damn near machine-like consistency. Honestly, there are very few drummers in the world that are able to pull this off. If this is the case with your music, it will be my pleasure to keep the drums as natural as possible.
In most circumstances, I will blend the drum samples in with the natural drums in order to create “the sound” that this genre is known for.
In rare cases, I will 100% sample-replace the drum shells.
Drum Humanisation
If the drums are sent to me as MIDI, then I will spend time
humanizing them (so they sound more natural and less programmed).
When adding samples to a real drum performance,
I will adjust all sample velocity to match the drummer’s play-style.
Mastering
The mastering process is absolutely crucial to “my sound”, and it’s included in the price of mixing. I’ve never add an additional charge for mastering, as I tend to make the mixing process “all inclusive.”
Mastering seems to be the elusive dark art that no one understands.
Here’s the most simple explanation I could find:
“Mastering is the final step of audio post-production.The purpose of mastering is to balance sonic elements of a stereo mix and optimize playback across all systems and media formats. Traditionally, mastering is done using tools like equalization, compression, limiting and stereo enhancement.
There are several considerations in this process: unifying the sound of a record, maintaining consistency across an album, and preparing for distribution.
When mastering your specific genre of music, there are a few key techniques that I use to ensure that the clarity of the mix is upheld, while creating a full-bodied and competitively levelled master.”
Now for the not-so-obvious…
Feedback
I can give you input and feedback on technical questions about mix prep, best practices for engineering and editing your songs, instrument choices, string choices, microphone/preamp choices, or anything else that can impact the result of the final product.
The better the source audio, the better the final product will be.
I’ll be here to help wherever I can to make sure everything is the highest quality possible before you send it to me.
This is the definition of a win/win outcome.
I want to do whatever I can to make sure the final product is excellent.
Revisions
Included for free are 3 rounds of revisions. You can take as much time as needed to gather each batch of revisions without needing to stick to a specific schedule.
My goal is to make this a smooth and simple a process for you.
Here’s what’s NOT included
A few things not included in the standard fee
But don’t worry, these services can be provided for an additional cost
Editing
This includes timing and pitch correction as well as comping, guitar editing, bass editing, drum editing, vocal editing, etc.
Additional Production
This includes post-production, beat-making/drum programming, FX, synth, atmospheric soundscapes, extensive instrumental effects (delays, reverbs, etc.), heavy arrangement/compositional changes, additional recording work/overdubs.
The Process and Timescale
What does the process look like and how long will this all take?
Every step of the process explained
STEP 1 | PROPOSAL
This is where you are now.
We’ve sent you this lovely proposal, and now you’re reading it with your own eyes. It’s a beautiful thing.
This gives you a detailed overview of what is included, what is not included, what to expect, the timeline, the investment, the next steps and the terms & conditions.
If no next steps have been taken after a reasonable amount of time, the proposal will expire and will no longer be valid.
STEP 2 | DEPOSIT
Once you’ve looked over everything, spoken to your bandmates and agreed that Blueleaf is your best option, we will send you an invoice for the 20% deposit.
STEP 3 | SCHEDULE
Once the deposit has been paid, we’ll discuss dates that work for both of our schedules.
STEP 4 | FILES
Sometime between sending us your deposit and your first scheduled day of mixing, you’ll need to send me your session files if you haven’t already.
We have a guide for how to organise and label files, so be sure to connect us to your tracking engineer so we can ensure everything goes smoothly, or click here to see the guide if you’re recording yourself.
STEP 5 | TEST MIX
Before mixing all of the songs in your project, I will mix one song, as a test. This allows you both to get on the same page for all of the “big picture” parts of the mix.
This includes drum tones, guitar tones, bass tones, sound-staging and overall mix levels.
The revisions you make here are not counted towards your three revision limit. Spend as much time as you need to get the mix where you want it before moving on.
STEP 6 | FULL MIX
Once the test mix has been approved, I will spend the bulk of his time mixing all of the tracks based on the final test mix.
There should be no nasty surprises once you get the full mix. From here, there are typically only small revisions to make.
STEP 7 | REVISIONS
The revision process typically goes like this:
1 | I send the Mixes over as individual WAV files.
2 | You spend a week (or so) gathering a lengthy list of minor revisions (“turn up the lead at xx:xx. Turn down the vocals at xx:xx” etc).
3 | I add the revision request to my to-do list and complete them during my next available revision calendar slot.
4 | Rinse and repeat for revision round 2 and 3.
By revision round 3, the 99% of artists have a mix they’re ready to receive final masters for. If you’re part of the 1% who need additional revisions, they can be completed for a flat hourly fee.
Note: Additional rounds of revisions are, obviously, always FREE if they are needed to correct an error of our own making!
STEP 8 | FINAL PAYMENT
The remaining balance is due on the first scheduled day of mastering.
If you need a few extra days to get the payment together, we allow up to 1 week for payment.
STEP 9 | MASTER REVISIONS
Just like the mix revisions we carry out a master revision process.
Generally, there isn’t much to do here if we’ve been thorough in the mix process.
Most people don’t request any master revisions but if you do they’re all included in the price.
STEP 10 | FINAL MASTER DELIVERY!
You did it! The masters are done, and we’ll deliver them straight to your inbox.
