How To Properly Track Out A Beat

  • Thread starter Thread starter Hard Knockz
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Hard Knockz

D Dubb
Someone wants to buy a beat from me. He wants the beat tracked out. So do I leave on the effects like reverb and compression that I have on each individual instrument? Do I take the EQ off on all of the individual instruments? Since the Mastering Engineer will be changing things anyway.
If I need to leave -3db headroom do I use a limiter or just don't let it peak over -3db. Please help me out, I'm suppose to be sending him the files on Monday
 
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I recommend leaving -3db headroom. If your mix is good, put a limiter on the master track at -3db and keep the level such that it rarely gets limited but just so that it's there for the occasions when it does get at bit loud.

And leave FX on your tracks, that's part of what makes a beat/instrumental.
 
ok thanks and to lower the db do you usually just lower the volume or EQ
 
use the master fader to lower the volume, not EQ.

I wouldn't remove the equalisation, but you can turn down or remove effects, it depends on the client's request, if he is happy with your mixdown then it's job done.
 
LostProfit said:
use the master fader to lower the volume, not EQ.

I wouldn't remove the equalisation, but you can turn down or remove effects, it depends on the client's request, if he is happy with your mixdown then it's job done.
Click to expand...

So your saying lower the master fader instead of lowering the faders of instrument?
 
Hard Knockz said:
do I leave on the effects like reverb and compression that I have on each individual instrument? Do I take the EQ off on all of the individual instruments?
Click to expand...

send both versions...

a wet tracked out version...and a dry tracked out version...

$.02
 
I would send him the session as is....easy if both of you are working with Pro Tools.
If Not just send the dry stems
 
do you mix the track? or an engineer?

if he wants the beat tracked out, he probably wants to have it mixed somewhere else. in that case, remove every effect you put on tracks, make sure none of the tracks clip when you solo them, and export them track by track.
 
If the artist is working in a closely-knit fashion with the engineer then then they may want a dry mix to fully sculpt the sound with the vocals.

If the engineer is going to receive the track with vocals then it's another story.
 
[F_or_DEAF] said:
send both versions...

a wet tracked out version...and a dry tracked out version...
Click to expand...

^
Do this.

The thing with effects is, if they are necessary to give the track its sound, like say a piano with a distortion effect on it, you may want to leave it on. Taking the distortion off would drastically change the sound of the beat.

If it's something like just a light reverb on an instrument, take it off, because chances are the engineer will either have a better quality plug, or they will know how to tweak it a little better in order to have it sit nicely in the mix.

Important!! Don't forget to pan everything back to center on your dry version.

Peace!
 
If he wants the beat "tracked out" then what you need to send him is technically (and universally) called "consolidated audio files." This is the STANDARD and that's the way of saying it "consolidated". Most programs will bypass all of your inserts, sends, bussing, faders, etc. (ie. all your fx, eq, compression, fader levels, blah blah blah, everything except the raw unadulterated recorded track). Furthermore, most programs will consolidate (get used to the word "consolidate") automatically so you don't need to do much of anything. There are a few that won't, so you have to be a little more careful.

Full and complete insructions on what to do can be found here: www.millraceonline.com/mixguidelines.htm It's talking about sending files to a mix engineer, but for sending a tracked out beat it is EXACTLY THE SAME... EXACTLY. Read it and follow the step by step instructions.
 
Chris,

In your guide for "Consolidating Audio Files in Fruity Loops", I noticed that there was no mention of removing effects and plug-ins. To my knowledge, FL has never done that automatically and all disabling of inserts must be done manually before "consolidating". I know that's step #1 in your overall guide, but I have a feeling people may overlook/forget about that when looking at instructions for their specific DAW. Just an observation.

Also worth noting (maybe), from my experience in FL, when "split mixer tracks" is checked upon export, the individual mixer tracks will not be affected/effected by any inserts on the master track of the mixer. So if the master has a limiter on it, the individual tracks will not be run through that limiter before being rendered. Not that you should be using many plugs on the master track anyways...

btw I am showing my noob-ness but I've never heard of "consolidating audio files" before now. I thought the generally accepted term was "tracked out". Consolidating to me means combining things, as in, combining multiple tracks into a single track. Isn't that technically what "stems" are?

Peace!
 
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Thanks Jay. I don't use FL; I got this information from FL users. It's my understanding that "split mixer tracks" bypasses all inserts. It sounds from your post that this is wrong. Please clarify for me if you can as specifically as possible.

BTW - Yes, "tracked out" is what people say when they want the beat track by track. The technical term is called "consolidated". This is very important because what happens is artists or beat-makers go into a studio with an engineer and say "tracked out" and it could mean a billion things. "Consolidate" is an engineering term that all engineers know. So if you say "I have the beat tracked out as consolidated files" they will say "awesome!" There are other (very horrible) ways to track out a beat - I've seen them all in my day LOL. The "consolidated" way is the best.

Anyway, I just stress learning the universally accepted terminology for what files from beginning to end that sync up is. Most of the problems I have when getting files from clients involve them not knowing the proper terms. And without the proper terms, people get confused and I wind up with the wrong stuff.
 
Yeah, "split mixer tracks" merely creates a new file for each mixer track, so you don't have to export each one by itself. Purely a time-saver, effects and inserts are NOT bypassed. That needs to be done manually for each plug-in/insert on each mixer track.

Not a big deal for me, as I usually don't have a ton of inserts/fx going. I'm used to just going through and disabling the ones I don't need before consolidating/exporting.

What I do is when I am all ready to "track out" or consolidate files, I save a new version of the FL project so that if I need to go back and change something or I forgot something, I don't have to go through the whole process of readying it for consolidation again and possibly forgetting something I did previously.

Another quirky FL thing with "split mixer tracks" is that it's important to name each mixer track appropriately like you mentioned in your guide, because it will also export/render an empty .wav file even for some mixer tracks that are unused or don't have any audio coming through. So for example I will end up with the 8 or 9 .wav files that I need, but also several others named "Filename_Insert 13.wav" or "Filename_Insert 10.wav".

I have made the mistake of not having all my mixer tracks named correctly, and leaving an instrument out because it was named "Filename_Insert 7" instead of "Filename_Flute" and I deleted it with the other useless .wav files. I was mad at myself for that one. I have yet to find a work-around for not exporting the .wav files with no data in them, although it didn't always used to do that, so it could be either FL version 9 doing that, or just something I'm missing on my end.

Peace!
 
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Thanks Jay.

So essentially, I need to add a line saying to bypass the inserts.

New question: do the sends need to be bypassed as well? I'm assuming no, but I would like to confirm this.
 
Here is what I would suggest as a complete and fairly idiot-proof guide to exporting consolidated .wav files from FL...I just modified yours. It's a bit long-winded, but that's how I roll:

Edit: The sends are just going to be additional files created with the other mixer tracks. If not used they will be .wav files the length of the song but empty silence/no signal...



1. Assign each instrument or sound channel from the step sequencer to a mixer track.

-Do this by opening each channel window in the step sequencer and in the upper right corner of the window, change the box labeled "FX" to whatever number mixer track you want to route it to.

2. Re-name each mixer track according to the sound it's playing back.

-NOTE: If you are layering sounds to create a single new sound, route all of those sounds to the same mixer track. Ex: I am using 3 different kick drum samples to make 1 new kick. I want to route all 3 sampler channels to mixer track 1.

3. Put the project in SONG MODE.

4. Clear any region you have set or selected in the playlist. Make sure the play marker is set at the beginning of the song (0:00:00).

5. Disable any inserts or effects you may have put on the individual mixer tracks.

-Just muting them by clicking the green light next to each insert is fine, you don't have to remove the plug-ins. You should ask the person you are giving the files to what they would prefer in terms of fx on your individual tracks, they may not want all fx removed.

-(Optional) From the File menu, select "Save As..." and save a new project file that is all ready to be consolidated. This is helpful because you may need the original beat to modify, but having a project file ready to export again if needed saves time.

6. From the File menu, select "Export", then "Wave file...". Select the location where you want the .wav files created. It helps to create a new folder for each project consolidated.

-Naming the base file "[the name of your song]" will help to organize the exported files by grouping them by your song's title. For example, the Drums track would be called "[the name of your song]_Drums.wav", the Bass would be called "[the name of your song]_Bass.wav", etc.

7. Specify the bit depth of the file: 16-bit or 24-bit. Again, ask the person you are giving the files to what they would prefer, both are common.

8. Ensure "Split Mixer Tracks" is selected, and export as wav or aif files.

-FL may render some unused mixer tracks that are the length of the song but contain no data. They waste hard drive space and should be deleted. It is important to name your mixer tracks correctly (see #2) to keep track of which files you need and don't need.

-Some people prefer to edit the filenames after they are rendered to eliminate the "[name of your song]" portion of the filename. This is because in some DAWs, only the first few letters of the filename are visible at times, so when they are all named "[name of your song]_Drums", etc. they all appear to have the same name and become hard to tell apart...

I think that's it. You can use some or all of that on your site if you want. I probably went into too much detail.

:sing:*redeyes*

Peace!
 
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[F_or_DEAF] said:
send both versions...

a wet tracked out version...and a dry tracked out version...

$.02
Click to expand...

co-sign.

But here is a good rule of thumb...if there are any fx on the master output, take them off. The beat isn't going to sound the same with the vocals so any extra eq and compression is for nothing (except advertising the beat).

Really, if you mix properly, it should sell no problem and then you send them those exact outs...

And if you're really good, charge them for mastering their project(s) or remix.
 
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