Now I have a drum, bass, guitar, piano and vocal track. As a bonus, it created an‘ Other’ track that contains only the string section pads. The drums are summed( all on one track) and the guitar track is also a combination of the acoustic arpeggiated performance together with the electric guitar chords. As noted, this sort of summing of like instruments is an example of something that MultiTracks. com( and other similar platforms) can handle more effectively since they generally will break things down to the individual kick drum, snare, etc. and not combine things per instrument type. But we are still able to learn a lot more from the six individual stem tracks than we could from the stereo track that we begin with.
For instance, I am now able to get a sense of how various EQ curves or compressor settings impact the overall mix as I play with the drum sub-mix while the full mix plays. I can then solo the drums to get a feel for how those changes impact the overall drum sound in isolation. It is also a good opportunity to play with overall mix output EQ and‘ mastering’ sort of bus effects.
What sort of difference do I hear when I add a multi band compressor to just the drum submix vs. the overall output mix? How do those results vary when I try the same A / B test on an up-tempo track instead of a ballad?
For this example, I have been working in Logic through studio monitors and headphones. Now that you have workable( though I will note not entirely sonically‘ perfect’) audio stems, you could also feed them into your console at FOH and play the original track back to compare and contrast with your tweaked mix on the actual venue PA as a further learning exercise. If you really wanted to get crazy, you could use the BPM Counter and quantisation features to lock the tempo to a click and layer in drum loops or other samples, etc. to craft your own snazzy remix( for personal use only of course).
Technology has come a long way since Aebersold vinyl records and badly photocopied lead sheets, but the core idea is the same— practice makes perfect. There is no magical shortcut to really understanding the art and craft of mixing live audio, but there are many more tools available to guide us along our learning journey. Let’ s keep in mind the ethical concerns aroundthese training tools while we’ re at it, too. The artists and audio professionals, recording studios, publishers and equipment manufacturers who made the original source recording possible deserve to have their efforts rewarded. With great( technological) power comes great responsibility. I trust you’ ll put this sort of learning methodology to fair use, and my hope is that it helps uncover new tricks and tools that ultimately guides you to crafting more effective mixes and recordings in the future!
Happy mixing!
Jeff Hawley Jeff Hawley is the Vice President of Marketing across many US-based divisions of JAM Industries, including top musical instrument and pro audio brands. He is especially interested in all things Allen & Heath and most recently served as the Director of Marketing for Allen & Heath USA. In his‘ spare time’ Jeff is completing a PhD in Philosophy of Sound at York St John University. He also serves as the President of the British Postgraduate Philosophy Association. When he isn’ t writing WM articles or marketing up a storm, he enjoys traveling the world to present at philosophy conferences and listening to old country western songs.
108 October 2025 Subscribe for Free...