V-Cert Music Technology
Mixing multi-track audio UNIT 4
NAME:…………………………………………………..
SUBJECT:……………………………………………….
END OF TERM TARGETS:
Term 1
Term 2
Term 3
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UNIT 4: Marking
Stage 1
Criteria
Pass
Merit
Distinction
1.1 Connect effects processors
using inserts, sends/returns
Candidates connect effects processors
using inserts, sends/returns
Candidates demonstrate critical
understanding in connecting effects
processors
Candidates show perception and insight
in connecting effects processors,
explaining the function of a range of
effects paths and their relevance to the
mix
1.2 Describe the basic functions
of commonly used effects
processors
Candidates describe the basic functions
of commonly used effects processors
Candidates demonstrate critical
understanding of the basic functions
used in effects processors
Candidates demonstrate critical
judgement in their understanding of a
range of functions of effects processors
1.3 Select an appropriate effect
for a sound source
Candidates select an appropriate effect
for a sound source
Candidates demonstrate critical
understanding in the selection of
appropriate effects for a sound source
Candidates demonstrate critical
judgement in their selection of an
appropriate effect showing perception
and insight
1.4 Justify the choice of selected
effects on technical and/or
artistic grounds
Candidates justify the choice of selected
effects on technical and/or artistic
grounds
Candidates demonstrate technical
understanding in their selection of effects
and their artistic merits
Candidates show originality and
creativity in their choice of selected
effects informed by critical judgement
Effects Processors
SOFTWARE EFFECTS PROCESSORS
Digital effects that are found within
software packages such as Cubase and
Logic.
Effects Processors
HARDWARE EFFECTS PROCESSORS
Rack mount units a larger version of a stompbox, usually with more effects available and
more ability to tweak / tailor / edit parameters.
Effects Processors
EFFECTS PEDAL
Guitar pedal - Stompboxes, or effects pedals, are designed to be positioned on
the floor or within a pedalboard and operated with the user's feet.
Effects processor diagram
Effects processor
Send to input
Jack lead
Computer
USB
Cable
Mixing Desk
Output to return
Jack lead
Effects pedal diagram
Guitar
Jack lead –
Guitar to
input
Guitar amp
Jack lead –
Output to
amp
Guitar pedal
Effects processors
Type
Description
Advantages and
Disadvantages
Evaluate against other
types
Software
Processor
(Cubase)
This is a digital plugin /
application / tool / device within
a sequencer that allows the
user to edit and create effects.
Advantages: You can tailor
the effects to make / create
your own unique sounds.
Disadvantage: Not practical
for live situations
Software vs hardware
Hardware Processor
(Rack mount)
This is an effects processor
that lives within a rack
mounted system.
Commonly used at live venues
and in recording studios
Advantages: Higher quality
sound in comparison to guitar
pedals.
Disadvantage: usually very
large and heavy.
Hardware vs Stomp
Stomp box
This a small devise that sits in
front of an amplifier and is
operated by foot.
Advantages: portable, light
and cheap.
Disadvantage: Quality isn’t
usually great and you are
limited in your editing options
Stomp vs Software
Type
Description
Advantages and
Disadvantages
Pre-fade
A PRE Fader aux is sent out BEFORE
the volume fader. any volume changes
made on the fader are not reflected in the
send.
Advantage: Allows complete control over
the wet and dry signal – allowing you to
completely remove the dry signal out of
the effects
Disadvantage: Continual balancing is
needed.
Post-fade
A post fade is where the fade position
affects the amount of signal that is sent
to the auxiliary.
Advantage: The volume of the original
source is not affected and therefore
much easier to balance.
Disadvantage: changing the volume
fader position changes the amount of
signal being sent to the aux.
Auxiliary sends/returns
They are commonly found on mixing
desks and allows you to add additional
hardware.
Advantages: You can add external
devices such as hardware effects
processors
Disadvantages: Clutter
Functions
Function
Description
What's the use of
the function
When would you
use this
EQ
High, Mids and Lows – not
volume. It is the colour / tone
of a sound source.
To change the tone or bring
parts forward in the mix
without boosting volume
To hear an instrument or voice
more clearly
Balance
Balance is the overall mix of
volume and panning
combined.
To get a pleasant / nice overall
mix of volumes that work well
together
When recording a band /
musicians
Compressor
Compresses an existing
signal.
compression reduces the
volume of loud sounds or
amplifies quiet sound
When you want to get a
consistent volume
Noise Gate
A noise gate will get rid of any
unwanted noise / frequencies.
Gets rid of distortion
When there is unwanted
noise.
Effects
Effects
Description
What sound source would
this be used for
Distortion
Created by compressing or clipping the peaks
of a sound source / wave which results in a
large number of added overtones
Guitar
Reverb
Reverb is the acoustic environment that
surrounds a sound. reverb refers to the way
sound waves reflect off various surfaces and
the very slight delay before reaching the
listener’s ear
Any instrument that you like. Vocals commonly
use reverb to sound / stronger.
Delay
Signal is repeated after sound source has
created it. It can repeat a number of times or
just the once depending on the users needs.
Guitar
Chorus
An audio signal that is first delayed by a small
amount. (Typical delay times are small, in the
range of 5 to 40 milliseconds.) This produces a
doubling effect.
Keyboard / Guitar / Vocal
Justify the choice of effects
Additional information: Justification can be technical (reducing noise, masking errors, positioning in mix etc) or
artistic (adding depth, imitating an environment etc), or a combination of both.
Effects
Technical justification
Artistic justification
Distortion
Adding a number of overtones
Adding warm defying character to the guitar.
To create a live feel. Mask slight errors. Make
the singer seem stronger
Reverb
Delay
Chorus
Repeating the sound wave
Making it seem like there are many guitars /
singers singing
Adding depth to the vocal. Create a desired
tone.
Stage 2
The learner can:
 2.1 Play back and monitor recorded tracks
 2.2 Assess the quality of individual sounds
 2.3 Add EQ to enhance audio quality
 2.4 Apply effects processing to individual sounds as part of the recording/mixing process
 2.5 Balance sound sources
 2.6 Record/save final mix
 2.7 Observe appropriate health and safety procedures during mix down
Range:
 Effects processors: hardware/software signal processors; digital effects; multi-effects
 Sends/returns: pre-fade; post-fade; send master; auxiliary/send returns
 Functions: eg compressor; noise gate; EQ; distortion; reverb; delay; chorus
 EQ: eg bass, middle, treble, shelving, swept mid
 Balance: use of channel pan and fader controls when mixing to stereo; use of delay and reverb to add
space and depth
Additional information: Candidates must perform at least
one independent mix leading to an acceptable musical
outcome. Candidates could be observed carrying out mixes,
and the record of observation used as evidence. Written
reports making use of annotated photos and/or video
recordings/logs/diaries may be acceptable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Rubin_production_discogra
phy - He is a producer. This is what you will be doing.
Assessment
PASS
MERIT
DISTINCTION
2.1 Play back and monitor
recorded tracks
Candidates play back and monitor
recorded tracks
Candidates demonstrate critical
understanding in their playback
and monitoring of recorded tracks
Candidates show insight and
perception in their playback and
monitoring of recorded tracks
demonstrating
2.2 Assess the quality of individual
sounds
Candidates assess the quality of
individual sounds
Candidates demonstrate critical
understanding in assessing the quality
of individual sounds
Candidates demonstrate insight and
perception which informs their
judgement of the quality of individual
sounds
2.3 Add EQ to enhance audio
quality
Candidates add EQ to enhance audio
equality
Candidates demonstrate critical
understanding which informs the use
of EQ to enhance audio quality
Candidates demonstrate fluency and
originality which informs their
judgement in their use of EQ in
enhancing audio quality
2.4 Apply effects processing to
individual sounds as part of the
recording/mixing process
Candidates apply effects processing
to individual sounds as part of the
recording/mixing process
Candidates demonstrate critical
understanding which informs their
application of effects processing
Candidates demonstrate fluency and
originality which informs their
judgement in their application of
effects processing
2.5 Balance sound sources
Candidates balance sound sources
Candidates demonstrate critical
understanding which informs their
application of balancing sound
sources
Candidates demonstrate fluency and
originality which informs their
judgement in their application of
balancing sound sources
2.6 Record/save final mix
Candidates record and save the final
mix
No Merit for this AC
No Distinction for this AC
Quality of sound
On sound cloud there are two recordings for the piano, guitar , female and male vocals. You must select one of
each and give reasons for you choice (signal strength, musician errors etc.)
Tracks
Reason for choice
Guitar 1
I chose guitar 1 as guitar 2 had many playing mistakes and
although I enjoyed listening to the tone of GTR 2 it was very
bassy.
Piano 1
Piano 2 was miles out of time and the balance was not
consistent.
Female 2
Female 2 was a much stronger performance in terms pitch and
dynamics
Male 2
Male 2 was a much stronger performance in terms pitch and
dynamics
https://soundcloud.com/vcertloops/sets/dock-of-the-bay-105bpm/s-FOuhg
Playing back and monitoring
recorded tracks
After importing all of my
pre-recorded tracks. I
pressed the play button
and listened back to what I
had.
Apply EQ
Where possible include before and after sound clips
For a clearer recording I have
decided to cut the mids on the
female vocal and boost the Hi’s
slightly. This brings the
performance forward in the mix
without adjusting the volume.
I decided to take the high end
out of the bass line to produce a
smooth low sounding bass line
Similar to the bass guitar I
decided to boosts the bass drum
with a slight cut in the mids to
produce a clear and powerful
bass drum tone.
For the snare drum I have
boosted he lows and the Hi’s but
cut the mids. I felt the snare was
buried in the mix and this
brought it out.
Apply Effects
Where possible include before and after sound clips
AUTO-TUNE
The first effect I added was the Auto tune feature as the original sound source was
out of tune in many places. Above is a picture of how I edited the parameters to get a
nice in tune performance. I had to change the key to G major (as that was the key of
the piece) and increase the tolerance and speed. I did not want it to sound like a robot
so the tolerance is 22 and the speed is 74 out of 100.
The same process was repeated for the boy part.
Apply Effects
Girl Track
Where possible include before and after sound clips
These are the effects I have chosen for the girl part of my track. I have already mentioned the auto
tune so won’t go into detail with that but as you can see I have included Chorus and Delay. The
chorus was used to fatten up the melody line and make the vocals even stringer. I tried a Phaser
but that sounded too wooshy. The delay was used after listening to Queen’s prophet song which
utilised delay to the max. After trying that I found too much delay overpowered the melody line so I
opted for a minimal but effective amount.
Apply Effects
Where possible include before and after sound clips
Boy track
For the boy I have added chorus and pitch correct. You can see the parameters and how
I’ve edited them in the screenshot above. I chose a thick chorus to fatten up the track.
Apply Effects
Piano
The piano was sounding really good as it
was so I decided to add reverb make the
part larger and increase the stereo spread
of the track.
Snare
To bring out the snare I simply added a
little bit of reverb .
Apply Effects
Guitar
The guitar part is
now barely
recognisable.
I have added
chorus and
distortion to beef
up the track as well
as a strong reverb.
All of the
parameters have
been edited by me
too.
Balance
This was the original balance of all of the
instruments / sound sources
This is my current volume settings after
editing the balance of every track.
Balance
When I
imported all
of my audio
files the
volumes of
every track
were set to 0.
This is the
volume
setting that I
have changed
to.
Panning
Before I made any edits to my panning all of my tracks were panned in the middle
Panning
I have now edited my panning to this
When panning my track I decided that I would pan the OH L & R 100% to the Right and left
channels. This is how they were recorded and will produce a nice wide stereo spread for
the drums. I split the guitar and piano very slightly in opposite ears to also give a nice
balance a bring clarity to the piece. Finally the same was applied to the male and female
voice.
Save
Health and safety poster
Create a poster to identify all possible risks when working in
a recording studio.
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No leads / trip hazards
No liquids
No extensions on extension
All electrical equipment PAT tested
Eye care
Ear care
Regular breaks
UNIT 4: TEACHER FEEDBACK
Set up and operate a digital audio workstation
Name:………………………....................................
Unit
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
Positive
Tutor:………………
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Current grade
UNIT 4: QUESTION & ANSWER
Set up and operate a digital audio workstation
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Assessor Name
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