Mixing the whole piece

▶ Open in Aratu to hear the examples, change them and do the exercises

With several parts playing together, there is still the job of the person at the mixing desk: putting each instrument at the right volume, each in its place between the speakers, all of them in the same room. That is mixing.

Volume: who stands out

Each part has a volume, from 0 (silent) to 1. Drums that are too loud hide the melody; turn them down:

tempo: 100
drums { hh = cc cc cc cc; bd = b - b -; sd = - s - s }
melody: keys.epiano
melody = | e4 g a g | e d c _ |
drums.volume = 0.5
melody.volume = 0.9

Drag both knobs while the music plays, as if they were the faders on a mixing desk.

Pan: where each one sits

pan places the part between the speakers: -1 is all the way left, 1 all the way right, 0 in the middle. Spreading the instruments to the sides makes each one clearer:

tempo: 100
guitar: guitar.nylon
guitar { chords = | Am | F | C | G |; strum = D du -u du }
keys: keys.epiano
keys = | a4 _ c5 _ | a4 _ f4 _ | g4 _ e4 _ | d4 _ g4 _ |
guitar.pan = -0.6
keys.pan = 0.6

Listen with headphones: the guitar on the left, the keys on the right. The bass and the bass drum usually stay in the middle.

The same room for everyone

Aratu's mix has a shared reverb, like the room the band plays in. Each part's reverb.mix says how much of it goes into that room.

A number written with no part holds for every part. To put the whole piece in the room, one line is enough:

tempo: 90
melody: piano.grand
melody = | e4 g a g | e d c _ |
bass: bass.finger
bass = | c2 _ g1 _ | a1 _ f1 _ |
reverb.mix = 0.5

A part can have its own value, which holds in place of the general one: bass.reverb.mix = 0.1 makes the bass drier, closer to the listener.

Effects for everyone: all:

A chain written for all puts its effects on every part, after each part's own effects:

tempo: 90
melody: keys.epiano -> tremolo
melody = | e4 g a g | e d c _ |
bass: bass.finger
bass = | c2 _ g1 _ | a1 _ f1 _ |
all: chorus -> delay
delay.mix = 0.2

The melody goes through tremolo, chorus and delay; the bass through chorus and delay. And delay.mix = 0.2, with no part, sets the delay of them all.

The master

Everything ends in one last channel, the master: the shared room, a compressor that "glues" the parts together and a limiter that keeps the sound from clipping. Its numbers start with master.:

tempo: 90
melody: piano.grand
melody = | e4 g a g | e d c _ |
reverb.mix = 0.5
master.reverb.decay = 4 s
master.glue.on = 1
master.limiter.ceiling = -1

Making room for the kick

In electronic music the bass drum leads, and the other parts make room for it: at each kick the pad's volume drops at once and comes back before the next one, and the whole track seems to breathe. In the studio that is called ducking, or sidechain. In Aratu it is one line:

tempo: 124
drums { bd = b b b b; hh = -c -c -c -c }
pad: synth.pad
pad = | a3+c4+e4 _ _ _ | f3+a3+c4 _ _ _ |
pad: duck by kick

pad: duck by kick lowers the pad by 70% at each kick and brings it back over one beat. Say how much and how fast: pad: duck by kick 50% over 1 eighth. After by comes the part or the line to make room for (drums, bd), or a drum by its name, kick, snare or clap, whichever line plays it.

Delete the line and listen: the pad stands still, on top of the kick. Put it back and the music pumps again.

In Portuguese it is pad: abaixa com o bumbo, in Spanish pad: agacha con el bombo, and the studio's word, sidechain, works in all three.

Exercises

Turn the drums down to 0.4, so the melody stands out.

drums { hh = cc cc cc cc; bd = b - b - }
melody = | e4 g a g |

drums { hh = cc cc cc cc; bd = b - b - }
melody = | e4 g a g |
drums.volume = 0.4

Put the guitar on the left (-0.5) and the keys on the right (0.5).

guitar = | e3 _ g3 _ |
keys = | c5 _ e5 _ |

guitar = | e3 _ g3 _ |
keys = | c5 _ e5 _ |
guitar.pan = -0.5
keys.pan = 0.5

Put the whole piece in the reverb, at 0.6, with a single line.

melody = | e4 g a g |
bass = | c2 _ g1 _ |

melody = | e4 g a g |
bass = | c2 _ g1 _ |
reverb.mix = 0.6

Put a chorus on every part, with a single line.

melody: keys.epiano
melody = | e4 g a g |
bass: bass.finger
bass = | c2 _ g1 _ |

melody: keys.epiano
melody = | e4 g a g |
bass: bass.finger
bass = | c2 _ g1 _ |
all: chorus

Make the master's room ring for 5 seconds.

melody = | e4 g a g |
reverb.mix = 0.5

melody = | e4 g a g |
reverb.mix = 0.5
master.reverb.decay = 5 s

Make the pad duck by half (50%) at each kick.

drums { bd = b b b b }
pad = | c4+e4+g4 _ _ _ |

drums { bd = b b b b }
pad = | c4+e4+g4 _ _ _ |
pad: duck by kick 50%