Overview
TLDR; What am I supposed to deliver?
In short: A zipped folder with exported audio files from your DAW, delivered via a file sharing service. The deliverables should be well-organized and clearly labeled, and include information about tempo and key. A rough mix and any reference tracks should be included. Jonas kindly asks that you complete comping, editing, arranging, and time-/pitch correction before submitting the files. Most, if not all, of your automation and processing should be printed onto the tracks.
Can I deliver a Pro Tools session?
In most cases, Jonas would prefer to receive exported audio files from your project, instead of a Pro Tools session.
All exported files should be rendered to the full length of the song — a single continuous audio file per track. All files should start and end at the same point in time.
Individual tracks vs stems
The exported files could be individual tracks, or groups of tracks mixed together — also known as stems.
A typical delivery consists of mostly individual tracks, with some stems thrown in. How do you know when a group of tracks should be combined into a stem?
Generally, when:
- You have many tracks doing more or less the same thing
- The track count would be very high unless you combined them
- You are happy with the blend
An example: A three-voice background harmony stack in which each voice has been triple-tracked and panned LCR. This could be delivered as three stereo stems (one per voice) instead of nine individual audio files.
Another example: A synth hook line where you have created a layered sound made up of five different synths playing the part in octaves or in unison. You like the blend and you have applied effects to the submix to treat the layers as one instrument. In this case, it would make sense to deliver the synth hook as one stereo stem.
Recommended track count
Jonas will happily mix any number of tracks. However, if your project has more than 50 tracks, you could consider combining some of them into stems.
Organizing files
Export your audio files into one main folder per song. Use subfolders within the main folder for food groups, like Drums, Percussion, Bass, SFX, Electric Guitars, Acoustic Guitars, Piano, Synth, Lead Vox, Background Vox. It doesn’t really matter how you group your tracks, as long as they are well-organized.
Quality control
It is recommended that you quality control your exported files before delivery. Create a blank project in your DAW, and import the files. Verify that all files line up correctly, and that they sound like the rough mix when played back. This is important, as otherwise Jonas will have to spend time chasing the sound of your rough mix before starting any actual mixing work.
Details
Let’s get into some specifics!
Expand the sections to read more:
In music production we often record more audio than we actually need. In the end, we might struggle to decide which parts to keep.
In such cases, it can be tempting to leave the decisions to the mixing engineer.
Try to avoid that, or at least reduce it to a minimum.
If needed, take a few days off and revisit the song later. It may help to hear the arrangement with fresh ears.
Sometimes you can leave a handful of decisions to the mixing engineer, as long as you trust their judgement as an arranger. However, make sure that you do the heavy lifting yourself. Complete all composition, arrangement and production work before sending the files off for mixing. That way, the mixing engineer can focus on mixing and the result will be better.
Comping is the process of editing together the best parts of a performance.
If you have recorded multiple takes of a vocal part, make sure that you select and stitch together the parts that you want to keep, and exclude the rest from your delivery.
Unless specifically asked to do so, you should never leave the comping to the mixing engineer.
If your drums need a pinch of quantizing or your vocals need some Melodyne, make it part of your production work — especially if there are many vocal tracks. Don’t leave time- and pitch-correction work to the mixing engineer. Jonas is a great Melodyner, but going through a lot of vocal tracks is time-consuming and there will be less time for actual mixing. If you are in doubt, send one version of the lead vocal with Melodyne and one without. Same goes for Autotune.
Need a bit of editing to tighten up the timing of the instruments? Do it before sending your files off.
Melodyning a vocal.
Remove all unwanted background noise in-between your audio events. A good tip is to zoom in / enlarge the waveforms in your DAW to make sure you catch everything.
If necessary, apply fades to avoid clicks at your edit points.
About breath noises: It is almost always a good idea to keep those in the lead vocal, but you can consider removing them in vocal overdubs and backing vocals.
Trimmed and faded audio clips.
Keep your internal balances so that your exported files sound as close to the rough mix as possible, when played back with all faders at unity gain.
This is important, as it makes sure Jonas can start mixing where you left off, instead of spending time chasing your rough mix.
Also, try to keep an eye on the peak levels of your exported files. Make sure that no audio signals are extremely loud (as that may result in clipping and distortion) or extremely quiet (as that may result in poor signal-to-noise ratio). Everything in-between is OK.
As part of the effort to create a stem set that closely resembles the rough mix, you are advised to print any automation.
This includes volume and pan automation, as well as plugin parameters.
Let Jonas know the tempo and key of the song.
Some producers prefer to stick a little ‘Readme’ text document in the delivery folder. Such a document may include information like tempo, key and a few words about the intended sound and feel of the song.
Others will just include the tempo and key in the name of the delivery folder, like this:
By categorizing your tracks using clever file names, you can make sure that everything lines up perfectly on import.
Consider these file names:
Artist Name – Song Title – 02 DRM Snare.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 03 DRM Hihat.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 04 DRM Overheads.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 05 SFX Uplifter.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 06 SFX Impact.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 07 BAS El Bass.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 08 BAS Moog Bass.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 09 GTR Ac Guitar.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 10 GTR El Guitar.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 11 KEY Piano.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 12 KEY Rhodes.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 13 KEY Organ.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 14 SYN Arpeggio.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 15 SYN Juno Pad.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 16 STR Celli.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 17 STR Violins.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 18 VOX Leadvox.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 19 VOX Vox Dubs.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 20 VOX BVs 1.wav
Artist Name – Song Title – 21 VOX BVs 2.wav
This works great.
As the first unique part of the filename is the number, Pro Tools will sort these tracks automatically on import.
The three-letter abbrevations (DRM for drums, BAS for bass, GTR for guitars) make it easy for Jonas to see which instrument group a track belongs to. Feel free to invent your own abbrevations, like BRS for brass, VFX for vocal effects or PRC for percussion.
Lastly, make sure that the final part of the file name is descriptive. ‘Audio 1’ is not a good file name. ‘Electric Bass DI’ is.
Note: If you group tracks together in subfolders, the three-letter abbrevations won’t be necessary.
Some DAWs will automatically export all tracks as stereo audio files, regardless of their actual content.
If possible, make sure that you configure your DAW to export the tracks that you know for sure are mono, as mono audio files. This will save Jonas some valuable time.
However, if you are unsure whether a track contains a mono or a stereo signal, export it as a stereo audio file.
If you have no idea what this means, don’t sweat it. Everything will be fine.
As a general rule you should keep all processing when exporting tracks. This means that you should print every track through the complete signal chain:
Channel > Submix > Mix Bus
Yes — if you have a ‘mastering’ chain on your mix bus, you should print your tracks through it. The goal is to export files that resemble the rough mix as closely as possible, and the mix bus processing will play a part in that.
Exceptions to the rule:
Lead vocals — Jonas almost always prefers a dry track. In short: Include any pitch-correction but remove all other processing. Include a copy of the fully processed vocal track for reference.
Big reverbs and delays — If you have tracks with big reverbs or delays you could consider printing them dry and adding wet effects as separate tracks. This will give Jonas more control of the wet/dry balance — which comes in handy, especially if the track needs dynamic range reduction.
Mix bus — If you have a clipper and/or a limiter last in your chain, it’s almost always a good idea to bypass them. If you feel that they impart something important to the sound except level, include a screenshot of their settings, so that Jonas can re-create them if necessary.
Resources
Rough mix
Sometimes the rough mix is a quick and dirty bounce. Sometimes it is a great mix that has been carefully crafted. Most of the time it is something in-between. In any case, it is important that you include it in your delivery.
Let Jonas know how you feel about the rough mix. What do you like about it? What don’t you like? Did you spend a lot of time working on it? Is everybody on your team attached to it and used to hearing it? Then Jonas needs to know. A quick chat about the rough mix is always a good idea.
Reference tracks
Some songs are written and produced with one or more specific reference tracks in mind. If this is the case, it is important that you include these tracks when delivering your files for mixing. Streaming links are fine. Try to describe what it is about the reference tracks that you like. Don’t include too many — generally, one is better than five.
If you don’t have any specific reference tracks, don’t worry. Sometimes simply describing the feel, or the sound you are after, is just as good.
Delivery
Direct upload
You can upload your files here.
Jonas will be notified and you will receive a confirmation.
File transfer or file sharing service
If you would rather use WeTransfer, YouSendIt, Dropbox, Google Drive or any other file sharing service, you are welcome. Address your transfer to jonas@jonaskroon.com.
Happy prepping!
Don’t hesitate to contact Jonas with any questions about preparing your files.