Multitrack Mixdown

In this high-energy Nu Metal mix, Rain StormEagle brings together aggressive riffs, thundering drums, and powerful vocals to create a raw, immersive sound. With attention to every layer, the mix is designed to punch through while maintaining clarity and balance. Dive into the sonic fusion where heaviness meets harmony.

The Process

As with any project I work on, I applied the knowledge and experience I have, but also left myself open to what I may learn from the process.

There were many tracks to choose from, and I found this one spoke to me to most. I listened to the preview of the song and thought it sounded pretty good, but I wanted to make it punch through my speakers more and put some of my own mixing skills to the test.

I am proud of the final mix that I printed, and I want to share some of the technical aspects of my mixdown, along with the workflow I prefer to use when approaching a multitrack such as this one.

I found this multitrack on The 'Mixing Secrets' Free Multitrack Download Library. I have used this resource often to hone in my mixing, It has many different genres of music that other Mixers can explore. This was one of the newest additions to the library, and after I listened to the preview, I thought it would be an interesting song to use for my capstone.

I was attracted by the layers of guitars, the Nu Metal drum sound, and the potential to work on my vocal mixing and processing. In total, the multitrack had 64 tracks consisting of:

  • 21 vocal tracks (various layers of harmonies and doubles)

  • 14 drum tracks (full tom and cymbal miking)

  • 11 guitar tracks (layers for different sections)

  • 10 synth tracks (differing synth and bass synth patches)

  • 8 SFX tracks (sweeps, risers, impacts)

Approaching the Mix

After hearing the sample mix and creating my own static mix, I determined the reference material I would use would be Duality by Slipknot to have for high energy parts, and In The End by Linkin Park for the low energy sections of the song. The image to the left depicts the frequency range and stereo measurements in the final mix. I began with creating a static mix on the first listen, then started treating the individual elements. In the following analysis, I will be highlighting how I approached each part of the mix and the major elements that helped me achieve the sound in this song.

The Drum Mix

I approached the drums with the idea of power and definitive punch to drive the song forward. The recording has thorough miking of the shells and even accent tracks of the cymbals. The recordings were already treated and I suspected that they had used drum triggers that is common with Metal drum recordings. Due to the sheer amount of tracks, I had to be careful with the overall mix to allow each element to be in its own space and contribute effectively to the song.

  • I chose to let the shells on the kit do most of the work, and keep the overhead elements in the back. The drummer used the toms thoroughly, so I decided to favor those, along with the Kick and Snare, to translate the power I was looking for in the drums. I used the cymbal accent tracks to emphasize the OHs in specfic spots like the crashes during the chorus.

  • Using drum samples on the kick and snares added more density and punch to allow them to cut through the dense mix. The original tracks came with a few samples that I used under the original tracks.

  • This final element really helped push the drums to the density and power I knew was necessary. This came later in the mixing process after treating the other instruments. I found that the drums were not cutting through the mix with the many layers of guitars and synths. Using an auxillary track, I sent the overall drum mix to it and dry/wet balance of the two.

The Vocal Mix

Naturally, the vocals sat in the very front of the mix. I broke them down into different buses based on the type of vocals they were. They all had doublings and each set of tracks was made for different sections. I explain each group more in depth below.

  • I processed the whisper tracks to have a ‘telephone‘ sound to add some contrast from the other vocal tracks. This along with chorusing to fatten the sound.

  • Along with the doubles are many vocal harmonies that have their own doubles. These were given their own EQ/Compression individually, then summed into a bus that glued them together more. After the basic processing, I used Neutron 5 and OTT on the bus. Neutron shaped more of the overall sound and added saturation, and OTT allowed me to multi-band compress the vocals in a way to allocate their space in the mix.

  • The scream vocals recieved similar treatment as the main vocals. This kept a consistency between the verses and choruses. I leaned more on the saturation to allow the aggression to match the distorted guitar.

The Guitar Mix

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  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

  • It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

Mastering Chain

Here is a breakdown of the mastering chain I used on the final mix of the track.

  • At this point in the process, it is important to keep in mind that less is more. Using mulitple formats to monitor the mixes, I found the highs were harsh at points in the mix and a boxy tone was apparent in the mix. I made a shelf cut at 6kHz to -1.4dB, and a cut of -1.1dB at 1.06kHz.

  • The use of multiband compression came to me when I realized how the many layers and elements of the mix would need glued together subtly in various places. Using a preset as a starting point, I set the compressor to treat mainly the mids and highs. This helped bring the sound ‘out of the speakers‘ and allow the layers of audio be heard, and separate emphasized.

  • I used mulitple limiters to continue bringing the mix up to level. Nu Metal is usually not given that much dynamic range, and this processing helped a great deal to develop more punch and density to the mix.

  • Brainworx Masterdesk Classic was another limiter that added color and harmonic distortion that fit the mix. It particularly helped emphasize the guitars and vocals which sit at the front of the mix. Along with the ff d3 Limiter which helped shape the drum sound.

  • The choice to use two instances of Maxim was to have each serve differing purposes. The first one added final emphasis and shape to the guitars, vocals, and synths, using a longer release time. The second Maxim was used to shape the transients of the mix so they retained their power.