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Assignment (audio mixing)

Here is a video I created including most of the steps below = https://youtu.be/3APBQkbAcaA

  1. download and install Reaper

  2. download and install the free Youlean Loudness Meter plugin

  3. open Reaper

  4. add the stem tracks

    • Download the 13 tracks to mix here.



    • Double click the ZIP file you downloaded to unzip it



    • Select all the tracks in the folder (ctrl/command + A) and drag all the tracks into Reaper's timeline

      • choose to add the files into "Separate Tracks" when asked

  5. add a gain plugin (Reaper has one named "JS: Volume Adjustment") to one of the tracks and adjust so it rides around -18db and never peaks above -6db (this doesn't have to be perfect ... just get in the ball park)

  6. in the mixer, drag the plugin to all the other tracks and it will copy the settings

  7. now that the master out is not clipping, you can do other fine adjustments:

    • automate volume of each track where creatively compelling (here's a great video explaining how)

    • *adjust panning* to many of the tracks to give more space to all the mono files

    • [optional] add a reverb plugin (FX) to the master or to individual tracks to provide depth (Reaper has a reverb plugin called ReaVerb)

      • OpenAir's website has impulse responses you can use to execute convolution reverb within the ReaVerb plugin when choosing "File"

  8. on the master output = add another gain plugin (JS: Volume Adjustment) and below it the free Youlean Loudness Meter plugin to monitor loudness like we did for your podcast assignment (target around -14LUFS and -1TruePeak for most streaming content ... here is a tutorial for the Youlean plugin)

  9. [optional] If you want to learn more about mixing, here is a great resource for digging a little deeper.

  10. When you are done, go to File > Render, render as the MP3 format.

    1. make sure the file has your name on it

    2. upload the MP3 here

      • NOTE: I am above all determined to provide you with experience mixing audio *levels* correctly, so I'm primarily looking to see that the audio doesn't clip (distort) ... panning, EQ, and other filtering is icing on the cake (and you'll get better at this over the years as you gain more experience).

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