This mix was done for my Recording Studio Fundamentals module lesson assignment.

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In the last 2 lessons of the module, we were taught basic mixing techniques and for those who weren't able to access Pro Tools to mix a song consisting of elements from a band, we were given orchestral tracks to mix instead in another DAW of our choice. As such, I chose to do my mixing in Adobe Audition as I have used this software many times before for other school assignments.

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Interpretation

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The first step in my mixing process was to import all the tracks into the session and listen to it from start to finish. While listening to it, I looked for the feeling, mood, as well as the story being conveyed.

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The entire track gave me a sense of someone going on an arduous journey to meet some goal and they encounter challenges and problems along the way, hence things like the vocals give it a very focused and regal vibe while the percussions and strings help to add on and build the tension and the possible determination that our main character faces.

 

In the middle section of the piece, there is this singular bass drone, and it provides a lot of tension as if the person has encountered a final challenge and there is this nervous moment and then the rest of the instruments come back in again, making it feel like the person made it through successfully and now we see the aftermath of the person, slowly making their way to their destination.

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This is what the unmixed version sounds like (via Google Drive as Wix does not allow such a big file size):

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Unmixed Fusion Orchestra Piece

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Mixing

After listening to the unmixed piece, I picked out elements that I would like to focus on at the several parts of the piece. For example, the starting part had a track named Space Vox, which comprised of some vocals and space sounding sfx that would pan from left to right. Since it helped to bring depth and atmosphere to the starting of the piece, I decided that this would be one of the prominent elements in the mix.

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In order to make this track and all the other prominent tracks stand out during certain parts of the piece, I used multiple techniques:

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•  Volume Automation - At different points of the piece, certain tracks might become the leading track/main element while other points they might blend with other background tracks. Hence, automation is good to help adjust the volume of the individual tracks. We make the tracks louder to make them become the main element and we make them softer to blend with the background.

• Panning - Not only is panning useful in creating a surround stereo environment, it is also useful in emphasizing the main element. For tracks that are usually the main element at many points of the track, then we can leave their pan to the centre. For elements that are usually supporting the track, they can be panned either left or right such that not all the elements will be fighting for attention in the centre. In addition, we can adjust how much we pan the elements thus we can even layer the elements on both the left and right spectrum and they will be able to blend well with the rest of the elements.

• Digital Signal Processing (DSP) - This includes effects such as reverb and delay. In the case where panning is not enough, we can also use reverb to help add depth and layer certain elements so they blend in better with the overall mix.

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These are some screenshots of what I've done: