The objective of doing this mix is to make your work realistically sounding as possible. As if it was being performed by real orchestra musicians inside the concert hall.

In Notion3, there is a mixer console feature that you can use to enhance the sound of your mix. This is usually found in the upper left, see screenshot below:

At the end of this tutorial, you will know how to mix a simple symphony orchestra and actually apply effects settings particularly reverb and panning. This tutorial assumes that you have completely notated your symphony or musical piece. Notating can take a lot of time and patience. This is usually done by music degree students or music professionals. In this tutorial, it will be using Mozart Symphony No.25 First movement in G Minor as an illustration.

How to mix symphony orchestra music in Notion3

If you click the Notion3 mixing console. You would immediately see all the instruments in the orchestra used in Symphony No.25 by Mozart. For example, Symphony#25 has one oboe, two horns, two violin section, one viola and one cello sections. To begin with, you need to concentrate on the most important settings which are the following:

a.) Reverb
b.) Panning

Reverb can add warmth and ambiance to the musical instruments. Most orchestra music are performed inside a concert hall which has high reverberation. As a beginner the most appropriate way to set a reverb is to apply it on the master output.

Feel free to click the “Reverb” button and then it will be highlighted. Set your reverb like as follows:

In the above setting, dry/wet is set to 20, room to 50, damping to 0 and 25 for pre-delay. Once you start becoming familiar with the mixer console; you can then apply individual reverb settings for each musical instrument. You can insert them on the track. To do this, click “Insert” below the instrument and then you can use any VST supported reverb.

Aside from reverb, you can insert any plugins possible with Notion3 and VST. For example, you might want to insert compressor, EQ, etc on each of the instruments. However the most tricky thing to do are the panning settings. By default, all musical pieces you created with Notion3 does not have any panning so they don’t sound good in stereo.

Also the panning feature in Notion3 can be a bit confusing to use for beginners. For example, this is an panning example setting that implies the instrument sound should cover the entire stereo field (shown by the gray white area region):

Another example below shows that the instrument sound should basically cover to the entire right region of the stereo field:

Or below is a much more specific panning example; putting the sound to concentrate midway to the far left and center of the stereo:

If you like to concentrate the instrument sounds in the center region, you can do it like this:

Now that you understand the basic principles of panning instruments in Notion mixer, let’s proceed exactly how to pan symphony orchestra instruments.

Panning Symphony Orchestra Instruments

OK, the first thing that you need to do is to understand how different instruments are located within the symphony orchestra. With this information, you can derive vital information on how you are going to panned each of them accurately in the stereo field.

Start with looking at the screenshot below:

Photo credits: thinkquest.org

Its obvious that the violas are on the center, violin on the left-center region, cellos on the right, percussion on the back, etc. So how are you going to translate the above information to actual panning settings? See the final panning settings implemented below:

For the reason why the above settings was done, take a look at the symphony orchestra instruments layout shown before and use the Notion3 panning settings guide discussed earlier. For example, cello is placed on the entire right region of the orchestra, so it is also panned to occupy the entire right region of the stereo field. Also Oboe is placed on the center and it should also be panned on the center.

How to make it sound the instrument more up-front or back?

The easiest solution is to simply use the following rules on setting levels (volume) for each instrument:

1.) For instruments placed on front of the audience, it will have more volume due to the direct nature of sound reaching the audience ears.

2.) For instruments placed on the back of the orchestra (e.g. oboe, horn, etc.), assign a lower volume levels. Below are the assigned volume level settings for each instrument Symphony #25:

As discussed, since Oboe and Horn are placed on the back of the orchestra, they should have lower volume levels set (-6dB in the above screenshot). While Viola, Violin and Cello should be made to sound louder since they are directly fronting the audience. Careful not to clip the master output(exceeding 0dB showing red), allow -3dB maximum to be safe. See a sample screenshot below for Notion3 master output level meters:

Listen to the 1 minute mix down of Symphony #25 by Mozart using Notion3 with the audio mixing settings:

If you want more information regarding this topic, you can read the tutorial on symphony orchestra panning and reverb settings. If you want to download Symphony #25 First movement sheet music, you can do it here:
http://www.free-scores.com/PDF_EN/mozart-wolfgang-amadeus-symphony-kv183-1st-movement-10489.pdf

You have read stories of successful songwriters making a good living out of their hit songs. And even a single hit song can really have a big impact on the songwriter financial lives. The problem is that hit songs do not come naturally and is rare to find. Only a small percentage of released singles could actually become long term hits.

Below are some of the proven techniques for producing hit songs that are observed from the songwriting legends like Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney, as well as many others. If you like to produce hit songs, then you should try the following tips below.

Tip#1: Write as many songs as you can

The percent probability of producing hit songs is VERY rare. For example the Beatles has around 54 hit songs in their entire career, yet the Beatles wrote a total of 275 songs.

So the hit song percentage is:

Hit song percent = 54/275 ~20%

And take note that this 20% hit song percentage comes from the collaboration of two songwriting legends (Lennon/McCartney). For single songwriters, you should expect a lesser percentage.

For example Bob Dylan wrote a total of 450 songs as of 2009 and there are around 25 hit songs (not even one of them reaches number 1 position in the charts). This percentage would be around: 25/450= ~5%

The point is that if you are an aspiring songwriter and frustrated that no one accepts your songs, check how many songs you already written. If you only wrote 5 songs; then do not expect you already have a hit song out of your very small catalog. You need to write more songs, to increase the chances of writing a hit song.

Based on a 5% probability (average to exceptional songwriter), you need to write at least 20 original songs to score at least a single hit song.

Legendary writers know this secret; it is why they write so many songs in their entire lives. Paul McCartney has around 500 songs written. And if you look at the catalog of big music publishing companies they have thousands of songs, yet only a very few of them are hits.

Tip#2: Be a perfectionist-rewrote for perfection

Since tip#1 told you to write as many songs as you can, there is still no excuse for poor quality. Exceptional songwriters and composers spend a LOT of time crafting even a single song. Some of them can even complete a single song in 2 weeks time.

You need to put more emphasis on quality when writing songs. Focus on the lyrics, story, melody and the hook of the song (what the listener should remember always, this is often the melody of the chorus).

Despite the genius and true legend of Beethoven; he only wrote 9 symphonies. Why? Beethoven always revises those symphonies over and over again until it sounds perfect. Beethoven is not after the quantity he wrote, but the quality of his musical output.

After so many years, Beethoven nine symphonies are highly regarded as the finest musical achievement ever made. The secret: be a perfectionist.

Tip#3: Use common hit song chord sequences

If you already sung the hit songs using either a guitar or a piano, you noticed that the chord sequences are common and repeatable from one song to another. They have similar pattern. For example, these are very common hit song chord sequences:

C-Am-F-G
G-Em-C-D
C-G-Am-F
C-Em-F-G
Am-F-C-G
Bm-G-D-A
D-A-G-A
G-D-Em-C
Em-C-G-D
G-C-G-C
F-Dm-Bb-C
D-A-Bm-G

If you are writing songs, make sure you are using the above chord sequences; it will substantially increase your chances of writing hit songs.

Tip#4: Let the child sing

Some rare tips in hit songwriting are testing the strong of the hook. Some songs you have just listened today may not be memorable in the next day. If songs have some melodies and words that stick on your mind longer, then it has the qualities of a hit song.

One of the reliable tests is to sing your song to a child (7 years old at most). Play it a couple times (once every day for two days) and observed how the child remembers the song each time when it’s being played.

The final test is that after a couple days; let the child sing the chorus tune. If the child could remember the tune perfectly then you have just wrote a hit song.

Tip#5: Be original and be yourself

Legendary songwriters wrote songs by themselves, influenced by a lot of factors such as the society, culture, etc.

One problem today with songwriters is the lacking of originality; the theme of the song repeats over and over again from one songwriter to another. To be original, just be yourself and wrote what you really write to share and relate.

Kurt Cobain wrote some of the finest songs in Nirvana. Inspired by anger, loneliness and even by his own personal problem; he express all of them in writing and that what make his songs unique and outstanding.

Bob Dylan is the voice of the 60’s; if you understand the lyrics of his songs, it would convey a lot of information about the politics and culture on that time. It is why his songs have some value in people lives.

Tip#6: Write with common structure and arrangement

It’s OK to be unique with structuring the song. But most hit songs do have some common structure. These are the following:

1.) Verse- Chorus – Verse
2.) Verse –Chorus – Verse – Bridge
3.) Chorus – Verse – Chorus –Bridge

As you have observed, all song structure used in hit songs do include a chorus. A common mistake in songwriting is ignoring the importance of chorus. And even you include a chorus, make sure it stands out from your song and make it sound different from your stanza or bridge.

So the client sent me a sample mix of the original vocal mixing in mp3 format. The background instrumentation has been done entirely with a software (no live music instrumentation). That works well except that client is unsure how to mix the vocals particularly adding reverb to it.

This is a original sample of the vocal mix done by the client:

Quick comments on the original mix:

1.) Simple listening reveals that the vocal is too strong with respect to the background instrumentation.

2.) Too much reverb has been applied on the vocals. It does not match with the background instrumentation or the entire track as a whole.

3.) The vocal does not sit properly with the mix, indicating that it has not been applied with proper EQ and compression settings.

4.) Quick inspection when the sample mix is loaded in Reaper DAW reveals a clipping particularly associated with the vocals. See below (see the red on top of the level meters):

5.) The vocal quality and recording is good only that it needs more work in the mix to make it sound right.

Being conservative with reverb and processing could sound best

When I have original vocal recording wav file; I provide him a sample of what a vocal mix would sound good according to my ears.

This is what I did:

Step1.) Load the vocal recording in Reaper DAW as well as the minus-one background instrumentation. I then add a volume envelope to automate the control of vocal volume throughout the track.

For example, I apply silence before the start of the vocals to remove unnecessary background noise. Then I also apply silence in between the long pause of the vocals for the same purpose. This would allow me to non-destructively edit the vocal volume.

Balancing the vocal volume with the instrumentation is then done by adjusting the faders as enclosed inside the yellow box.

I then look at the master level meters to make sure there is no clipped signal throughout the track.

Step2.) I only apply 3 effects. The vocal reverb has been placed at the last. And in this example, I am using a Focusrite reverb plug-in.

In the original recording, the vocal mid and highs is a little bit lower and the vocals are a bit bassy. So I apply a mild EQ using the following:

Low shelf 150Hz, -3dB
2000Hz, Q=1.0 +2dB
15,000Hz Q=1.4, +1.0dB

I then apply a vocal compression using Waves C4 mono effects to balance the weak and strong section of the vocals. It is using the pop vocal preset. The reverb is using a small bright room presets which will apply a very small amount of reverb to the vocal track. This is the setting I used.

Finally this is the complete mix using the vocal processing procedures above:

As you have observed the vocal now sounds tight and balance in the mix. The vocal reverb has been set to low and the vocals are made to sit with the instrumentation with appropriate EQ and compression settings. Personally, I love the vocals to sound up-front and dry.

But what if you want more reverb? Make sure it sounds great

The reverb depends on the expectation of the producer (depending also on the targeted genre). Sometimes being tight sounds great but the producer might want a longer reverb tail. This requires a lot of listening, balance and experimentation to ensure that the reverb added would not be detrimental to the mix.Also moderation is the key.

Below is a sample vocal mix done with moderate reverb setting (medium jam room presets in Focusrite reverb plug-in):

If you like to use an entirely free plug-in that comes along with Reaper DAW, you can use “insert-live vocal” plug-in. Below is a setting if you want a longer reverb tail:

The trick is to lower the “wet” settings until the desired reverb tail has been achieved. For example in the above screenshot, I set it to -7.

This is a sample vocal mix done with Reaper “insert-live vocal” plugin.

To accurately set reverb and other vocal processing effects, you need to have reliable audio monitoring systems in your home studio and mix at low to moderate volume (friendly to your ears). You should be using nearfield monitors and not computer speakers. Also with reverb processing, I tend to double check the vocal mix with headphones to make it sounds nice in any monitoring environment.

a.) Getting a PC or Mac with the multi-track recording software. This is your digital audio workstation or DAW software. Example of this includes Protools, Reaper, Cubase, etc.

b.) Getting the necessary recording gears
c.) Interfacing your recording gears with DAW.
d.) Treating your room acoustics for balance mix.

Understanding how a Digital Recording System Works

Unlike analog which is a common recording technology in the 70’s and 80’s; home recording studio today is commonly using a digital recording system to cut cost and simplify the process. The heart of the system is your personal computer.

Since you’re a beginner; you are clueless as to how these things works and how your computer interacts with the recording gears. Begin with examining the diagram below as well as the direction of the arrows:

It all starts with the musical instruments to be recorded (vocals, guitars, drums, bass, etc.). It is feed into an audio interface which has a pre-amp on it. A pre-amp is an electronic device to boost the weak instrument signals to line level signals.

In most musical instruments, you might be using additional recording gears which would be placed in between the audio interface preamp input and your musical instrument. Example of these gears could be any of the following:

a.) Guitar effects pedal (if you are recording guitars).
b.) Hardware EQ, compressor, delay, etc. (for guitars, bass, other instruments)
c.) Direct Box (for conditioning impedances in the line, commonly used with guitars and bass)
d.) Microphone (for recording vocals).
e.) Guitar amplifier cabinet – if you are recording the sound of the guitar using a microphone.

Once the signal from these musical instruments reaches the audio interface, there is a gain adjustment that you can use to strengthen the incoming signal. Bear in mind that the signal output from these instruments (vocals, guitars, microphones, etc) are rather weak signals. They are called instrument or microphone level signals.

The preamp in the audio interface would be used to boost these weak instrument/microphone signals to professional line level signal to be used in the recording. If you are confused with these technical terms, you can read the difference between Line, Instrument and Microphone Levels.

An audio interface also has an analog to digital converter that converts analog audio signal (which is the output of the pre-amp) to digital signals that can be understood and processed by a computer. Once the signal is now in digital form, it will go to the computer for storage and further processing. The digital data will travel in either in a Firewire cable or USB cable. This depends on the audio interface type.

The digital signals recorded are handled these software:

a.) Software mixer of audio interface – used in signal routing and signal management within and outside the computer. This works exactly like a hardware mixer you see in most recording studios only that this is digital/software in form.

Professional audio interface used for recording includes a software mixer on them. For example, below is the software mixer of Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 audio interface:

b.) Multi-track recording software – this is your actual DAW software that will do the actual management of recording and playback of recorded digital audio signals inside and outside your computer. The digital data are then saved in the computer hard drive.

During mixing or playback mode (the recorded digital signals are played by your DAW software), the digital audio data in the hard drive is then read by the software then it passes to the Firewire or USB cable to the audio interface.

Once in audio interface, the digital audio is then converted back to analog form using its D/A converter (digital to analog). The analog audio is then outputted to your nearfield or reference monitors (speakers). You can then listen to your recorded tracks.

Completing your PC Home studio

Once you have the budget, all you need is to have a computer that you can use for recording. And then connect the recording gears to your PC or Mac.

For details you can read the tutorial on how to easily convert your pc into a recording studio.

Below is an example of a complete home studio:

You need to do a lot of planning before you can actually construct your home recording studio. The planning should include the following:

a.) Complete computer hardware specs.
b.) Operating system and DAW software to be used.
c.) Room layout and acoustic treatment plan
d.) Recording gears plan (what type of audio interface you will be using, microphones, etc.)
e.) Your budget

Do not do this in a hurry, if you have questions in this matter. Feel free to ask me by commenting below. Thanks.

It can be a different scenario for independent film makers or small movie production companies. It is because they do not have its own lawyers or experts in music licensing working for them all the time. It is essential for them to know the music rights for film. Knowing these rights can be helpful for them to legally use the song or music to be used on their film project.

If you are an independent movie/film producer that wants to use copyrighted music in your project; then make sure you know the rights that you need to be cleared before you can start working in your project.

What are the important music rights for film?

1. Right to synchronization – these are popularly called “sync” rights. These are the rights for music to be used and synchronized together with film visual images. In layman’s term; this is synonymous with the film “sound track”. The licensing fee for sync depends on the music publisher and the licensee budget.
It can be as low as $5 to as high as thousands of dollars for popular hit songs.

2. Right to use the sound recording/master recording rights – these are called “master recording rights”, the owner is typically the recording producer. Some independent music publishers are also recording producers and they also hold the rights of the sound recording.

A good example is an indie artist/producer that writes and produces original work. The artists wrote the song and then using his/her home studio, the master recording of that song was created. To make sure the artist original work would be protected; the artist obtains both the copyright of the song and the master recording.

The indie artist can then license this work to any interested parties such as movie/film and TV producers. Take note that in a situation like this, the artist functions both as a music publisher and a master recording rights owner.

If you plan to use the song but create your own master recording for the use in the projects; then you do not need to acquire sound recording rights. You simply need to ask permission from the music publisher to cover the song. Once granted; you start making your own master recording of that song and use it in your film.
The licensing fee depends on the music publisher and the budget of the film producer. It can be as low as $5 to as high as thousands of dollars for very popular songs.

Normally in a film production where music needs to be synchronized with the film visual images, then the sync and use of master recording rights are only required (which 95% of the indie film producers should need to be cleared). But these are not the only rights which you might need to acquire for your film project.

3. Mechanical rights – after completing your film project. You might need to burn it to several copies of DVD which you might sell to movie shops or even distribute it to other people. The reproduction of recorded medium (DVD, film strips, CDs, video cassette) requires you to acquire mechanical rights from the music publisher of the song/ music. If you do not plan to replicate your work to a number of copies, you do not need to acquire these rights in order to use certain music for your project.

In most cases (such as in Hollywood film projects), they are released and duplicated to several copies (DVDS, VCD, film strips), so they should need to acquire mechanical rights.Bear in mind that independent film makers do not distribute their movies to the public. They are provided to movie distributors. Thus the film makers are not the one to obtain mechanical rights but the only the distributors. The distributors would do the actual work of replicating the movies to several copies and have it available for sale.

If the music publisher is Harry Fox affiliated, then you need to arrange and get permission from them. Otherwise if they are not affiliated you need to contact directly the music publisher. The licensing fee depends on the number of copies to be sold or distributed. For example, the distributor would be paying high mechanical licensing fees if thousands or millions of copies would be distributed. Permanent digital downloads are also included in mechanical rights licensing.

4. Performance rights – once the project has been released to the public (like shown in theaters), the music will be publicly performed along with the movie. Thus, any commercial use should pay performance royalties. However as an independent film maker, you are not responsible for this but only those commercial venues that publicly show your film. In this case, movie theaters, cable channels and television stations which might be releasing or using your film project will be the one to pay performance royalties not you.