Chapter 10. Put It Together: Arrange, Mix, and Master

Now that you've learned about all the components of a project, from MIDI tracks and synthesis to recorded audio and effects, it's time to bring it all together. You'll use arranging features to assemble your finished composition, mixing to ensure that your elements sound balanced and polished, and mastering to prepare your work for distribution.

Essentials

Put It Together

We'll follow the process of finishing a piece of music, from arranging to mixing to mastering, export, and sharing. Topics include:

• File management, nondestructive editing, and the arrangement view

• Editing, arranging, and beat slicing

• Balancing the elements of your mix

• Surround mixing and delivery

• Mix automation and envelopes

• Mastering and polishing your finished mix

• Sharing your work via different media

Essential Terms

• Beat detection/analysis, beat matching, beat slicing, audio quantization

• Regions; strip silence

• Markers/locators; tempo track; subsequences

• Mixing; mixdown

• Gain; unity gain; metering; over

• Spatialization; stereo; panning and pan pots; surround (quad, 5.1, 7.1, LFE)

• Automation; envelopes and breakpoints

• Mastering; reference mix; bouncing

• Dithering; noise shaping

Where to Start

Learn the basics of your program's arrangement view to arrange the structure of your music. Then focus on listening to the impact of gain and effects in the overall mix for effective balancing of mixed elements.