Single instrument

Goal

Check and prepare each track on its own: clean, in tune, in time, at the right level and with the character suited to its role, before putting it together with the others. Problems left here multiply in the following phases.

Step-by-step procedure

1. Session setup (FL Studio)

• Each element on its own mixer track, with a name and color (drums red, bass orange, harmony green, vocals blue, effects purple).
• Channel Rack channels linked to mixer tracks (none on the Master); multi-output plugins split by output.
• Faders at 0 dB, master with no plugins (metering only: Wave Candy/Emphasis in read-only mode or a meter).
• Note the BPM, key and structure (bars per section) in the Fruity NoteBook or in the project.

2. Source check

• Editing: no clicks or pops at the start and end of clips (5–10 ms fades), reduce breaths and noises (don't remove all the vocal breaths: lower them by 6–12 dB), clean silences.
• Timing: played or sampled parts land where they should (partial quantization 50–80% to preserve the feel; swing consistent with the groove).
• Pitch: kick and 808 samples tuned to the key; vocal corrected (see "Auto-Tune and Melodyne").
• Phase on multi-mic sources or layers: align and check polarity (invert and listen to which version has more bass/body).
• Sound design: if a sound is wrong (808 that booms on one note, pad full of bass, low-quality sample), fix it at the source (envelope, filter, sample choice, register) instead of with EQ.

3. Gain staging

• Track peak −12/−6 dBFS, average about −18 dBFS (RMS/VU), adjusting the channel volume or Fruity Balance in the first slot.
• Every plugin you add should have an output roughly equal to its input.

4. Cleanup

• HP according to the table in the EQ guide (e.g. vocal 80–120 Hz, pad 150–250 Hz, hi-hat 200–500 Hz).
• Notch resonances and hum (sweep: +10 dB Q 8, then cut 3–8 dB).
• Gate/expander only where there is noise or bleed (range −10/−20 dB).

5. Corrective EQ

• Broad regions: mud 200–400 Hz, boxiness 400–800 Hz, harshness 2–4 kHz (cuts of 1.5–4 dB, Q 1–2). No more than 3–4 narrow cuts per track.

6. Dynamics

• Compression according to the role (see the tables in the "Compressor: parameters" guide): vocal 6–10 dB in two stages, bass 4–6 dB, snare 3–6 dB, kick 3–6 dB, pad 0–3 dB.
• Transient shaper for kick, snare, percussion if they need more or less attack/sustain.
• De-esser on the vocal (5–9 kHz, range 3–6 dB).

7. Character

• Saturation or distortion if the role calls for it (808, bass, guitars, rap vocal, drum loop).
• Light color EQ (air, presence, weight).
• Don't add mix reverbs and delays yet (except effects that are part of the sound).

8. Listening and comparing in solo, but briefly

• Solo is for finding defects, not for making the track "sound good on its own". Limit tonal adjustments in solo: they will be decided in phases 2–3.

9. Export for analysis

• Export the track alone (solo/mute or Split mixer tracks) as 24-bit WAV, at the project sample rate, with insert effects active and the master disabled, from the beginning to the end of the song.
• Analysis: spectrum (long average), peak and RMS, crest factor, correlation and width.

Target values by track type

Link with pre-production and sound design

Note what you had to fix (e.g. "808 booms on the F: shorten the decay", "vocal recorded too close: proximity effect", "pad too wide in the bass"): it becomes the checklist for choosing sounds and recording better on the next song.

Common mistakes

• Moving on to the next phase with tracks that clip or click.
• "Beauty" EQ in solo.
• Excessive compression before hearing the track in context.
• Forgetting the phase of layers (you only discover it in phase 2 when the kick "disappears").