Tracking and Mixing

On Saturday, we start tracking background vocals for one of the projects that I started working on last March. The project was initially slated as a demo. The songs are now being produced as commercial grade and the tracks have grown dramatically. A typical song from this project contains the following elements:

Drums: 15 tracks
Electric Guitars: 20 tracks
Acoustic Guitars: 2 tracks
Bass Guitar: 1 track
Keyboards: 12 tracks
Finish vocal: 1 track
Background vocals: 30 tracks
Percussion: 10 tracks

I expect most of the songs to cross the 100 track barrier. The project will be a significant mixing effort. And the producer wants a surround sound mix as well.

My studio is not set up for surround sound mixing. The producer will take the project and remix it for surround at another facility. I think it is a waste of time and effort.

RIAA reported 766 million manufactured CDs shipped in 2004. There were only 1 million manufactured DVD-Audio and SACD units shipped in 2004. DVD-Audio units shipped declined by 20% over 2003 numbers. SACD declined by 40% over 2003 numbers.

Perhaps there will be a dramatic increase in demand for surround. Won’t happen for a few years yet. Unless the project is tier one status, say Sting or Shania, there is not much point in making the investment in surround. The catalog can always be remixed later when demand picks up.