To make up the master recording, group of mixes, aka final passes is made, these includes several versions of the mix which is done at the end of the mixdown phase of any given song. The Instrumental and acapella versions is the most common example, however, it really depends on what the label or artist will require.

Among the other kinds of passes that is industry-standard are the following: the main pass (full mix), as well as the main pass (vox up) and main pass (vox down), which have the vocals slightly up or down. For special cases, radio edit (shortened for radio) and TV Track (a mix minus the lead vocal) is also done. For a song with explicit lyrics, it is customary to create a clean pass.

If you’re making a dance remix project, you always need to do the extended pass and the radio edit. It would be another arrangement if you are working on an album. The extended pass will serves as the main mix of the song and intro and outro sections are extended to allow DJs to mix the song with other songs.

MIX EXTENSIONS

Now, we are already aware of the final passes created to complete a master recording we will now go through on how each of those passes is done.
We’ll start on the extended version, it can be started once you know the direction and basic groove and structure of the remix. Commonly, it is around six to seven minutes long which features purpose-built intro and outro sections and geared toward beat-matching and DJing.

As a starting point for that section, we need to create a minute of space in the front to work on the intro section and then copy the drum tracks from the main part of the song, which you have already worked on, and paste them at the beginning of the extended intro.

Next, you need to figure out how you want the intro to build by experimenting with muting various mix elements and auditioning different track combinations. You have to keep in mind that even though it’s an extended section designed for DJ transitions, you have to populate it with signature elements such as synth parts, featured loops, and anything that will give the record its own identity and help lead into the main part of the song, this is one way of being creative.

Once you done with the intro you can start working on the outro. You can play with the arrangement by essentially creating a mirror image of the intro with the fuller part at the beginning instead of the end. And you will come back to it later when the other sections are exactly how you want them to be.

ON THE RADIO

After the extended mix is complete, you will move on to the radio edit. If you have time constraints you can just carve from the stereo file of the extended mix, but if not it is preferable to create the radio edit directly in the extended mix’s multi-track session.

Because by doing so, you will have more creative control, for example you are editing a 2-track file there may be a sound effect, cymbal crash, or other sustaining element that ends up getting cut off or cut short due to an edit. But you have to maintain consistency so that if you change an element along the way, it will get translated across both mixes.

You have to remember that when you do a radio edit, you have to copy all the regions for the entire extended mix to later in the timeline because later on it is where you will work on editing it. Make sure to also copy all the automation.

In cases like typical dance mixes where there is long break-down section, you have to edit it down in the multitrack to allow you to re-create it to fit the shorter format and still have control over all its elements.

After everything has been successfully copied, you can start carving down the radio edit. You can start chopping the intro and outro sections, there are cases that this can totally be cut entirely, to achieve an eight to 16 bars. The other section that can often be cut is the breakdown. Those two steps are enough to get the mix to be less than four minutes.

LAST STEPS

As soon as both versions are completed, you can start printing the final master passes. You can follow this standard list of passes that is usually used whether or not artists or label asks for it.

Once both versions are complete, I begin printing the final master passes. I have my own standard list of mixes that I print whether or not the label or artist asked for them:
-extended mix (main pass)
-extended mix instrumental
– extended mix (a cappella)
– radio edit (main pass)
– radio edit (instrumental)
-radio edit (a cappella) all in both full-bandwidth 24-bit WAVs and 320kbps MP3s.