How mix songs? Maschine and Ableton?

Hi, I've been using Maschine as a standalone since I got it. I have a bunch of songs on maschine and someone recommended I mix them down, as far as the drums and samples, and make a complete mixdown song. I just got Ableton live 8, have yet to use it. Are there any links, videos or tips on mixing down my tracks in maschine to ableton? I already know how to pull up maschine as a vst and drag and drop my drums,samples, etc...but im stuck there. Like whats the process in mixing it down? Thanks

 

Drag n drop your patterns into separate audio tracks in ableton, then apply EQ / Compression / Multiband Dynamics / etc...unfortunately there's no universal formula for mixing & mastering..you're going to have to apply different techniques until you find something that works.

You can check your mixes accuracy by playing the song on different soundsystems like the car stereo, home stereo, headphones, earbuds, etc.

One tip tho, in Live, put a Limiter on all your audio tracks so nothing clips.

 

IMO, I don't think that's a good idea. If the signal is too hot, maybe a trim plugin might work better. Adding a limiter to every track as a default is not the route most cats would go, but if it works for you, more power to ya .

 

Mix to around -12db, peaking at -6bd...then bounce the project down to a stereo wave and bring up the loudness in a separate project...best advice ive ever been given in mixing

Think of the tune as being a 3d soudstage, use your kick and bass as anchors in the middle, so bring up their levels first, make sure they work together as they will drive the tune most of the time...try to leave the snare/clap in the center too

Then bring up other components to their respective levels...pan them out to make room, use reverb and/or delay to give depth...if a sound competes in the same frequency then use EQ to give it its own space, remember cuts are better than boosts..

Try not to mix with anything on the master buss, you need to hear the mix in its clarity, you should not be trying to fix a bad mix with mastering

Remember and have fun, if you find yourself tweaking it to death walk away for a while and rest your ears...

Sorry if thats a bit basic, wasnt sure if thats what you were asking

 

ableton is also very good for automation in song mode which you cannot do in maschine so there might be some benefit for you there

 

You can open your maschine projects in Ableton as VST and route the audio to different tracks there. No need to drag and drop this way.

 

How to sequence scene changes, record automation across scenes, record track mutes and record arrangements on the fly all from within Maschine standalone:
http://www.native-instruments.com/forum/showthread.php?t=147445