This is more of an observation with PTLE Toolbox and my G4. So I got all these tracks that sound good. Some are recorded in a pro studio, others (vocal) at home .... what I find interesting is the mix. When I monitor the songs, they almost sound like a bunch of separate tracks (even the ten tracks of drum parts ... hihat, kick, snare, etc.), rather than a song off my stereo. When I BTD it still sounds a bit like that, even though I choose the 'stereo' option. I'm new at this stuff, do you find this happening in your work, or do you have a fix, thoughts? Is there some plug in or something that I should use? Thanks!

Capture "room tone" with mics (possibly to their own tracks) or use a GOOD reverb, preferably from a outboard unit. Z

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR>Originally posted by lcouri: -Snip Above- When I BTD it still sounds a bit like that, even though I choose the 'stereo' option. I'm new at this stuff, do you find this happening in your work, or do you have a fix, thoughts? Is there some plug in or something that I should use? Thanks! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> lcouri, the problem you've described, is that you are hearing "tracked" instruments. ie-You must "mix" them all together as a cohesive L-R Master Track. You are indeed "new" (which all of us are in the beginning) to "mixdown". Here's a few suggestions. Get a comparable CD of the music you have recorded. (ie, if it's rock, get one of your favorite rock albums, if country, get your favorite country star, etc...) and listen to a song before going back and playing your tune. Listen to where all the instruments are compared to the vocal tracks. You'll notice that most vocals will be directly in the center (not all the time, but mostly this is true), as is the drums. The rest of the instruments will be panned out a little (headphones, IMO, are probaly the greatest way of really hearing pan on stereo mixes) You have seperate tracks for each instrument, but I almost always start with the drums. Adjust the pan of the individual drum tracks to where each instrument would be if you were behind the drum kit (I'll go with a right hand drummers perspective) Kick, it's a "little bit" to the right of the center of your body, so nudge the pan on the kick track to reflect that. Now, the snare is just a "little bit" to the left of center. Adjust accordingly. Now the high-hat is more to the left of you than the snare, but it's not on the left side of the "stage" (room, etc...), so pan that a little more left than the snare (by maybe a point/percentage). Now, solo these three while playing, and listen to what you've done- you've basicly made a kick, snare, hi-hat hover near the center of your listening position. Now taking what you've done, adjust the rest of the drum tracks and solo them when you've "panned" them accordingly. By this time you'll probably be at the end of the tune, so RTZ and play again, only with the drums. Is the high-hat louder than the snare of kick? Is the kick louder than the snare? Try to get each drum track at a relative level to each other (the meter reading's is a good indication that you're achieving this, headphones as well). Now, once you get the drums relative each other, try un-soloing them and listen to all the other instruments with the drums. Experiment with moving your guitar and bass (keyboards, any horns, etc????) around the drums. This should be a good basis on mix dynamics. Enough to get you started at the least. Try the above, don't be afraid to experiment. The first thing to do is get a good level mix going. Once you have that down, you'll definetly be ready to start expermenting with automation (which is why we use PT's) to make picture perfect mixes. Email me if you have more questions, but I'm sure that there'll be some more post's adding on top of this one.

To add to what Zeus & billbo said, and tie it together, some of my favorite stuff is recorded very ambiant. In rock especially the conventional wisdom is to close-mic everything , then EQ & reverb it to death in the mix. I like to mike drums and open cab guitars farther back to give them some "air". Anyone who's familiar with John Bonham's sqeaky bass pedal, or Glenn Gould's off-key humming knows what I mean. Many times the sound of the room the instrument is in is just as important as the instrument itself. However, it all depends on what you are trying to acheive. Experiment as much as possible and tryto use as few mics as you can.