Properly preparing and sending your tracks to a mix engineer can seem like a complex task, but the goal is simple: your mix engineer needs each individual element of your session as a separate audio track, and each track should be in time with the song.
For example, the lead vocal, each vocal harmony, every guitar part, the bass, and each drum element (kick, snare, hi-hat, etc.) should be on their own audio tracks. Each track should then be in sync with the song’s timing–if there’s a vocal part that starts 1 minute into the song at the chorus, then there should be 1 minute of “blank space” before it comes in.
Table of Contents
Preparing The Session
Create a Backup
Use “Save As” to create a backup of your session.
This ensures you have an original to fall back on if needed.
Label and Organize Tracks
Give each track a clear, descriptive name.
Delete any duplicate or muted tracks.
Edit and Clean Up Tracks
Ensure all tracks are in time.
Remove unnecessary noise (e.g., guitar amp buzz when not playing).
Bypass Certain Effects and Plugins
Disable effects that might interfere with the mix.
Ensure software instruments (e.g., drums) are properly managed.
Prepare for Export
If using software drums, export each drum element individually.
Double-check for any potential roadblocks before sending. More on those potential roadblocks below!
Potential Roadblock: Should You Include Effects?
Whether to include effects when exporting tracks is a nuanced decision, but it mainly comes down to creative intent. Here's a guideline:
Keep Effects On: If an effect is crucial to the sound (e.g., a guitar through an amp simulator or a heavily processed synth), leave it on. This preserves the creative intent behind the sound.
Bypass Effects: For subtle enhancements like EQ, compression, or reverb, it's usually better to bypass them to give the mix engineer maximum control.
Send Both Versions: If you're uncertain, export both a dry (unprocessed) and a wet (processed) version of the track.
Potential Roadblock: Exporting Software Drums
Exporting software drums can be trickier than other instruments, as different programs handle this differently. Here are three potential methods to isolate drum elements like kick, snare, toms, and hi-hats:
Route Each Drum to Its Own Track: Check if your drum software supports routing individual drum elements to separate audio outputs for export.
Solo or Mute: Solo one drum element at a time (or mute the others) during export.
Duplicate and Delete: Create duplicate tracks for each drum part, then delete all but one element's MIDI note per track
(e.g., only Kicks on one track, only Snares on another track).
General Step-by-Step Guide to Exporting Tracks
*Keep scrolling down for my Logic Pro and Ableton Live guide to exporting tracks.
Save a New Version of Your Session
Use “Save As” to create a separate session specifically for exporting.
This way, you can experiment or make changes without affecting your original session.
Organize the Tracks
If necessary, name each track, delete redundant tracks, and edit noise and timing issues.
Bypass Unnecessary Effects
Deactivate any plugins or effects that aren't crucial to the creative intent of the sound.
Set the Start and End Points
Highlight the entire timeline of your song, starting from the very beginning—even if some tracks don’t start immediately—and leave room for reverb or delay tails at the end.
Export Your Tracks
Go to File → Export or a similar menu option in your DAW.
Some DAWs allow batch exporting of all tracks at once; others require exporting one track at a time.
Choose Audio Format
Select WAV or AIFF for high-quality, uncompressed files. Avoid MP3, as it compresses audio and degrades quality.
Set Sample Rate and Bit Depth
Match the settings to your original recordings. For example:
If you recorded at 44.1kHz/24-bit, export at the same.
Avoid upscaling (e.g., exporting at 96kHz if you recorded at 44.1kHz), as it doesn’t improve quality but increases file size.
Downscaling (e.g., exporting at 44.1kHz from a session at 96kHz) will slightly degrade quality but is often acceptable.
Organize Files in a Folder
Export all tracks into a single folder labeled with the song name (e.g., SongName_Tracks).
You can also include a text file with notes about the project (e.g., tempo, key, or creative preferences).
Double-Check Your Export
Import all files into a new session to ensure:
Timing is intact (no misalignments).
Tracks play back as expected.
Effects are applied correctly (if any).
Send The Files
Compress the folder into a ZIP file to simplify transfer and for faster upload times. Use file-sharing services like WeTransfer (recommended), Google Drive, or Dropbox. Ensure download links are active and clearly labeled.
How to Export Tracks from Logic Pro
Save a New Version of Your Session
Use “Save As” to create a separate session specifically for exporting.
This way, you can experiment or make changes without affecting your original session.
Organize the Tracks
If necessary, name each track, delete redundant tracks, and edit noise and timing issues.
Bypass Unnecessary Effects
Deactivate any plugins or effects that aren't crucial to the creative intent of the sound.
With Logic Pro, you'll be able to bypass all effects later on when exporting, but it's better to manually go through each track to determine which effects you'd like to keep.
Navigate to Export:
Go to File → Export, then choose either:
"1 Track as Audio File…" to export a single track, or
"All Tracks as Audio Files…" to export all tracks in your session simultaneously.
Set Your Preferences:
When the dialog box appears, I recommend the following settings:
Range: “Trim Silence at File End”
This removes unnecessary blank audio at the end of tracks, saving storage space.
For instance, if an instrument only plays in the intro, it won’t include silence for the rest of the song.
Save Format: “WAVE” or “AIFF”
Both formats are high-quality and interchangeable.
WAV is the more widely used standard, while AIFF is Apple’s proprietary format.
Bit Depth: “24 Bit”
You’re welcome to use any bit depth between 16 and 32, but I suggest choosing 24 or whichever bit depth your session is already in.
Bypass Effect Plug-ins: Optional
Check this if you want to export the track without any processing, which is generally recommended.
Uncheck if you want to include effects or processing (e.g., amp sims, creative effects) as part of the exported track. If unsure, export two versions—one with effects bypassed and one with effects included.
Include Audio Tail: Checked
This ensures that any lingering reverbs, delays, or sustained notes at the end of the track are captured in the export.
Include Volume/Pan Automation: Optional
Check this option if you want the exported audio to reflect your session’s volume and pan adjustments (generally recommended).
Leave it unchecked for raw tracks with no automation applied.
Normalize: “Overload Protection Only”
This setting prevents clipping while preserving the volume levels and dynamics from your session.
Organize Files in a Folder
Export all tracks into a single folder labeled with the song name (e.g., SongName_Tracks).
You can also include a text file with notes about the project (e.g., tempo, key, or creative preferences).
Double-Check Your Export
Import all files into a new session to ensure:
Timing is intact (no misalignments).
Tracks play back as expected.
Effects are applied correctly (if any).
Send The Files
Compress the folder into a ZIP file to simplify transfer and for faster upload times.
Use file-sharing services like WeTransfer (recommended), Google Drive, or Dropbox. Ensure download links are active and clearly labeled.
How to Export Tracks from Ableton Live
Save a New Version of Your Session
Use “Save As” to create a separate session specifically for exporting. This way, you can experiment or make changes without affecting your original session.
Organize the Tracks
If necessary, name each track, delete redundant tracks, and edit noise and timing issues.
Bypass Unnecessary Effects
Deactivate any plugins or effects that aren't crucial to the creative intent of the sound.
Highlight the Timeline:
On your session’s timeline, highlight the section of your song that you want to export.
To do this, click and drag along the timeline from the beginning of your song to the end. Make sure to include some extra time before and after the song to make sure no audio is getting cut off.
This highlighted section will determine the Render Start and Render Length parameters in a future step.
Export Settings:
Go to File → Export Audio/Video. A dialog box will appear, and below are the settings I recommend:
Rendered Track: “All Individual Tracks”
This setting exports all tracks at once, creating a separate audio file for each one.
However, you may want to set it to a specific track instead if you’d like to export one track at a time (e.g. exporting a dry and a wet version).
Render Start:
If you’ve highlighted the song’s length in your timeline, then this will already be set.
Many songs start at the first beat of the first measure (1.1.1), although my example song starts at Measure 5 (5.1.1). Just make sure this setting is the same for every track you export.
Render Length:
If you highlighted the song’s length in your timeline, then this will already be set for you.
Make sure it covers the full song length, with extra time for reverb tails or decays.
If exporting one track at a time, you can shorten this based on the track’s length to save storage space.
Rendering Options:
Keep all rendering options Off.
You can turn on “Include Return and Master Effects” if you want to capture the return tracks or master channel’s effects on a specific track, but generally I’d advise to leave that off
Note: “Include Return and Master Effects” doesn’t affect track-insert effects, which will always export unless bypassed.
Encode PCM: “On”
Then select either WAV or AIFF. You can choose your desired Bit Depth, but I recommend 24. Leave Dither Off.
Additional Settings:
Encode MP3: Off
Upload to SoundCloud: Off
Video Encoding: Off
None of these settings are necessary when exporting audio tracks for mixing.
Organize Files in a Folder
Export all tracks into a single folder labeled with the song name (e.g., SongName_Tracks).
You can also include a text file with notes about the project (e.g., tempo, key, or creative preferences).
Double-Check Your Export
Import all files into a new session to ensure:
Timing is intact (no misalignments).
Tracks play back as expected.
Effects are applied correctly (if any).
Send The Files
Compress the folder into a ZIP file to simplify transfer and for faster upload times.
Use a file-sharing service like WeTransfer (recommended), Google Drive, or Dropbox.
Ensure download links are active and clearly labeled.
Need a hand?
Preparing tracks for mixing can feel overwhelming with all the technical details and terms involved, but it doesn’t have to be. If you’re feeling stuck, don’t hesitate to reach out- I’m here to help! Whether you need clarification or extra guidance, I’m always happy to help make the process as smooth as possible for you. It’s often a lot easier than it seems, and together we can make sure your song is ready for mixing in no time.
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