Prepping a Mix in Cubase: A Comprehensive Guide

When it comes to music production, prepping a mix in Cubase is a critical step that sets the foundation for a successful mixdown. Whether you’re working on a single track or an entire album, following a structured mix prep process ensures that your session is organized, efficient, and ready for creative exploration. This guide that I created for my assistants will walk you through the essential steps to prepping a mix in Cubase so that you can deliver professional-quality mixes every time.

Understanding the Importance of Mix Preparation

Before diving into the technical steps, it’s important to understand why prepping a mix is crucial. Proper preparation can save you countless hours during the mixing stage, prevent frustrating technical issues, and allow you to focus more on the artistic aspects of mixing. By setting up your session correctly, you ensure that all elements are in place and organized, enabling a smoother workflow and better creative outcomes.

Step 1: Project Setup

The first step in prepping a mix in Cubase is to set up your project correctly. Start by ensuring that you have the correct version of Cubase Pro installed (if you’re sending the project file to another Cubase user for mixing), as well as your current mix template file. This template will serve as the foundation for your project.

Here’s a link to download my current template which you can use to follow along with.

Folder Structure: Create a dedicated folder for your project. Inside this folder, create subfolders for each song, and within each song folder, create an “Audio Files” folder where you’ll save the song’s audio files. This structure helps keep everything organized and makes it easier to locate files during the mixing process.

Importing Audio Files: Once your folders are set up, unzip the multi-tracks for the song and place them in the “Audio Files” folder. It’s important to check the sample rate and bit depth of the files by right-clicking on one of the audio files and selecting “Get Info” on Mac OS. Ensure that your Cubase project settings match these parameters to avoid any potential issues during import.

Step 2: Creating a New Project

With your files organized, open Cubase and create a new project using your mix template. This template should already include your preferred routing, track layout, and effects chains, allowing you to dive straight into the mix.

Project Setup: Go to “Project” > “Project Setup” and make sure the bit depth and sample rate match the settings of your audio files. Set the project directory to the corresponding song folder you created earlier.

Tempo Setting: Input the project tempo into the transport bar by pressing F2. This step is essential for ensuring that all tracks align correctly with the grid, particularly if you’re working with MIDI or tempo-based effects.

Step 3: Importing and Organizing Audio Files

Next, it’s time to import the audio files into Cubase. Navigate to “File” > “Import” > “Audio File,” and select all the audio tracks for the song. When prompted, ensure that you select “Different tracks” instead of importing all files onto a single track. This keeps each instrument and vocal take on its own track, making it easier to manage during mixing.

Track Organization: Drag each audio track into its respective folder within the Cubase session. For example, lead vocals should go into the “LEAD VOCALS” folder, and background vocals should go into the “BGVS” folder. This organization not only keeps your session tidy but also speeds up your workflow by allowing you to quickly locate and adjust specific elements.

Grouping and Routing: Create group tracks for any elements that need to be summed together, such as background vocals or drum overheads. Make sure that all channel and group outputs are routed to the appropriate busses. For instance, lead vocals should be routed to the “LD VOCAL MSTR” bus, while background vocals should go to the “BGV MSTR” bus. Ensure that no tracks are accidentally routed to the “Stereo Out” bus unless they are specifically meant for rough mix or auxiliary inputs which should bypass your mix bus.

Step 4: Syncing and Gain Staging

With all your audio files in place, it’s time to sync them to the project grid. Start by listening to the tracks with the Cubase audio click to ensure they are perfectly aligned. If necessary, manually adjust the timing to sync any elements that are slightly off.

Creating and Muting Click Tracks: Print the Cubase audio click within the regions where it’s needed and drag it to the “Click” folder. Once you’ve verified that everything is in sync, mute the click track to avoid any interference during the mix.

Gain Staging: Perform basic gain staging by setting rough fader balances and ensuring that your mix bus is hitting around 0VU with plugins bypassed. This step lays the groundwork for your final mix, ensuring that you have adequate headroom and that no elements are excessively loud or quiet. For a quicker and extremely accurate gain staging method, I highly recommend the HornetVU plugin.

Step 5: Write Markers

Listen down from the top of the song to ensure you have all the same content that’s in the rough mix. As you’re doing that, write markers for each section (ie: Intro, Verse 1, Chorus 1, etc) at the beginning of measures.

Step 6: Cleaning and Final Checks

Before wrapping up the mix prep, take some time to clean up your session. This involves removing any unnecessary noise, clicks, or pops from the audio files (I like Izotope RX) as well as renaming any tracks that have confusing or generic names.

Tom Tracks and Gating: If you’re working with acoustic drums, manually gate the tom tracks to reduce bleed and clean up the drum sound. This is particularly important for achieving a tight and focused drum mix.

Session Cleanup: Delete any tracks, folders, or busses that are not being used in the mix. This declutters your session and makes it easier to navigate as you work on the mix.

Final Steps: Saving and Delivering the Project

Once your session is prepped and organized, save the project with a clear naming convention, such as “SongTitle_010221” (month/day/year). This makes it easy to identify and locate later. If you’re sending the project to a collaborator, zip the entire project folder, including the audio files, and upload it to your preferred file-sharing service for delivery.

By following these steps, you’ll ensure that your mix sessions are always well-prepared and ready for creative exploration. Prepping a mix in Cubase might seem like a meticulous process, but it’s an investment in your workflow that will pay off with smoother, faster, and more enjoyable mixing sessions.

For more information on getting the most out of Cubase, visit Steinberg Cubase. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!