Mixing a spoken word project

Now that we have a session set up with the tracks needed for most spoken word projects, let’s move on to mixing the project. Retaining the mindset that we should create a more “hands-off” approach to the mix, we’re going to apply more aggressive dynamics control to the voice tracks and a master “catch-all” to the Dialogue Submix. We’ll also apply some sidechain compression to the Background Submix so that it will automatically duck the music or other parts when someone talks.

Getting ready

For this recipe, you will need a blank Pro Tools session with multiple tracks routed appropriately for a spoken word project (check the previous recipe for instructions on how to do so).

This recipe uses the YouLean Loudness meter to measure LUFS. You will need it installed to follow through the last steps of this recipe. Check out Chapter 6, recipe Understanding LUFS, for details.

Make sure that the Inserts...