How to mix with TonalBrain Mix in FL Studio

Before you start

• Use the VST3 version of TonalBrain Mix in FL Studio. If TonalBrain Mix does not show, select Options > Manage plugins and click Find more plugins. On a Mac, use only one format (AU or VST3) in one project.
• Do not bridge TonalBrain Mix and do not run it in a separate process. All instances must run in the FL Studio process to show as tabs in one window.
• You need a TonalBrain account and an internet connection to get suggestions. To install the plugin and sign in, see Get started.
• New accounts get 3 free credits at the first sign-in in the plugin. One analysis uses one credit, for up to 24 tracks.

Bus layered sounds first

Some sounds use more than one track: for example kick in, kick out and kick sub, double-tracked guitars, or a stack of backing vocals. Mix each of these sounds as one sound. Send its tracks to a bus and put TonalBrain Mix only on the bus. This also keeps a large session under the limit of 24 tracks.

In FL Studio, use a mixer insert that gets the other inserts:

1. 1Send each track of the group to its own mixer insert.
2. 2In the Mixer, select these inserts.
3. 3On a free insert, right-click the send arrow at the bottom and select Route to this track only. Give the insert a name, for example “Drum Bus”.
4. 4Put TonalBrain Mix on the bus. Do not put it on the tracks that go into the bus.

The plugin finds which tracks go into the bus and shows them under DETECTED ROUTING. It does not process these tracks two times. If the plugin calls a normal track a bus, click NOT A BUS?.

Put TonalBrain Mix on your key tracks

1. 1Send the track to its own mixer insert. In the Mixer, click an empty effect slot of the insert and select TonalBrain Mix.
2. 2Do step 1 again on each important track and bus: for example kick, snare, bass, lead vocal and the main instruments. You can use up to 24 tracks. The more tracks, the better the result.Result: Each track shows as a tab at the left of the plugin window.
3. 3Make sure that each track has an instrument name, for example “Kick” or “Lead Vocal”. Click the track-name field at the top of the plugin window to select an instrument from the list.

• After your own processing. Put tuning, noise reduction, gates and amp simulators before TonalBrain Mix.
• Before time-based effects. Put reverb and delay on sends, not before TonalBrain Mix on the track.
• One instance on each track. Do not put TonalBrain Mix on the master bus.

Use one window for all tracks

Open one TonalBrain Mix window and close the others. Each track with TonalBrain Mix shows as a tab at the left of the window. Click a tab to show and edit that track. See The plugin window.

If a track does not show as a tab, make sure that all tracks use the VST3 version and that all instances run in the same process.

Capture the verse and the chorus

Capture more than one part of your song, so that the mix works for all of them. You can capture up to 4 sections.

1. 1Type the genre of your song in the genre field, for example “pop”.
2. 2Click ANALYSIS.Result: The plugin shows WAITING FOR PLAYBACK.
3. 3In FL Studio, play the busiest part of your song, usually the chorus or the drop. Set the transport to Song mode, so that the capture hears your arrangement and not only one pattern.Result: The plugin records 10 seconds of all tracks. Section A is captured.
4. 4Click + and play the verse.Result: Section B is captured.
5. 5Optional: click + again for other parts, for example the bridge. You can capture up to 4 sections.

Analyze

1. 1Click GET SUGGESTIONS.Result: After approximately one minute, the plugin sets EQ, compression and effects on all tracks and shows “AI parameters applied!”.
2. 2Play your song. Click BYP ALL to hear your mix with and without TonalBrain Mix.

You get one set of settings for the whole song. One analysis uses one credit, for up to 24 tracks and all your sections. Captures, edits and preset changes do not use credits.

Compare results with presets (A/B)

Each analysis is saved as a new preset for all tracks: “Preset 1”, “Preset 2” and so on.

1. 1Change one thing, for example capture a different section or change the genre. Then click GET SUGGESTIONS again. This uses one more credit.Result: The plugin saves “Preset 2”.
2. 2Make sure that the selector next to the preset menu shows ALL TRACKS.
3. 3In the preset menu, select “Preset 1”, then “Preset 2”, and listen.Result: All tracks change together.

Your edits stay in each preset. To go back to the suggestion, click the round-arrow button next to the preset menu, then Revert to AI Settings. See Presets, edits and intensity.

Sidechain in FL Studio

TonalBrain Mix can make one track go down when a different track plays, for example the bass on each kick. Then the plugin shows “Sidechain routing needed”. Open the plugin window of the track in the message and do these steps:

1. 1Place the trigger and the processed audio on separate mixer insert tracks.
2. 2Select the trigger insert, then right-click the destination insert's send arrow and choose 'Sidechain to this track'.
3. 3Open TonalBrain Mix on the destination insert and set its sidechain input to the routed channel.
4. 4Play. On the Sidechain Compressor panel, the NO SC tag goes away and its display moves with the trigger.

The menu names can be different in your version of FL Studio. For more help, see Sidechain routing in FL Studio.

Save your project

FL Studio saves all settings of TonalBrain Mix in your project: the effects, your edits, all presets and the track names. Save your project before you quit.

When you open the project again, the analysis panel is empty. This is normal. Capture again only when you want new suggestions. See Save your project.

Questions