An Analysis and Evaluation of Audio Features for Multitrack Music Mixtures

Mixing multitrack music is an expert task where characteristics of the individual elements and their sum are manipulated in terms of balance, timbre and positioning, to resolve technical issues and to meet the creative vision of the artist or engineer. In this paper we conduct a mixing experiment where eight songs are each mixed by eight different engineers. We consider a range of features describing the dynamic, spatial and spectral characteristics of each track, and perform a multidimensional analysis of variance to assess whether the instrument, song and/or engineer is the determining factor that explains the resulting variance, trend, or consistency in mixing methodology. A number of assumed mixing rules from literature are discussed in the light of this data, and implications regarding the automation of various mixing processes are explored. Part of the data used in this work is published in a new online multitrack dataset through which public domain recordings, mixes, and mix settings (DAW projects) can be shared.