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Guide project: the song you'll produce

A short rock/metal track built from 0 to master throughout the guide. The examples in each section are the parts of THIS song.

What it is and why. So the guide isn’t loose theory, there’s one single song produced end to end: you record it, mix it and master it following each stage. The audio examples that appear in the sections are the parts of this same song. That way, at the end of mastering, you’ll be able to hear the full track and all its evolution (raw → mix → master) with the same pieces.

The guide song (specification)

A short instrumental alternative rock / metal track, designed to cover the typical cases without being long to record.

Tech sheet

  • Tempo: 110 BPM · Time signature: 4/4 · Key: E minor (standard tuning or Drop D)
  • Target length: ~1:30–2:00
  • Instrumentation: guitars (rhythm + leads + cleans), bass, drums (Superior Drummer 3) and, optionally, a vocal.

Structure (and which part covers it)

Each section of the song corresponds to examples you’ll record along the guides:

Song map → guide examples

  1. Intro (clean) — clean arpeggio (Em–C–G–D). → Cleans and arpeggios example.
  2. Verse (rhythm) — palm-mute riff, double tracking. → Rhythm: double tracking example.
  3. Chorus (wall) — powerful chords, quad tracking. → Walls example.
  4. Solo — lead over the chorus. → Leads and solos example.
  5. Foundation — bass + drums (SD3) holding it all up. → bass and drums stages.
  6. (Optional) Vocal — a vocal line with the NT2-A.

The contribution (what unblocks everything)

You record almost all the material yourself with your gear. To get started with the guitar, these are the parts of the guide song (it’s the same request you see in each section, unified here):

Guitar parts of the guide songPendiente — me lo aportás vos

Record and upload to prodmus_frontend/public/audio/guitarra/. For each part: raw DI + a version through Helix + a version through BIAS FX. All at 110 BPM, 4/4, E minor, WAV 24/48, no clip.

  • Verse — palm-mute rhythm (riff in E, 4–8 bars). → verso-ritmica-*
  • Chorus — powerful chords (chorus progression, 4–8 bars). → estribillo-*
  • Intro — clean arpeggio (Em–C–G–D, 4 bars). → intro-limpio-*
  • Solo — lead (~8 bars over the chorus). → solo-*

For the double/quad tracking, record the rhythm 2 (or 4) times (separate takes): verso-ritmica-L, verso-ritmica-R, etc. When you have them, let me know: I’ll validate them and integrate them as A/B examples in each section.

And now that the bass has its full journey too, these are its parts of the same song:

Bass parts of the guide songPendiente — me lo aportás vos

Record and upload to prodmus_frontend/public/audio/bajo/. For each part the raw DI (no amp sim) and, if you want, a version through Helix or BIAS FX. Same song: 110 BPM, 4/4, E minor, WAV 24/48, mono, no clip.

  • Verse — bass with a pick following the guitar’s palm-muted riff. → verso-bajo-DI
  • Chorus — bass holding up the wall, the same bars as the guitar. → estribillo-bajo-DI
  • Intro — bass under the clean arpeggio (Em–C–G–D), softer. → intro-bajo-DI
  • (Ideal, for comparison) the verse fingerstyle, to hear the difference in attack. → verso-bajo-dedos-DI

Important: record one single take per part. The two layers (clean and saturated) come from duplicating that same track, never from two separate passes — in the low register two takes cancel.

And if you can, export the kick alone from the verse out of Superior Drummer 3 (verso-bombo.wav): with the kick and the bass together I can publish the frequency-sharing A/B, which is the most useful example in the whole mixing stage.

Where we end up

When you finish the guide you’ll have: the raw tracks, the mix and the final master of the guide song, and you’ll be able to compare the three versions to hear, on your own track, how each stage transforms it. That’s the goal: for you to see the full process, start to finish, with your own hands.