AAAARGH...mixing duration debate: pro's vs semipro's
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AudioGeekZine
arsehole know-it-all
I spent 9 hours doing small changes to 5 songs last Sunday. Probably do it again this Sunday. LOL.
Set a concrete number of re-edits. At least this way they'll be more inclined to spit out what they want the first time where you can go back and work it all instead of having to rebounce on 10 different occasions.
Demonstealer
Member
zackpennington
Like a boss
I think asking other people for advice before sending the band the mix is a better use of your time as far as re-edits/tweaks go. I know that Joey will hear about 2-3 versions of my stuff before the band does lol.
Haha, i got the same thing when doing monitors for a live band.
They are pointing their finger up to want more monitor, and then i touch a knob for 1 second and they immediately smile and give me a thumb (without me doing anything).
5 minutes later they want less monitor, i hardly turn a knob and then it's perfect again ...
Crazy people, never satisfied.
Last week a guitarist said me "turn up the solo a liiiiiittle" and me "like 0.1dB?" and he said "yes!!"
arv_foh
Brian K
Bands are never be happy with the monitors no matter how great sounding or how loud they are
-Noodles-
3 Initals Mixer
- Dec 20, 2007
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I agree 100% with the rule of "if you don't hear it within two listens; it ain't a problem".
Make notes, yeah - and keep them incase of a re-release or something big.
I rarely worry about stuff.. as long as the song is kicking the speakers it's all good.
Make notes, yeah - and keep them incase of a re-release or something big.
I rarely worry about stuff.. as long as the song is kicking the speakers it's all good.
I do this at almost every show (as the guitarist), but I do it as a thank you to the FOH guy, like, "ok, cool, he will up it for me." We have a policy of no playing between songs, so I don't know if the change was even made until the next song starts. Make sense?
reneisgod
Rene
Can i just jump in here, i actually prefer really dated mixes with mistakes!
Everything is too fucking perfect these days or atleast striving to perfection.
Its all these young kids brought up on these new age mixes that look for stupid things like half the shit mentioned above, what happend to the vibe?
lol no shit but id take something mixed from the late 80s over anything these days including most shit done late 90s.
nothing more disappointing than listing to a band on CD then seeing them live and they cant pull half the tricks off live eh, seen it over and over.
sure most of you will agree with me but its just not the market these days to produce things that way i guess, haha u give these young kids a mix like slayers reign in blood they prob wont deal with u again give them arch enemy's dooms day ull be god whereas id rather it be the other way around.
No offence to Andy on that btw its personal taste and i could see Andy getting a hell of abbuse if he put something out with an old school vibe like that these days.
Everything is too fucking perfect these days or atleast striving to perfection.
Its all these young kids brought up on these new age mixes that look for stupid things like half the shit mentioned above, what happend to the vibe?
lol no shit but id take something mixed from the late 80s over anything these days including most shit done late 90s.
nothing more disappointing than listing to a band on CD then seeing them live and they cant pull half the tricks off live eh, seen it over and over.
sure most of you will agree with me but its just not the market these days to produce things that way i guess, haha u give these young kids a mix like slayers reign in blood they prob wont deal with u again give them arch enemy's dooms day ull be god whereas id rather it be the other way around.
No offence to Andy on that btw its personal taste and i could see Andy getting a hell of abbuse if he put something out with an old school vibe like that these days.
Andy Sneap
Metal Guru
Harry Hughes
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- Apr 25, 2009
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The "Vibe" is only gone when the production hides a lack of talent on the part of the musicians involved.
I couldn't care less if Nevermore or Meshuggah or Paramore have drum sample replacement, or not, or a tiny bit of autotune or not, because I know they are capable musicians who are tight as hell in the live environment
I couldn't care less if Nevermore or Meshuggah or Paramore have drum sample replacement, or not, or a tiny bit of autotune or not, because I know they are capable musicians who are tight as hell in the live environment
Can we maybe not go down this road again? (nothing against you Harry, but these aren't exactly groundbreaking concepts 
)
)
reneisgod
Rene
"you stick with your Bathory album then!''
Well i've done so for about 17 years prob hence the issue here lol
mind u im sitting here pissed at a house party in a room haha alone listening to
Carcass Heartwork while some sort of Ministry of sound shit is blasting in the background, chicks these days eh?
Andy i know ud love to release something with a truly old school vibe
Well i've done so for about 17 years prob hence the issue here lol
mind u im sitting here pissed at a house party in a room haha alone listening to
Carcass Heartwork while some sort of Ministry of sound shit is blasting in the background, chicks these days eh?
Andy i know ud love to release something with a truly old school vibe
crillemannen
Member
Well at Studio Fredman they got email from bands all the time for changes. Although it was in a more structured form.
But i think every producer have to face this. Although if you are a famous producer the bands trust you allot more. Taking your word as the spoken truth, instead of a "now it all" dude, making stupid comments instead of shuting up
But as ermz said maybe you need to charge after the second or third changes sent to you.
But i think every producer have to face this. Although if you are a famous producer the bands trust you allot more. Taking your word as the spoken truth, instead of a "now it all" dude, making stupid comments instead of shuting up
But as ermz said maybe you need to charge after the second or third changes sent to you.
lolzgreg
Cereal Shipping Sneapster
What you should do is make it perfect to your ears; most of the time once the engineer is really happy, the client will be. Key word most. They get one revision, after that, it's a charge for a remix. Make contracts!
I don't agree with that so much, as people are more likely to hear problems on their own instruments than on the mix as a whole. Yes, that can go too far, but at the same time most bass players won't know/care/understand if the ghost notes on the snare are too loud.
I'd definitely say make sure the whole band are there to hear the mix at the same time though. If you send a mix to the lead guitarist, he'll complain he's not loud enough; if he says that in front of the rest of the band they'll tell him he's being a knob. Most bands will either have one member with 'the vision' of how the songs should sound, or they'll be reasonably self-governing and the "I'm too quiet" comments will get shot down unless it's actually true.
The way I normally do it is mix until I'm happy, give it a break, then re-listen to it and make notes on anything that could be contentious - parts where there's say a lead and a drum roll, and one gets a bit lost to other, or the vocals obscure something in the music etc. Then when I play it to the band, if they comment on something that I also noted, I'll change it - anything else they mention I explain why I made it like I did and that I don't think think it needs changing.
Obviously that method doesn't apply to the professionals here, but it's helped me A) learn how to gauge what a particular band wants from the mix and B) notice things that come up in different mixes, which are obviously points I need to improve on. Every time I do a new mix, the list gets shorter, and the bands are asking for less changes. Still too many, but definitely less
Steve
