how long does your avrg. mix take?

[theBlackLOBSTERmurder]

I was just wondering how long you guys take to finish a mix.
let`s say 5 songs, you just got done recording everything...
5 days? more than a week? more than 2 weeks? more than 3weeks?---..

I still need pretty long, I think this is where experience really shows, and pays off (cus my clients aint payin me per our (orelse I`d be like rich by now

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

1 song a day, usually the first one will be longer though.

 

[Metaltastic]

Also, since you've ideally used the same mic'ing/recording techniques, settings, etc. between each instrument on every track, once you have a bunch of presets from one song, do you just apply them to the new songs, only automating/slightly changing settings as needed?

 

[AStacy2]

It usually takes me about 2 hours to mix a song. Having a routine will really save you time. Here's mine:

I have a template that I work off of and I import everything into that and start mixing. This saves me a shitload of time. I'll have Waves SSL Channel Strip on every track/bus at default settings just to save me time. But if I'm the one who tracked it, I have another template where every instance of SSLChannel will have a preset on it (I know, I know, terrible huh?). I'll have a bus set up for every insturment and also ones for drum reverb, drum comp, vocal delay, vocal reverb.

Then start to mix. Start with the kick, bring it up to about -6db. Listen to the snare and bring it up to be as loud as the kick. Bring up the hats panned half right until they are as loud as the snare. Bring up the toms panned wide until they are a little lower than the snare. Bring up the overheads panned wide until the crash is a little louder than the hats. Bring up the bass until it is as loud as the kicks. Bring up the hard panned guitars until they are as loud as the bass. Bring up the vocals until they are a little bit louder than the guitars. Then, I'll add in reverb/parallel comp, reset the levels quick and fix any masking.

 

[AStacy2]

Also, since you've ideally used the same mic'ing/recording techniques, settings, etc. between each instrument on every track, once you have a bunch of presets from one song, do you just apply them to the new songs, only automating/slightly changing settings as needed?

I do that all the time.

 

[scorpio01169]

like said before, once you get the level for the start of a mix. save that as start point for every song that is if you tracked multiple songs. but after that i take about two hours mixing a song. and that is checking them between two different sets of monitors.

 

[greyskull]

depends who tracked it.
usually spend half a day rearrangin the project and tidying it up to the way i like, then get mixing,
usually once the first is done, its about a track a day.

 

[Gustavo_Loureiro]

I hate templates!!


It depends a lot.. I spend more time when mixing pop stuff then metal.

 

[JeffTD]

Does anyone else record songs for bands in one project? I find it saves a lot of time when it comes to mixing, because you adjust one thing and it's done to all of the songs. Is this a bad habit to get into?

 

[vespiz]

Does anyone else record songs for bands in one project? I find it saves a lot of time when it comes to mixing, because you adjust one thing and it's done to all of the songs. Is this a bad habit to get into?

I do this sometimes, but it really depends on how many songs and/or how intense the songs are (edits/tracks/regions etc..).
For a 3 song quick demo it's a lot easier to record them all into a single session, but a full album is just too much on my poor PC...

I take too much time mixing, but it's just because I want to make sure that I make it the best I can. And I get paid a fixed sum per project (at the moment).

 

[lilhermiejobo]

For me I find the average to be about 12 hours per song. Some projects fly right out the window, though, and probably wrapped up in a couple. Depends on workflow and mindflow. Heavy flow drags it all down, light and easy is the way to go. I find it easier to mix in my underwear for some reason.

 

[HeadCrusher]

^because you can feel the lower frequencies better that way!

 

[jhrv]

^because you can feel the lower frequencies better that way!

 

[Ermz]

Depends how much of a mess the track job is. Before my ears bit the dust I'd mix a decent track job in about 4 hours or so.. that'd get the core of the track down. Anything after that would just be final tweaking. After that it can be 1 to 2 songs a day depending on how intense the layers/automation are.

 

[PostMortem1666]

Does anyone else record songs for bands in one project? I find it saves a lot of time when it comes to mixing, because you adjust one thing and it's done to all of the songs. Is this a bad habit to get into?

i do this all the time. it does help a lot when mixing. there is also a studio not too far from me that does it too from what ive heard and thats what got me into doing it.

 

[Loren Littlejohn]

3-8 hours per song. Depends on what kind of mess I got.

 

[James Murphy]

Depends how much of a mess the track job is. Before my ears bit the dust I'd mix a decent track job in about 4 hours or so.. that'd get the core of the track down. Anything after that would just be final tweaking. After that it can be 1 to 2 songs a day depending on how intense the layers/automation are.

what's happened with your ears Ermin?

 

[Aaron Smith]

I've never really tried to time the whole process. It'll normally take at least a couple days, if not more because it can be tedious, to get the drum samples accurately printed for each song. Reamping takes a day, depending on the length of the project. And mixing the first song can sometimes take a few days to really nail, then it's just a matter of applying the same processing, settings, automation, etc. to the other songs...so much quicker after that.

 

[broken81]

Yea I usually can spend a day or two just going through all the tracks and tidying up. Making all the drum samples trigger properly and printing tracks if need and just stupid little stuff. Then i usually spend about 1-2 days on the first mix. Then i just use that mix as a template and import the other tracks from other songs to that template. Then do a little tweaking and automation if needed. Id say about a day a mix after the first one is done though.

Seems like that is the way most here are doing things so i feel a little better now.

 

[LSD-Studio]

first song 1-2 days.

then using that project as a template for the rest of the songs....about 2-6 hours per song from then on (depending on how much editing is involved etc).....