How many of you guys like your own mixes?

[Line666]

It takes me a couple of weeks to actually gain some perspective again, I can definitely relate to that feeling of being so involved you don't know what is right or wrong anymore.

I've always been able to recognise that this sort of thing is something that is in my head though so you just have to push through and keep on going.

 

[Charles J]

Andy said much the same thing a while back, and I remember feeling so relieved after reading it. It's not to do with loving or hating the process, but rather just being so 'in the zone' and so self conscious after you've finished the mix that you're completely paranoid about it.

+1 to EVERYTHING you've said Ermz, as usual. Totally spot on over on my side of the pond as well.....

You don't even KNOW the amount of anxiety and fear I have when sending a band a mix or a completed EP and just WAIT for the feedback.

Luckily it's never been ANYTHING drastic or NO CHANGES at ALL... but STILL.... when I finish a work, I think everything else out there just completely kills it and wonder WTFFFFFF is wrong with me and why I suck so bad, hahahaha..... strange but true!

BUT THEN...... 3-6 months later, I go back and relish in my own glory... ahahahahaha... kind of like a delayed TRUE response to my own work when the 'ego' part of my brain is at bay?

 

[mva801]

I hate everything I do, but usually listen to it a few months later and grow to like it. I really think that's part of the process. Mixing is such an artistic and technical thing. Totally subjective. I read an interview with Colin Richardson a bit ago that made me feel better. He said he's only ever done two mixes that he thought were even 98% where he wanted them. If him and Andy can be that critical of themselves, then I don't feel so bad for it!

 

[schwinginbatman]

I do love audio engineering. Mixing is a bit of a love/hate relationship though, mostly because of all the strain and pressure I put on myself. It's the only way I can assure that I keep doing my best work.

I'm sure others can relate. Often times when you finish an intense mix, you're just dead to the world. Everything you had went into it, and your perspective is just completely gone. It's one of the big reasons I prefer not to master my own work!

I'm like the opposite. My experience so far as an AE has been stressful, but I'm always in a situation where we have to record everything in one day, because they aren't really big projects, and the bands I play with are still in that mindset that you can finish off a whole bunch in one day. I enjoy mixing, but with my own projects, I still need to get better at tracking to reach the full potential of the songs. I do need to not master my stuff, though.

 

[AndrewB]

I have to mix and master my own songs, just because I don't have the money/not serious enough about it yet, to send someone else my tracks and pay them to mix and master it. Plus my tracking setup is far from ideal. All this makes me hate my mixes 100 times more.

 

[blue_fAng]

I usually like my mixes but there are times that i think these suck i dont know why, but if i stop listening to these for lets say 2 weeks or a month and i hear them again sounds good again. I dont think you really have to relate to the others because they feel their own mixes doesnt sound that good, i think its a passion thing, to enjoy the whole process and how you feel about it. I have felt that i completely suck in some days but when i wake up in the morning next day i feel the opposite way, really happy about starting to mix/record/searching sounds or whatever, in my case people say that my old mixes are as good as the most commercial stuff , I know that my recent mixes are way superior and I still feel these sound a little inferior than a lot of the other guys works.

 

[burst]

It depends. I have a varying level of tolerance for my work, from project to project. Normally when I'm actually working on it, or I've just finished it, I absolutely hate it. Doesn't really matter what it is, or how 'good' it sounds, I think it's the worst thing that's stained the world.

This. I listen to my stuff and think "Oh shit, I'm gonna die broke and alone" And this is despite the fact that I realize that my mixes are slowly getting better, I still fucking hate the world when I'm done with them.

 

[Audiosprite]

Add me to the Knee-Jerk (but Justified) Melodramatic Despondence Crew.

 

[B36arin]

When I get proper(and I mean PROPER) time to track stuff myself, edit it properly, mix it well and get it externally mastered I'm usually quite happy with the results. But this, as you might have guessed, is a rare occurance... When I don't get those luxuries I usually HATE it

 

[Temps]

I like my mixes when I'm working on them. Love em when I finally do the final mixdown and upload it the first time. Fucking hate them after that... I judge how good the mix by how long it takes me to go from love to hate. most mixes I go to bed, wake up, listen to it with fresh ears and think "I can't believe I fucking posted that." The few I really like about a week later I go "shit this sucks balls but its a good start" and use them as my next baseline setup

 

[DestroyTheColossus]

BUT THEN...... 3-6 months later, I go back and relish in my own glory... ahahahahaha... kind of like a delayed TRUE response to my own work when the 'ego' part of my brain is at bay?

+1

I normally finish a mix seeing all the faults but understanding that its about as good as I can get it and therefore being disappointed. Then a few weeks later when the stress of the project has worn off I'm normally pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't anywhere as horrible as I had thought.

 

[Aaron Smith]

I relate to a lot of what's been posted already about getting so focused and involved with a mix, in that it's very difficult to feel stoked about my mixes in the short term. However, for me it's normally just a matter of days until I can really hear it back and like it, not weeks. In the thick of the mixing stage...yeah, sometimes I start to feel like everything about it sucks and that I kind of want to just start everything over, but that's probably because I haven't taken a break or eaten a good meal and instead just pushed myself way too far! It also normally takes a few days for me to really dial in a mix. I'll get some things sounding good, but struggle with other things...then let it go for the day, come back the next day with fresh ears, and I can normally figure out what had been difficult the day before. After rethinking and revisiting things like this over a couple days, I always find the right balance of things and then start moving on to importing the same settings into other songs. Although...I often tweak the other songs somewhat, and then end up going back and "updating" what started out as the mix template, haha.

 

[Pedro Teixeira]

I relate to a lot of what's been posted already about getting so focused and involved with a mix, in that it's very difficult to feel stoked about my mixes in the short term. However, for me it's normally just a matter of days until I can really hear it back and like it, not weeks. In the thick of the mixing stage...yeah, sometimes I start to feel like everything about it sucks and that I kind of want to just start everything over, but that's probably because I haven't taken a break or eaten a good meal and instead just pushed myself way too far! It also normally takes a few days for me to really dial in a mix. I'll get some things sounding good, but struggle with other things...then let it go for the day, come back the next day with fresh ears, and I can normally figure out what had been difficult the day before. After rethinking and revisiting things like this over a couple days, I always find the right balance of things and then start moving on to importing the same settings into other songs. Although...I often tweak the other songs somewhat, and then end up going back and "updating" what started out as the mix template, haha.

This! I thought I was the only one who did this, my template sometimes even changes in the middle of an album, having then to go back to every single song and change them

 

[Emdprodukt]

this thread is so fucking helpful to me right now. thanks guys.

answer to the op: I love engineering, recording, editing and mixing. I generelly don't hate the outcome as well. I'm just really unconfident with my own mixes.

 

[Revson]

This thread has made me feel a lot better. I'm not confident in my mixing ability at all and usually wind up doing a dozen mixes of a song just tweaking it out. I'll get fixated on one particular aspect and completely lose perspective on the song before I wind up leaving it alone for a few days. I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I think (and hope) a lot of my confidence issues are mostly experience related. I've only worked on a few projects and need to figure out how my room sounds and what works for me.