Mixing is fucking hard

[Ermz]

Those Untruth mixes were pretty astounding. If you want some advice from a fellow engineer, if you care to consider it, one thing you can do to improve your mixes is back down on teh loudness factor and concentrate on avoiding clipping. Professional work should not have audible clipping on it and more recent mixes I've heard from you have. All you need to do is keep raising the bar for yourself, as you said. Trust yourself as well. Sometimes you can make mistakes that end up teaching you a lot; other times you will stumble upon something magical.

Hey Greg,

I rarely ever master my own projects, and only obscure little singles that I've worked on (none of you have heard) last year were actually maximized by me.

Those tracks you are referring to were all done by dedicated mastering engineers.

It was crill that interned with Nordstrom - I've never had the pleasure (sorry Dan).

But yeah, to roll with the 'its only music' thing. It's a lot more than that to me. It represents the possibility to transcend these borders and actually be somebody. It's very important that I get the hell out of here and actually start a real life away from this hole. The only way is to gain some international cred, have a steady stream of high-tier mixing projects, and know that no matter where I set up shop, I can sustain myself.

That and I've always had an innate urge to be the best. Whether I do or don't have the ability doesn't really matter. It's just about trying - for all of us, in the face of all odds.

 

[Styvo]

Determination and Persistence and you have both now all that's left is the "Attitude" and you'll have what you want.

 

[jval]

Ermz, stop thinking, start mixing.

+1!!
I think the downside to forums like these is that it's easy to get ideas ingrained into what you're doing without discovering them for yourself. So you end up using your eyes and your brain more than you're ears. I remember when I first discovered Gearslutz a couple years ago, I feel like my progress kind of suffered a bit. I started processing everything way too much and just doing what other people said was good instead of really using my ears. If I saw a track with no plugins on it, I'd think hmm... I better do something to this, and I'd end up with 5 plugs that weren't helping the song.
So I fasted from GS and other forums for a couple weeks and voila... my mixes improved. I stopped thinking so much about the gear and got back to focusing on capturing the right sounds and just listening.

I think the best mixes come when you are instinctual. Listening to the song and making changes that help you feel the music. That's why guys like CLA and AW are the best. I think when you start a mix you should be 80% there within the first 2 hours... or else something is wrong.

 

[Ermz]

Hey Louis, great to see you here again. Apologies if my comments lately have seemed crass, if that's what you mean about attitude. Just had a fair few sources of frustration in recent times, not the least of which had me evaluating the viability of this as a sustainable career. Hope things are well over your way, and you have better access to air conditioning than I do!

@jval: Similar deal here actually. They obsess so much over gear on that forum that you lose touch about recording ultimately being about the performance, and capturing that moment in time as well as you can. All this gear, this talk about harmonics, saturation, glue etc. is just secondary, and in many ways related to salvaging recordings that aren't optimal to start with. I may have been sensationalizing the benefits of outboard, and subtle saturation effects a lot recently, but that's mostly because I feel they're some of the elements left to help add that final 5 to 10% that I previously never considered. Of course there are much more important factors, like performance and the ability to actually use what you have effectively.

 

[JayB]

It's tough but very addicting as many have said , and if you are a perfectionist like me it can be a double edged sword haha. Really fun but can be frustrating also. Especially when you update to a new OS !

 

[James Murphy]

i skipped from page 1 to page 4 of this thread... so i haven't read 2-3.... been working out in Los Angeles on the World Under Blood CD (which should be out later this year on Nuclear Blast), so i haven't had time to keep up with the forum and the prospect of trying to read everything that's been written over the last week in order to catch up properly is just a bit too daunting, but i'll add a comment here anyway, at the danger of repeating something that may already have been forwarded....

Ermz... it takes about a decade. seriously. until you hit roughly the 10 year mark of mixing at least 5 days a week on average, you'll not be able to listen to something you did even 6 months earlier without cringing. any mixer who can do that in less than 10 years or so is either a prodigy or self-deluded. somewhere 8 to 10 years in you'll be able to listen to work you did the previous year and not want to stab yourself in the face.... you'll always find things, given the perspective afforded by the passage of time, that could have been done differently/better... but you'll no longer want to quit and change careers (at least not for reasons related to your perception of your abilities), economics notwithstanding.

time and experience... even if you have all the answers handed to you on day one, collated and indexed in a tabbed binder, it'll still take you the best part of a decade, with applied diligence, to reach the point that you don't feel like making threads like this one. good for you that you did make it though, it illustrates that you are very conscious of improving.

 

[gabriel g.]

Hey Greg,

I rarely ever master my own projects, and only obscure little singles that I've worked on (none of you have heard) last year were actually maximized by me.

Those tracks you are referring to were all done by dedicated mastering engineers.

It was crill that interned with Nordstrom - I've never had the pleasure (sorry Dan).

But yeah, to roll with the 'its only music' thing. It's a lot more than that to me. It represents the possibility to transcend these borders and actually be somebody. It's very important that I get the hell out of here and actually start a real life away from this hole. The only way is to gain some international cred, have a steady stream of high-tier mixing projects, and know that no matter where I set up shop, I can sustain myself.

That and I've always had an innate urge to be the best. Whether I do or don't have the ability doesn't really matter. It's just about trying - for all of us, in the face of all odds.

Hey Ermz, ever thought about doing some HC stuff?
You have a great scene over there in australia. Mostly everything from resist-records getting released in europe and the usa!!!!

Also I read between your lines (in other threads) that you want to get away from the standart ssd + podfarm sounding records.

This might be your chance!!! CLA and Jason Livermore sounds are well respected in that scene!!!!

Just check out the las comeback kid or rise against cd´s

 

[smy1]

Ermz: Greg is right. One of the things that hinders your progress is your desire to "get out of here" and "be somebody". Those are very good things to aspire to and don't get me wrong, I really commend you on this, but it rarely works like this in life. What James said (about the time factor) is totally right, too: it simply takes a fuckload of time.

My advice is to mix your ass off with fun. I've been mixing semi-pro (aka got paid but it wasn't my livelihood) for 14 years now - and every year I think that last year's mixes sounded like ass. Nobody else thinks so of course, I got paid in 1996 just like I get paid now and people go home happy.

These days I've reached a level where I can mix electronics and metal and be within the 75% ballpark of top recordings very quickly (2-3h like jval said). Knowing this gives me peace of mind when I start a mix, so I don't overobsess TOO much. I totally obsess, like everyone else (ask my girlfriend who has to listen to Faderhead tracks hundreds of times before a release), but it's now a much easier process simply because I don't care about making it sound "insanely great". "Damn cool" is enough cause eventually NOBODY GIVES A SHIT. Really, write that on a piece of paper and stick it above your screen: NOBODY GIVES A SHIT ABOUT THE SOUND OF THE RECORD I AM PRODUCING. It will liberate you to totally embrace that thinking.

The less I care about making it sound great, the greater it sounds ... and I think this is what comes with experience.

 

[smy1]

Oh, if you want to make this your career, you should totally start whoring yourself out:

1) Start with a media campaign where you get articles about yourself in local and national magazines. Secure interviews with audio websites, etc. etc.,
2) make a REALLY cool website that highlights your mixes and your personality (anyone can mix, you need these cool-rockerdude-says-"working-with-Ermz-was-the-best-thing-this-band-ever-did" testimonials on video) and has the gear list as an afterthought. Bands and labels are looking for a sound and a personality. Nobody knows what an 1176 is!
3) change your appearance to be more "rock'n'roll celebrity" than you currently are (you look totally fine dont get me wrong, but if you want recognition then make ppl recognize and remember you) - a stylish haircut, a leather jacket and a 4h photoshoot go a LONG fucking way
4) find semi-known international bands (the kind that have a deal and pull 300-500 kids a night) and offer them a full song mix for free on and a full EP mix for an INSANELY low rate that they can't refuse. You want a foot in the door? it'll cost you, but it'll be worth it in the long run
5) get a great name for your production company and print a few shirts that you give away to more famous local musicians, make sure you have a top design on those (PAY someone to do it well!)
6) keep writing tutorials and spread them every-fuckin-where to get name recognition on the internet (which after a few years can lead to bigger and better things)

There's tons of other stuff you can do, and NONE of this will make you a better mixer at all, but it will help create the "Ermz"-brand. And in an age where everyone's an engineer and mixer and everyone operates from the solitude of their homestudio with downloaded session files, a recognizable brand is very important.

 

[Ermz]

Hey guys, I appreciate the advice, and there are certainly some golden points there. The points about 'developing the brand' are especially poignant and definitely been thought about a few times.

The thread was made more in the spirit of, as Gareth worded in our conversation, celebrating the art, and in particular for me it was about celebrating those of us that did it regularly. No matter for how granted we take it, it's a very defined skill set that's required, and the job is ultimately a fairly difficult one. I didn't intend to create a 'pity me' situation, though your advice once again is noted and appreciated. I've been doing this for a fair while now and am not the stranger to it I once was, but of course there is a long way to go. There is always a long way to go.

PS. It's very hard to respond when you guys keep editing your posts every 2 minutes

 

[lolzgreg]

As I said Ermz, you have no choice but to improve since Untruth, ergo, you are in good hands (your own). Just keep your mind open and don't be afraid to try new things.

 

[CatharsisStudios]

lady gaga > this thread.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

Ermz... it takes about a decade. seriously. until you hit roughly the 10 year mark of mixing at least 5 days a week on average, you'll not be able to listen to something you did even 6 months earlier without cringing.

So fucking true!!!

 

[Melb_shredder]

Luckily for me, I've been able to be a mate of ermins as well as a client. So it's pretty cool to be friends with such a talented dude. And no matter whos mixes I seem to keep hearing in aussie metal, I know when album time comes around, Ermz is the only real choice to go to. You're a very talented person, it's obvious how much time you spend mastering your craft, and though you bitch and moan about how crap Australia is, I think if you market yourself right, you could easily become the leading AE for Aussie metal. Another suggestion would be more sunlight to man

Just my .02 considering the lack of capable aussie mixes :S