Mixing is HARD - 'Mixerman'

[Ermz]

http://homerecording.com/bbs/general-discussions/mixing-techniques/mixing-hard-314020/3/#post3569946

Can't stress how right he is on every single point there.

After some serious nightmare experiences, hindsight always tells me that having committed more, and having moved things quicker would've been easier for all involved, and etched out a better end product too.

You risk becoming so absorbed within the work that you ultimately get lost and have no concept of what you're doing anymore. One of the worst places to be in a project, without doubt. I know, because I'm presently there.

 

[::XeS::]

+1
I am usually really absorbed by my projects and in fact, I would never finish a mix...because usually I'm never happy. But it depens also from the musician's quality.

 

[pitoga]

+100000
This is so true! Most of the times mixes I do on the fly (because I really don't care about the sound or because it's just some reference track) end up sounding better than mixes I've spend days in finishing. I'm currently over thinking way to much some mixes, and it's very difficult to get back to the "big picture" point of view once you entered the very critical and minimalistic position.

 

[JeffTD]

Definitely agree with this... as much as we all bitch about deadlines, and as much as they can suck, they're definitely a helpful kick in the ass to get things done and finished in a timely manner.

 

[Clockwork]

All so true, I feel like if you don't finish in a timely manner you lose sight of what you want the sum of all the pieces to be and you are best off leaving it and coming back with fresh ears before you just over do it.

 

[amarshism]

Just got some of his books for Christmas. Great dude.

 

[Joshua Wickman]

Definitely agree with this... as much as we all bitch about deadlines, and as much as they can suck, they're definitely a helpful kick in the ass to get things done and finished in a timely manner.

My best work has come with some stupid short deadlines. So as much as it sucked at the time, I really relate to this.

I think it was Joe B. who said it best "learn to fucking live with it".

 

[Cacoph0ny]

Would you recommend the book? Thinking about getting it, it's only $16 on Amazon

 

[[UEAK]Clowd]

Just got some of his books for Christmas. Great dude.

hey me too! got "zen and the art of mixing" great stuff!

 

[fitzrangerhoodngarb]

Not to suggest he's wrong but I think "mixing is a headfuck" would be even more accurate.

I've been practising letting go for the last 15 or so years and I'm still not very good at it.

 

[Soundlurker]

Yeah, I reached the same conclusion not long ago.

It HAS to be done in a matter of 1-3 days and if doesn't sound good in that period and your deadline is say 10 days - you're better off putting the project on hold and returning to it during the final couple of days.

 

[Jind]

I've read both "The Daily Adventures of Mixerman" and "Zen and the Art of Mixing" - both are excellent books for very different reasons. Daily Adventures is just flat out funny at times - while I've never worked on a professional recording project, it's funny that many things can relate back to almost any working environment and the characters we deal with in everyday life. Zen is a great book about Audio Engineering without resorting to text book like drivel. It provides useful information in an enjoyable read. Both well worth the money.

What he has said in that posting on Homerecording.com is very much the sentiment he goes with in Zen. He mentions the need to commit to the mix over and over several times - the need to make choices and live with them.

 

[Audiosprite]

that's good advice, which i should take to heart. in my line of work it's common for me to be writing, arranging, tracking, and mixing all at the exact same time, so i think this is telling me to separate the processes a little.

 

[Ronnie_Rocker]

I usually mix fast. But when i mixed the Hate Ammo debut i got stuck and mixed the album for a couple of months, witch by me, is way to long for a mixing session haha

 

[Torniojaws]

I don't know. Usually I do my best mixes after doing a lot of revisions, and the last one is almost always the one I end up using. Say, about 4-6 mixes usually. But my method is slightly different to the usual. I rarely do reference mixing, but instead I do a mix according to how the recorded material sounds like, and then listen to one mix on a lot of different systems, and make notes on what I feel should be improved and what works. After a few revisions, I end up with the one I like the best, even when comparing to all the previous revisions

 

[P-E]

I do so many revisions because my computer's not powerful enough for me to hear everything at the same time (bouncing everything helps but even then it's still a PITA to make little adjustments). My best mixes have been done in 4 to 5 days and I'm sure that with a better setup I could easily cut this to 3.

 

[Jarkko Mattheiszen]

I've found that a perfect pace for me is to use 2 days for the first song and depending on the material a song or two per day after that. When the mix is done, I send the tracks out, take a couple of days off and then do the revision in one or two days. If I'd rush it more, I wouldn't feel comfortable working, and if I took more time, I'd start second guessing my decisions. This way I can mix an album in about 10 or 11 days on average. Maybe I'll get faster when I get some more miles in the counter, though, but for now this feels natural.

 

[Star Ark]

I probably average 2 - 5 days per song

If I had better monitors that would be cut down to a few hours for some songs, a day max

 

[drew_drummer]

Agreed Ermz. When I first mixed one of the tracks for the TNBD album, came in the next day... it just sounded like dogshit. I'd say there for the best part of an entire day mixing this thing, and we all thought it was great. Came in and it sounded shit. Told the band... band get all defensive even though it was essentially my own work I was trashing, and I then had to convince them it needed a remix!

Fucking stressful.

 

[Ermz]

One of the worst parts of mixing for me is hitting that point of diminishing returns. First couple of hours you spend on a mix tends to be the most productive. The rest can be hard fought. In really bad cases you can stretch that last 10% on for days, and half the time you're just making things worse.