What’s up everybody? ‘Tool here with another post geared towards recording artists, labels and brands, etc. Most of us know the first mix of a song is rarely the polished, finished version everyone hears once it’s released. It can take on many shapes and sizes before it reaches a listener’s eardrums. As a mix engineer I’ve had my fair share of revisions to do. It’s just a part of the game that we have to accept! Once I have a mix ready for a client I get an email ready and it looks like this: “Attached is my mix for “Your Great Song [Mix 1.0]” Please reply to this email with any revision requests. I’m looking forward to your feedback!” Short and simple. And the wait begins…… A short time goes by and an email reply will pop on my feed. I’ll open and read over the list of changes and/or fixes to be applied. Some confusing, most contradicting. But this is what this post is for. To help you communicate with your engineer to take your song to the next level and make the revision process go as smoothly as possible. 1. DON’T LISTEN TOO HARD Though it may seem counter productive, listening passively will actually serve your mix better. By this I mean that you should refrain from listening to mixes on your $5,000 surround sound speakers with a decibel meter in one hand and a pen in the other. Bump it in the whip and go for a ride, dude. That's what your fans will do. Listen on the mediums your fans will generally listen to [headphones, in the car, bluetooth speakers, etc.] also. Don't just listen on your iPhone speaker and ask to turn up the bass. 2. SLOW DOWN Once an artist gets a mix back they’re finally ready to hear if what they envision is finally going to come true. Over the years I've gotten revision notes in as little as 10 minutes. A few phone calls too! Listen young jedi, hold your horses. Live with the song for a few hours, days, or more if time allows. There’s nothing like hastily making requests that end being scrapped anyway for the original mix. So sleep on it and if whatever is bothering you persists, write it down or save it in a draft email to send later. 3. DON’T LET EVERYONE MAKE MIX NOTES FOR YOU The more people you involve in the mix notes process, the more varied responses you will get, the more negative reactions you will get when all the people you tried to involve hear the final mix. Keep a few key contributors and your record will impress more in the long run. TRUST me. 4. KEEP IT SIMPLE & DESCRIPTIVE Artist: Could you raise the kick just a tad bit? Engineer: A tad? Ok. *raises kick Artist: It’s too loud now. Engineer: Hmmmmm…. *lowers kick Artist: A little low in the mix but it’s almost there, up a little more. Engineer: *puts kick back to original volume. Artist: It’s PERFECT! Engineer: There’s so many scenarios like these and some a whole lot worse. If the mix session isn’t in person, this can be a drag through email. So here’s a solution.
Ask questions. Find out where your engineer’s faders are for the track in question. Is it -10dB? +2dB, etc.? This can save a lot of back and forth because knowing a simple value can help make a sound decision plus you’ll be able to communicate better in the future. Hopefully you were able to take something from this post. Here’s to better mix notes! See y’all soon!
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instrumentoolI have a passion for teaching and writing. Some of my many thoughts are here. Archives
November 2020
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