New Monday #79

Happy Monday,

This latest rabbit hole we find ourselves down—mixing, listening, references—seems very popular. I have heard from more of you in the past few weeks than at any time in New Monday history. A sign we should perhaps dig in a bit deeper. 

Mixing was always my least favorite thing to do in the whole 'making a record' process. I liked tracking. Mixing not so much. Now it seems it's the only thing people do. All the more reason to get really good at it.

I've been working with a bunch of people on their mixing, and what I've been discovering is that their thinking on it is counterproductive to what they actually want.

Everyone seems fixated on The Mix as a product, rather than Mixing as a process. 

Why don't I like this sort of thinking? Because it leads to chasing something perfect, which doesn’t exist. Because a day after you think you've nailed the mix, you listen to it and hear all sorts of things you don't like. And then you'll feel like ass. And then the next time you go to mix, you'll have that memory of your failures, and all the things you want to fix in this next mix. Yeah, this next mix will be perfect, baby!

Then two days later, you listen and hear all the things wrong with it. 

Curses! Foiled again by perfectionism!

I went through this myself 30+ years ago. Chasing anything is crippling. You’re not a schnauzer and a mix ain’t a stick.

I wish I could write hugely specific things to each of you, but I can’t. However, I can address some aspects of thinking and process that are universal in such a way that if you know very little you’ll build a strong foundation, and if you know a lot you’ll get some insight into your own process and hopefully a few tricks that work for you.

So, an exercise to do, and at the very bottom, a thing to listen to.

Using References

Many of you are driving yourselves crazy with reference mixes, plugins that give you reference levels, suggested levels from things you've read, etc. I did this too. It was frustrating and it drove me nuts. And I fricking learned to hate micing because I was always off the mark. Finally, I flipped my thinking on it.

Don't Chase Reference Mixes

You'll never catch it. It was done by different people with different sound sources, equipment, on different speakers. Most importantly, it is an imperfect thing. The people who made it aren't 100% happy with it, because it isn't 100% to the reference THEY were listening to.

If you're chasing a reference, A/B-ing your mix to it constantly, you're hooking yourself into a frustrating virus of perfectionism and it is going to suck. Your experience of the mix will be frustrating. You won't like mixing. You won't improve at it.

Don't chase a reference.

Try This Instead

Select a couple of reference songs that are in the neighborhood of what you want, or perhaps just things you think sound good. Listen to them, all in a sitting, while you aren’t mixing, in the space where you do your mixing. The intent is for your ear to hear, to learn what is good. You want muscle memory of that. Listen to the references over the next few days. Listen on different sets of speakers, too.

When you go to mix, don’t have any references. Put them away. You’ve done some listening, now mix. Mix mix mix. Get it to where you’re kinda happy, to where you think it sounds good. Bounce that mix down, or print it—whatever you call that.

Honestly, you really can’t mix more than an hour at a time without a break. So, if it takes you a bunch of short sprints of mixing to get something you like, that’s fine. Don’t build Rome in a day. I used to do 14-hour mixes. That was because of the way studio time worked. Now I have tinnitus. Connection??

Close the project you're mixing, open a new one, add in your newly bounced mix. Add in your references. Have these all as stereo tracks. Save the project as "MixName Reference" without listening to it and go away for a few hours.

So, you now have two projects: the one you’re mixing, and another that is your bounced mix and your references. TWO SEPARATE THINGS.

So, the next day, or after a bit of a break, open up that reference project. Set the monitor levels a little on the low side (60dB-SPL) and bring up your bounce and the references and level match them all. Don't get anal about this, just get close.

Now, listen to your mix and compare your mix to the references. Take written notes (use a pad and a pen).

Take Written Notes

Your notes should all be oriented towards your mix and not about quality or the reference mixes. You don’t want to directly compare your mix to a reference. You want to listen to your mix in CONTEXT to the reference.

I do multiple listenings. First, I listen to balance—where is my vocal at, where are my drums at? I pop into a reference, listen for a moment, then pop back to my mix, and I’ll write a note like, “Vocal lacks presence. Low in mix?” “Guitars overpowering. There isn't definition between the guitar parts. Muddy?” "Backing keyboard pad is pulling my ear left and right and it is difficult to concentrate.” Then I might listen for low end, or for specific instruments, or for interchanges between sections. All that fun stuff. The real point is to pick a specific “thing” to listen for and then write the notes on that specific thing.

I might have one reference I really like for balance, another for aspects of the high end, another for vocal effects. I’m not chasing one mix, I’m figuring out MY mix.

I listen to my mix WAY more than I listen to the references. My mix in context to the reference mixes, not in comparison to the reference mixes. You don't want to start comparing your work to that of guys that are paid big dollars for mixing.

Look, if you sat down and played your mix for Andrew Sheps, who is an amazingly nice person, he would offer you constructive solutions to you. He wouldn't play one of his mixes and say, "Now, that's the way high-end is supposed to sound, not that dull crap you've got going on. What were you thinking, you gelatinous dolt?"

He'd be very nice to you. You should be very nice to you, too. Channel your inner Andrew Sheps.

Finish off your listening. Put the reference project away and take a break. When you’re ready, open up the mixing project. You’ve got a bunch of written notes. Work off your notes to improve your mix. Follow your notes. Hear your mix, find what the issue is, fix it.

Mix mix mix until you’ve got something you like. Choose to stop. Bounce it, add it to your reference project, and after a few hours, listen to it in the context of the references and again take notes.

Remember to listen to this new mix AND your previous mix, and the reference mixes, and take notes yet again. The same kind of notes. “The vocal needs more warmth. The kick is a little too big and present. Overall, it feels dry."

You'll be amazed at how quickly you start hearing more, how much better your attitude towards mixing will be, and how much your skills improve with each iteration.

Please please please, don’t skip the note-taking aspect of this. The note-taking is actually what’s going to rewire your brain.

A Quick Listen

Here’s a really interesting recording that is very problematic, especially in terms of modern music production.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ae_bdGihxy8&list=RDAe_bdGihxy8&start_radio=1

Listen to it a few times. First pass: Listen for the drums. How are they panned? What sort of effects are on them? What is their relative balance to each other? Is this guy playing drums or is he playing a part?

Next pass: Listen into the background, which is a swirl of guitars and keyboards. Can you hear the pianos separated out from the synths or the organ? When does the guitar come in? How are things panned? What are the effects? Can you weed your way through all this stuff?

Next pass: the bass. What a magnificent part, and so well played.

Vocals: What’s the effect on them? Where are they placed in terms of level and pan. Dry? Wet?

This is a wonderful song, with fabulously tight arrangement.

By the way, listen to it on Apple Music or Spotify and it sounds REALLY different.

Until next week, my dudes and dudettes...

Please, you’re invited to write in. Everyone gets answered.

Warm regards,

Luke