Yeah I mix as I go as well. And it sounds "good" in couple hrs like everyone is saying. But it's always like 5% or 10% short of where I want it.... like maybe the guitar tone isn't cutting through enough, or the vocals and guitars are competing too much in my opinion (maybe not others, especially with heavy guitars and belting singing).

 

This thread is hilarious. "Never spend more than a few hrs on a mix" The truth is, the amount of time you spend on a mix will be different for everyone. You need to develop and perfect your own system for how you approach a mix before you can gauge how long it should take you. This really comes down to experience. The more time you have under your belt the easier it will be for you to gauge something like this. If it's your own music, it's important to distinguish the lines between production/ mixing/ and mastering. You can easily get lost if you're trying to do all 3 at the same time or without a calculated approach on which "hat" you're wearing during the process. When I get stuck on a mix, I'll watch mixing tutorials from mixers that inspire me or search for mixing tips on the sound I'm trying to achieve. I've had some mixes take a month and others get done in a single day. Really just depends on the track.

 

Ok... here's a song in progress. It's a cover by a band called (iirc) Switchfoot I'm doing for a guy. This is a "faders up" mix I did after he sang. Is it done? NO!! I know I have to:

Add some gtr fills
Tweak the drum/cymbal levels
Get the acoustic up in the bridge
Balance his vocal level


And a few other tiny things. But mostly, it's there, at least as far as I'm concerned. It'll be a pretty easy mix from here.

 

be my guest: www.soundcloud.com/a-ndre-s

I started learning how to use daws and the basics of mix in 2020. I dont think I have spend more than 6 hours (creating, mixing and mastering) in any of my tracks. But that's me, I think everyone has their own time but overall I don't see anyone getting any benefits from overthinking a mix (check the video I posted above). Every single time I overthought a mix it ended up sounding garbage.

 

@Trurl

Interesting. What's going on with the vocals on that, are they supposed to be so distorted/oversaturated? or are they just turned up to the point of clipping without anything control? just curious on that end....

My main question here though, how in the world did you get the tonal balance so smooth across the board. That is something I struggle with, which I feel like is a big factor in my dissatisfaction at the end of a mix session.

For example my Tonal balance curve






Your tonal balance curve (the chorus anyhow)




Not sure if that's something you could explain or have an idea of what's going on by just looking at it visually, but I'm sure it has something to do with my dissatisfaction.

 

Last edited: Apr 30, 2022

SERIOUSLY - There will always be something afterwards anyone will feel they could have or should have done.
You have to set a cut-off point, whatever the time-frame is, or tomorrow never comes.

 

The hardest thing for a sound engineer is the human voice and the guitar.
I just wanted to encourage you to become famous, I'll try again, make a CD and apply to different record companies.
You have the potential and you have the voice!

 

Hey, you're awesome! I always appreciate your feedback, it's super helpful and encouraging. Thanks a lot!

 

Oh, believe me, if you'd make an own thread for this, I can assure you there will be people who suggest at least a thousand things more to prove they know better than you.

 

Last edited: Apr 30, 2022

Check this video from greogory scrott (i just rewatched it just to make sure it was sound advice)

You Did 6 MIXES... but WHICH is the BEST???

( its all about the groove)

after that one, theres 2 more that helps

THIS is why you CAN'T FINISH your MIXES

(respect the music/work)

THIS is how you LEVEL UP your MIXING

 

Gregory's tips doesn't work for me at all - no mater the topic and here's why:

1. As to my personal experience, you need 10% of the time for 90% of the mix and 90% of the time for the remaining 10%. If you don't spend these 90% you'll never get there.
2. We are getting better at what we're doing. If you're mixing fast, you're getting better at mixing fast, not at mixing better!

If I wouldn't have spent hours and hours testing, reading and trying to solve problems, I wouldn't know half of what I know about theory and practise of mixing.

 

Agreed - and I think your 90-10 formula sometimes works out the same for composition too.

 

I see... regardless, I feel Gregory is addressing a real thing that happens to a lot of people (me included), which is overthinking. To spend more time doing something doesn't necessarily means you're learning more (mindless study or repetition aren't really effective), it usually means you don't know how to do something efficiently or don't know very well how to translate what's in your mind. Doing things fast isn't being sloppy or not taking your time but it's being precise, sharp and learning how to make decisions, no bullshit. At least that's the gist of my understanding of the video.

 

No matter what you start, you always have a picture in your head of how it should look, in our case how it should sound.

The way there is stony - sometimes you fail completely. Sometimes you hit the result you imagined and then feelings of happiness set in or at least a feeling of satisfaction.Therefore, because of the feeling of satisfaction, because the brain does not like problems, we usually only do things that we really can.

 

It's totally intentional, basically just threw Decapitator on him. That's probably another thing though, we'll probably back it off on the choruses so it's not so static.

Can't help on the tonal balance thing, sorry- that's just a happy accident of it sounding more or less like I think it should sound I guess.

I'd post some other things that I actually think sound better but I'm not working on any of my own music right now and the other bits of stuff I'm working on for people are originals of theirs so I wouldn't feel comfortable posting their work in progress even if I don't think anything would happen.

 

I am not taking mix advice from Killer BOB. I don't want to cut my left arm off. I am the muffin. He is under the fan now.

 

Last edited: May 1, 2022

1 hour to even 1 month, depends which project i work on and how much i get, it's that simple

But remember nothing's perfect therefore human mind always thinks it's better than what one did yesterday and can do better now. You'll, as well as clients, never be satisfied, oh yeah more plugins coming over there on AZ

 

Youre keyboard must be broken, You forgot to write a longer post buddy

about spending time, look up Pareto principle. the 80/20 rule.

 

Yep - I was going for the upgrade to the @No Avenger SuPareto Principle.
I thought it might help me post with 90% fewer words.

 

There is a heck of a lot less headache during the mixing proces when trying to solve problems and putting out fires if the recording itself is good or great that you have to work with and hassles can be nonexistent. Mic placement and even the right microphone/source combo can help a lot (such as having at least one SM57 on a guitar cab for instance...in the box or recorded live). Testing different mics on a singer can be very helpful and the most expensive mic doesn't mean the best match, lots sometimes a dynamic microphone will beat out a condenser, especially with screamers or the inexperienced vocalist without mic technique.

And...

Try to think less and react more. Intuition is your friend.