Unless you have talent. Geoff Emerick, Alan Parsons, Tony Scott (just a few from a given time period but there are dozens or hundreds more) spent some time as tape operators and stuff, sure, but when they got thrown into the pool (or behind the board) they swam because they KNEW what they wanted to hear and how to get it, once they were exposed to the equipment. YOU CAN'T LEARN EARS. I mean yeah maybe possibly you can through a lot of bloody minded dedication but it seems like a complete waste of time to me really to put yourself through that. If someone has been at it for a year or two and are getting nowhere in my humble opinion they should quit and do something else.
And it's important to note that most great engineers are not necessary musicians or vice versa. Sometimes they do overlap but they are different skill sets.

 

Water wets, fire burns.

 

Of course you can, and actually you pretty much have to. It's the only way to get good at either mixing or mastering. Of course you cannot do this if you have actually damaged hearing; but no-one starts out with a better ear for compression, frequency balance, and any other important skill that is developed by ear training and a ton of repetition.

Most people are only barely "capable" at whatever job they do, within the first year they do it. That's why they are called rookies that entire year in sports. They can do the entire job by the end of that year, and by the end of the second they have had some time not operating solely in survival mode, to understand the reasons behind why they do what they are doing. Even then, they are still grasping at the micro aspects of their job. (any job).

A vast majority of people doing any job only have skill; and the same amount of people never find out what their true talent might be, if they are lucky enough to even have one. Many will still have some form of "child prodigy" story they believe, but it being actually true is about as rare as hens teeth. Those beliefs are usually formed before they learn the meaning of the words "average" and "mediocrity".

 

you know, I still believe its all in the mixer of the software itself, and I think from what I tried, that FL Studio has the best mixer, even the sensibility ...its all in there

 

Absolutely. One have to learn what to listen to in a signal. Nothing is innate. Babies look for the source of a sound in front of them, even if it is located behind their head. Unconsciously, during the first months, the brain trains itself to identify relationship between signal characteristics. The same way, one learns to hear the relationships in a mix, the relationships between the room, the instrument and the microphone when recording , and so on.
Most of the good engineers dont have a better hearing than most people but they know what to listen to. This is the result of a wiring of the brain acquired through repeated exposition, focused listening and experimentation.

 

This is exactly what the first post says. Telling the Whats without saying Hows. Everyone knows that music is part of sound and the volume is unstoppably changes from beginning to end and all the effects and plugins are also designed to control the volume across the entire frequency spectrum. So far, everyone agrees. This is part of reality. The important part of reality is that everyone has their own perception of reality and they will make whatever sound they like louder or quieter at all points of music. Can anyone provide a single prescription for all the volume variations in the entire duration of a piece of music? No. And this is where different perceptions lead to endless conflicts.

 

You're all describing learning gear and theory, not what is good sound. Somebody can be trained to hear and understand each nuance of what compressors, reverbs, eq and every other piece of studio gear does while not being able to execute a good mix because they don't have an innate understanding of what end they are aiming for. Just think you can train somebody in every nuance of playing bass but they will never become a Bass Player if it doesn't sink into some special part of their brain that can groove. Whereas there are other people that will grasp such things innately.

 

Everything in the brain and hands can be transmitted to others. If the techniques for operationalizing and implementing ideas are properly communicated to people, everyone can do it. Learning is usually incomplete or not everything is taught. Every detail, if taught correctly, everyone can turn an idea into action. Why can't everyone be a good footballer like Messi? Because Messi has learned something he never teaches others. I know you won't take my word for it and will once again emphasize innate talent, but I am sure that if all the details are taught well, anyone can become a professional bass player.

 

I understand that. Which is why about 98% + of bass players will never be Flea or Les Claypool. They have skills, and extraordinary talent on top of that. That does not stop every other band in the world from having a bass player good enough to make an album. The best of them sometimes even realize that, and turn into session musicians.

If you think someone needs extraordinary talent to mix or master, I challenge you to listen to an entire Cardi B album.


Again, you even say yourself; many of the best mixers and mastering engineers are not musicians by nature. A massive portion of the job is skill, and experience. The difference between that and "someone who should quit in 2 years" is not anything but learning, and training. Even some of the best MEs there are come up with things to use to illustrate "just how special" they think their skills (excuse me, "talents") are. Wether that is Shepps with his 90$ headphones or the guy who said he mixed a Coldplay record almost entirely on a boom box; they come up with these fantasyland scenarios to tell other people they shouldn't even bother to learn, basically. They'll never be as good as "god-given-talent me". Maybe they even believe it themselves.

I do not know of very many "talents" that are only obvious beyond anyone else, which require 4 computers, 2 assistants, and 50 grand worth of Ocean Way in a perfectly acoustically flat environment for this big difference to magically arrive. The only talent involved in saying that someone let you mix an entire Coldplay record on a 90s boom box, is an innate talent as a bullshit artist.

 

Last edited: Jun 3, 2025

The chart-crushing, Grammy Award winning Cardi poorly mixed album, the culture defining/game-changing poorly mixed album, or the triple patinum poorly mixed album?

Rap is technically flawed on premise. That's the hook, to imperfectly succeed while outsiders get all hatorz aF and wonder how/why. Do you see?

Cardi tracks still slap bro. It's just you.

 

Three things lead to a great mix, levels Levels LEVELS, or the balance if you prefer.

Was writing for a fair while, without really mixing, no engineering except mixer eq, no producing other than effects.

Not sure why, must've felt something was wrong with the 'non' mixes i was churning out, so i asked a mate, Is anything wrong with this?

He replied, 'The kicks to loud', i sorta took it in, when he left i remember sorting it to my best then ability, at some point, it soon became natural, i can have really busy tracks, sometimes 90 stems, try not to now, current ep, all were about 60 stems.

I mix those then send to engineer, he processs all the tracks that need it, there will be more cutting than boosting for sure.

As i said, he said kindly that i've already mixed it, i have, but only the levels cos that's where the music exsists, in the levels i set, they are crucial to his mix only I can set them, in stone too.

This four track ep he has only made a few mistakes, all to do with levels, mainly VOX this time.

I remember when i first started using him, one track, pretty sure it was Dirty Bass Line, in a middle section he got two crucial synth levels comletely wrong and I remember, when he emailed it, he kinda queried it, they both needed to dominate together, he fixed it, mentioned it sounded ghreat, then understood how the track works.

Each song is different but all the required processing remains the same, always.

I must say, got last mix yesterday and it blows mine away, nether the less my mix has no processing, just levels, his levels are same as mine, they have to be, it's my picture. The mastering process will then put his mix in the shade.

I will definately post private link here of same section of all three, so you can get an idea.

Try mixing soley with levels, it's very straightforward, then process for clarity & seperation.

I think what was happening at first was, I cound't hear or decipher all the instruments etc in the records i was listening too, so tha would impact on my mixing, as i learnt to mix levels... well now, nowt gets past me, i hear it all, it's my job innit.

 

Most people hear music, some people 'listen' to music, are you hearing your mixes.

Are you listening?