The other day I was going through some of the opportunity pages on Indaba. I have an audio engineering background so I naturally gravitate towards the Telefunken contests. When browsing discussions on the Telefunken: “Rivers Rising” Mixing Contest, I suddenly came across an interesting thread! Daniel Yantosca from The Woodlands, Texas proposed a great topic of discussion: “ When is a mix truly done for you?”
This is one of life’s big questions, well, at least in my mind! The responses included Daniel Yantosca saying “when I can listen to the same song in my car for a couple days and not get tired of it, or have to fiddle with the volume knob while listening. I think then I’ve done all I can.” He was not the only person to put their thoughts out there. User Schraube says “Generally I stop at the point where the song works for me. It doesn´t have to sound good but it has to feel right to me. Then, I invite the people/client/producer/artist for listening and trim the mix to their likes as far as I can and as far it´s possible until they are happy.”
Another popular claim was, not knowing when to stop. Many users felt they could continue working on the mix forever. William Smith says “4 hours riding/automating each track trying to keep the balance in check without compression. 2 hours EQing. Submitted for advice. Took a day off. 1 more hour tweaking with everyone’s advice in mind, a fresh set of ears and some notes of my own. Hindsight is always 20/20, so if I don’t set deadlines for myself I will tweak for very literally over 100 hours and still not be satisfied.”
There was also some great advice flying around on this discussion. Everyone seems to agree, although deadlines cause pressure, they help finish your project (even if you still want to raise that kick a pinch). Another great tip was to “get some time away from your project”. Listening with a pair of rested ears always helps. Many users also believe that getting an outside opinion is always helpful.
Something I always do with a mix is take time to listen to it everywhere. I make sure it sounds good in every environment. I listen in the car, using iPod headphones, studio monitors, and anything else that I can think of. I also ask my friends for their opinion. My friends are clueless about music but, if they hear something weird, then I know something is up. Another part of my process is learning. One thing that tends to inspire me the most is “studying the game tape”. I get great ideas by watching experienced people work.
Finishing your work is never an easy task and can literally take days, months, or years of your life. Enjoy your mix, get some trained ears to give you their opinion, set a deadline, and most of all have fun! There is no formula for when a mix is truly done, but when you get that feeling, let the world hear your art!
Much love Indaba Fam!
-Alex Yake
For more great topics of conversation, search through the various opportunities and get chatty on the discussion boards. There are always interesting conversations that anyone (no matter their experience or knowledge) could learn from!