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Originally Posted by chris carter  Finding a good mixing engineer is pretty easy. You can start with this forum. There are plenty of top-notch mixers that frequent this forum, myself included. All of them have links to their websties or myspace or whatever so you can check them out.
I've never met anyone who could become a good mix engineer in a couple years. The producing and engineering side of things takes an awful lot of time to learn and the question becomes - how will you hone your craft as an artist and how will you run your label if you are spending all your time trying to learn to mix?
I have a similar frustration because I used to be a very talented trumpet player. Did that all through junior high and through college, won awards and all kinds of crap. But I'm a producer/mixer now, plus I need some chops on keyboards, guitar, bass, hand claps (lol), etc. As a result I just don't have time to practice my horn because I'm always producing or mixing, or trying to mantain some chops on other instruments. There's no way I could go into a jazz club now and do anything other than embarass myself on my trumpet... I'm only good enough to lay some parts down on a record. So what I'm saying is you have to make a choice. Excel at a couple things, or be mediocre at a lot of things. This business is tough and it doesn't accept mediocrity very well - so I chose to excel at a couple things. |
Couldn't have said it any better myself man.
The music business is a very "social" business. You have to be able to get along well with other people, and be very outgoing to get to where you want to go, because its not 'who you know', but 'who knows you' that really matters at the end of the day.
So if you are trying to get your start as a young man in the bizz, the best thing you can do is to start mingling with as much people as you possibly can, whether they have anything to do with music or not, and start looking for possible collabs in your own neighborhood.
A lot of times someone breaks into the business because they were at the right place at the right time; or participated on the right mixing project; or knew someone that knew somebody - that has a chick who knows somebody - who turns out to be related to someone - who could help bring you in.
Bottom line being that you gotta go out there and put yourself into situations that will steer your career in the right direction. As well you should never stop telling yourself that you WILL make it.
If taking on multiple job tasks such as mixing, producing, being an artist, etc., is what you want to do right now, go with it as far as you can. You may end up becoming great at all those things... or you may find yourself excelling in only one or two of them... but the point is your best time to explore your options and choose your focus would be right now.