I've got the mix position blues.

[wallawannabe]

Do you guys ever think "Wow. I'm no good at this."? I mean, how do you get over hearing a professional mix and knowing that as much as you try to match that, it's just f'ing with your head?

[wallawannabe]

....and if you're wondering where this is coming from, I'm finding that my mixes lately have been better with a little EQ on the master fader.

That a crappy feeling.

[lowfreq33]

If you're comparing your mixes to commercial cd's that have been mastered, your reference will be a little off.

[Jeff Juliano]

Sounds like you need a break man. Everytime I chase a mix on a cd I have to stop and remind myself not only has it been mastered but 9 times out of 10 (depending on the format) it's a mix that was printed to a 1/2 analog machine. No plug can do what that does.

Go do something for a couple hours that has NOTHING to do with music and I am certain when you come back to that mix you will be more focused and less bummed out.

Hope this helps.

Jeff

[wallawannabe]

Thanks, guys. Jeff, that's a great help....I'm just used to "mastering" everything on my own. This is the first project I'm sending off to be professionally mastered, so I'm not really sure what can be done to help what I've got now. It just seems like everything has this layer of wool over it. Is that something that can be left to mastering? If I boost the highs a little bit on the master buss it sounds a lot better, but I'm not sure if I should just leave that to the mastering engineer.

[Jeff Juliano]

Yeah, Throw and eq on the stereo buss. Whatever makes it sound better. No rules. Go bowling or something first. Clear the ears and the head.

Jeff.

[Bierce85]

Originally Posted by wallawannabe

....and if you're wondering where this is coming from, I'm finding that my mixes lately have been better with a little EQ on the master fader.

That a crappy feeling.

Why is that a crappy feeling? Isnt that kinda like saying my mixes sound better mastered? Shouldn't they?

[stevep]

Originally Posted by Bierce85

Why is that a crappy feeling? Isnt that kinda like saying my mixes sound better mastered? Shouldn't they?

If the ME does his job well,.. yes

But.....

you should get the mix sounding just the way you want it, the MEs work should only be a couple db here and there and should just be to give the whole record consistency, Not to fix a lacking mix

Get them where they sound perfect then the mastering will be quick and painless;
and the ME will be able to add to your product instead of trying to fix things

[Makinithappen]

I find myself with an EQ on the stereo bus about 50% of the time. It can be very useful to just notch out a small problem spot if the rest of the mix sounds good.