HELP! A very unusual thread

[FreshSkweez]

Ok, guys. I'm a brand-spanking new member of this forum, even tough I've been following what's been going on around here for years. The main reason why I finally decided to post is because I have a major problem that's eating me alive and since most of the regulars here come across as reasonable, compassionate, and all-in-all nice people ;-) I would hope to find a good word of advice to help me solve it. This isn't not your typical 'what's-the-best-emulation-of-1073-out-there' thread, so please bear with me. Here it is.

The history of my skin by Charles Simms...

I started learning the trade in NYC a few years back. Working at a small studio I was totally blessed to be surrounded by great people who took the time to tutor me and push me in the right direction. In a relatively short while on top of my janitor duties I found myself doing edits, then tracking, then mixing rufs and demos. I was completely in love with the process and when I listen back to the stuff I did back then I can totally tell I was. Guided by 'what sounds good is good' and by the things I've learned from my benefactor who just happens to be an absolutely brilliant Grammy-winning mixer I moved along and my stuff started sounding pretty solid.

At the same time I was doing live sound and after a while ended up working four nights a week in one of the best live clubs in the city. And once again the owner who is a very respected person in the business and has amazing ears put some effort in helping me get better yet. At that point everything I did was intuitive. When you're doing six or seven mixes a night with 15 minute changeovers there's no other way. You just mix as you go and by the end of the first song your stuff's gotta be right. I loved doing that too and if my studio work was decent-to-good my live mixes were good-to-great. I'm not saying this to pet myself on the back this is important to keep in mind for what happens next. This went on for a few years and I kept at it until I felt it was time to grow.

Three years ago I moved back to my home country and started freelancing doing both studio stuff and FOH. Bear in mind we're talking about a country where I personally heard a studio owner say 'We'll just get a TC Finalizer and open a mastering facility'... so the overall level of professionalism and knowledge in this business is pretty low (unfortunately starting with musicians themselves). The word got around that an engineer from the states is working in town and my phone was ringing constantly. I was in the studio from ten to six (just mixing – dream come true!!!) and would then rush to mix a club gig. The musical aspect of most of the stuff was... well... bad. But I didn't mind cause I still remembered what it's supposed to sound like and tried to get it as close to the point as possible; and the bands loved me for making them sound better then they actually were. Somewhere around that time I got a request to produce a record 'the way they do it in the states' and dove right into it – tracked everything, did all edits, additional production, aligned timing, autotuned stuff, – everything. It took me about 4 months working around the clock. I was exhausted. Then it was time to mix.

And that's when it all happened. The first 4 songs (a passing number, #2 single, #1 single, and the ballad) came out great. Two days a song, plenty of time to ride... just great. And then in the middle of the fifth song I felt like I was losing sonic perspective. That was the first warning – the song came out with an octave-wide gap around 1K. Long story short – every single mix I've done since then - the gap just gets bigger and bigger. At first I was the only one to notice it. I started to consciously emphasize that part of the mix but it just didn't sound right to me in the process. And if it doesn't sound right I just can't go on. The band loved the record, but after listening to the masters I started freaking out.

That was 2 years ago. A half a year ago I rushed to mix a record in a week without having a chance to listen to it critically and it got turned down by the label and they asked for their money back... A month ago I got kicked off a national tour of a major artist because even my live mixes started falling through in the midrange. I'm now working with a cover band playing corporate functions… second-guessing myself every time I touch a knob.

Ok, to those of you who are not thinking 'the guy is crazy' by this point – what do I do? Has there ever been an at least somewhat similar situation in your careers (not the losing of jobs part ;-) but the drastic change in your frequency range perception)? Do you think there's any way to get it back to where it used/is supposed to be? Any friendly input would be highly appreciated gentlemen. Sorry to have taken up so much of your time and server space ;-).

[Lerxst]

Have you had your hearing tested?

[Jim Kerr]

Well, with respect of course a hearing test can determine if your theory is true. Personally I wouldn't go any where near a hearing test unless I noticed a problem in real form not from someone else's opinion on a mix unless I were a bit older and that it was happening all the time. I also don't think that you need golden ears to mix well either.
Next is I think people naturally change, everyone. The engineer and the listener. I have sometimes mixed to just make things sound cool or neat and sometimes I would try to make things sound completely clear or sometimes very saturated, don't get me wrong I don't mean mixing like a freak but with very different subtleties. There was a point where I realized that what I was doing and the approach was pretty different, Studio,FOH and monitors even. Monitors the most actually and really because I knew it and I wasn't afraid to EXPERIMENT. When I was working monitors in one of NYC's greatest venues There was a lot of attention to detail yet I could still play with my quest of audio engineering..in an interesting way. Everyday slowly progressing to the point where my desires became very different (except of course having the band hear themselves and feel comfortable). I was trying to couple the sound with FOH, I was really using frequencies that would cut through, trying calculations and denominations of frequencies, Phasing, etc..just a lot of weird stuff and yes most of that is normal but..not really. I took pride in it but I was also sometimes bored out of my mind.....doing monitors, I'm sure you can relate. I loved the fact that if you heard my mixes when the FOH was muted it sound totally strange. Bands would want to change everything and of course I would explain that when we have the house on you will see. That was my thing and they saw.
Hers my point. This came with me to FOH and its been like that for me in the studio. One night I want to shake the crowd...SUBS more SUBS. Boosting 63!!! (I cut mostly everything by the way). Panning stuff all over, Hat 2k and up, Guitars rolled off at 200 or so, Bass, cut apart like crazy and thumping with the rest shooting through a 630 to 3.1k hole, real close to the kick. Vox right in the middle 315 HP and the basic 500 - 800 scoop..etc. Cool sounds energized. Well what you have there is a mix that is probably missing the MIDS. Sometimes people like that sometimes they don't. It got to where I think I was trying to hard. I was mixing a show in Brooklyn and I was generally blasting it. I am conscious of peoples ears and I do try to make things seem louder then they are just by mixing technique. The manager of the Headliner that I was mixing asked before hand if he could just steer the ship a little bit during the show if he even was up for it. I said sure dude no prob. I had a pretty powerful mix going and he came up and discreetly brought everything down 3db or so a piece, rounded everything out, (Not everything but..) and scored a kick ass mix. He did end up close to mine but I realized that I was just a little too intense all around. I have since specifically experimented mixing more conservatively (which is normal to do) and I general end up where I think I would anyway.
All in all what I'm saying is I think our tastes change and sometimes comes back around and so do others. I hope its not your ears playing tricks on you. I think what has happened to you probably happens to many many other engineers and its looked at as taste. I hope.

I would think that you could tell right off the bat, or maybe not I don't know. You could take a mix that you have done or a favorite album and see if it sounds different to you now and if you think there is too much mid range. Still that might not be your hearing.

When I used to play thrash metal I did the mid scoop thing and now I love mids.

[Kiwiburger]

And the obvious question of monitors and room treatment ... and whether you are using eq on your monitors ... and whether you are checking your mixes against your reference CDs ... and how your mixes sound compared to commercial mixes on a boom box or in your car ...

And who is mastering your records? What are they telling you?

[FreshSkweez]

First off. Thank you guys so much for your replies. To tell you the truth I was afraid I was gonna hear something along the lines of ‘maybe you just don’t know what you are doing’ - period. I mean obviously compared to some I don’t and I’ll be the first one to admit it. But this is my life and my career so I tend to take the matter close to heart. Jim, thank you so much for taking the tine to write, your response was dead on the spot the way I see it but I’m also wondering what the hell I’m gonna do about this.

As to my hearing. I’m extremely careful about that. When I mix live, song 3 is already done with earplugs in… I don’t go hunting and I try and stay away from excessive sound pressure when possible. There’s very little or no ringing in my ears after an FOH gig or a day at the studio. I would expect hearing loss to initially occur in the top part of the spectrum, but am I wrong in presuming that? As a matter of fact I think I’ve started hearing a lot more over the last few years and that might also be something that’s throwing me off - like I hear compression (especially ITB) a lot earlier than I used to.

As to room treatment, monitors etc. It’s different rooms and control almost every time (I’m freelancing). Most of them are crappy but so are most of the studios in this city. I always reference CDs when I mix but for the sake of feeling out the general direction and not to copy somebody else’s sounds or the way they are layered (which is close to impossible the way I see it). I do hear the scoop when I reference now but as soon as I dive back into the mix I can’t bring myself to add something that sounds ugly/overdone to my ears. To tell you the truth (and I’m not trying to start another ITB/OTB discussion here) I tend to assume that it has something to do with the way I’m mixing nowadays (and WHAT I’m mixing nowadays). After moving back to Russia I was forced to switch to ITB for most of my mixes (obvious reasons) and 1K boosted 2db with RenEQ with a wide Q sounds a whole lot different than it used to with a 550.

So gentlemen, once again I really appreciate your input and I’m hoping to find a hint at what I can do to fix this and get my career back on track.

[KingDaddyO]

My apologies if I missed some key info that rules this suggestion out, but if you are exhibiting a consistent reduction in a specific freq. range (let's call it 'x') perhaps it might be beneficial to experiment with doing your mixes, using a subtle eq boost in the 'x' range.

With enough constructive feedback, you should know fairly soon whether or not you are onto something. Then it is a matter of honing in on the exact freq. range, to move it from 'x' to a specific value.

If that results in less complaints about your mix results, you might be able to continue to produce mixes that are up to your previous standard, even if you cannot hear them that way.

Crazy idea? Maybe. But if I was in your shoes, I'd try anything to keep doing what I love to do.

[FreshSkweez]

Fair enough

[Washington]

FWIW, and even if you haven't been whining the slightest bit, I feel for you. Best of luck sorting it out.

[Marjan]

Originally Posted by FreshSkweez

As to room treatment, monitors etc. It’s different rooms and control almost every time (I’m freelancing). Most of them are crappy but so are most of the studios in this city.

I'm not surprised your mixes sound different, as you're allways jumping from one crapy sounding studio to another... let alone with different monitors - unless 'they' have them, always take with you the ones you're used to! Otheriwe that's like giving the guitar player a different guitar for every new gig: he won't have enough time to adjust to the new neck, new frets, new sound, etc.

Having said that, even experienced engineers recognize that some of their own albums sound better than others, and they can't always explain why.

Also, from my experience it's important to take proper rest, otherwise weird shit (like that) may happen.

Relax man, judjing by your work experience and attitude, you're fine...

[Mr.HOLMES]

It sounds for me that you really need a break to come back to yourself.
So the time you are writing about was very stressing you right?

Working with musicians which do not understand their craftsmanship is stress pure. I have done this for 2 years in my project studio and quit totally with it because it is nerving to discuss with a band if the arrangement is horrible or the singer is not hearing hoe bad he is because of a lack of ear training.

So I can tell you that stress in any form like such discussions or mixing bad played music can cause hearing problems.

Take a break and your hearing perception will reset itself.
Many people work until they are burned out....and this is the moment where you will need a professional psychologist to find the way out of the stress loop.

Breaks free time for yourself is important.

And I have seen a lot musicians as well as engeneers which live for their work. But to over identify yourself with your work is not a good idea and ends up in a permanent stress situation.

Trust my word you and you ears need a brake do some sports come down...have good food read a nice novel do things which you have not done for a long time.

[rackdude]

Dude, take a chill pill for a bit. Play some other peoples songs that you like and get back to loving music. Get some women, that always helps. Let the songs come back to you, don't try to make a song that doesn't exist, or worse, isn't supposed to exist!

Hope it all turns out alright.

[mu6gr8]

Originally Posted by FreshSkweez

I would expect hearing loss to initially occur in the top part of the spectrum, but am I wrong in presuming that?... After moving back to Russia I was forced to switch to ITB for most of my mixes (obvious reasons) and 1K boosted 2db with RenEQ with a wide Q sounds a whole lot different than it used to with a 550.

There's a syndrome called ATN or Audio Trauma Notch that is widespread among audio professionals. The dip is around 4k, so you can still have your highs intact, but have trouble understanding speech because many consonants live around 4k.

Because you are a "trained" listener, you instinctively know that adding 2 dB with a hardware API EQ will give you what you want. That's great, but you cannot expect software to behave the same way. When I first experienced mixing ITB after mixing almost exclusively on Neve and SSL desks for over a decade, I found that it was important to ignore the visual feedback, re: how many dB of cut or boost I was getting from software EQ plugins. Some plugins seem to require a 3 dB adjustment in order to get the same result as 1 dB with a hardware EQ, so you should embrace the fact that mixing ITB is a different art than mixing OTB.

Until you sort out what your issue is, I suggest that you periodically check the progress of your mixes against other mixes that have a good midrange frequency balance, and make sure that the ratio of your midrange is in a similar ballpark. IHTH. Good luck to you.

[mikeynyuk]

Hi there,
I'm sorry to hear your going through a rough time.

From what youve said this problem began when you started mixing that record back in Russia. It also sounds like that was the first time you did ALL the work prior to mixing? Either way 4 months working on a record is exhausting and stressful.

Perhaps the move home, coupled with this album mix (when you were fatigued) began to create a kind of anxiety problem for you. This, of course, may effect ones overall confidence and could be part of the reason you got let go.

Sometimes we bring our own downfall when were stressed. Stress can also be a bigger issue than a slight dip in hearing or a different monitoring enviroment when it comes to mixing. I am remixing entirely an album I finished under extreme pressure 4 months ago. Now that I am relaxed Im hearing easily all the errors I made first time around. Next time I do all the work on an album Im taking at least 3 weeks off before mixing...but I digress, sorry.

Just a hypothosis. As others have said, with your experience I'm sure you'll get your MoJo back. Good luck!

Mike

[Jules]

Originally Posted by FreshSkweez

So gentlemen, once again I really appreciate your input and I’m hoping to find a hint at what I can do to fix this and get my career back on track.

How is the rest of your life going?

Does your day to day life have a good balance of work / social time with friends and or family / sleep / regular meals / exercise? (and not too much alcohol-caffeine-drugs etc?)

Are you suffering from a general lack of confidence?

[Birdi]

I wonder if you are simply burnt out. You were wrecked after tracking and editing that record, then went straight into mixing. you made mix errors due to fatigue, brings on anxity,being anxious makes you even more tired, more error, more anxious and your confidence goes.

The other thing to consider is that for some people (and I'm one of these people) when they are tired/stressed/anxious some of the senses go into a kind of overload. So for me, when I'm wrecked I get hyper senstive to sound. A certain frequency range gets too 'piercing' or 'shiney' actually just plain irratating , and I'll produce mixes lacking in that area.

I also get super iratated by certain noises , (well actually more like crazily irrationally angry) by sounds like some one chewing gum or apples or the thump of music coming from the floor below.

The only thing for it when I get like this is to rest, and silence, somtimes resorting to ear plugs .

Are you in a position to take 3 months off? no mixing anything. quiet . rest. good food. meditation. etc etc. Then ease your self back into mixing, start with simple acoustic tracks and get your confidence back.

regards

Bird