hey slutz

[xmostynx]

okay guys...

i'm a young engineer...21 fresh outta school december 06'

i landed a decent gig paying me REALLY good. doing live sound
was highly recomended by my teachers, and a alumni from my school hired me.
they trained me since july, giving me my own system to run in october.

recently my head boss, the big guy in charge of entertainment
stopped by to hear my mix..and it was a horrible mix..a really shitty night for me
and i was mixing a really ******bag band...

his first words where..'man you suck!'

...great...

this was a few weeks ago..end of november..

the cheif engineer is the one who trained me, and he's really taught me alot.
he has backed me up and said it was just a shitty night.
and really it was..a HORRIBLE night..isn't that how it works, your boss comes in, and thats life..


this wednesday i have to mix the companies christmas party.
i'm really ****ing nervous guys.
not only can I not afford to lose the job, the experience at 21 is amazing..

i know there are alot of vets out here on these forums..

is there anyone who can give me some pointers on composure and keeping my cool so the gig goes awesome?

i've mixed the band a few times before thats playing, and they are the band i mixed when my training was up, and i was put on my first 'can he do it' test..i really know i can nail their mix...

so i'm not worried about the band...i'm just worried I'M gonna let my nerves get the best of me..and i'm nervous that i let this guy down..

how can i regain his confidence in me...and retain my composure on wednesday night?

help me out guys, advice??!!?

[stevep]

Don't worry........

You will make plenty of mistakes when you are learning and you will do many many bad mixes before you get it ... if you get it (dont expect to get it over night)

I wouldn't think anyone would expect someone fresh out of SAE to be an awesome mixer

Just give it time,...... You have a paying gig ! thats a good first step

this wednesday i have to mix the companies christmas party.
i'm really ****ing nervous guys.
not only can I not afford to lose the job, the experience at 21 is amazing..

how can i regain his confidence in me...and retain my composure on wednesday night?

Show up be professional, dont even look back at the bad, look forward to the good !

Just do your best and dont worry, have fun, dont get drunk, Oh yea,.. Pump the Subs up all the way ..... just a thought


One live gig mixing sound for a party shouldn't make or break your career

[picksail]

The "power of intention', my friend.

Just envision yourself doing a great job and you will do a great job.

That's how I've lived my life, thus far. Works for me.

Relax. Go nuts!!!

Congrats on the gig, by the way.

[xmostynx]

Originally Posted by stevep

Pump the Subs up all the way ..... just a thought

e thats what i usualy do, and what i was taught. however, when he first came in and listened to my mix and made that comment, we had just switched up the aquarius super kick head, to a remo regular drum...and boy what a difference. it messed up my ability to mix in the bigger room for a few shows.

i really like to pump the kick, and bass into the same buss, and then pull the buss back a little to make it compress and then just build my mix around 4 slamming 18's.
sometimes i'll run my kick into a compressor if the drummer is inconsistent. however, it really helps when you have a good rythem section to work with...sometimes its a nightmare! there is nothing worse than trying to gel a rythem section that has no rythem! im sure you know... anyways

i try my hardest to come in always in nice clean clothes, no rockstar image, i just want to mix very well.

i'm just worried because these guys are fantastic engineers, and when my mix sucks...i feel like i can't run with these guys..and it bums me out.


i didn't go to SAE however, i went to the art institute of pittsburgh studying audio/video engineering, went back for my bachelor in digital media.. i assisted the department director for my major in a few recording sessions and got a small paying studio gig outta it, a few side projects..etc. and its just been evolving!

i'm really lucky at 21 to have sucha awesome gig.. they ousted one of their older engineers thats been with them for a year or so and put my in his spot..so i stepped into a pair of pretty big shoes!

i'm gonna be all nerves till the band first takes off....


anyone got any good disaster stories, so if say the subs blow up, i have something to compare it to on the way home

[xmostynx]

Originally Posted by picksail

Just envision yourself doing a great job and you will do a great job.


Congrats on the gig, by the way.

thanks!!

since i left home after highschool i've tried to keep that attitude...but man..sometimes i'ts HARD

[picksail]

Originally Posted by xmostynx

thanks!!

since i left home after highschool i've tried to keep that attitude...but man..sometimes i'ts HARD

It's OK to get discouraged, but it is NOT OK to give up.

You'll be fine.

You care. If you didn't you wouldn't be here asking for advice.

That goes a long way with me.

Pull up your pants. Stand up straight. Hold your head high. Put one foot in front of the other and go in there and kick ass!!!!!

Go in there and prove that the previous experience was a total fluke.

[De chromium cob]

Originally Posted by picksail

You care. If you didn't you wouldn't be here asking for advice.

That goes a long way with me.

Totally.....that's the crux of the biscuit right there. Having been on both sides of the board nothing is worse than when the live mixer doesn't care....

Just keep the attitude that you're the best person to be running sound, because no one in the room cares about how good it sounds more than you.

[toolskid]

don't think about how you feel when you're on the job and nervous, think about the JOB... if you're doing it right it will have your full attention!!!

A deep breath before you try and fix something thats going wrong will pay dividends and will not really slow you down at all...

DON'T PANIC.. nobody in the game REALLY knows what they're doing ;) you'll be fine!

[AlexLakis]

If it helps, everybody is going to be too drunk to care about how your mixes sound.

[xmostynx]

Originally Posted by picksail

Pull up your pants. Stand up straight. Hold your head high. Put one foot in front of the other and go in there and kick ass!!!!!

Go in there and prove that the previous experience was a total fluke.

this is the game plan!

i care very much about how my mix sounds, for many reasons!

the main one is...one day i'm going to have my name on a few huge cds..there is no question...its only a matter of time

not to mention the hours, i've spent reading and doing, and assisting, and re-trying and reading again, and listening and getting discouraged, to find more motivation somewhere else...setting up drums in my kitchen.. my mixes are what i look foward to!!!

i understand that everyone is gonna be wasted...and i know for sure, as i'm sure all of you know...when your wasted a hot girl looks really good, and an ugly one looks 'do-able'..but you really don't wanna chew your arm off the next morning to bail outta a strange bedroom..

i'm gonna keep this ideology for wednesday night..


comin' from the pa is gonna be nothing but hot women with big warm kick and bass, and a clear and present overlay of instruments and vocals...

thanks for all the good words guys, means alot!

i have monday and tuesday off..school is finished up for this term..and i'm gonna park it on the couch with the xbox and kick back..maybe chase my girlfriend around the appartment a little

i'll keep you guys posted, maybe one of the moderators will move this into the good news section after wednesday!!!

[studjo]

monday and tuesday off and you're not mixing???

how's that?

Jo

[xmostynx]

Originally Posted by studjo

monday and tuesday off and you're not mixing???

how's that?

Jo

what do you mean?

[GYMusic]

Well, I'm an old vet... and I'm afraid that if any boss... even "the big guy" came up to me as I was working and said "man you suck"... I would have stood up and said... see the microphone the lead vocalist is using... why don't you shove it up your ass.

Yeah... that may be a bit harsh. How about.... stand up and say, then let's hear you do it.

[studjo]

Originally Posted by xmostynx

what do you mean?

I think: you're 21 and you don't know if you're good enough or not. All I know is I wasn't good enough at that time (I allready mixed bands for 4 years-did the assisting thing ...)
I just kept mixing day in day out - whenever I had the opportunity - even remixed stuff that was allready finished - just to practice.

BTW I still do this shit - I allways look for porjects for mixing when I don't have anything else to do (which gets pretty rare these days)

Whatever perhaps a few days off is the best thing you should do. Don't fear those guys when they know what they're doing they'll know how hard it is to judge someones mix work. I can rarely judge a mix from someone else unless it's way off - but as allways YMMV

Jo

[xmostynx]

Originally Posted by studjo

but as allways YMMV

Jo

whats ymmv??

i do try to always during the day mix something, or atleast listen to old mixes i did before.

i'm a little un-confident...but it'll come. my mixes don't sound bad..just sometimes they are a little unclear...thats what i have some trouble with, mixing different bands all the time and making them not only hit hard, but be really clear..

[stevep]

Originally Posted by xmostynx

whats ymmv??

..

Your Mileage May Vary

[De chromium cob]

You also have to remember its not always possible to shine shit. You just do the best you can with it and move on.

[Harley-OIART]

I'm a young pup myself (only 23yrs) and this thread really caught my interest because it describes my situation to a tee. Really.

Great thread so far, and I wanted to say that the following advice from Toolskid is an absolute lifesaver.

Originally Posted by toolskid

A deep breath before you try and fix something thats going wrong will pay dividends and will not really slow you down at all...

I was working at a very important gig I was subcontracted out for, assigned to do monitor mixing for a known band. I was worried inside but showed little fear, then the best thing ever happened - someone bumped the recall button on the Yamaha M7CL, while "recall confirm" was turned off in the settings, after the soundcheck. Bye bye band approved monitor mix.

Yes it was my fault for not saving constantly.

What did I do? Didn't flinch. Didn't freak. Just took a deep breath and started calmly but quickly fixing - (I.E> rebuild the mixes from memory as best as possible and then fine tune the mixes really fast during the first song at showtime). I let my boss who was on site know because he is a trusted mentor of mine, and I feel he deserved to know of the situation and that a mistake had been made.

Bottom line of this rambling on story - A calm deep breath really does help.


Good luck @ your Gig Patrick. Happy Holidays All

[s.d.finley]

Dont panic, dont let them see you sweat. Ask someone you trust there how it sounds, but dont seems desperate.

peace

[AlexLakis]

Originally Posted by xmostynx

i care very much about how my mix sounds, for many reasons!

I know, just trying to take some of the pressure off.

Good luck on Wednesday, and before you leave, re-read the great posts on this thread as a pre-game!

[xmostynx]

i really enjoy the people on GS

thanks everyone for the kind words and motivation!!

[xmostynx]

here it goes guys! i'm off to work..

[De chromium cob]

Originally Posted by xmostynx

here it goes guys! i'm off to work..

So how'd it go?

[Harley-OIART]

Originally Posted by De chromium cob

So how'd it go?

Yes, do share

[xmostynx]

Originally Posted by De chromium cob

So how'd it go?

well guys....i have to say...
it was the hardest i EVER pushed that system..
and i had a PACKED dancefloor atleast 350-500ppl just on the floor
the President and CEO where dancing their asses off,
my boss's walked in and didn't even touch the console!
THEY LOVED IT!

I usualy mix the dance floor at about 100dB-101..

my mixing position is about 94dB...


lastnight it was a different story! my mixing spot was 100...the dance floor was NUTS!

it was ****in' awesome, by far one of the best gigs i did in my life, the band was happy, they played over, the crowd loved them...it was FANTASTIC


the CEO ordered me a nice glass of chardonnay..and my boss got me a 2nd glass.


i'll be a employee at the start of the year, no more sub-contracted work!

guys..thanks so much for all the motivation..it's been real hard to get a paying gig
but im finding out, a good mix starts with alot of confidence in yourself.

i also learned something cool..with my gates on my toms.
for smaller toms let the gates release faster than the larger ones..
if i remember right, my small tom, 10 inches, was like .3 release time
then down the line till my floor had a .5..6ish..
and my toms sounded like THUNDER all night..haha

my kick and bass was slammin' and everyone loved it.
the mix was glued together very nice..
they keys and guitar had their own spots in the mix
our systems are in mono and i find separation to be a bit more difficult, but it really makes you listen and find where the instruments are gonna blend naturally sonicly than putting something left and right in space..
and the horn section filled all the gaps left over and really gave it a big push.

it was a awesome night guys.

a secruity guard yelled at me after i was breaking the set down because this smokin' blonde wanted to help me roll cables...he pissed me off, and made a big stink..but its all good..my night was awesome he's just mad his job sucks compared to mine!..
he was very unprofessional..but it seems like some people at that company don't think what we do is work...

thanks again slutz!