What do you wish you knew before you recorded/mixed your first album?

[Marcus Nolan]

I wish I had know the difference getting it mastered makes, I would have mixed the album differently.

[F.M.]

I wish I had known how much time it was going to take to get results I was happy with.

For my first album I was of course really uptight about my own inexperience. I did a lot of editing, pitch correction, drum replacement automation and so on. Truthfully I probably squashed some vibe out of the record because I was determined to do my best. I'm not opposed to working hard to fix up a track but the desire not to half ass it combined with my lack of editing and mixing chops made it take forever.

Oh, and it still came out pretty crummy.

Be prepared.

[mattg082]

I second the above poster. Planning ahead is a good idea. Something you think that might take a few weeks can turn into a lot longer, put that together with a newbie band expecting magic like ordering a pizza and you might want to rip your hair out.

Do your best, but it's what the band wants and likes no matter how you feel about it. Also learning the threshold of my CPU, organizing and printing early saves a lot of pain in the end. Also hpf/Lpf and knowing the basic eq of each instrument by memory can really speed up the process, but that takes practice. Learning my monitoring! I can make mixes now and most always they translate before testing because I really know my set up.

[gogar]

I wish I had realized that even

A BEAUTIFUL, perfectly executed mix of

A crappy song

with the very best preamps, mic choices, compressors, and everything else

is just a fast track to the realization

that the song was really crappy.

[adamcal]

I wish I knew everything I knew everything after the album was finished.

[Yummerz]

I wish I had known that I could have saved time, money, and peace of mind - and gotten much better results - if I simply went to a studio and let professionals handle it. This world is built on division of labor and I was too blind to see it.

[Companda]

Ha! I wish I had known how to create a master fader, or that it even existed, in pro tools. I was using pro tools free and kept hearing clipping but non of the tracks were. Funny when I think about it now.

I was also unaware of aux tracks and bussing reverbs, instead pushing my old iMac - maybe 356 clock- to it's absolute limits.

[Sino]

Originally Posted by james...

Pretty basic question with a lot of answers hopefully. What are some things you wish someone would have filled you in on before you had to learn them the hard way.

I'm asking because I'm about to record and mix an album all by my lonesome, and I feel like this thread could help me a lot.

Mhmh.. let's say.. everything?
Listening to my first records/mix i have to say that I was pretty bad in transitions from one part of the song to another... (clean intro to main riff, verse to bridge, bridge to chorus..)

[drakem]

Originally Posted by gogar

I wish I had realized that even

A BEAUTIFUL, perfectly executed mix of

A crappy song

with the very best preamps, mic choices, compressors, and everything else

is just a fast track to the realization

that the song was really crappy.

^^^^^ this
and that the loudness doesn't mean a shit...

[Boschen]

Originally Posted by gogar

I wish I had realized that even

A BEAUTIFUL, perfectly executed mix of

A crappy song

with the very best preamps, mic choices, compressors, and everything else

is just a fast track to the realization

that the song was really crappy.

This is the crux of the biscuit.

Pre production is king.
You have to be willing to throw stuff out if it's not up to par.
It's better if you do this before the red button lights up.
Put in the time when you don't have to pay for it.

[ray_subsonic]

When you get to Mixing a Song (Regardless of whether you're working In The Box or on a Console) ..

Pull up a Rough Balance quickly. Do a Fast Mix before you do Anything else. Follow your Feelings. Print That Mix or Save It. You now have a Starting Point.

If you get Lost, or explore too many Tangents, Print or Save The Mix where you are, and Start Again. It's OK to admit "It's not working", and to Start again. It helps you avoid drifting or wandering aimlessly, and wasting time. When it comes to Mixing, you become better at Hitting a Mark, with Repitition. You know when it feels right. Getting Lost is often your Heart telling you, you're on the Wrong Path.

[AllBread]

How much time and money it would take to do it right. Not that it would of changed anything. Halfway through my album project I was starting to hear a lot of build up from tracking in the same room so, like any reasonable person, I decided to gut the whole basement and build a proper mix room with an isolated booth. Thought it would take about a week a five grand. A year later and I'm still soldering patchbays instead of making music. Oh yeah, and the 5k got multiplied by 10 somehow!

Just recently I've learned how valuable outside help can be. At first I was determined to do everything myself. Then I hired out drums and the drummer (a studio owner) was kind enough to get an intern on the tracking sessions. So nice to sit back and listen to the takes instead of staring at Pro Tools. Now I'm doing the vocals and I can run it myself but so much nicer to hire a buddy to come over and engineer the session for me and give me his feedback.

Basically I've learned that it's a constant learning experience but it's also been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I've improved 10 fold as a musician, engineer, and producer.

[atreidesheir]

Do not be afraid to mix and arrange the song to sound like a live band in the studio. Eno and Lanois use this method to great effect.

Let the different instruments and voices each have their space in the mix.

Less is more and some rough edges sound good.

And let fresh ears master the thing. Even a good mix needs saving sometimes.

[Ciozzi]

All I know now plus some more...

[popmann]

My "First album" was so long ago...even my first home studio album...that I should just collect advice from over the years.

Don't trust midi timing for anything but transitive creation medium-record audio of keys if you can...if you can't get the midi where you want it and print.

Monitor you headphones/cue analog. Trust me, you're a better musician than you think. Alternately, just don't use headphones...

Record everything you can in mono. Make it the default that you need good reason to break. Overheads...acoustic pianos(maybe)...Leslie top....anyway--related note, if you use two MICS on a source (amps if memory serves in my case), make sure each one sounds "complete" by itself...OR print it in mono (which forces you to address phase issues during tracking).

Never submix drums. Even if they're samples and you're sure they sound perfect! I did a record with a lot of stereo drum tracks...oh man, what a nightmare to mix.

Cheap and real beats expensive and sample/modeled/fake in the mix 90% of the time.

There may be more. Those are off the top of my head.

[dkelley]

How much time you need to take after listening and thinking it's brilliant before coming back and listening with "fresh ears". Wait long enough and you'll be disappointed in the production, performance, and editing... which is the whole point really imho.

My best personal work has taken years because I've gone back repeatedly and change it all up. As a result I rarely release anything of my own personal work other than an occasional single. I have albums I'm working on, several, but nothing ever is ready.

It will be, hopefully, one day....

Meanwhile I release albums for other paying customers on a weekly basis LoL and they're happy customers... so there is some problem with how I work with myself on my own work, I guess.

[edva]

Better monitoring situation would have been #1, better A/D/A next, before even worrying about mics, pres, outboard, etc. Without good monitoring, it's like target shooting in the dark, not much chance of hitting it. And with good monitoring, the good or bad qualities of the A/D/A become important. IMHO.

[Snail]

Originally Posted by ray_subsonic

When you get to Mixing a Song (Regardless of whether you're working In The Box or on a Console) ..

Pull up a Rough Balance quickly. Do a Fast Mix before you do Anything else. Follow your Feelings. Print That Mix or Save It. You now have a Starting Point.

If you get Lost, or explore too many Tangents, Print or Save The Mix where you are, and Start Again. It's OK to admit "It's not working", and to Start again. It helps you avoid drifting or wandering aimlessly, and wasting time. When it comes to Mixing, you become better at Hitting a Mark, with Repitition. You know when it feels right. Getting Lost is often your Heart telling you, you're on the Wrong Path.

Yes, this is helpful. I've got lost along the way several times... then I wonder... Huh? I thought this was pretty decent at one point, so why does it now sound like @#$&#@%^???

[mattseidel]

My two cents:

Before you start tracking, have your arrangements all demo'd and planned out and know where everything is going to sit in terms of frequencies: highs, high mids, low mids, and bottom. There will be overlap of course, but particularly with bass there should really only be one element below 200 Hz and it should be isolated so that you can sink it in the mix. Judging by this forum, and my own experience, having too much bass is a big n00b issue.

Also, don't overthink! The perfect is the enemy of the good, as they say.

[PeteGJ]

Originally Posted by mattseidel

My two cents:

Also, don't overthink! The perfect is the enemy of the good, as they say.

THIS!!! Ten times over.

And knowing that it'll never ever be as good as you wanted it to be will reduce the later post-release suicidal feelings.

[mixkitchen]

On the purely technical side:
What GOOD mics and CLEAN preamps can give to a recording. I started out like a lot of us - prosumer stuff that sounded great at the time- but I've been lucky enough to get to work with some great gear down the line and It's like removing cataracts in the audio domain!

[LimpyLoo]

Great question, OP.

Answer: so many things.

1) Get it right at source. Biggest part of mixing (IMHO) is tracking,

2) Don't make musical decisions based on the fear that the listener is dumb and has ADD,

and

3) Gain staging. Digital distortion is pretty much the grossest sound I've ever heard...

[tom0779]

Originally Posted by gogar

I wish I had realized that even

A BEAUTIFUL, perfectly executed mix of

A crappy song

with the very best preamps, mic choices, compressors, and everything else

is just a fast track to the realization

that the song was really crappy.

I love this haiku ^^, it currently hangs on my wall above my slutgear.

[joe_04_04]

I wish I knew everything before I mixed my first mix. I still suck.

Happy 500th to me!

[Sim]

I mixed my first album about 5 months ago. I wish I knew how long it would take me I was just not used to working fast or doing long sessions, I couldn't make good decisions quick because of my lack of experience and mix techniques etc and I've mixed a lot of tracks but not an album. I didn't realised how long it would take to find a mastering engineer I liked either. I wish I knew my speakers weren't up to the job.

One thing I would tell someone who is mixing their first album is you'll never be happy with it, you want it to sounded better than your capable of doing and in my mind sucked. You'll get a downer from that so I suggest to quickly record something new and use what you've learnt and you'll find your next couple of tracks will improve ten fold, and your learn something new.

[21doors]

I wish I knew that 2" tape sounds the way I always thought digital was supposed to.
...it just would have saved me years of self doubt and frustration.

[jro323]

i'm repeating some stuff here........
expect a struggle and keep a good attitude about it. growth can be awkward.

recording.....
-prep the songs well and work out every angle. if the hand held recorder demo from practice doesn't excite you and your freinds - the polished studio version probably won't either.
-buy good mics and pre's if you can afford em.
-compress lightly (if at all) on the way in
-Track everything as cleanly as possible. Don't clip the reds and don't polish turds.

mixing......
-Treat your room. Build basstraps. Have good monitors, and a flat amp. Your ability to hear correctly influences all of your decisions.
-Know your way around the compressor and subtractive EQing.
-Once again - no clipping. double check the plugins. gain staging.
-use your references very often. It's easy to lose perspective.....

Search Gearslutz when stumped.....

in general....... hit "save" a lot, make new save files with different names when you make major changes to the mix so you can always go back to where you were before, backup to external drives, check your mixes in different environments on different systems. when you're nearing the end stages - take a burnoff cd out to a local bar and ask the staff to play a song or two on the house system...... might change how you feel about your mix.

it's all trial and error. best of luck.

[shadowelectronic]

I wish I would have realized that taking the time to get truly unique and compelling sounds ends up saving a lot of headache. Rather than firing up a preset, take your time and really craft your sounds. Your mixes will be better and you will be more satisfied. Buy a field recorder while you are at it.

[Shock Value]

My first album was perfect. Listening to everyone was what messed my later ones....