Advice about the industry and mixing engineers (I need anwers please!)

[BalsamEtheridge]

Hi guys, I'm just now getting my equipment and I feel I've wasted a lot of time over the years smoking weed. I'm 22 now and I want to get into the industry and start getting my name out but I don't have an engineer to mix my music. I originally planned to save up from ages 22.5-24 for going to engineering school. From 24-25 will be spent in school and then finally at age 25 beginning to go out, do open mics, and get my name out etc. I feel this is too much time passed to begin at age 25. Theoretically it could still take a few years to build a fanbase and 'blow up'.

Do you guys think I should skip engineering school and find a good mixing engineer?

I'm doing it indie, and I want my own label, so I feel it'd be nicer to take care of everything on the production end myself so I can produce myself and artists on my label.


I make a fuse between big beat (chemical brothers, mr. oizo, prodigy, etc.) and hip-hop (pharcyde, leaders of the new school, murs etc.)

I know a lot about the music buisness but not enought to understand weather I should (or even could) find a mixing engineer to mix my music or weather I should have it all in my own hands but start at age 25. I have to work from 22.5 to 24 to show the US my tax records to earn my citizenship, so I sort of can't cut that time out.

Any advice is sincerely appreciated, even if you're skimming the forum, drop a response.

Thank you,
Balsam Etheridge

[HoPMiX]

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[phillysoulman]

Get a good engineer and watch,listen and learn.

[Franco]

"I feel I've wasted a lot of time over the years smoking weed."

That's a crutch. Plenty of people smoke trees and are productive (i.e., handle your biz during the day and work hard and at the end of the day, "relax").

"I know a lot about the music buisness but not enought to understand weather I should (or even could) find a mixing engineer to mix my music or weather I should have it all in my own hands but start at age 25."

I'm 35 and have been involved with working with the "industry" since I was 19. I started off with a Casio CZ-1 synth (when I was around 14) that I begged my pops to buy me because I thought at the time that's all I would need to make jams like Planet Rock. To spare you a long ass story, I'll just say that from that time up until now, I've had many experiences with the "industry" and with a lot of other cats who are trying to break in, and with regards to your question, this is my honest best answer:

You can't do it all on your own. Everyone I know who raps, produces, mixes, masters, promotes, tries to book shows, tries to slang the CD-Rs at the shows and on the streets, edits the youtube videos, manages the myspace account all on their own, end up running out of hours in their day to do anything meaningful.

Mixing - takes a lot of years to learn how to use all of the effects at their best capacity (especially learning when not to use them), not to mention that even with all the available cracked software out there, the really good tools aren't "downloadable" so the investment to getting a really decent setup for mixing is quite a bit (eventually you realize that the room you're mixing in is going to require an investment as well).

In short: Do you want to be an artist or a mixer? To do both really well will require most of your day's focus.

[Ash Holmz]

^^^ very well said my dude. very well said..

[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.

[PettyCash]

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.

[Family Grind]

Every response on this thread thus far is the best advice you could ever get my man. thumbsupthumbsupthumbsup