Finding a Mixing Engineer

[Kilroi]

Hi all,

First, these are great forums--maybe some of the best I have ever seen--in terms of informed people creating a great community.

I am in a band and we previously recorded and mixed our own album with satisfactory, but not great, results. We are recording and, since we have some money now, decided to do the recording ourselves and spend money on the mix. Some will probably dissuade us from recording ourselves, but we were happy with the physical recordings but want a more professional mix.

Since we haven't done this before, I thought I would ask the form a few questions:

-Roughly, how much should a good mixing engineer cost on a per day scale?
-Roughly, how long should a mixing engineer spend mixing a five minute song?
-Is there a resource for finding mixing engineers?
-We are recording everything on a DAW, which we can export to tracked wav's. Should most mixing engineers be able to use this format? I know some prefer to work analog and am not sure if they can use wav's.
-How much effects processing (delay, reverb, etc) do engineers like to add? We like to use stereo delay, for example, should we record a dry sound without delay and have the mixer add it? Should we record line-in from bass and guitar and let the engineer add a modeler?

Finally, can any of you recommend a good mixing engineer?

I really appreciate any answers and appreciate the forums.

david

[cap217]

-Roughly, how much should a good mixing engineer cost on a per day scale?

Depends but most work on a per song rate... $350 to as much as $3000 or more.

-Roughly, how long should a mixing engineer spend mixing a five minute song?

3-6 hours

-Is there a resource for finding mixing engineers?

dont know

-We are recording everything on a DAW, which we can export to tracked wav's. Should most mixing engineers be able to use this format? I know some prefer to work analog and am not sure if they can use wav's.

wav's are good aiff is good as well, just start everything from 0

-How much effects processing (delay, reverb, etc) do engineers like to add? We like to use stereo delay, for example, should we record a dry sound without delay and have the mixer add it? Should we record line-in from bass and guitar and let the engineer add a modeler?

Alldepends on the song and person!

[Jay Kahrs]

One of the BIGGEST things you need to consider when picking a mix AE is if they understand the material & have a vision & idea of what it should sound like.

If you're making an R&B record you probably wouldn't want to hire someone who specializes in jazz or metal...

[robmix]

Originally Posted by Kilroi

-Roughly, how much should a good mixing engineer cost on a per day scale?
-Roughly, how long should a mixing engineer spend mixing a five minute song?
-Is there a resource for finding mixing engineers?
-We are recording everything on a DAW, which we can export to tracked wav's. Should most mixing engineers be able to use this format? I know some prefer to work analog and am not sure if they can use wav's.
-How much effects processing (delay, reverb, etc) do engineers like to add? We like to use stereo delay, for example, should we record a dry sound without delay and have the mixer add it? Should we record line-in from bass and guitar and let the engineer add a modeler?

Finally, can any of you recommend a good mixing engineer?

I really appreciate any answers and appreciate the forums.

david

Mix time - roughly between 2 to 8 hours
Mixer Resource - not really, but you could look at your favorite sounding records and try to find contact info on the web. Most big mix engineers have management or a web presence
Format - .wav or AIFF should work for most everyone
Effects - every song will be different, there's no hard and fast rule about how much reverb someone might use. As far as modelers and relying on the mix engineer to come up with the final sound I think that's a recipe for disaster. You need to get the recordings as close to finished as you can. If delay is integral to the song that print a track with it and without it.

There's a lot of people on gearslutz that would love to mix your project. You'll probably get some PM's from this thread.


Good luck.

[Jules]

-Roughly, how much should a good mixing engineer cost on a per day scale?
What if they take 3 days per mix? Why not think in terms of 'per song' price (for example I charge between $1,000 - $1,600 per mix..)

-Roughly, how long should a mixing engineer spend mixing a five minute song?
See above - if you make a per song deal - you dont have to worry about this...

-Is there a resource for finding mixing engineers?
Not one central place no. This IS one though....!

-We are recording everything on a DAW, which we can export to tracked wav's. Should most mixing engineers be able to use this format?
Yes

-How much effects processing (delay, reverb, etc) do engineers like to add?
As much as they think sounds good, this is an impossible to answer question

We like to use stereo delay, for example, should we record a dry sound without delay and have the mixer add it?
Yes, but giving them a delayed version as a reference (or that can be used as the master track) is also a good idea too..

Should we record line-in from bass and guitar and let the engineer add a modeler?
Only if you have asked about this first. Favorite normally, is to submit Di AND amp mic (for rock music) Record YOUR modeler if you like it, the mixer may not have the exact same software that you do..

Finally, can any of you recommend a good mixing engineer?
My name is below!

[SnakeCained]

I recommend Jules!

after all children are expensive

[Bob Olhsson]

Originally Posted by Jay Kahrs

One of the BIGGEST things you need to consider when picking a mix AE is if they understand the material & have a vision & idea of what it should sound like.

If you're making an R&B record you probably wouldn't want to hire someone who specializes in jazz or metal...

i completely agree with requiring understanding and vision however "specialists" can also have a really bad tendency towards formulas.

What you want is somebody who is really skilled and really creative. The more genres they have substantial experience with, the more creative tools they'll probably be bringing to the table. Engineers often get stereotyped by the first big hit they work on. I can think of many cases where it's a different genre than their interest and a different genre than most of their experience as a second engineer involved.

[picksail]

I guess I should give kudos to these guys for having contacted me to mix their record.

These musicians are really incredible. Great music. Great vocalist. The performances and musicianship are top notch.

We are approaching completion of the record and I think we are all elated with the progress.

This has to be one of the best experiences I've had professionally.

David, the original poster, has gone above and beyond.

It was an absolute seamless transition with the delivery of the original source files. They actually drove in from Tuscon to LA to hang with me for a few days to make sure I had everything I needed.

On the rare occasion that there was an issue with a file transfer or anything that would require time doing things other than mixing, they offered to pay me extra for the time. They actually made me the offer!!! I, of course, declined the offer. This was too good to be true!!!!

If I needed a missing source file, it was immediately uploaded to my server so that I could resume work with practically no loss of time.

I think they may have actually restored my faith is humanity for a moment!!!

It has been an absolute pleasure working with them. They have granted me the latitude to really involve myself creatively in order to more accurately manifest their vision.

Thanks guys.

[djui5]

Congrats Stewart