Mixing Needed,will pay, any volunteers??

[JBurn25]

I don't know the proper way to execute this request, and since there isn't a mixing forum I figured the mastering forum would be the best place to try.

I am in a Christian band that is in the process our finishing our self-recorded CD, and we need to have the rest of our songs (four) mixed. Our band is nothing special, but we were able to record with some great gear (pres: Avalon AD2022, GT Vipre and Brick, Presonus Eureka and DigiMAX; mics: schoeps, lawson l47, neumann u87, oktava etc.) and our CD came out pretty good all things considered. We sent our CD to get mixed a while back and the guy gave it back to us like three months later having only done five songs because his new job required him to leave town frequently and unexpectedly.
We only have 400 dollars left in our mixing budget and are desperately hoping to get all four songs mixed for that amount. I know it isn't a ton, but it isn't all that far fetched considering we are going through an online forum :) We plan on using Brad at Euphonic Masters for the mastering job after mixing because we really respect him and his work.

So, if anyone knows anyone that can do a good job possibly for that amount or if any of yall or interested please respond. I guess the best way to do it would be if you are interested then post a link to some of your stuff you have mixed and then tell us if you can do four songs for four hundred dollars. If not, what would you do it for. The band is just electric guitar, acoustic, bass, drums, two main vocals with occasional backup vocals and everything is in PT 7. I guess the best way to deliver the sessions would be to mail the hard drive unless someone has a pretty serious server I could upload to.

Check out our version of the song "speak to me lord (unveil)" at http://www.straightwaymusic.com/?page_id=18.
I think it gives a pretty good picture of our sound.

[knorr]

Hey

I would be interested in having you guys listen to a mix of mine and possibly helping you guys out if you feel confident in my work. Send me a private message and we can talk about it more and figure out a way for me to send you a file of a mix or something.

[DanRather]

heck I will do it for free I need the experience under my belt Plus you have nothing to loose if you dont like it u can hire another engineer. I can send you a sample of what I have done too. email me at schlesh436@gmail.com

[DanRather]

heck I will do it for free I need the experience under my belt Plus you have nothing to loose if you dont like it u can hire another engineer. I can send you a sample of what I have done too. email me at schlesh436@gmail.com

[JBurn25]

ok, I've received a few personal messages and I'm going to start browsing through them, but I want to keep the thread going if there are other people interested in mixing the four songs.

[GYMusic]

If the songs on the site are the ones you seek help with... before placing the cart in front of the horse... you might consider tightening up tempos and vocal pitch issues. I think your time would be better spent addressing these musical performance issues before you tackle the production ones. Serve the song.

[Oroz]

I'd be glad to help you. You can get to know a little about our studio at www.myspace.com/marikostudios.

[JBurn25]

Originally Posted by GYMusic

If the songs on the site are the ones you seek help with... before placing the cart in front of the horse... you might consider tightening up tempos and vocal pitch issues. I think your time would be better spent addressing these musical performance issues before you tackle the production ones. Serve the song.

I totally agree with you. I will be the first one to say that our vocals, tempo consistency, and instrumentation are not that great. I am sorry to say, however, that we have no option of fixing those things. We had little to no budget when started this thing and absolutely no option of paying a studio by the hour to record us. Obvioulsy, we would take a long time and thus a lot of money :). So, we recorded it ourselves and it was a learning experience. If I had the time to start from scratch and enforce the click track rule on everyone I would. We don't seek to "make it big" with this band by any means. We are a praise and worship band that leads worship for local venues and churches when they have a gathering or such and need a band. People, beleive it or not, always ask us if we have a CD so we decided to go ahead and make one. Some people that we minister to don't have access to or have never been interested in christian music so hopefully this CD can be a blessing to them. I know there is never a good excuse for mediocrity so we take all the blame for not making our CD as good as it should be.

That being said, here we are after having "finished" recording and we need to get it mixed. Thanks for the responses so far and those who have PM'ed me. I will be getting back ASAP with conclusion.

Thanks,

Jordan

[rolo95]

Jordan

you get a Private message..

Rolo.

[everybody's x]

I'd love to work on this stuff, And I will mix it until it sounds like you want it to.

[everybody's x]

whoah the ending of that song just blew my mind

i dont know what I would do with that

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally Posted by everybody's x

whoah the ending of that song just blew my mind

i dont know what I would do with that

If you're a pro you make it work somehow...

Me...I've already got a couple three ideas on it from one listen.

[GYMusic]

Originally Posted by JBurn25

I totally agree with you. I will be the first one to say that our vocals, tempo consistency, and instrumentation are not that great. I am sorry to say, however, that we have no option of fixing those things. We had little to no budget when started this thing and absolutely no option of paying a studio by the hour to record us. Obvioulsy, we would take a long time and thus a lot of money :). So, we recorded it ourselves and it was a learning experience. If I had the time to start from scratch and enforce the click track rule on everyone I would. We don't seek to "make it big" with this band by any means. We are a praise and worship band that leads worship for local venues and churches when they have a gathering or such and need a band. People, beleive it or not, always ask us if we have a CD so we decided to go ahead and make one. Some people that we minister to don't have access to or have never been interested in christian music so hopefully this CD can be a blessing to them. I know there is never a good excuse for mediocrity so we take all the blame for not making our CD as good as it should be.

That being said, here we are after having "finished" recording and we need to get it mixed. Thanks for the responses so far and those who have PM'ed me. I will be getting back ASAP with conclusion.

Thanks,

Jordan

I understand. Good luck with it.

[JBurn25]

Just for clarification in case I didn't say what I meant to in the first post, the songs on the website are already mixed. The guy that we originally planned to use for the whole CD mixed those five songs. I am not totally convinced that he put a whole lot of effort in to those songs, but he's a cool guy and it was really his new job that made it near impossible for him to have time to work on everything we wanted. So, the stuff we want finished is four other songs, but that one on the website should give a basic idea of our sound in case anyone was wondering. The other four songs are probably more simple than that one and seem like they would be easier to work on. If it's an issue, I can upload some bounces of those songs.

Peace,

[everybody's x]

I understood what you meant I was just commenting on the stylistic choice that I assume is indicative of your overall style?
I like the song I heard

[JBurn25]

Okay, thanks for the complement Dave.I just wanted to clarify. That song is actually probably the most "rock" sounding song we have though it is indicative of our overall sound and style.


Thanks,

[pingu]

Maybe if you upload the files to an ftp site a few guys might like to mix it for free.

Id give it a go.

[RUSCO]

If I had the time to start from scratch and enforce the click track rule on everyone I would.

I hate to say this but I think that is excactly what you should do.
Don't get me wrong , it sounds great but those timing errors and vocal imperfections ruin a very marketable record.

IMHO it sounds like more of a DEMO for the band , not a releasable product that could raise your profile and turn you into possible superstars ( there's a huge christian market out there ).

If you guys ( band ) listen to this recording straight for a week in your car systems I bet you would re-record it soooo much better and the mixing would be easy.....
Real Easy.

[pgstudio]

pingu idea is just great... :)
I´m on this!: )

( just sent you a PM, JBurn25 )

Cheers.
PG

[JBurn25]

Well I actually think it would be pretty cool to hear everyone submit a version of one of the songs or something. It would make an interesting thread. We are still obviously planning on sending everything to someone in the next few days to pay them to mix it, but I would be willing to upload one of the sessions if someone has a large enough server. It's probably a gig or more of data. Don't know if it's a good idea, but it might be fun.

[pingu]

Originally Posted by JBurn25

Well I actually think it would be pretty cool to hear everyone submit a version of one of the songs or something. It would make an interesting thread. We are still obviously planning on sending everything to someone in the next few days to pay them to mix it, but I would be willing to upload one of the sessions if someone has a large enough server. It's probably a gig or more of data. Don't know if it's a good idea, but it might be fun.

Not to take work away from anyone but id wait until you hear some of the mixes first.


You might be surprised what gets churned out.

I think folks might like to mix more than 1 track for experience.


The only thing i can see wrong with this is, after comparing so many different versions of the same song, its hard to keep an open mind.

But the good thing could be that you get a killer mix, or maybe even get to choose from a couple of killer mixes.

Then maybe you could pay the money to the one you choose.

[abit]

Originally Posted by GYMusic

I understand. Good luck with it.

Hey GY, your stuff is good.
Good luck with it!

[rolo95]

Ok man... links sent...

check your PM´s inbox...

your mail rejected the mp3´s say it was spam...

Rolo.

[GearHunter]

Originally Posted by DanRather

heck I will do it for free I need the experience under my belt Plus you have nothing to loose if you dont like it u can hire another engineer. I can send you a sample of what I have done too. email me at schlesh436@gmail.com

I have one bit of advice for you. If someone is offering money, take it. Professionals get paid. Saying "I'll do it for free" not only takes $400 out of your pocket, it makes you seem overly hungry or anxious. Be gracious, accept the money -- it's a small amount, only $100 per song -- and do your best for the artist.

I charge anywhere from $250 to $500 per song to mix a non-label project.

[not_so_new]

Originally Posted by GearHunter

I have one bit of advice for you. If someone is offering money, take it. Professionals get paid. Saying "I'll do it for free" not only takes $400 out of your pocket, it makes you seem overly hungry or anxious. Be gracious, accept the money -- it's a small amount, only $100 per song -- and do your best for the artist.

I charge anywhere from $250 to $500 per song to mix a non-label project.

If you do it for free you are creating an environment where it is expected that you work for free. If you are a professional and your work is good you should charge for it.

[JBurn25]

I agree with both sides. To think of yourself as a professional you must get paid. For that is the definition of a professional, someone who gets paid or makes a living do it as apposed to someone, and amateur, who does it on the side or until they can become a professional. Plus, you have a responsibility and are more inclined to do your best when you take payment. I definately want our music to be mixed by someone who we are going to pay. We don't have alot of money and I wish we could pay a mixing engineer the full price that they no doubt deserve. However, because of the interest of several people to do it for free I thought maybe it would be cool to let some people show their stuff and get some mixes out there. It may be a way to help the engineer show his skills and would make a pretty interesting thread seeing how different people mix songs. We are definately paying someone to mix the CD and we are waiting for reply via e-mail from a couple people, but if someone has a big enough server or option for uploading sessions, I would be willing to upload a session for people to work on.

Hope that kind of made sense.

[GearHunter]

What kind of confidence will the artist have in you if you say, "I'll do it for free. I need the practice,"?

[DontLetMeDrown]

Originally Posted by GearHunter

I have one bit of advice for you. If someone is offering money, take it. Professionals get paid. Saying "I'll do it for free" not only takes $400 out of your pocket, it makes you seem overly hungry or anxious. Be gracious, accept the money -- it's a small amount, only $100 per song -- and do your best for the artist.

I charge anywhere from $250 to $500 per song to mix a non-label project.

I generally would agree with everything said here, but--

the last 2 "Mix Contests" were lots of fun. There were so many different versions of the songs that were great-- it was hard to decide the winner. I think there should be a forum dedicated to mix contests. You can learn so much from hearing how others mix their songs.

I think you should have a mix contest with one of your songs. Choose your favorite mix, then let that person mix the rest of the songs for you. I'm sure you wont be dissappointed-- there are a lot of talented mixers here on GS.

[Jay Kahrs]

Originally Posted by GearHunter

What kind of confidence will the artist have in you if you say, "I'll do it for free. I need the practice,"?

Right on.

And then there's the "I'm not a mix AE, just a songwriter" crowd.

There's no such thing as a free lunch with ANYTHING in life.

The price of "free" is hassle.

Pro's get the job done with no BS but it comes with a cost.

If your car was busted would you want it fixed for free & maybe wait three or four months & get it back all kludged together?

Or would 'ya be willing to shell out for a decent mechanic & have it back "right" and in a reasonable time frame?

Makin' records isn't any different.