Hi guys, thought id share this story with you as it has changed everything for me in my mixing.
I finally broke though a barrier in my mixing just last night, Ill go in to more detail about that in a moment.
The track is a slow piano rock ballad that builds to a wall of guitars, so bare with the slow intro.
It was written the day i lost someone very close to me back in 2006.
I’ve learnt a lot about mixing since then and the technology has moved on but my new tracks have still not had the punch and life that I was seeking.
So after finding out something about mixing last night on YouTube I was itching to try it out. I thought id load up this old session as the recording was one of my better attempts and try out this new thing I had learned….
First time uploading to GS you can stream it at the bottom of this post..
http://www.gearslutz.com/board/attac...1&d=1331091956
Here is the old mix from 2006 (dull and boring)
Your Time | Aaron Owen Smith
The original mix, or though it was nice and clear and the levels where ok.
The track felt flat and lifeless and lacked punch and dynamics, it was also too bright.
On such a melancholic and sober record most of my fans (friends) weren’t that interested in it, for me though it always had a special place because of the subject matter and I new it could sound better.
Ive spent years of reading and learning every technical thing I could here on Gearslutz and elsewhere as no doubt we all have, but I was still only slightly improving with mixes.
Something’s are right under our noses all along, yet we cant see them because we are looking in all the wrong places.
The one great realization about mixing that changed me is this.
I though mixing was a technical ability, like being a scientist. Its not! It’s a lot more like a musician.
“MIXING IS ABOUT FEELING… PLAYING! PERFORMING!
I have spent too long thinking and worrying about every technical thing, the settings, the eq, the compression the reverb. That’s all wrong. I was afraid to be brash, and even move the faders in case I messed up all that I had done before..
Im sure I’ve heard countless people say this before, but I ignored it, I only wanted to know about the technicalities and massively overlooked this fundamental element to mixing music..
Im mixing from the heart now, and by that I mean, im mixing with the same cap that I would wear if I was playing a gig, “winging it!, just going along with it.
Not caring so much about what’s happening, but enjoying the feeling of PLAYING and performing, because this is what mixing is really all about.
Of course there is a technical skill to it, but most of stuff that should be almost second nature by now. The real skill is being led by the core element and spirit of the song.
I think the reason I finally found this out was because the track was old, and I was reasonably satisfied with the original, I was mixing the new version in much bolder way, I didn’t care if it all messed up, I wasn’t trying so hard, I was just having fun and going along with it. Boy I learned a valuable lesson there…
As for the technical things.. I used a lot less compression,
I panned harder then I normally do, I used much less reverb and eq overall, but more aggressively. I think I was pushing + 9 on some parts.
I also have finally started using side chain ducking on the bass, (why didn’t I bother to learn this before?
Thanks guys. Hope some of this made sense!
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I wish i could play all those instruments for real....i just fake it on my keyboard.....doesn't sound as good though...
This is like the Unclenny Emotocon Thread.
