Mixing can be a hugely enjoyable part of making a record, as well an incredibly challenging one. Over the years, I’ve found the way to shift the balance away from challenging and towards enjoyable is to be as prepared as possible. The level of concentration required to reach what is known as a ‘flow state’ (defined as “the mental state in which a person performing some activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity”) requires minimal distractions and a prolonged period of time to dedicate to the job. Preparation for mixing, therefore, is all about doing those little tasks that could halt our progress and get in the way of actually mixing. Here are five things that should be done before you start a mix.
Fix Timings
Beautifully played music is way easier to mix than anything that’s loose and lacking. But let’s be honest, we don’t always have beautifully played music in front of us, so we need to do what we can to nudge it in that direction. If you are hearing errors in the playing, then the time to fix them is before you sit down to mix. And those ones that you’re not sure if you can get away with? You can’t. If you can hear it’s a problem then it will only be highlighted in the mixing process, and you should fix it - or there’s no difference between your work and that of someone who can’t even hear the problem. Your ears are your advantage, so don’t let inertia or laziness steal it from you.
Finish the vocals
This is one I’ve come across more than once as a mix engineer, and it always surprises me. Tuning vocals and picking the best takes is not mixing. If you are mixing your own tracks, then it’s worth remembering that this work can be quite intense, so it’s best done on a different day to mixing. If you’re handing your tracks to a mixer then definitely make these decisions yourself and leave the mixer to do their job.
Do the boring stuff
The boring stuff. The housekeeping. The grunt work. All those tiny details of making sure there’s no noise left on any of the tracks, you can’t hear the drummer taking off her headphones and putting her sticks down (unless you want that in your mix of course!), there aren’t any coughs or sniffs still left on the backing vocal tracks. It’s tedious, and because of this you should get it done before the mixing process begins as it will really kill your creative flow if you have to stop mixing for any length of time to go through and clean up a whole stack of vocal tracks!
Have sign posts
There are many different directions in which you can take a song when you mix it. If you are planning to sit down and try all of those out, well fair play, but you’ve got way more time on your hands than I have! Before every mix I’ll have a playlist of some of the songs that I know I should be referencing, which gives me direction and answers questions for me if they come up. If you are sitting in front of your mix wondering how much reverb should be on the vocals, how loud the distorted guitars should be and so on, then it really helps to have some sort of map that can help you. A playlist can be that map. It’s not like you’re trying to copy anyone else’s balance (if that’s even possible when it’s a different song) - you can remain sympathetic to the track you are working on, but it can really help you keep moving and keep the flow state going.
Set aside time
How long a mix takes is a bit of a ‘piece of string’ question - although interestingly that question came up recently on a forum of mix pros that I’m in and ‘a day and a bit’ seemed a surprisingly common answer. However, you probably know what your usual time frame is, and if you already have your non-mixing activities complete before you start then you can be a bit more confident of that time now as well. Going back to our concept of ‘flow state’, and knowing this is the best way to carry out the deep concentrated work required to get a great mix, it’s important to allow yourself the time to get into this frame of mind. Different people have different ways of achieving this - turning your phone to silent, working in the evening when there are fewer distractions, or being sensitive to what time of day your brain does this sort of thing the best. This are all valid and effective tactics. I don’t know which one works best for you (but it will make your life easier if you do). Regardless of the process though, it can take up to 30 minutes to reach this level of concentration, and then the deep work can begin, so I would recommend setting aside at least a couple of uninterrupted hours as a minimum. The other side of this approach is to be intentional about the breaks that you need. This means instead of randomly reaching for your phone every once in a while, plan for set periods (like every hour for example) to take 5 minutes, and get up from your listening position to move around a bit during this time. This should leave you ready to dive back in and get back to ‘flow’ quickly.
Conclusion
I know preparation is not the fun bit and all you want to do is push up the faders and get going. However, if you get all those prep jobs out of the way then not only will you actually enjoy the process as a whole more, but you are likely to get a better result by allowing yourself the right psychological space to do your best work.
More Recording Resources From Dom Morley
Dom is the founder of the Mix Consultancy, a zero risk (money back guarantee) way to get notes on your tracks to help improve the sound. Whether you're an artist who likes to mix all their own work, a composer putting together a pitch on a limited budget, or an engineer who wants a discreet second opinion before sending a mix off to a client - we're here to help.
“I just completed a mix with the help of Dom Morley & The Mix Consultancy. The mix we turned over was qualitatively better than the one I would have gone with on my own.
It's been said that "a mix is never done, it's just abandoned", but the truth is, you *really* do feel a sense of completion and closure having worked with Dom because you know in your heart that you did everything you possibly could to get the best result possible for the client.
The beauty behind the process is that not only do you get a better mix for your client, but Dom's advice contains all kinds of gold that you can borrow and deploy in future mixes.”
Geoff Manchester
From engineering tips to production advice, EQ and compression basics to mix specifics, we’ll give you the information and guidance that you need to take your mixes to the next level. Find out more here
In addition to the one-to-one advice Dom has produced some excellent online courses;
Everything You Need To Know About Recording Vocals
Preproduction, DAW set-up, preparing the studio, psychology, equipment. Literally everything you need to know.This is a short, free, mini-course on the four things that you really need to know in order to get great mixes, and the four things that you really don't!