In this article William Wittman shares his thoughts on why hiring a professional mixer might be the right choice for your production.
As a professional who makes a good part of his living from mixing other people’s records, I’m of course inclined to say you should! But, like most things, the answer isn’t always quite so simple.
You Should
In all likelihood a pro is going to get something out of your record that you’re unlikely, at least, to get yourself. We are going to bring a new perspective that by its nature is going to be taking a big picture overview of the record that perhaps you’re no longer capable, if you ever were, of seeing. To begin with, we are going to be hearing the record as it actually is, what you’ve actually got recorded, as opposed to what you perhaps had in your head as you were making it.
We’re used to figuring out what it is you’re trying to get to, and how to get there in the most effective manner. And the good news is that you can decide to like that or not. Within reason anyway, say two back and forths, you’re going to be able to ask for changes and end up with something that’s your vision but more fully realised and, if you’re lucky, with perhaps a few ideas that fit that vision that you wouldn’t have thought of.
Another thing that becomes clear if you’ve been doing this a while is that as you get more experience you’re, almost in a contradictory way, both comfortable with doing quite a lot or with doing nothing, or nearly so, and that’s very difficult for a less experienced mixer. You’ll often hear professional mixers saying that the first thing we do when we get your session is turn off 90% of the plug-ins and processing you have going on. We tend to hear what really needs to be done. But, on the other hand, we are also unafraid to chase what needs to be done if that requires a lot of processing as well.
What we’re not doing are the things we’ve heard or read second hand that one is “supposed to do”.
If you’re the sort of person who is mixing along the lines of ‘I saw on YouTube that so-and-so uses this plug-in on the vocals’ or ‘this reverb on the guitars’ or ‘this is the secret to how so-and-so does drums’, this is a strong hint that somebody else should be mixing for you.
There’s a concept in psychology called the “insufflated parent”. It literally means “swallowed”, but the idea is that some people can’t move without hearing their scolding or critical parent’s voice inside their heads. They’ve mentally ‘swallowed’ their parent. That kind of decision by proxy in mixing first of all betrays a certain lack of confidence and experience, but also says you’re not really making creative decisions anymore but listening to the insufflated parent, or in this case the insufflated YouTube mixer!
Perhaps You Shouldn’t?
I usually tend to ask my mixing clients what it is they don’t like about their rough or what it is they’re hoping to get from the mix that they’re not getting themselves. Which is not to say that people always have a thorough or extended answer to those questions by any means, but they usually have some idea what they’re looking for from an outside person which leads one to think that at least deep down people recognise they’re not getting 100% on their own.
But another part of this question really becomes what is it actually “worth“ to get to that last whatever percentage it is out of your record. And that is a personal artistic but also certainly economic choice. Or at least it should be.
There is a reason that major labels will almost always turn to professionals to mix the records they’re investing large sums of money in with the hopes of having hit record. But these days, more than ever, the typical indie artiste or home producer needs to evaluate the actual value versus cost. Do you expect to make money from your recording? Will the improvement gained by having your track mixed professionally (let’s take it as a given that it would be improved) increase sales? Will it help build a wider audience or better fan loyalty? These are real questions to ask yourself.
I obviously would not argue against just striving for the best possible record you can make, even if it’s just for your artistic satisfaction, but in the real world the costs also do play into it. But having said that, if you’ve already done the math and you’ve decided to spring for professional mastering, well then there is a discussion to be had here. Not to take anything away from our mastering brethren, and I use a pro mastering house every time, but if you are hoping that a merely adequate (let alone an actual substandard) mix will be made into magic by mastering then you are setting yourself up for failure. In fact, those of us who mix for a living consider it a “win” when the mastering engineer adjusts levels and cuts our work flat!
I have a producer/engineer friend who says he counts on mastering to give him the last perhaps 10%. So ask yourself: are you already 90% there? Is 10% better than what you’re getting on your own enough?
So it’s quite likely that in many cases you’d be better off spending the money on mixing and making mastering just a mechanical transferring process. Using mastering as remedial mixing is never the right idea. .
Picking a Mixer
I’ll say there is one question to ask when choosing a mixing engineer, and that is: does he or she do good work for the job at hand. Do they make a good metal record when it’s a metal record, do they make a good folk record when it’s a folk record, do they make a good pop record when it’s a pop record, etc. I think people too often want to pigeonhole a mixer and, while someone might indeed specialize as a matter of preference, really a good mixer is just a good mixer.
If somebody does a good job in one genre that shouldn’t pigeonhole them to that genre but rather says they understand how to make the record work for what the record is. Ideally the mixer you choose does records you think sound great, has had some success, and likes your project and so is enthusiastic to be involved. That enthusiasm for your work goes a long way. It should be a given that a real professional is a good communicator and will work to give you what you need.
Don’t Be Afraid!
Perhaps we should be crass and say something about rates. Almost every mixer I know these days has had to adapt to the changing recording landscape. So, in addition to the rates major labels get charged, we are all used to working with so-called ‘indie rates’.
So before you just write off the idea of an outside mixer as “too expensive” it never hurts to inquire. Especially if one of us loves your project, and sees promise in it, the odds are we are going to try hard (within reason!) to find a way to make it work.