To be really good at mixing you have to put in the work, trust in others, be decisive and in constant search of balance. To gain more of an understanding of this, all you have to do is watch an interview with any of your favourite mixers and you’ll see that they’re obsessed with what they do.
This might seem like common sense, but if you break each of these points down, you can assess where you are on your journey towards your goals.
Putting in the work
Putting in the work is the most important thing anyone who wants to be successful at anything can do. If you say you’re going to do something but don’t put in the work, you’re what’s called a “pub talker” in some parts of Ireland. I’m sure you’ve figured this out already but that means you’re talking a big game about becoming an Olympic swimmer while you sit in a pub downing pint after pint of Guinness and taking frequent cigarette breaks to ensure you have the lung capacity of an 80 year old asthmatic. It’s not going to happen.
If you’re a smart worker, more often than not, you’ll be successful. But in establishing success, a lot of us work to the point of diminishing returns or give a task too much importance. That’s where I really think procrastination can take over. Instead of doing the work we really need to do and then getting the rest we need, we get paralysed by the size of a task (that’s probably not that big) and we’ll watch ‘Try Not To Laugh’ challenge videos on YouTube instead. While I highly recommend those videos, you should watch them outside of your working hours. By not putting ourselves under constraints and deadlines, it’s actually much harder to get things done on a consistent basis and get the necessary downtime we all need.
I’m good at what I do after years of practice, making lots of mistakes, implementing feedback, constructive criticism, taking the knocks, getting back up and continuing on my journey. No, I’m not perfect and I haven’t won a Grammy yet. I’ve still got lots to learn but I’ll never stop learning and sharing my experiences to help others.
Trust in others
If there’s a part of your business you can get help with, then get the help and put the trust and faith in someone to assist you with your goals and get you to the next level. Those people are out there and they might actually surprise you by doing a much better job than you do.
Traditionally, this is how a lot of engineers got their break; by being an assistant to an established engineer.
My good friend, Kirk, at Rise Studios is the perfect example of putting faith in others. He’s a young, successful entrepreneur and a machine when it comes to working smart, developing talent and sharing knowledge. He’s an incredible producer and runs an excellent, profitable business by encouraging collaboration and placing trust in the right people. As well as that, he also knows when to switch off and recharge his batteries so that he’s efficient every day.
There’s a lot to be learned from him and I highly encourage you to check out his great articles, videos and his amazing 4 step guide on how to get 1.4 million Spotify plays.
Be decisive
If you watch a video of Chris Lord-Alge mixing, you can see he makes a decision and doesn’t look back. When you’re mixing, you have a choice to fiddle with an EQ for hours or make your decision and move on. In the past, I’ve been guilty of spending way too long on various aspects of the process and still often have to catch myself to be decisive and continue the mix. I aspire to be more like CLA all the time and improve the speed of my mixing and decision making. He might have cracked the code from day one, but chances are he got so phenomenally good by making lots of mistakes. He’s fine tuned it over the years and you can too.
Be in constant search of balance
The job of a mixing engineer is to find balance. The guys over here in England even traditionally call them balancing engineers.
So, by all means put in lots of work and become obsessed. But none of us can work 24/7 and expect to be producing great things all the time. You can work excessively hard for a short period of time, but eventually something will break down. If it’s your health and/or relationships, was it really worthwhile?
Here’s an important question… How can you achieve balance in a mix when your life itself is unbalanced?
Luckily, I’ve got some great mentors and peers that pulled me out of the trap of working non-stop. Thanks to their influence, I now follow a work schedule that allows me to have a life as well as working obsessively on the things I love. Guess what? I’m much more productive, happier and my mixes are getting better all the time.
I’m here to help great people get better. By taking the time to read this article, you’re getting yourself further along the road to success. A lot of what we need as creatives is establishing systems and templates for success to achieve balance. Document and keep track of what works for you. Use templates, keep track of your time, implement great tips, try to mix faster and always be looking to streamline your processes. By following the right blueprint, you will succeed.
So tell me…
What was the hardest obstacle you had to overcome to feel successful at mixing?
I’d love to hear your story, so comment below!
professional sounding mix every time...
Hey Stephen,
Can’t say I feel successful with my mixing but take it more as a journey. Having said that, after 2 years I have some increasing confidence that what I am currently producing is getting a bit better, although still full of amateur qualities.
The biggest obstacle for me has to be self confidence. I’m really more of a composer/writer than engineer and the construction of musical ideas and arrangements gets my attention first. Demos have become my life’s work!
My improvement as engineer has been slow, but purposeful. As a rookie, I sometimes run after the shiny things… latest plugins etc. Things like your instruction series has helped bring me back to center and I want to extend my sincerest thanks! Keep up the great work! Cheers, Joe
Hey Joe,
That’s great to hear that you’re making progress.
Is it self confidence in your mixing abilities that you struggle with? I would say that we are all victims of that at times.
Being a composer/writer will serve you so well as an engineer. Musical ideas and arrangements are everything and they get everyone’s attention first…. as engineers, it’s our job to capture it and maximise its creative impact. That’s my take on it anyway!
Slow, but purposeful is much better than no improvement, so congratulations! Yes, another thing we are all guilty of… going after the shiny new plugins. It’s such an easy thing to get wrapped up in but the fundamentals are what always get us to where we need to be.
Delighted to hear that I’m helping you out and you’re most welcome. If there’s anything specific you’d like to know more about, let me know and I’ll help you out.
In the meantime, keep making progress and being awesome!
-S
Hi Stephen. Very helpful as always. The greatest obstacle for me has been knowing that my mixes have not sounded radio ready, but not knowing why, or how to fix them. I live in a rural area in the USA and have absolutely no access to a real studio or engineer and therefore I have to rely on tutorials on DVD or online for instruction, after which I just dive in and do it and subsequently learn from the mistakes and the successes all of which contribute to experience and therefore an increase in confidence. NOT ONCE HAVE I REGRETTED IGNORING THE URGE TO PROCRASTINATE. Good advice from experts like you is the next best thing to spending time with an engineer in a real studio. Thanks so much !
Great feedback Ron, thanks. Do you feel you know when your mixes are radio ready now? That’s awesome that you took the proactive approach in seeking out DVD tutorials and online instruction to replace a bricks and mortar studio or local engineers. I completely agree with you that learning from mistakes and our successes contribute to an increase in confidence. Procrastination gets us nowhere but we can all easily fall victim to it! Again, I agree with your final statement. If you can’t work with someone in person, there are many ways to get ahead with the wealth of information online – from the right sources of course! Thanks very much, Ron. Keep it going!