~ mix philosophy ~

[MixMastaCopyCat]

Mix philosophy is important to develop FOR YOURSELF and decide FOR YOURSELF, like any philosophy. Do not completely buy into what someone else sells as "universal truth" (no universal truth! sorry! ;3) without deciding for yourself with 1/2 openness and 1/2 skepticism.
Mix philosophy powers what you do when you mix.

I am here to share my mix philosophy for you to maybe consider, but take it to a grain of sand like I said, and decide for yourself if it fits into what you can believe!

(and remember, no mixing ideologies are rules set in stone of course, as much as I may word this to be some sort of list of commands! :D)

~~~spooky philosophy~~~

First off, mixing is a science and an art, in my eyes. This is generally agreed upon, I think.
It is a science in the sense that it can be an objective problem-solving process, and an art in the sense that it can be a medium of expression for communicating abstract ideas.

Basically, I believe in mixing with purpose. Purpose-based mixing. Tasks and ways to complete those tasks. Also, thinking in the context of a mix.
Let's go backwards a bit.

I used to do shit in mixes for NO reason. You know what I'm talking about. Throwing a compressor on, throwing an EQ with high-boosts and low-boosts on, just 'cuz. It would be this thing where I'd throw shit on all the channels just because it was my way of "starting the mix". Compressor and EQ on master, too. Man.

It wasn't WHAT I was doing that was necessarily bad, though. It was WHY I was doing it, and the fact is, there WAS no why. I just did shit and expected it to help.

Eventually, I learned my first lesson.
Don't do shit for no reason.

Then, I thought I had it figured out. I'd start asking "what do drums need?" and I'd go "punch! sizzle! thump!" so I'd start slapping transient shapers with high attack and EQs with highs and lows boosted on all the drums.
Clearly, I was making the same mistake, in a different way.

Learned my second lesson!
Don't try one-size-fits-all solutions. They probably don't work.

Then, I started being more purpose based, and thinking a bit more in the context of separate solutions for separate problems, but then things would still sound shit. I would go instrument by instrument, soloing each one, listening to it, trying to find out their individual problems...

Then I learned my third lesson, which is important.
Think of the mix as an entire mix, not a bunch of separate instruments.

I realized that I have to listen to the ENTIRE mix, or rather listen to an instrument's job in context of the other instruments in the mix. It's ALL about context.
The thing is, you aren't releasing a 20 track album with each song being one of the instruments. If so, then by all means ignore context. The THING IS, you're making a song involving each and every one of those instruments, and you're trying to make them work together probably!

So yeah. Do shit for a reason, there are no one-size-fits-all solutions, think of instruments in context of the mix. Let's see, any others worth mentioning...

Right, here's some:
Accept that your philosophy is always subject to change, and welcome change, so long as you agree with it. With something like mixing, you're never going to know everything, although it seemed like that was possible at the very beginning. It's not!

Don't buy into bullshitters who tell you there are universal rules for something like mixing. Everything only makes sense within context, within its specific situation and application, and with specific goals in mind.
That being said, don't tell shit to others like it's the universal goddamn truth! :( Accept that what you're saying is YOUR OWN philosophy, and that upon sharing, you should only be trying to OFFER a new perspective for others to CONSIDER adopting, and if they don't, that doesn't make them lesser than you, that just means that don't agree!

ALL THIS BEING SAID, here's the last "rule":
None of anything I just said can even remotely be considered any sort of "universal truth" for anything I was talking about! :D
So why do I share it? Doesn't that make it meaningless?
No! I share because I offer a new perspective for you to consider if it fits with how you think, and if not, that's fine too. All I care about is that you believe in something, because you LEGITIMATELY believe in it. :3

So take what I said with a grain of salt. Take any advice with a grain of salt. And I don't mean ignore it, I mean EVALUATE it for yourself. All that matters is that you believe in it!

aNd hAvE fUn, KiDs!!!!

[itroitnyah]

Well duh there aren't any "universal truths" in music, because music runs on a how-to basis. Just tell people how to do something (such as using reverb) and then tell them what you've found does or doesn't work very well from your past experience. I don't think I've ever been told "You need to it this way".

[MixMastaCopyCat]

Well duh there aren't any "universal truths" in music, because music runs on a how-to basis. Just tell people how to do something (such as using reverb) and then tell them what you've found does or doesn't work very well from your past experience. I don't think I've ever been told "You need to it this way".

Good! I, on the other hand, have seen quite a bit of "this is how this has to sound" in my time.

[itroitnyah]

I don't know what other forums you visit, but... I've never seen it on here.

[MixMastaCopyCat]

I don't know what other forums you visit, but... I've never seen it on here.

Who said I was talking about forums? o.o
I'm just speaking of any means of communication, lmao

[itroitnyah]

Oh, haha. Well, I'm not sure who you talk to...

[DerpyGrooves]

My mixing methodology consists of one essential truth:

No amount of EQing will fix poor composition. A properly composed piece of music is consonant with itself naturally, with almost zero need for EQing other than for effect. If you mix is clashing, go back to the piano roll and make sure there's little to no voice crossing. 80% of the time, people make bad mixing decisions to make up for a poorly thought out song.

[ExoBassTix]

I first thought you meant mixing as in mixing tracks together like a DJ.
Not mixing a track like a producer.

But the thread still helped. Thanks for sharing this.

[MixMastaCopyCat]

My mixing methodology consists of one essential truth:

No amount of EQing will fix poor composition. A properly composed piece of music is consonant with itself naturally, with almost zero need for EQing other than for effect. If you mix is clashing, go back to the piano roll and make sure there's little to no voice crossing. 80% of the time, people make bad mixing decisions to make up for a poorly thought out song.

Huh. Interesting! I'm quite curious about this philosophy, although a little skeptical, because I'm sure dissonant music can fit into a clear and comprehensive mixdown. :O I just personally don't believe in the idea that a composition can generally be "good" or "bad".
However, I do get one thing from your philosophy that really resonates with me: composition should come before mixing! You CAN mix the two, but if you separate them, you'll have a much more organized workload... probably.

[DerpyGrooves]

My mixing methodology consists of one essential truth:

No amount of EQing will fix poor composition. A properly composed piece of music is consonant with itself naturally, with almost zero need for EQing other than for effect. If you mix is clashing, go back to the piano roll and make sure there's little to no voice crossing. 80% of the time, people make bad mixing decisions to make up for a poorly thought out song.

Huh. Interesting! I'm quite curious about this philosophy, although a little skeptical, because I'm sure dissonant music can fit into a clear and comprehensive mixdown. :O I just personally don't believe in the idea that a composition can generally be "good" or "bad".
However, I do get one thing from your philosophy that really resonates with me: composition should come before mixing! You CAN mix the two, but if you separate them, you'll have a much more organized workload... probably.

Let me illustrate with an example. Imagine if you could perform stairway to heaven on like, three bass guitars. You would likely be able to identify it as stairway to heaven, but ultimately with the melody and the lead and the chords and everything, the result would be a muddy mess. Same story if you used three guitars all above the 12th fret, muddy mess.

When you have an equitable spread of pitches, the frequencies tend to "slot" into one another like a dovetail joint. Forcing something to blend with EQ alone is like slathering a load of carpenter's glue onto a piece of lumber and clamping it. Ugly, and ultimately results in a weak connection. Keep in mind, this is something that also works with atonal music, as the octave spread of a piece is not at all determinant on the scale in question.

[MixMastaCopyCat]

My mixing methodology consists of one essential truth:

No amount of EQing will fix poor composition. A properly composed piece of music is consonant with itself naturally, with almost zero need for EQing other than for effect. If you mix is clashing, go back to the piano roll and make sure there's little to no voice crossing. 80% of the time, people make bad mixing decisions to make up for a poorly thought out song.

Huh. Interesting! I'm quite curious about this philosophy, although a little skeptical, because I'm sure dissonant music can fit into a clear and comprehensive mixdown. :O I just personally don't believe in the idea that a composition can generally be "good" or "bad".
However, I do get one thing from your philosophy that really resonates with me: composition should come before mixing! You CAN mix the two, but if you separate them, you'll have a much more organized workload... probably.

Let me illustrate with an example. Imagine if you could perform stairway to heaven on like, three bass guitars. You would likely be able to identify it as stairway to heaven, but ultimately with the melody and the lead and the chords and everything, the result would be a muddy mess. Same story if you used three guitars all above the 12th fret, muddy mess.

When you have an equitable spread of pitches, the frequencies tend to "slot" into one another like a dovetail joint. Forcing something to blend with EQ alone is like slathering a load of carpenter's glue onto a piece of lumber and clamping it. Ugly, and ultimately results in a weak connection. Keep in mind, this is something that also works with atonal music, as the octave spread of a piece is not at all determinant on the scale in question.

TOTALLY get what you mean now, and agree very much. You can't polish a turd.
The same principal goes for drum design (or just using drum samples in general!), if the source material is shit/doesn't have what you need, then USE SOMETHING ELSE, yknow?