Mixing Begins At The Production Stage

This will be a quick and short post. More of a personal piece of mind to talk about something that has been going on and surprisingly still is.

I've been getting across a few situations where I see people say "It will be better after it's mixed", "We can fix it in the mix", "The mix engineer will make it sound better and it will be better after it's mastered". I myself have had clients who say pretty much the same. Don't get it twisted though. Yes, it is an audio engineer's job to bring the best out of the project he/she is working on but the mentality and perception of the whole situation has to change. Here's why.

Record Like There's No Mixing. Mix Like There's No Mastering. (Mastering engineer gets tears of joy at this point...)

Yeap! That's right. There's never been a better phrase to describe what I'm trying to say. Back then, when a record was being worked on, the whole production phase goes step by step where on each stage, everything that comes after is taken into count. When an artist, gets an idea that he/she is discussing with the producer, they get to an understanding on what works for the artist and how it can be done so that it sounds exactly how it sounded in their minds. From getting the right key of a song, instruments, sounds and structure that works well for artist's voice and tone according to the concept, vibe and feel of the track. At which point when the project gets to the engineer, he/she won't be focusing on how to fix the track to sound great but mix the track to sound balanced sonically and add some extra spice that makes the whole mixing process a work of art rather than a technical workshop trying to fix everything. Don't get me wrong, there will be problem fixing happening but it won't be something that takes most of the engineer's time. It would instead, be minor and common issues such as phase, bleeds, time correction, pitch correction etc that are sometimes overlooked and/or unavoidable during the production and recording stage. This also make the mixing process much more enjoyable for the mix engineer where he/she can get it to sound fully ready to be released and when it gets sent over to the mastering engineer, all he does is bring up the track to proper loudness and maybe add a few minor touches to finesse the track. This is because the track is produced and recorded at such perfection where the engineer could also focus on the mix better keeping mastering in mind.

Now days, this not always the case. Even though professionals still follow this, there are a few who don't get it. As an artist or even a music producer, you should know that whatever you decide has to work for you and the project you're incorporating it on from the ground up. From the conceptional thinking, musical composition all the way until end of recording stage. And all of this has to be done in a way that you get what you have in your mind as close as possible without saying "I'll do this and handle the rest in mixing and mastering". For example, if you're an artist, a singer perhaps, even a rapper. When you find for music/beats to work with. Get the ones or produce one that works for your vocal (or your clients'). You should know what and how is your vocal tone and what would fit best for you. I've had people sing and rap on music that is totally opposite to what fits them and they expect the engineer to fuse what is musically and sonically not possible. The engineer can only make it sound OKAY but not mind blowing. Once you've got that down, if the the song is done with all live recording, make sure when you're recording, get it recorded as close to how you want it to sound. That includes the right miking techniques for the instruments, adding processing on the recording stage itself instead of simply recording it all raw and dry and hoping to get it all right in the mix. This is in a way mixing also. Drums alone has a lot of miking techniques that would sound amazing when done right to a point the mix engineer hardly has to break a sweat to get a beautiful sound out of them. Control the dynamics with compressors, control the frequencies with EQs while recording and get the best sounding song you possibly can so that when you're done with the recording, when you're there, sitting and editing them out to be sent to the mix engineer, you realize your track is sounding great already. If it's a digitally produced track, make sure all the samples and virtual instruments you choose are not too cluttered among the frequency spectrum. Have balance in mind. Get the right sound. If you're layering them, make sure they don't clash with each other way too much and expect the engineer to make it work somehow. Produce and record to get what you have in mind by yourself as close as you can without overdoing anything before you send it over to mix or even mixing yourself. This makes the process a lot smoother and easier.

This is why I said, mixing begins at the production stage. If everything is thought out and well planned, you can reduce errors and problems. Produce with the vibe but don't forget the balance of the outcome because ultimately, that's where it ends. Balance. A track that is produced with way too much low end content will only lead to a bass heavy, boomy track. Same goes to the opposite. Too much high end stuff, It will only make it super harsh. Either the engineer goes through hell to get them all working or he/she has to removes some contents to get the proper balance. On the other hand, as I've mentioned, if the vocals does not fit the music, it will only sound awkwardly hanging over the mix rather than "having a hot jacuzzi" with all the instruments and sounds in the mix. Make things easy for yourself. Get it all sounding well from the first step itself and work your way through and you will see a better workflow and better outcome.

I hope I shared some valuable information that could help someone out there in making good music. I shared this information because I've personally handled clients where the music does not fit the singer, the music was produced badly with too many instruments or with instruments that does not work well with each other in the whole context, sounds chosen that are not suitable or does not blend well and so on. You can imagine. If artists, musicians and producers are more aware of this situation, I believe there will be more quality music out there with better production foundation. Again, Mixing Begins At The Production Stage.

With that said, until next time. Have fun creating wonders. Have a great day #steemians. Cheers!