When do you need mixing?
Music Mixing is on everyone’s mind!
The question of “when do you need mixing” is one that comes to everyone’s mind who wants to release their work to the world. Many people mix music themselves, and a lot of those people have success in achieve the sound they desire. I would say that most people though, don’t experience an overwhelming sense of satisfaction from mixing their own music. It’s hard not to compare what you are doing to the music you love that’s been professional mixed and mastered, and it can leave you with a sense that your music is either not “done” or not good enough.
Fear of Letting Go
As a mix engineer for 20+ years, I have come across so many different scenarios with my projects in multiple genres. As a teacher I have seen the other side of it too, people’s personalities influence how they interact with their clients as mix engineers. I’ve met some clients that had previous experiences with other mix engineers that left a bad taste in their mouth. Typically it’s because they felt they were heard, and the project when it was done, lacked the intentions of the original production. Whether you are producing or mixing, we are all human and that urge to create and impose our ego on the project whether it’s the right time or not is pretty common.
Listening
Mixing is an art yes, but so is listening. I had someone one time call me “a plug in that makes your music better”. It’s because the mixing process shouldn’t be some fearful moment where you hand off your baby and dread the worst. No, it’s supposed to be the moment where you are excited to hear your vision come to life. Great mix engineers not only listen to the music, but they listen to the artists, the producers, or whoever is part of the creative process up to that point.
Building a team
I think i you look at something as a “service”, you are less enthusiastic about growing with whoever is providing that service. I like to think of the mixing process as part of the bigger picture. Collaboration is something happens in songwriting, production, AND mixing. Communication is so important. Listening is so important. And valuing the vision of the project, it’s original ideas, and ultimately that feeling it’s become larger than life, is the goal.
Let’s Collaborate!
I’m Mark, my passion is to help people and make their music come to life! Let me use my experience and my team to get your project out to the world. Reach out to me here at mark.a.barrie@gmail.com. Reach out and Contact Me Here
