Sitting in on mix.

fuzzsniffvoyage

Well-known member
Just wondering, do any of you guys let the band leader sit in while your mixing their songs?

This is my 1st time recording/mixing someone else.

I have a local band that came in and recorded a 4 song demo and the guitarist/singer has been coming over and overseeing the mix. Add more reverb here, a little more compression on the bass or kik. Just a little annoying, but at the same time I appreciate his input. That way if the finished product is shit, I can blame him.
 
Just wondering, do any of you guys let the band leader sit in while your mixing their songs?

This is my 1st time recording/mixing someone else.

I have a local band that came in and recorded a 4 song demo and the guitarist/singer has been coming over and overseeing the mix. Add more reverb here, a little more compression on the bass or kik. Just a little annoying, but at the same time I appreciate his input. That way if the finished product is shit, I can blame him.

Yeah, blame him. lol

I never have issue with someone who wants to spend the time giving input.

I find that it is not so productive if that happens before the 'work' is done. After editing and most of the mixing is close to the end, then it is fine with me. I typically start mixing from the start of tracking though myself.

Nobody wants to sit through drum editing or pitch correction. Well... unless they just care that much. Video games are usually more fun. :)
 
There will be no drum editing (beyond my capabilities) or pitch correction (punk/metal, suppose to sound like shit) on this project. Just basic mixes. One takes, no comping.

I basically set up the drummer & guitarist and let the jam their 4 songs.

The guitarist came over another day and added vox and 2nd/lead guitar. A few false starts, and a couple re-takes. Overall went pretty smooth.

Then I tracked the bass myself, they don't have a bassist yet.

We spend more time bull shitting and talking gear than being productive........
 
I would let people sit in....but not for the entire sessions from scratch.
IOW...you all sit and discuss the planned mix...then they go away and let you do a rough mix...they then come sit in and listen to the rough mix...make comments...then go away so you can work...then come back when the changes are ready.
Maybe 3-4 passes...done.

Otherwise you could end up being a knob-monkey while someone else experiments through you.
Of course if they just want to sit in back and listen, without comments on every knob turn, then that's cool.
It really depends who you have. Some people are very cool with sitting in...others can be total PITAs.
 
Just make sure the band assigns ONE person to be their "Producer". You don't want the guitar player coming in one day, the drummer coming in the next, etc....You'll end up just chasing your tail and getting nothing good out of it.
 
It,s all how you handle having someone over. If they are there and sign off on it then yes it,s only half your fault if you are running the mixes? It,s all his fault if he is the dominate one there. If a client was having me put too much reverb on the vocals or anything I did not like I would tell them as we are mixing that I feel there is too much reverb on the vocals,but if this is the way he likes it ok. As long as you let people know when they ask for anything you disagree with thats all you can do. The only problem is you will be judged by the mixes you release for production. If they suck because of the clients input do your own and show them on 1 song and ask them which they like best. A but of a pain,but thats all you can do unless you talk them into your way as you go.
 
the phil spector approach might work, just get a gun lol but on a serious note, never let someone sink the ship, if you let them they will ruin it for you and the band, it's always a good idea to get other band members opinions
 
I usually mix as I go along, so whoever I'm recording is there. I talk through what I'm doing as I'm doing it, and I get confirmation from them along the way. The advantage of doing that is that I get complete buy in from them and no complaints afterwards.
 
Sit with 1 person only
Make sure you get everything they way you think it should be and then bring them over
I would also get a reference from the band so I won't be way off...
 
I usually have the band or client in during mixing, they often get board when I am playing the drums soloed for 20 or 30 mins if I need to LOL, I usually don't notice the band that much, and if one of them says "the guitar needs to come up a bit"" etc, I will tell them that the mix is not at the final stages yet and I will come back to it later. When I have the mix how I think it will sound then I will ask them to listen for real and take note of the comments. I will ask them questions along the way about how the overall sound should be to suit the band but not individual sounds as the players tend to focus on their own instruments not the whole picture.

My favorite way to mix is to only have one or 2 members of a band there.

Alan.
 
This is all good stuff, I appreciate the input. I'm hoping to have a day off soon so I can do the mix how I think it should sound.

I did get a message from the drummer saying he wants to come back in and re-track. I think that just working with him with no one else there would improve the sound.
 
I agree with the two primary responses:

1. Get a basic mix up before you have anyone from the band sit in
2. Make sure the band assigns 1 person to sit in on the mix

I tend to mix as I go, so at any given time, I have a mix that is reasonably close to the final vision (at least from a volume balance perspective - I hold off any critical F/X decisions until I'm ready for a final mix - where I've had time to give my senses a break from the material.

I feel the client should have some input - they're paying for a product - but I've had two any situations where too many of the band members are all offering the "me louder" feedback, etc. - so I am now pretty militant that I'll only deal with one "decision maker".
 
I think if you keep them up to date with progress mixdowns, having a client in the studio should be more about being able to show them what things look and sound like at our end. You shouldn't have them come in and look over your shoulder as you work. There's trial and error involved and the last thing you need is someone other than yourself second guessing you on the fly!

I'm having a guy around tonight for a couple of hours to check out what I've done so far and get some input.

I think it's valuable to allow the client to come in and hear things in a proper listening environment, but I wouldn't just work away and have them sit behind me in silence until they don't like something. I'm taking it as more of an opportunity to get to know each other better so their goals and my vision align.
 
Back when "producer" had it's original meaning, the mix was part of their responsibilities.

It was the producer's responsibility to convey the "vision" of the recording to the engineer. It was the producer's responsibility to "sign off" on the final mix.

The producer/engineer workflow might vary between the producer sitting there telling the engineer which knobs to turn and how far, or it might have been an ongoing series of conversations, at the end of which, the producer would go away, and come back when the engineer had completed the mix. If any changes were required, the producer would go away, the engineer would make the changes, the producer would come back, and often would be able to sign off on the mix after only one revision. Or further revisions might be required.

Some or all of the band might be given a "courtesy listen" before the mix was sent to mastering, but they were rarely allowed to make any changes to the mix.

But only one person, the producer, would be allowed to make the overall mix decisions...
 
Back when "producer" had it's original meaning, the mix was part of their responsibilities.

It was the producer's responsibility to convey the "vision" of the recording to the engineer. It was the producer's responsibility to "sign off" on the final mix.

The producer/engineer workflow might vary between the producer sitting there telling the engineer which knobs to turn and how far, or it might have been an ongoing series of conversations, at the end of which, the producer would go away, and come back when the engineer had completed the mix. If any changes were required, the producer would go away, the engineer would make the changes, the producer would come back, and often would be able to sign off on the mix after only one revision. Or further revisions might be required.

Some or all of the band might be given a "courtesy listen" before the mix was sent to mastering, but they were rarely allowed to make any changes to the mix.

But only one person, the producer, would be allowed to make the overall mix decisions...

That sounds like something from the days when labels signed up artists under contracts and where generally the label called the shots. That was an era when the labels underwrote the costs of producing a record (which they then reclaimed through sales).

In home recording arrangements, it is usually the artist who pays the bill and calls the shots.
 
This is all good stuff, I appreciate the input. I'm hoping to have a day off soon so I can do the mix how I think it should sound.

I did get a message from the drummer saying he wants to come back in and re-track. I think that just working with him with no one else there would improve the sound.

At least you have some people admitting that they need to re-track.

My buddies have a "no worries paschalis will fix it in the mix" attitude.
Drives me crazy.
 
So the drummer came in and re-tracked the the drums. He brought his electronic kit. Roland something, anyway, sounds very good.
Guitarist is coming over tomorrow and track lead guitar.
 
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