Practicing?

[djdarwin]

I know ive been posting a lot. Maybe too much. I dont mean to get annoying really i just want/need/crave this knowledge. I do read up and i have read several production books. Ill admit it ok... ive not read a book on mastering, but i have searched the internet high and low to give my self a base knowledge before pestering you guys. You guys are amazing.. and ive learned more from yall on this post than any book i ever read on music. Hopefully my praise gives you motivation to help me out just a little more...

If it still sounds like pestering im sorry... Gotta do what you gotta do to get your shit taken care of right?

Are there exercises to help train someones ears? I know... i know... practice makes perfect right? Everyday i get off at 5 and Practice practice practice... but hearing your own mix over and over and over again gets tiring. I dont know if the mix i made last week is better than the one i made yesterday.

So any exercises for some suplimental practice that will help benifit or train my ears??

Thanks fellas

[Anomaly Design]

I got one that I remember reading on this forum a while ago.

Get a multi band EQ. Take your favorite recording. Put them together. Put all the EQ faders to zero. Then, one by one, adjust them. Listen one at a time. Listen to their differences. Two at a time. Listen to their differences. Then all of them. Then change to a different record. Listen to their differences. Keep doing it. Then, listen through other speakers. Make note of all the instruments, how full they sound, depth, all that jazz. Thats a good start.

[noisewreck]

Well, I am sure there are techniques for practicing, but really I think it just boils down to doing a lot of mixes.

Recently I had one of those revelation moments I am working on this track, and for better or worse, I've gotten into the habit of mixing as I go. There was a sound that was kind of sticking out like a sore thumb, and I said to myself "hmmmm... this needs a bit of cut around 2500Hz". Loaded up the EQ, made a bit of a cut with a medium-wide Q around 2500Hz, and I was laughing

2 years ago I'd think "how the hell does he know that he needs to cut around 2500Hz"? It was truly a great feeling. All of a sudden, as if something just clicked inside.

So, the morale of the story? Mix, mix and mix some more. Eventually, whether you like it or not, you start recognizing certain sounds and frequencies, and things become more and more instinctive.

[TragikRemix]

record a friends band for free- tell them you need something to practice on. let them know that the worst thing that can happen is they get a free demo......

thats what im doing. there current demo was done using the 1/8 in on the stock soundcard, so anything is pretty much better than that.

im in the same boat as you; i dont hear anything until i bounce and convert and listen on regular computer speakers, when i notice that everything sounds like anal fluid and i just wasted the last 10 hours.

sometimes i just stay up all night trying to make a decent mix. i dont know what im doing though.

[jmorris]

2 words...Bob Katz

[gecko zzed]

Everyone has his or her own methods.

What I do is listen a lot to other material, and listen in detail: what is happening to the sound, where are the instruments placed, how wet is the reverb and so on.

What I also do is set myself 'homework'; I give myself projects. I pick a song I think is interesting, then I try to recreate it myself, perhaps not identical to the original, but capturing the same essential feel of it. By doing this you then (mostly through trial and error) figure out how they might have done things and what you need to do in tracking and mixing to get something similar.