Mixing trade offs

I saw one of those lists once, and the only one that really stuck with me was "the number one rule," and that was "Don't suck." Seriously. But, that's kind of it - figure out how to do things the right way, or at least stop doing them poorly.

From that rule, most things follow :). Tradeoffs happen when we home recorders (I hope) develop the objectivity to realize that maybe trying to achieve something within our limited space/time/budget constraints might mean that "the vision" either needs adjusted, or some resources have to be applied. E.g., you may realize that the perfect bass/vocal/keys/etc. track is never going to happen at your own hands, so get some help.

I am not sure the word "limits" is the right one here. It's not so much limits as knowing what you're doing is best serving the recording or mixing process, or when one is still in the "you don't know what you don't know" area. I now know that I don't know much about anything except very small acoustic mixes, so the tradeoff I've made is to not do anything bigger that I can understand...
 
I made the statement, If it ... in that, giving someone a rule as a general statement is not a good way to go (All roads lead to Rome). But that "the sound" aka "end result" is the goal. If I get something to sound good, I try to repeat it in the future, but I don't go back and check that it is within "the rules", whatever that might be.
 
The tendency early into the 'mixing engineer' journey is to throw too many things at a song, like reverb and chorus on every instrument, etc. As explained, it can muddy things and create insurmountable issues. Experience taught me to start fairly dry, always keep a dry original take and add things in post-production. Being able to take away is much better than recording something 'final' and realizing later there's too much of this or that, and you have no recourse. Seems simple, especially in modern DAW workflows which beg for this to be the obvious process, but you'd be surprised by how many people still run their guitars and vocals through outboard effects and only have that version to work with.
 
Pinky said:
The tendency early into the 'mixing engineer' journey is to throw too many things at a song, like reverb and chorus on every instrument, etc
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Story of my early recording life and most of the recordings I made on my trusty Tascam 488.
Pinky said:
As explained, it can muddy things and create insurmountable issues
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By the time I discovered this, it was too late. Many of those recordings {and there are close to 200 of them} are just about salvageable. Just about.
Pinky said:
Experience taught me to start fairly dry....Being able to take away is much better than recording something 'final' and realizing later there's too much of this or that, and you have no recourse
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Logically, I agree with this wholeheartedly, but....
Pinky said:
You'd be surprised by how many people still run their guitars and vocals through outboard effects and only have that version to work with.
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I'm still one of those people.
What all the slathering of effects from yore taught me was how to be moderate, commit to a sound and work from there. I have found that I've learned to judge how much reverb to put on a vocal, for example, by only using a small amount, unless I'm looking for a particular effect {and I still have the option of putting that on in the mix, though typically, I avoid it}. With other instruments, I've learned that a tiny amount that I can barely hear {then backing off a touch} will show up quite effectively once everything else is recorded. When I listen to the songs I did on the 488 and the ones I've done since going over to the dark side, the difference for me is more than noticeable. I have had to learn the hard way, 😵 😒 but at least I've learned ! 😏
 
grimtraveller said:
...I have had to learn the hard way, 😵 😒 but at least I've learned ! 😏
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Mixing and engineering can be part of the creative process, and in that spirit giving ourselves as much control over the final sound for each track should be the goal of the 2023 home recording artist. Anything less introduces compromises and limitations, which runs contrary to the historic level of flexibility and control the digital platform allows.

Several times in recent years I've pivoted mid-tracking because the process of recording and working on the song led me down a new road in the composition. If I had instruments already dialed in that pivot would have been difficult or impossible, at the very least the mix would have suffered in some noticeable way.

So like with anything in this discipline, using the mixing stage as part of the "art" isn't necessary as a rule but can be a great tool if utilized.
 
60's guy said:
And there you have it! That is the key thing!
Get it right before you press the bright red Record button. There has been many times, in the past, I recorded a crap track.
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Same here, and now instead of fucking around with knobs, I go back and record it again doing something differently. Fixing something in post won’t teach me as much as fixing something in tracking. Because I can use the knowledge I learned from tracking and apply it again, and I’ll be better and faster in the future.
 
How many "mixes" I've gotten to fix where there is so much extraneous tracks, plugs, and other stuff that the arrangement is completely invisible and the SONG suffers for it.

Need a "rule"? Here's one. Don't cover up the song with things that degrade it. A well-tuned and thought out arrangement will always sound better and larger than one with a bunch of extra playing and extra effects.
 
I've read more than a few accounts of top-tier mixers getting tracks that are wildly over-compressed, noisy, poorly recorded, levels wildly uneven from track to track, differeing sample rates, etc. They are getting these tracks from established acts and artists who should know better. My guess is that there is a need to rush stuff out for quick turn around, and that also the artist might actually think that it sounds good enough for the mixer to work his or her magic on it. What can you say to someone like that? If you get too snotty or point out wht should be obvious, they may move on to someone else. I remember reading an interview with Tony Maserati, who complained about some of these things. "There needs to be some standards here!" he exclaimed. This is a top-tier pop mixer having to deal with this kind of shit!
 
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