What Should I Do? (Mixing Service Content)

  • Thread starter Thread starter bdam123
  • Start date Start date
B

bdam123

Member
So long story short, we had a production that needed mixing. We contacted a mixer that we thought was credible enough to get the job done. We ended up not fitting into his schedule so he recommended one of his colleagues. This colleague didn't have as impressive of a track record but the dude we contacted vouched for him.

I sent a rough mix and a PT session with everything basically already leveled. You probably guessed, the mix came back horrible. None of the levels were right, not even close to what our rough mix sounded like. Overall lack of attention to detail was apparent. We haven't paid him yet and we're already thinking about going to another person. In all honestly we could have done a better overall mix ourselves.

Whats the right thing to do here? I really feel bad about not paying someone for their work but if the work doesn't look promising and not even close to what we were looking for (I included a rough mix along with whole page worth of notes detailing what we wanted) am I in the right to tell him the deal and move on?

The last time we had someone mix we literally had one or two changes and it was exactly what we wanted. This guy might had hit 25% of the things we had on the list. It was almost like a joke. There were parts that we so ridiculously wrong that a matter of "taste" was completely out of a question. They were just wrong.

I know a lot of you guys have your own mix services so what do ou guys think?
 
Were you with him when he mixed the tracks? If not, you have to cut him some slack. He has no idea what you're going for!

Are the mixes really that bad? PM them to me. I would very much like to hear them. :)
 
There are two sides to every story. You might say he's not meeting your criteria; He might say your asking the earth.

In my opinion you touched on the main point though. "Tell him the deal"

You'll get every possible opinion on a board like this, but you sound like someone with a conscience so I'd recommend telling the guy straight up.

If it fits, tell him you appreciate his efforts and his time, but you don't feel it's working out. You can't justify paying him top dollar, but you don't wanna burn him either.

If that happened to me, that degree of honesty would justify taking a pay cut, unless you guys have been taking the pi$$. ;)


Worth considering too, if you think the guy's capable maybe you could arrange a sit in session and tell him exactly what you want as it's happening.
Personally I hate those, but if it gets the job done it'd be worth it.

BTW, feel free to link me up some raw files or a session......I'm bored. :)
 
I honestly didn't expect it to be what we wanted on the first draft. I was sure we would have some revisions but I mean he has a bunch of stuff wrong. I had a whole section on the list that was dedicated to delay throws and I don't hear 95% of them. Unfortunately although I would like to get opinions on the mix I don't know how I feel about putting dudes work out like that.

I'm no mixer but I've done mixes for remixes that we produced for real projects on major labels. Granted these were just remixes and I wouldn't trust myself to mix my own stuff cause I want it to sound as good as possible but the mix we got back is really far. The vocals were super loud. The bridge is so soaked in reverb it almost seems like an accident. He totally changed the sound of the bass that we gave him. I dunno, its just really far.

Unfortunately we are the scraping to afford these mixes and it would just suck that we would have to even pay a dollar for something we wouldn't end up using.
 
Sounds like you want someone to just back you up and say walk away.

Given your second post, all you can do is either walk away, or arrange a long sit in session and just tell the guy what to do.
 
Yea a sit in is out of the question. He's across the country. Whats protocol here? Do we just like give him some money for his time or do we just tell him it ain't gonna work out and leave it at that?
 
Ahh, that's a shame.

Well AFAIK, unless you (collectively) established a protocol, there isn't one.

Sorry. :(
 
I would contact him and tell him it's all wrong per your instruction and if he would like to give it one more shot.

You should send the track to Steenamaroo I know that he would set it straight and get the job done right - for a price.
 
It's an obvious answer...you don't pay someone to setup your guitar and they completely F it up. In fact, you might have the technician fix their screw up at no charge then take it somewhere else. I don't see any difference in this case. No payment and take it somewhere else.
 
That's the problem with the music biz...there's no accountability or certifications when it comes to recording, mixing, mastering, etc. I've been let down so many times by engineers I can't count on both hands. This is the only reason I started involving myself in the recording process...although I can't stand the tedium and patience involved ;)

I manage a property portfolio for a large property management firm as my day job. If I sent a contractor the exact specs of what I needed and received an exact quote for said work, I would never pay them a dime if they didn't meet the agreed to specs. This is no different. If they're willing to work with you to finalize your vision AT NO EXTRA CHARGE, then I say give them the chance. If not, I say walk away with no money paid.

Again, that's the issue with the music biz....too many people that have no credentials but promise you the world.
 
Sorry, still on this...I forgot to ask if you asked the engineer for samples of his previous work?
 
Thanks for all the responses everyone. We did listen to a song he mixed and it was aight. The quality of the mix we received does not reflect the same quality as the sample we listened too. I can't get myself to believe that his incompetence doesn't leak into the rest of his work. I can't be confident that he is doing his best work. I don't have the ears to judge a mix at a certain level. Give me a 10 and an 8 and I'll think they both sound good. Unless I could listen to the same song with different mixes back to back.

We're looking for and contacting new mixers as we speak. If we can't find one that can do it in a timely fashion we're gonna have to just salvage what we can. Sucks.

Once again thanks for all the advice everyone.
 
bdam123 said:
Yea a sit in is out of the question. He's across the country. Whats protocol here? Do we just like give him some money for his time or do we just tell him it ain't gonna work out and leave it at that?
Click to expand...

You don't have to physically meet him....The interent has advanced so much its not even funny. Skype, Facetime, OoVoo, and several other sites that offer live streaming. Make it a conference call. That part is done.

Now to the business, I personally have a question for all of you engineers. Do you recieve a session then mix and get paid AFTER you've completed it and given the client an mp3 version of the mix? Do you request a non-refundable downpayment? I kind of see it both ways. If the client doesnt pay you, & just takes the mp3 you still hold the master file..ijs

Sorry, but back to your situation. I tihnk its just like if you ordered some food and you didnt like it or they messed it up. You complain, tell management (the engineer) the situation, explain that you will only pay for what was asked. In some cases the resturant management will give you a free meal. So you could simply put it like that but notify him that if it does not meet standards the 2nd time you arent obligated to pay nor is the engineer obligated to offer a free 2nd mix.
 
Trilltrax said:
You don't have to physically meet him....The interent has advanced so much its not even funny. Skype, Facetime, OoVoo, and several other sites that offer live streaming. Make it a conference call. That part is done.

Now to the business, I personally have a question for all of you engineers. Do you recieve a session then mix and get paid AFTER you've completed it and given the client an mp3 version of the mix? Do you request a non-refundable downpayment? I kind of see it both ways. If the client doesnt pay you, & just takes the mp3 you still hold the master file..ijs

Sorry, but back to your situation. I tihnk its just like if you ordered some food and you didnt like it or they messed it up. You complain, tell management (the engineer) the situation, explain that you will only pay for what was asked. In some cases the resturant management will give you a free meal. So you could simply put it like that but notify him that if it does not meet standards the 2nd time you arent obligated to pay nor is the engineer obligated to offer a free 2nd mix.
Click to expand...

Never let the client walk out with the mix without paying. Even if it's only an mp3.
 
Discuss the problems with him and see if he can fix them. Give him one chance to get it right. After that just tell him thanks but no thanks. BUT I think you need to pay him something as you had a contract - albeit not written.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top