Why (the heck) do we want perfect mixes?

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CyanJaguar

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I would like to know why someone will try and try at a mix, never getting it perfect, always staying frustrated.

  • is it a front for other homereccers to listen to our music?
  • Are we trying to be professionals? or more professional than the professionals?
  • Are we hoping to be able to someday charge for our mixing abilities?
  • Do we want our music to sound just like radio? so that we can compete sonically when we make the playlist?
  • Is there some unexplained reason?

If this is a front for homereccers to listen, its mistaken. All homereccers know that the music matters more than the sound. The only person who cares more about sound than music is the person who gets paid to deal with sound.

If we are trying to be professionals its futile. These guys spend lots and lots of money on audio equipment, mixing equipment, and all sorts of equipment. If we somehow delude ourselves that we can better their sound with our measly equipment, then we are trying to be more professional than even the professionals, especially since they know when to say "enough"

IF we are somehow hoping to charge for our mixing, then we (most of us ) have strayed from our original intention of being an artiste and should get back to our original goal, since the new goal is deterring us from being the best musicians we can be.

If we want our music to sound just like radio, consider that most songs on radio have budgets that are more than our entire worth. The radio songs also have been through expensive mastering processes. Sometimes we do too much (trying to be artiste, recording engineer, mixing engineer, mastering engineer, etc etc)

When the song gets on the radio, the radio station will compress the heck out of it anyhow, so it wont make a difference.

The sad reality is that nobody agrees on what a perfect mix is. 100 people will find 100 things to nitpick about. We should be content with getting our mix to sound very good so that we can go back to making music. People appreciate good music more than they do good audio. Adios amigos.
 
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You know, all I really want is for it not to totally crap out in the car when I turn it up only 1/2 as loud as a commercial cut. I don't want somebody to tell me to add a fucking banjo or something, I just want it to hold together at high volumes... and for it not to sound like an a.m. radio when I do. That's really it.

Rarely happens.

And all of a sudden, I don't have any monitors, and the clinic has been completely overrun by dicks.

I'm just pretty pissed off, which is totally stupid - means there's something wrong with me right now, not necessarily with the clinic - so I just need to bolt until it doesn't suck to me, eh?; when this place doesn't completely suck, somebody please post a thread.

Call it something like "Okay, this BBS doesn't completely suck right now"
 
it seems you are looking for order in such a dynamic world.

take for instance your wildcard... I agree that something can sound better to the masses here in the USA.

Take that same wildcard into the jungles of Africa and they will laugh at you to the beating of their cheekes.

The amount of grey matter is linked to intelligence and I also believe that intelligence is based on the ablilty to think in the grey.
 
chrisharris said:
You know, all I really want is for it not to totally crap out in the car when I turn it up only 1/2 as loud as a commercial cut. I don't want somebody to tell me to add a fucking banjo or something, I just want it to hold together at high volumes... and for it not to sound like an a.m. radio when I do. That's really it.

Rarely happens.

And all of a sudden, I don't have any monitors, and the clinic has been completely overrun by dicks.

I'm just pretty pissed off, so I just need to leave (for a time); when this place doesn't completely suck, somebody please post a thread.

Call it something like "Okay, this BBS doesn't completely suck right now"
Click to expand...

I heard a little pop at 1:46.
 
TripleM said:
I heard a little pop at 1:46.
Click to expand...

that was classic :)

Jmarcomb,

The same songs that are hits here in the U.S are the same ones that are hits in The jungles of Africa.Maybe not the jungles, but definitely metropolitan africa. They are all bangin' to 50 cent right about now.
 
chris, you should add a banjo. he he he he he

I'll never have a perfect mix with the gear I have, the lack of knowledge I have about mixing, or the desire to do so. This is a hobby for me. I just have big time fun. And like chris said, if I record sumpin, tweak it a little, and it holds up to volume without any distortion, then it's fine with me. I like to spend what little extra bucks I get on musical instruments, musical toys, and the stuff that keeps'em going, rather than recording gear.
 
I used to argue with my brother about there being good and bad music.

I used to think that there was such thing.

For the most part good music is determined (to non musicians)by big record companies and radio stations and other outlets.

I think the whole idea is we're born and raised on good/bad music that is shoved down our throats.

If i goto the south side of chicago Im very sure I would'nt win an argument against rap music... that is just their culture.

Its the same concept as a bird getting stimulated by the sound of another bird and rejecting the music of mozart.



This political topic could go forever...
 
What IS the perfect mix. Better ask a philostopher.

If I make something, I just want it to sound good. A good balance, a clear sound on all instruments, not too muddy, you know, just good. It doesn't have anything to do with what's on the radio. I have no idea about that actually, haven't actively listened to the radio in ages. If I want a certain sound for some song, it's mostly done by the choice of instruments and the sound of them.

So, actually, what I want to do when recording/mixing is give a good representation of the sound of the actual instruments playing together. That's it. Now, what's your point in relation to this. I feel to tired to read your complete post. :D
 
jmarcomb,

that's true, but what the record companies put out is largely due to our tastes. If they release something we dont like, it flops in the stores, if we like it, it hits.

I have never read research on a bird rejecting mozart, but I have read about reseach where roses that were exposed to certain classical music grew larger while roses that were exposed to hard rock 24/7 all died within 2 days.
 
CyanJaguar said:
jmarcomb,

but I have read about reseach where roses that were exposed to certain classical music grew larger while roses that were exposed to hard rock 24/7 all died within 2 days.
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:) hah.. nice one... I have heard of that.


I think you always have a problem when you put the word good and bad into a sentence, because it sets up an argument.

There are some people in this world that think it is good to kill other people.
 
cyanj,

not sure i fit into any of the reasons you mentioned. i'm just looking for any feedback i can get on my recording and mixing and produciton of particular songs given my current limitations. definitely not looking for a perfect mix and not looking to solve anything beyond my control. just looking for anything that stands out that is possibly within my reach to fix.

for example, on my last song i suspected that the ending, although i didn't mind it, would bother most other people who listened. my suspicion was confirmed! back to work on a different ending.

another friend of mine said, hey you sound like you are really straining vocally. try cranking up your preamp as far as possible so that you can really hear every intracate detail of your singing while you are tracking. wow, did that reveal some things that i can work on!

so cyan, why are you here?
 
I don`t give a damn about the record companies. I don`t give a damn about perfect mixes either, just how to get the mixes to where the mix aint annissue when listening to the tune. I`m just havin fun and learning how to use this stuff..
 
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I don't ever look to beat my head against the wall again with all that hustling for a label stuff. I am looking to hone my (limited) skills in my home studio so that someday I will be good enough to record a songwriters demo.......then all I gotta do is learn how to write songs, and viola!

bd
 
Nobody will mistake my mixes for a pro product, but they don't sound bad either.

On the other hand, why does anybody play golf? My mixes are a lot closer to George Martin than your average duffer is to Tiger Woods. If I sent my crap out for mastering, it might actually come back sounding good. There is no way in hell that the same $ amount of golf lessons is gonna fix my swing.
 
I am glad at the replies I've got. It seems most here are satisfied with a good mix.

Sometimes I see someone post the same song over and over AND over, looking for a how to fix this little detail or that,
is there too much 400hz? Is compression at the right level? Dude, how are we supposed to know. We are homereccers like yourself listening on headphones or prosumer monitors, using the same crap compressor that you use. Your guess is as good as ours.

I also see reviewers going over EVERY little detail. I bet that you could put an unknown mutt lange mix up and people will nitpick it to death. Lets not miss the forest for the trees( or how does that saying go?)

PEACE OUT MA BROTHAS
 
Hey Cyan, I don't know if you're referring to me (I don't think so, but I did just post a remix, I think that's the first time I've ever done that), but anyway, I can relate to what you're saying.

As for getting a mix as good as a professional, I have to admit, I have tried, and I can't do it, so, for the time being anyway, I'm giving up.

But what is the point of this clinic? I think a little feedback is good, even if no one really knows what the answers are....

And of course it's about the music (I think this clinic is really more about songs then mixing anyway), but don't you think the mix is part of that? If you went to see a live orchestra playing Beethoven, but it was all out of tune, or you couldn't hear the violins, and the balance was all off, the timing was off, or the hall was too big and reflective, I don't think the well written music would save it. In fact, someone (who I believe may be a pro) just said to me that they actually liked one of my songs now, after disliking it initially, but the remix changed their mind. So I think mixing is crucial, especially in a world where pretty mediocre songs can be huge hits based mainly on the sonics.

Anyway, I do think it's futile, for me doing the kind of music I do, but I think if you do midi type stuff (electronica, dance music, etc.), or very sparse stuff , I think you have a chance of doing something that can compete with pro stuff.

Btw, check out the band Park on Nowhere Radio. I'm not sure if this is technically all recorded at home, but it's quite good. If it is, it's the best home recording I've heard.

Macle
 
I think of the mix from an artistic point of view...a "production." So yea, I'm pretty detail oriented. Shoot me.
Am I trying for pro? Never think about it. I just want great sounds, so I keep looking for them. I've posted some songs 3 times. Usually it's when someone has added a track or something. But sometimes I'm following some learning process. Like for example my main focus lately is how to get the most out of a bass track. And it has been extremely helpful to post here. I get lots of comments that have little to do with what I'm focused on at the time, but now and then those end up being the real gold of your thread. I love music and I love a challenge. Home recording fills my life with a great deal of both.

Tom
 
CyanJaguar said:
I bet that you could put an unknown mutt lange mix up and people will nitpick it to death.
Click to expand...

You are correct.I've made the statement a few times here that my favorite albums(which are multi-platinum sellers) would get shredded to pieces by the standards that some of the guys here impose on a mix.LOL.
 
I have several reasons. First, the idea of making records has always fascinated me. Its fun to work on sculpting and arranging all this noise into something that sounds good. Second, I do projects for people and I want my work to get better and more professional sounding. If it sounds great to the customer, they come back. So far, they've been coming back. Third, I am planning to shop some songs and, these days, the demo is more important than it used to be. When people hear a great track, it is positive reinforcement for the song. I've had a couple of songs recorded and the pro versions used my arrangement right to the lick. People figure if your demo sounds good, they can make a "real" record that sounds even better. Fourth, i am driven to learn what I don't know--and there's still plenty I don't know!

The biggest reason, though, is that I'm afraid SluiCe and B. Sabbath are getting so far ahead of me that I will become the laughing stock of the clinic if I don't try to keep up. They'll be saying "oh--looks like ol' tin ears crawdad posted another sonic trainwreck." :D
 
WELL, i'M A GONNA GO DOWN TOWn, stop it, hold on, wait, did I hit the right button. No shit, man, what key is that, I won't ready yet, let's do another bowl first, opps.............fuck, wrong thread, sorry guys, see ya.
 
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