Watch a pro engineer mix a song from start to finish (and what you learn)
I was talking to a friend of mine about how we mix the other day.
He said that’s a very “reactive” process. He basically reacts to what’s going on in the mix and tackles it however he sees fit that time.
The thing about that is that it can also be pretty different every time. You don’t always react the same way to a song so you don’t always slap on the same plug-ins or process the same way.
That’s actually what’s so hard about following over the shoulder of a mixing engineer.
You can’t really hear what he’s hearing and you might not understand why he’s “reacting” in a certain way.
Why did he switch to the drum buss compression all of a sudden?
Why did he EQ that reverb?
Why did he so intently solo the bass guitar? I didn’t hear anything wrong with it…
Those are the sorts of questions that pop into your head when you watch a professional mix a song.
Of course, everybody’s mix style is different. Some people have a more methodical approach. Some have a more simplistic approach.
And some people might have an approach that seems random but the fact is: their approach makes perfect sense to them.
The best part is when you get them to explain their methods after they finish. It’s sort of like them showing you their secrets.
All of a sudden their random hijinks come into focus and you see clearly what their method of mixing is.
That’s kind of what Mixthru from Matthew Weiss and The Pro Audio Files is like.
Matthew mixes a song from start to finish and then tells you exactly what he did to achieve the sound he got.
Currently they’ve got two different genres out: hip-hop and pop. Both very cool sounding songs.
If you’d like to take a look you can also get 10% off by using the promo code ‘audioissues’ when you check out and they both come with a free copy of the Maio Drum Collection.
Check it out here:
Music Mixing
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