The Musical You and Some
Music Mixing Advice

Music mixing can mix you up. However, a mixed up person does not make a good music mixer. My advice is not to be mixed up so that you can mix music musically. Sorry if that sounds mixed up.

When it comes to music mixing, my suggestion is to load up on as much information as you can. No matter which recording software you use, read and re-read the manuals provided to best understand the details involved with applying filters, reverb and other special effects to specific soundtracks that you have created.

When working with a customer and their music mixing needs, it is important to get a feel as to whether the client requires:

• a conservative approach;

• a wild approach;

• a hybrid of the above two bullet points;

Often times, an acoustical sound is exactly what a client requires, with tasteful editing from you. This tasteful type of editing is usually applied to classical music recordings or film music that requires a duplication slight enhancement of what was initially recorded in a live studio session.

On the other hand, special effects can be a wild experience. Consider, for example, a horror movie soundtrack. Nothing is more entertaining than being given a free license to add special effects to a midi or audio soundtrack.

The hybrid approach is often needed in film scoring, especially with a longer movie that has many different scenes and changes of mood. This is where a composer’s resourcefulness is heavily tested. Diversity in creating effects, balance and enhancement is drawn from your pool of knowledge with respect to mixing techniques.

As a final thought, try not to get obsessed with the mixing process. It is easy to get to a point where you keep adding and editing effects ad nauseum. My suggestion is that if you feel yourself going into this obsessive zone, sit back and try to visualize yourself as an audience member. When looking from the outside, a lot of the neurotic obsessing vanishes and a more practical approach often seeps in!

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