When is a Mix finished?

[jerrydpi]

Hi everyone

 

When do you finally say "It's finished, time to go on to the next one"?

 

I know not to listen too long when Mixing, I know not to Mix at too loud a volume, I know to Mix at different volumes, I know................

 

So I went back to a Mix I did last week that was really good and it translated to various playback systems really well.

 

This afternoon I listened to it again, made some tweaks and it probably sounds better, or maybe it just sounds different

 

So my questions are:

 

1) Is a good Mix just an opinion?

2) If all of OUR ears hear differently on different days, how can we truly trust our ears?

3) Can one always do a Mix "better"?

4) This question might tie into question (1):

 

If you gave a multi tracked Song to ten great Mixing Engineers, would they all Mix the Song differently?

 

5) Could all of us go back to a Mix we did before and make changes to it?

 

To conclude, when do you finally say "It's finished, time to go on to the next one"?

 

Thanks,

 

Jerry

[triplets]

The best advice I heard:

 

A mix is never finished, you have to abandon it.

[jerrydpi]

Hi triplets

 

Thank you S-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-) much!

 

I thought it was just a flaw unique to ME.

 

Jerry

[MikeRobinson]

Nope ... it's intrinsic to computer technology. Give someone the unlimited ability to "tweak" something, and s/he'll never stop tweaking it.

 

It is a good idea, however, to "let it age." Get the file the way you think you want it, then don't listen to it again for several days. Once your ears and your brain have had a little time to think about other things, have another listen. This time, it will seem at least slightly like "the work of a stranger."

 

If you do decide to make changes at this point, however, do it as a project alternative. This will retain the previous settings (which, after all, you at one time did consider to be "final"), in parallel with whatever changes you might make now.

 

In any project, though, there does eventually come the "FISI point." (FISI = " 8) it ... ship it.")

 

And, with that, "your baby" is irretrievably pushed out into the world. From this point forward, it can only be "photographs in your wallet."

[stardustmedia]

The best advice I heard:

 

A mix is never finished, you have to abandon it.

TRUE

 

Abandon your mix, when YOU think it sounds good on different systems.

[Joe Lonsdale]

I would add that establishing a relationship with a good local mastering engineer is a great way to know if your tracks are mixed satisfactorily. I don't mean that you should treat them as a free sounding board, but if you hire them to master your tracks, you will receive feedback, if you ask for it, that will help you improve and grow your confidence.

 

Attending mastering sessions and hearing your tracks through fresh ears and revealing speakers can give you lots of unspoken cues about where your mixes are lacking, so DO attend!

 

I have learnt that I tend to mix with too little <60hz and too little >5khz and having seen my mastering engineer counteract these discrepancies and hear my mixes come to life has trained my ears to be more sensitive in those areas and I now DON'T have that issue!

Occasionally, my mastering engineer will ask me to rejig a mix if I have overcooked the mixbus compression, or overdone a stereo widener on a lead vocal or put too much sub on a kick - sometimes a 20 second mix tweak allows the mastering engineer to squeeze another few percent out of the process. I rarely make the same mistake twice!

[David Nahmani]

Mixing is after all a series of parameter tweaks.

 

Tweak 1 -> Mix sounds MUCH better.

Tweak 2 -> Mix sounds MUCH better.

Tweak 3 -> Mix sounds noticeably better.

.

.

.

Tweak 137 -> Mix sounds a little better.

Tweak 138 -> Mix sounds ever so slightly better.

Tweak 139 -> Mix xounds a bit better.

.

.

.

Tweak 493 -> Mix sounds just a tiny bit better.

Tweak 494 -> Hard to tell the difference, but it's probably better now.

Tweak 495 -> Did you hear a difference? I could swear it sounds better, but I'm not entirely sure.

Tweak 496 -> Argh. I think it actually sounded better before.

Undo.

Tweak 496bis -> It's ok. It was ok before too, though. Not sure which I like better. ===> My Mix is most likely finished (at least for now).

[MikeRobinson]

Yeah, and what was that Michael Jackson tale? He was doing "the ninety-something-th take" (What can you do, session player? He's the boss ...) and the producer (was it Quincy Jones?) came into the room and basically said, "What's going on here?" And they wound up publishing the third-or-so take?

[jerrydpi]

The two answers that truly affected me

 

1) A mix is never finished, you have to abandon it.

2) In any project, though, there does eventually come the "FISI point." (FISI = " 8) it ... ship it.")

 

And, with that, "your baby" is irretrievably pushed out into the world. From this point forward, it can only be "photographs in your wallet."

 

Thanks!

 

Jerry

[denitronik]

It was easier in the old days; the mix was finished when you where over budget!

 

Sorry for the nostalgia!

[stardustmedia]

Or... the mix is finished when your clients don't stop nodding their heads with a bright smile

[SideBMusic]

Mixing is after all a series of parameter tweaks.

 

Tweak 1 -> Mix sounds MUCH better.

Tweak 2 -> Mix sounds MUCH better.

Tweak 3 -> Mix sounds noticeably better.

.

.

.

Tweak 137 -> Mix sounds a little better.

Tweak 138 -> Mix sounds ever so slightly better.

Tweak 139 -> Mix xounds a bit better.

.

.

.

Tweak 493 -> Mix sounds just a tiny bit better.

Tweak 494 -> Hard to tell the difference, but it's probably better now.

Tweak 495 -> Did you hear a difference? I could swear it sounds better, but I'm not entirely sure.

Tweak 496 -> Argh. I think it actually sounded better before.

Undo.

Tweak 496bis -> It's ok. It was ok before too, though. Not sure which I like better. ===> My Mix is most likely finished (at least for now).

 

Yes! This illustrates it so well.

[David Nahmani]

It was easier in the old days; the mix was finished when you where over budget!

Hahaha that's so true!

[denitronik]

Technologically speaking I would not go back to the old days (ever tried to do a full alignment of a 24 track tape recorder? never again)

But you had clear financial deadlines so projects had to finish.

Now with today's technology, there seems to be no end.

 

I guess we can still set strict timelines for our personal (or other) projects but we must respect them, stop and move on ...

For a perfectionist like me, that is difficult to do!

[shivermetimbers]

Nothing is ever ' perfect.'

[Holger Lagerfeldt]

http://modernmixing.com/wp-content/uploads/edd/2015/01/The-Mix-is-Almost-Perfect-1.jpg

The mix is almost perfect now...

[stardustmedia]

The mix is finished when you can't decide if the last fader you moved should be 1mm up or 1mm down

[Joe Lonsdale]

The mix is finished BEFORE you hate the f@#king song!

[stardustmedia]

Or it is finished when edit, process and move faders and still hear differences, then you realize you were listening to your reference song the whole time

[nev17]

Here's one some of you may remember. Although, it only really applies to TV mixes:

 

The mix is finished when the studio receptionist lets you know that "the musicians' union rep is here..."

[SideBMusic]

http://modernmixing.com/wp-content/uploads/edd/2015/01/The-Mix-is-Almost-Perfect-1.jpg

The mix is almost perfect now...

 

This is very funny. Thanks.

[Ordinary Rabbit]

The best advice I heard:

 

A mix is never finished, you have to abandon it.

 

 

https://youtu.be/dTsogrD5o3w