Another variant of what you are hinting at: You spend some time a/b -ing a track's plugin...only to find out after a few minutes that you are bypassing the plugin on a completely different track. I constantly have to remind myself to take breaks frequently and to set myself a time limit for the amount of what to do in a session or a day.
Thanks. This is an album of mine that hasn't yet been released, but other albums of mine can be found here markwingfield.bandcamp.com/. The drummer is Asaf Sirkis.
Recording/engineering for 60 years, if I'm not on a deadline, I like to let final mixing or mastering to sit for a day. Come back and listen tomorrow with fresh ears.
In addition to learning the first principles of audio processing and mixing, along with the fundamental tools, this insight-the one of recognising shifting and loss of perspective-has by far been the most important lesson I’ve learned and my three years of mixing. Thank you for illuminating it so plainly for us all 🙏🏽
Another great video Mark! You have a new subscriber too. I love PA plugins and have been using them since before the subscription days. Their console plugins are on pretty much all my work these days and along with my Mega XXL subscription, I have perpetual licenses for all of them. The Focusrite SC sounds great on kick more often than not too. It gets that thick and warm Neve sound but without sacrificing clarity and punch which is exactly what Rupert Neve was aiming for with this design. IMHO, he succeeded.
I forgot to ask you what RME interface you're using. I spotted the ARC USB there and had to ask. Big fan of RME here. I'm running two Fireface UFXs and also have the ARC USB.
I really enjoyed this video Mark and concur entirely. This also fits in with the classic trap most of us have fallen into on occasion where we are debating whether or not a few tweaks have improved things or made them worse and then realised the adjustments we've been making were on a bypassed plugin or device. I'm also fascinated by consciousness too and am writing and recording an album about that very topic right now.
Lots of comments saying "great comparison," but those folks should read the video title. This video hand picked 15 ways in which Cubase is better than Logic. You can pick any DAW and come up with 15 strengths for that DAW over another. Every DAW has pros and cons. Logic has a great AI drummer that's super easy to use, and it also has the best tools for comping vocals that I've ever seen. If you want to mic a live band, Pro Tools has some best of class features for that. Reaper is more programmable and thus more powerful if you run a pro studio and routinely do repetitive tasks. Ableton Live is best for composition certain types of electronic music. And so on. I haven't had any issues with instability with Logic, so people shouldn't assume that's a universal thing. But if I couldn't run Logic, I'd run Cubase.
I'm fine with people calling this a comparison because I am giving my subjective opinions in the video. But I also agree with what your saying here. It is subjective and every DAW has its strengths and weaknesses depending on what an individual mixer needs or likes. Reaper is king if you like to get under the hood and program. Pro Tolls is very limited in that way, and arguably 15 years out of date in terms of plugin management, but many people love it's editing features and I would argue ergonomically it's one of the best for speed (which for me Reaper is not good in this regard). For me Cubase and Logic are great in that they are both ergonomically great, more programmable that Protools, great plugin management and great editing. Beyond that, as I tried to present in the video, there are pros and cons between them but as I say at the start of the video, it's just my view based on how I mix. The stability issue with Logic is a big problem, I've experienced it on five different machines and multiple version of the OS now. It's an issue with 3rd party plugins. Logic out of the box is rock solid. The problem is that it can't handle too many 3rd party plugins and remain stable (at least on the 5 machines I've used it extensively on). Cubase and Pro Tools have no such problems. I think it's a problem with the AU plugin format. If that wasn't an issue I'd happily mix on Logic or Cubase, they're both great DAWs.
I've been mixing and mastering for nearly 10 years and never really thought about it like that, but this makes soo much sense. Thank you very much for sharing!
Yes! I’ve made this realization recently, but couldn’t organize my thoughts, or experiences as well as you have. It’s really changed how I mix drums, especially, and I’m so much more satisfied with what’s coming out of the speakers. Everything is breathing more. Thank you!
Agreed, although I'm possibly the odd-man-out in that my primary monitoring level is "very, very quiet." Like ~50dB, quiet enough that if someone talks in a normal speaking voice, you can't follow the music. I jump to 80dB fairly often, but only for a few minutes, generally just to see how things are hitting my body, or to help dial in things like sharpness vs. softness. But man, I LOVE dialing compression, distortions etc. at whisper volumes. You need a really, really tight room to hear transients and 50Hz at 50dB, but it's just so easy to hear what's actually cutting thru and what's playing background when the whole mix is barely reaching to begin with 🙂
good video, mate. feel free to go as esoteric as you want. philosophy of mixing music is fascinating. also, how often to take breaks while mixing? do you have a maximum amount of time you'll let yourself work on something??
I'm a live engineer first......it's a job that makes me listen to what's happening...while it's happening and fixing and balancing on the fly...and when the moment is gone it's gone. Apart from feeling good about it within myself....I only know I did well when people wish to shake my hand as they leave or punch me on the nose as they leave. I find studio work exhausting. There are so many options, so many ways to look at a problem and the result is permanent.
Agreed. I get mired in this a lot less when I work 'briskly', meaning I'm not hurried but I'm flowing from task to task crisply, decisively, never spending more than a minute or two on a given instrument or aspect of the mix before letting it go, widening my focus, noticing what other thing pings my attention, then shifting to that. Also, taking breaks more often than I want, ideally stepping outside to hear the breeze and the sounds of life, always resets my perceptual baseline. And relentlessly moving forward is critical for me; if I find that I keep wanting to circle back to something I've already addressed more than once, I try to figure out what the deeper issue is, what's actually causing the rub, because at that point what I'm hearing is not a problem, it's a symptom of something larger. I try to always stay grounded in the biggest picture possible, namely 'is this production stirring a feeling in me from the first note, and does it keep me hooked until the last?' Clarity, punch, detail, space... all that stuff is nice, but what I'm after is 'the story', a vibe that grabs hold and won't let go thru the up and downs of the dynamics, the ins and outs of the transitions, and the maybe-no-one-ever-hears-this easter eggs buried all along the way.
Good point, getting a flow is so important isn't it. Yes frequent breaks are also key for me as well. As soon as I feel I'm getting slightly less sharp in my attention or even slightly bogged down I take a break. Sometimes a 5-10 minute one while I check my messages or a longer one, make a drink or have a walk. Continuing to mix when I'm feeling tired or bogged down always gets me worse results and wastes time because I end up having to redo things when I'm fresh. And yes the bigger picture is key, I did a video on that a little while back. Absolutely love your plugins by the way! 👏
Amateur mixer here, but a human… we have many inconsistencies, some are by evolutional design. Consider the sense of smell. When we first detect a new smell, we notice it, but after it has been present for a while we no longer detect it, because it is presumed to not be a threat to us. The smell could still be there but we don’t notice it so much any more, because if it’s not something dangerous enough to cause us to fight or flight, our senses cancel it so that if a new smell presents itself, we can easily notice that one instead. The audio experience you talk about could stem from a similar primal programming. Great video and thanks for sharing your experience.
I got the demo..some drum presets were pretty WOW for punch-but generally too complex for my tech level.. I tried it on a master bus too also pretty WOW!
When I get to the point where the only changes on a mix are subtle, I usually stop. Because if I'm at 95-98% of a good mix, I reach a point where I'm more likely to make the mix worse than to fix small things and achieve perfection.
So very minimal electronic is music a blank canvas for our minds to get creative with. Because there is so much repetition, it starts creating it's own versions. And the subtle changes feel super trippy because the brain can't differentiate between its own subtle changes and those of the music itself.
It doesn't only apply to mixing and working in the studio - it's the same with listening (for pleasure or erudition) - the amount of times I have listened to, especially, longer works, especially symphonies (old and new) and they can sound like different pieces of music entirely that I like or dislike depending on where I am in my head at that moment. Great point Mark, thanks!! Every moment is different, to be appreciated for what it is (and since music is all about things unfolding over time, perhaps that is not as esoterically irrelevant to music as you - almost apologetically - imply!)
@Heron Island Studio for me and what i do musically it should always be different also long as you like what you feel rather then hearing it thinking about what you like instead of feeling what you like just pay attention to freq on your mix seeing your using buddha i will quote something Bruce lee says (Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own.)
I agree with you . I feel that too. I ve been mixing for 30 years and figured this out lately. I am glad i am not the only one feeling this. Great video
For large amounts of Producers this is valuable info and I agree because it's about Objectivity. People listen to music in the context they don't have Critical Listening 15 min MAX to avoid ear fatigue. Chasing competitive loudness is boring to me and I enjoy the healthy dynamic while people don't hear what I hear. Music is Ezoteric and it's all about simplicity and different ornaments that will subliminally change the way of perception, it's called Arrangement and Less is More but sounds have to be presented differently in a way that is unpredictable but not too much. On the other hand it depends on the genre and the most important thing college, new contacts,new friends and networking in general.
Mixing is not the right word. placing objects in an environment in relation to each other (painting) try mixing while ur eyes watch moving pictures so u get a 'space' view on the sounds i watch in the woods walking or city walking or onboard racing stuff videos on youtube (like old MTV music videos) i guess the point is when u watch stuff u stop overthinking and start to "see" the soundstage picture thing.. for me it improves massive the decision process, everything falls naturaly into place so i t stop thinking in values and curves
The best method to keep you ears in check is to put a mono plugin on the master bus. Your music will sound different and you will have to adjust the frequencies. When it sounds great, go back to stereo and adjust the frequencies again. Eventually you will get it so they both sound great. Remember, live shows and club music is played in MONO. Getting it to sound pumping, loud, clear etc in mono and stereo is the trick to a good mix.
One important thing I’ve learnt in my 40 years mixing is context: always play from the start to the end. Yes, sometimes you’ll focus in to segments but to really, to hear the affect in context you have to listen from the beginning. Yes, we will by then be at a different place in the universe and it will sound, well like it does. Tweak away until you can go from start to finish and don’t feel the need to change anything and you good.
amazing advice. I produce lofi music and i've been caught out on this many times. Thank you for articulating this so clearly ! This phenomenon is why sometimes i feel like a plugin is making a difference and realize it was on bypass the whole time !
