Develop a critical ear... tips?

Hey, everyone! So I noticed that a lot of times when listening to a mix I know (that is, my own) I completely lack the ability to listen for what sounds good or bad in the mix overall. I can definitley do it with commercial releases or others' projects, but how can I develop a critical ear for my own mixes?

I don't think there is a final mix. It is what you hear vs. what others hear. If enough others hear it and like it, then it will be okay, and the few who do not like it, will be the few.
 
So first it has to sound like you want it, the rest is relative. No need to drive yourself crazy, but being in a meditative state may help, or else turn up the volume and stomp around the room and strut your stuff. If you stomp around while other people are there and claim how great it is, some people may actually leave thinking the same thing. Others will say it is okay, and still a few will not like it.
 
At least if you have several mixes, you can get opinions by the other people who want to put up with annoying them with all the mixes asking which one they think is better. But I guess you need a crowd to do that with, so first that may not happen and you have to imagine a crowd that will like it.
 
Whatever happens you will never be exactly right probably, but then who knows, so that will be that.
I hope that I have not made any sense to you, because your mix may not be what I hear or want.
Maybe some other people will want it though!

 
Or we can all leave and say "eh?"
 
Or I can go to the song thread more often and usually say the same thing I usually say - "It's fine" or point out something about it perhaps, but most of the time, asking me for an opinion depends on which day it is, so perhaps I should listen to more music, but then there is only so much time, and that will be that.
 

but being in a meditative state may help.
 
You know what that means? Hypnotizing yourself. (it is not scary, and actually you have done it many times listening to music, some familiar piece of music you like, and have listened to the total mix of the song).
 
A deep relax feeling which can be had, by cancelling out any thoughts that come into your mind, not drifting in thought, not listening hard to the music, letting the music flow in the air surrounding you. Forgetting the adjustments for a while and knowing that if something sounds wrong that listening a few more times may have you know what to do to fix it. Listening to it again afterwards, and still listening to it if you change it a few more times, perhaps over a few days, but mainly just not drifting in thought, forgetting thinking, and being deeply relaxed. At first that may not seem possible, but it can be done by anyone, usually they have negative thoughts saying that they can not do it, or that is not me. First of all you have to say after catching that you had a negative thought to say to yourself and to no one else "cancel, cancel" after 21-30 days, they will disappear in that sense then you will be relaxed easier, but still not focused. Then you will learn by yourself to focus which means being grounded in purpose especially when relaxing a couple times a day (or even once) in a quiet environment for about 20 minutes. Then after all that, when you listen to your music you will hear it differently than before, and what happens after that is up to you. Do you tap your feet, get up and dance, move around while retaining being more relaxed, or do you confer to someone else that whatever you are doing is just you, but may not be what they do, as they may look at you weird, but that will be that.
 

 
In other words, take a break from yourself periodically.
Loosen up, wind down, chill out, break on out.
Be the mother of invention, be a mother - wait maybe better not to do that, because some become a mother-fu****. Wait maybe I better quit, and you can think about it on your own time.
 
Some people have a few drinks, but actually that will not help as much because it is too easy to overdo anything especially mixing down.
 
Caution with all of it, don't want to beat your head against the wall too hard or too much.
Not good to knock yourself out, or pass out on the floor not breathing.
Whatever!

 
And try not to be a dork about any of it.
And be total as in total control.
 
 
 

Oooh, it reminds me- I tend to REALLY hear my vocals and melodies! I'll listen, but feel the groove in the melody so much that I can't really focus on the mix! Perhaps it'd be wise to listen to both with and without vocals? Nah. idk. We'll see.
But spacealf, I like that reply! I do need to learn the art of relaxation….. I'm sure it will be extremely useful! I need to find out what works best for me in regards to stopping, slowing myself down, and just enjoying the work as a work.
Chuck, that is actually something that hasn't plagued me as much- I'll usually notice small things like wrongly-sung or played notes and stuff, but my biggest problem is possibly my self-obsession with my music! XD I lose track of listening to it ALL- and then I only hear my vocals going and just how clever I thought I wrote a line or how well I thought a vocal came out, etc.
I tried listening to some stuff today and a method I've seen works a little bit for me is to focus on something else in the mix- bass, a synth, rather than my vocals- it somehow lets me hear the comprehensive mix better and takes my mind away from vox. I'm still working on leaning my ear to other parts of the music, though. Thanks guys, keep the replies coming!

The big problem as I see it is being able to distance yourself from the song. It is, after all, your "baby" since it was crated by you and from the first moment you liked it enough to record it, you fell in love and are now biased.  Just like we tend to overlook the things we don't like in a new relationship at the very beginning, we do the same thing with our music. That's why there are songs that get posted that really need lots of tender loving care.
 
It takes practice and effort to really look at your own stuff objectively. For that reason, it is always better to work with another writer. They tend to keep you from falling too deeply in love with those things that are better off changed or done differently or left out entirely.
 
Even having an "uninvolved 3rd party" listen and give objective advice helps....and that's what tends to happen here in the songs forum. The trick is to learn to hear what "they" will hear and comment on, before you post it up. That takes time and practice.
 
More than once I have posted a song, having a hunch or straight up knowing that there was an issue with one thing or another in that song....and sure enough, the forum folks came back and nailed it thereby confirming what I already knew. The proper course of action would have been to fix it before posting it rather than being lazy and thinking that the "problem" was a nit and other's wouldn't notice it. After being in the forum for a while, you get a good idea whose advice is dead on and worth listening to.
 
hope this helps you a bit.
 
 

davdud101
...I'll listen, but feel the groove in the melody so much that I can't really focus on the mix!

Maybe you need to listen through some Yamaha HS50s monitors.  They sound unmusical and force you to listen to the mix.

Keep in mind, however.....there is no going back once you start down this path.  
 
After a while, you will be saying to yourself with every piece of music you hear.  I think I would have lowered that bass a little... used less reverb on that vocal.....the mids are a little heavy.... that guitar track is too compressed.... 
 

 

Here is some different kind of stuff to listen to, I suppose if you need to - to relax.
http://www.youtube.com/user/JezebelDecibel?feature=watch

http://www.youtube.com/wa...hwkMXmB4q8_4vG399CO07A

http://www.youtube.com/wa...G399CO07A&index=41

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsrjvN9BXAE


But mainly, you can also just imagine the warm sunshine (bright light) shining on your feet and warming up your feet, then slowly moving up your legs, feel the warmth, up to the torso, and slowly relaxing to the warm bright light, up through the stomach, up through the chest, up the neck into your face, all feeling warm glow with the warm bright light shedding that stress away from your body, and through the face. Feel your face relax and feel that warm glow and tension melting away all the way through your head and away into Space.
 
Imagine laying there on the warm ground below a tree, but not an ordinary tree. this tree does not have leaves, it has sheets of paper with creative ideas on them but not all of the paper like leaves on the tree will have something on them. Perhaps a lot of them are blank, but just relaxing underneath your creative tree, picking one some day, may have a creative idea written on it.
 
Upstairs in your brain is a room. A room made up of the way you want to make it up. It may have windows, may have a book shelf, may be dusty and dirty like mine, well no, but you do not have to tell anyone how your room looks or how it is. Just know that there is a person, a wise seeker, an Orb, and you can sit and ask your Master Seeker any question you want. You may not get an answer many times, but sometimes you may. Ask it anything, change the room if necessary, it is your room your design and you can go up into your room anytime you want to, and be in that room that you want the way that you want it. (some would say to buy it and build it and afford it, but get real). It is your room and your design and what you want in the room and is your own personal space.
 
Well, some of the ways to relax through suggestion or self-hypnosis or whatever it is that those type of people talk about whenever those books and things came out in the real world to help people along.
 
Critical music listening to me is taking a break from the music, not actually listening to it, while listening to it, being awake, but not being awake. Being in a state of mind that different than from your normal state of mind. It is your brain and mind, so well, do whatever you want with it for the most part, and build from there.
 
Just don't go crazy with it I suppose. I suppose in this world, a person has to attach Warning Labels to everything nowadays. So be Warned. But are the Warning Labels - yellow and black alternate strip colors?
 

 
Okay enough of the babbling and perhaps funny stuff, but then - It's Free!
What was I saying?
Have to go, bye!
 

kev11111111111111

MakeShift
Keep in mind, however.....there is no going back once you start down this path.  
 
After a while, you will be saying to yourself with every piece of music you hear.  I think I would have lowered that bass a little... used less reverb on that vocal.....the mids are a little heavy.... that guitar track is too compressed.... 
 

 

Definitely no turning back,that's for sure !!!
 
And yes totally true,you do gradually begin to hear how the mix could be improved with time and the longer you mix the more confident you get with the tools.
 
I really do think it's about the time you put in,it's as simple as that. I play classical guitar and I try to play for at least one hour a day. If I miss a couple of days here or there,I notice the difference straight away. If I play 6 weeks solid,one hour a day the results are much more satisfying and MAKE me wanna practice more and for longer sessions too. I guess it's about getting in the zone....it's the same for mixing and anything really...
 
Like the above poster said,once you're in,there's no turning back....so you may as well accept that,enjoy what you do,put the time in & then reap the rewards :-)
 
 

 
Yeah... kinda takes the fun out of concerts and live music events too.... to some degree.

Playing on stage is always fun and with the sort of PA systems the bands I played in had, we really only heard the stage monitors anyway, so NO... in that respect, it doesn't change the fun....
 
 
I was speaking as a listener.... in concerts, churches, clubs, etc.... I find myself analyzing the sound of the room, the stage sound, etc.... and of course how the FOH mix is sounding. It's kind of rare to find a mix where I listen and find no major nits, at which point I can and do set back and get into the music. But if the mix is lacking....and some times severely lacking, it's audio hell for the duration.  I do take into account the room or venue. Basketball arenas are not ideal acoustic environments, so I cut the FOH some slack there.
 
A partial list of nits that ruin a show include:
 
Amateur FOH sound guys.... they only first saw a mixing board after they applied for the job. Have no clue what "that knob" does but are willing to turn it to find out, generally, in the middle of the show or a solo. This individual is exceedingly abundant in church environments and many clubs. Think they qualify because they have a "big stereo" at home. They like looking at the "blinking lights" but have no idea what they are indicating.....
 
Lack of lows and definition in the lower end of the mix.... includes bass and kick.   I saw a Kenny Chesney concert that had this issue during the entire show. Several churches in this town have this problem.
 
Volume so loud everything is distorted... can't understand the lyrics/singer.... Chesney concert again....
 
EQ improperly set: sound is hollow or super mid bumped.  churches, clubs.
 
Mix off:  guitars not in the mix, singer too low or loud, you name it, it's possible and likely.
 
 
It's a pleasure to find a PA being run by someone who knows what they are doing..... unfortunately, that seems to be a rare commodity around this area.