Helpful ReplyDon't stop mixing until the song is really done!

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craigb
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2017/02/14 02:01:39 (permalink)

Don't stop mixing until the song is really done!

After commenting about James' mixes (smallstonefan), I found I still had these files online.  I thought these were cool since you could see the progression from initial song to final mix.  I think it's interesting how you hear the initial take and think "Hey, not bad!"  Then you hear the first mix and realize "Woah, that's better!"  But the final is really the best, so you have to remember not to settle until it's really done! 
 
There used to be a commentary about the changes but I, unfortunately, can't seem to find it... 
 
http://www.nwdreamer.com/download/test_song_initial.mp3
 
http://www.nwdreamer.com/download/test_song_first_mix.mp3
 
http://www.nwdreamer.com/download/test_song_final_mix.mp3

 
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
#1
bitman
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/14 10:13:38 (permalink)
Except, how do you make the determination without deadlines that something is now really done?
I have moved on to a new tune to pull myself off the one I was dwelling on before so those around me wouldn't whisper.
 
When I ran a commercial studio I gave myself 5 days to mix a demo for a client.
It was never "done" - but the time was up.
 
On a "Mix with the masters" youtube video, an engineer was remarking about mixing in the tape days and doing the lead album track in one day, going home to sleep on it, then coming in the next day with fresh ears to correct unheard issues then is was sign sealed and delivered. That engineer had to listen to that track for the rest of his or her lives. In hardware stores, in grocery stores. You can only imagine what issues drive that poor person crazy while we just understand it as a stitch in the fabric of pop culture. I suppose if you get a continual pay check from capitol it validates your work for yourself.
 
This is but a hobby for me.
 
 
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eph221
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/14 11:27:14 (permalink)
I think the engineers are like dentists.  They try to convince the talent they need better teeth when all he or she needs to do is smile.

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bayoubill
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/14 11:32:41 (permalink)
Thanks craig!

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#4
craigb
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/14 14:11:05 (permalink)
bitman
Except, how do you make the determination without deadlines that something is now really done?
I have moved on to a new tune to pull myself off the one I was dwelling on before so those around me wouldn't whisper.
 
When I ran a commercial studio I gave myself 5 days to mix a demo for a client.
It was never "done" - but the time was up.
 
On a "Mix with the masters" youtube video, an engineer was remarking about mixing in the tape days and doing the lead album track in one day, going home to sleep on it, then coming in the next day with fresh ears to correct unheard issues then is was sign sealed and delivered. That engineer had to listen to that track for the rest of his or her lives. In hardware stores, in grocery stores. You can only imagine what issues drive that poor person crazy while we just understand it as a stitch in the fabric of pop culture. I suppose if you get a continual pay check from capitol it validates your work for yourself.
 
This is but a hobby for me.
 
 




Didn't you just describe taking an initial take, doing a first mix, then coming back and making a final? 
 
Fresh ears along with trying the mix on a wide variety of speakers (from $3,000 monsters, to a "normal" stereo, to your car, to a boombox, to headphones, to earbuds) are very important.  Making the resulting wave visual look like a filled in sausage is not. 

 
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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Moshkito
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 11:09:45 (permalink)
craigb
After commenting about James' mixes (smallstonefan), I found I still had these files online.  I thought these were cool since you could see the progression from initial song to final mix.  
...

 
I would like to show you the art version of this ... by one Vancouver artist that drew some far out things for a long time. If you EVER saw the first line and scratch on any picture, and then what it became you would have said ... oh my gosh ... that's insane!
 
I'm pretty sure the same can happen in music, just like it does in literature, if only more "musicians" believed in their ability beyond the notes and chords and staff! Be a conduit, as someone else stated in another thread ... if they only knew ... if they only knew!

Music is not about notes and chords! My poem is not about the computer or monitor or letters! It's about how I was able to translate it from my insides! 
#6
eph221
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 11:15:30 (permalink)
pedro, what a crock.

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#7
eph221
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 11:17:16 (permalink)
write a song, wash rinse repeat.

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#8
bapu
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 11:56:13 (permalink)
David, we gotta give Pedro props.
 
He's tenacious.
 
 
 
 
But I agree, it's still a crock.
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bapu
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 11:57:17 (permalink)
When the Beatles first hit it was rumored they "made up their own chords".
 
Maybe Pedro still believes that.
 
#10
eph221
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 12:02:49 (permalink)
Well, it's rumored that Prince has a gazillion songs in his *vault*.  I have to think he thought the one's that he produced were the creme of the crop.  That just shows that song writers have to produce regardless.  Wash, rinse,repeat.  Sometimes the muse tinkles and sometimes the muse pisses.  Right pedro? Sometimes the cat pisses, sometimes the cat sprays.:D:D (I almost changed my name to David Tinkle)

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#11
jamesg1213
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 12:07:17 (permalink)
Moshkito
 
if only more "musicians" believed in their ability beyond the notes and chords and staff!




 
Funny thing is, it's only you that says they don't.

 
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#12
craigb
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 12:17:18 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby Mesh 2017/02/22 12:25:52
eph221
(I almost changed my name to David Tinkle)



I think you should!  That or maybe "Twinkle" would be perfect. 

 
Time for all of you to head over to Beyond My DAW!
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Mesh
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 12:32:59 (permalink)
If only chefs believed in their recipe beyond the ingredients and spices!!!! 
 
 
 


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#14
eph221
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 17:59:52 (permalink)
Mesh
If only chefs believed in their recipe beyond the ingredients and spices!!!! 
 
 
 





 
Obviously, not a chef.  Mesh, once you've cut off head of a chicken you can stick a fork in it.

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#15
michaelhanson
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 20:28:25 (permalink)
bapu
When the Beatles first hit it was rumored they "made up their own chords".
 
Maybe Pedro still believes that.
 


I've made up a few.  They didn't turn out to be hits though.  

Mike

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michaelhanson
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Re: Don't stop mixing until the song is really done! 2017/02/22 20:33:52 (permalink) ☄ Helpfulby eph221 2017/02/23 17:43:27
bitman
Except, how do you make the determination without deadlines that something is now really done?
I have moved on to a new tune to pull myself off the one I was dwelling on before so those around me wouldn't whisper.
 
 



At some point, I have always decided that this is done to the best of my abilities, at this time.  It's a continual growth process, though.  Sometimes you go back and listen to something you have mixed or produced 5 years ago and it is obvious how much you have learned.  Much of it is ear training as well.  

Mike

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