Music Production and Deafness

I have a little hearing damage. Mine is more of a problem of each ear has different frequency deficiencies. My left ear doesn't hear low frequencies as well as my right ear. My right ear doesn't hear higher frequencies as well as my left ear. I don't know whether my ear canals are shaped differently, or if it's damage from years of playing in bands. I use some of the same techniques as you. I also use frequency analyzers (not Sonar's) to see if what I'm hearing is being visually represented on the analyzer. I also solo the left and right channels, and listen with each ear facing each monitor individually. I also listen to the mix in mono. That's about all I can think of at the moment. I'll chime back in if I think of anything else.

Brian Wilson's an interesting case. As most know, he was almost completely deaf in one ear, and yet is widely regarded as one of the best mix engineers of all time. When most contemporary bedroom mixers are directing their efforts at getting stereo width, you've got to wonder how the heck he pulled it off.
 
Like many of the legendary mixers, he started out in a mono world. The Beach Boys saw their first commercial success in 1962, a time when 99% of record purchases were mono, when very few consumers owned stereo gear, and most music was listened to on AM radio. Even into the mid-70's, it was common practice to do the mono mix first, then a stereo version. 
 
Consequently, all mix engineers of the era were more adept at mono mixes than stereo. Unfortunately, it almost became a lost art starting in the 80's. But it was eventually rediscovered. People realized that if you got a good mono mix first, turning that into a good stereo mix was easy. Today, it's once again common practice to mix in mono first and then stereo-ize it.
 
One way that's done is to use a mono speaker. You (Jesse) don't have to, as you're hearing essentially mono all the time. You have the potential to be a very good mono mixer! So don't worry about it - make the best mono mix you can and then solicit the aid of another set of ears to tweak the stereo version.
 
No, I'm not suggesting you need someone else to do the stereo mix for you, only to provide feedback and suggestions. You can visually apply stereo effects yourself because a good stereo mix also sounds good in mono. IOW, you'll know if you're screwing up the balance. 
 
On a related tangent, all of us are gradually losing hearing acuity. As we age, the tiny hair cells in our cochlea are dying, reducing our ears' ability to respond to high frequencies. To make matters worse, both ears don't age exactly the same, so our frequency sensitivity becomes asymmetrical. Statistics show that audio engineers lose their hearing faster than the general population, so we have to adapt.
 
Fortunately, the digital age has provided us with visual aids. They should not be dismissed as cheats! When I hear guys mindlessly repeating that tired "trust your ears" mantra, it's like listening to somebody insist that global warming is a liberal conspiracy. I don't care how good your hearing is, you cannot trust your ears (or, more accurately, your brain). Everyone should learn how to use visual aids properly, not as the sole source of information but to augment our unreliable ears.

Auratone-type speakers have an additional benefit, which is that they're horrible at producing the extreme high and low ends of the audio spectrum (but are reasonably flat in between). That forces you to concentrate on the real meat of any mix, which is the midrange.
 
We spend a lot of time addressing the low and high ends, but that's because they're difficult to dial in, not because they're the most important. Devoting all that attention to the spectral perimeters can make us lose focus on the truly critical frequencies in the middle.
 
Suggested samples of Brian Wilson's genius:
Good Vibrations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eab_beh07HU
I Get Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wREBD2og5iY
 
These mono mixes could serve as modern references for how to make that midrange jump out.

Hey Jesse - after 40 + years of playing bass at live venues, and foolishly neglecting to protect my ears during most of this time, my hearing is also compromised.  The high end response in my left ear is way down and both ears have that ever present companion of ringing and hissing.  Totally my own fault, so not complaining, just the way it is
 
My approach, like Bit's, is to do all my initial volume settings and eq settings in Mono.  I also use an additional single monaural speaker, An Avantone, to check the mix along the way.  I also really rely on my reference tunes to help keep me from wandering too far off the path.

There are multiple copies of "The Art of Mixing" on YouTube, the entire video is 2hrs 40mins but some have also sliced it up into sections. The visual effects are rather entertaining due to the era it was made in, but the concepts still apply.

mettelus
There are multiple copies of "The Art of Mixing" on YouTube, the entire video is 2hrs 40mins but some have also sliced it up into sections. The visual effects are rather entertaining due to the era it was made in, but the concepts still apply.

I watched the whole thing a couple of years ago. Quirky and entertaining but probably could have condensed the info in it into less than an hour. I suspect the book is better. 

Thanks to everyone.  Your input is not taken lightly. 
 
May you all hear FOREVER.
 
Sure do miss stereo though.
 
Jesse Q

Be sure to check out the H.E.A.R. booth at NAMM (that's Pete Townshend's deaf-rocker support group). Assuming they'll be there again this year, handing out earplugs.
 
In past years there have been free hearing tests at NAMM, provided by some local audiologists. I didn't get one, as the line was TOO LONG. I suspect more than a few NAMM attendees are hearing impaired, if not beforehand than certainly afterward.

I'm frightened to wear cans when someone else is in charge of the sound source, ever since I read about what happened to Andy Partridge of XTC. He was listening to a track at full volume to check for noise when some doofus in the studio triggered a snare sample through his cans. Permanent raging tinnitus ever since. Apparently he spent months sitting every morning in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to reduce the noise (which apparently works to some extent). But it just goes to show you how easily you can screw your ears through being careless. 
 
Of course the other example of how quickly you can do it exists on film - Pete Townsend standing next to Keith Moon's exploding drum kit on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.

Think that's what they were doing here?

Whew, it's windy today!
No. Today's Thursday!
So am I! Let's go to the bar!
 
LONG LIVE ROCK-N-ROLL!!
 
So what are everyone's favorite visual aids?

gbowling
So what are everyone's favorite visual aids?

1. Voxengo SPAN
2. The spectragram view in MDynamicEQ/MAutoDynamicEQ
3. MMultiAnalyzer's volume history
4. iZotope Insight (extra points for having the best resizable VST UI)
5. Adobe Audition
6. Windows 10 screen magnifier and Chrome/Firefox zoom shortcuts
7. My spectacles
 
 

Another tinnitus sufferer here from the usual years of abuse over the course of many gigs, rehearsals and attending loud concerts.  I rely on Span quite a bit, as well as reference tracks.

How would you guys rate the quality of these visual aids?
 
1- cake's own quad curve eq ?
2- blue cat's FreqAnalyst ?
 ... And tinnitus-plagued audio-producer-wannabe-already-in-his-forties over here as well... Damn!