So, when I record strangers, the vocalist is often the weak link in technique. Ps Ws Hs Ts bad mic work. I end up trying to fix by notching them with the volume fader, but ...
 
Next, I'm likely to get requests that  I can't follow. They say Fatten the Vocal when they mean they want a Naked Uneffected Vocal. Anyway, I have trouble understanding what they want. I have only once had a member of the band sit with me for an hour while mixing to give feedback. 
 
So, I like mixing music, but I have no idea how people do it professionally. I suppose getting paid may make working with strangers less painful or make the strangers more co-operative.
 
And I love doing it. I love it after the fact, but usually as I finish with a recording, I'm pretty glad to be done.
 
Just curious for feedback. Any tips for making recordings of bands that aren't yours. How do you interface the band? How do you ask for feedback on the tracks? How do you deliver the final?

some times you have to be the engineer and let them decide and sometimes you have to be a producer and you decide.

it depends on what they're paying you to do.  you can tell them the differences and what you could do for them as a producer vs. an engineer and that they might not necessarily agree with the producer, but as a producer you might have a better way of doing it that will sound better on a CD or the radio or whatever media they're releasing to.

Daaaaaang. Really? Only one band member sat in with you to give feed back? 


Back in the day when I would rent out studio time ...I'd be there until the dude was done mixing giving feed back. 

Shame of those musicians. 

Seriously ... To me ... It gives them no right to criticize or not like the final product if they didn't sit with you through a bit of every song to give you direction. Maybe not the WHOLE mix ... But enough of the mix so they have made clear what they are after ... Sorry man ...


Good luck to you ... I love doing it too 

After laying down the basic tracks, I wait a couple of days and come back with fresh ears.

@Mooch4056 Thanks!! It would be sooo much easier that way.

I've read all those books, watched all those videos, made all those mixes. I think if I could have regular feedback, I could deliver exactly what they want. 

It's so super hard when the feedback is vague. The original tracks are flawed. And you are expected to make multiple final mixes of each track so they can pick. It's such a super hard way to mix.

I would have thought that the less they are paying you to mix their music, the more involvement they would insist upon. If I was paying a non-professional to mix a track for me, I'd want to sit in on the whole process and make creative judgments. But if I was paying a top producer tens of thousands of dollars to produce and mix a track, I'm going to trust his judgment a whole lot more. In fact if he decides that keyboard riffs F, G and H need to go, and that perhaps bass line C needs redoing completely, I'm going to give him free reign, especially if he has a proven track record of launching records into success. Because ultimately that's what I'm paying him for. 

But an amateur or even a semi-pro? Why would you not sit in on the mixing process and call the shots? Don't understand that. Unless you have absolutely no idea what you want your music to sound like. 

@DJWayne Thanks!! That's great advice. You know, mixing music that I don't really like listening to is another major challenge. If I find myself not wanting to listen to the mix on the way to work, that says a lot.

@Beagle If only anyone paid me!! ha ha. I beg to make the tapes in the first place usually, then do my best.

This is an example of one I made that I never stopped loving listening to.

http://archive.org/details/YMSB1999-03-06

@Sharke Maybe the whole problem is that I'm seeking out people to record. I get bored just mixing me and my friends. I like trying different bands. I learn things mixing others (like the tube saturation I get from my $40 USD ART Tube Pres Sux compared to the Pro Channel Saturation Nob or tube sat plugs).

I think the cost of the deliverable is kinda high though. I'll record 3 hours of music in a garage or a bar and it will take my 60+ hours to mix if I race through it. I could do a sloppy job, but it's got my name on it. I offer the original WAVs in case they'll make their own mix that I can learn from, but that never happens. I do this for free and I can end up feeling resentful which is no good for anyone.

One time, I was letting a female singer use one of my more expensive mics (expensive to me - few hundred) and I had a pop filter on it. She didn't want the pop filter, which I was fine with, but not with that mic. I replaced it with a cheaper mic that was easier to clean. She complained and complained on stage. I made sure a lot of the complaining made it to the final mix. I heard she was ecstatic with the final mix. Go figure.

gswitz


@DJWayne Thanks!! That's great advice. You know, mixing music that I don't really like listening to is another major challenge. If I find myself not wanting to listen to the mix on the way to work, that says a lot.

That's why I hate mixing other people's music. I'd never make it as a pro engineer, but that's okay, I'm content mixing my own music. Sometimes other people's music makes me cringe and want to run for the hills.