CHAPTER 20

Conclusion

367

In this book I’ve tried to cover the main areas of mix technique that small-studio
users need to master to achieve commercial-level results. Essentially it all boils
down to the following:

■■ setting up and learning to use your monitoring systems;

■■ organizing, comping, arranging, and correcting the raw recordings;
■■ balancing all the tracks and adjusting their timbres if necessary;
■■ adding sweetening effects, master-buss processing, and automation;
■■ referencing your work, and creating any necessary alternate mix versions.

I’ve deliberately taken a step-by-step approach in order to make sense of so

many different subjects and also so that you can build up your own mix while
working through the book. However, as I mentioned in Chapters 15 and 19,
most real-world mix engineers don’t actually follow a linear trajectory and
instead react much more fluidly to the mix they’re hearing from moment to
moment. So while a structured approach can be reassuring at first, don’t be
afraid to deviate from that model as your confidence increases, because that’s
the key to developing your own unique mixing style. It’s also worth pointing
out that some of the processing and effects setups I’ve described may be a lot
more useful than others for your own preferred styles of music, so once you
begin to discover your own favorite treatments you should be able to stream-
line your workflow significantly by incorporating them into some kind of
mixing template project, so you don’t have to construct them from scratch for
each new mix.
I’ve covered a lot of ground in this book, and if you’ve reached this point you
should already have improved your mixing by learning how to apply some of
the top pro techniques within your own small studio. The only observation I
still want to add is this: learning to mix takes time and effort. I’ve done what I
can to speed up the process for you, but you’ll still need to put in some hard
graft if you’re going to hold your own among the top names in the business.
“I’m all for people getting into recording music, because it’s a great thing to
do,” says Tony Platt, “but if that is your chosen career path then you should
368 PART 4 Sweetening to Taste

spend a bit of time and work out how to do it properly. When I say properly
I’m not standing in judgment saying that’s right or that’s wrong . . . but it
should be approached as a skill and you should take it as far as you possibly
can. Don’t approach it with the attitude of ‘Oh well, that’ll do,’ because that’s
not good enough.”1 Tony Maserati stresses the point: “I studied very, very hard.
I would be on the subway with my SSL manual, reading it and marking it. I
tell my assistants now: it’s great to record your friends’ bands, but don’t just do
that. Take a tape or a file and the manuals and work through a room’s gear—
the reverbs, the plug-ins. Keep working it over and over. I’d sit there with the
gear for hours. I think that helped me become a mixer, and to be able to come
up with things that were creative and new.”2
For some final words of encouragement, let me leave you with Al Schmitt:
“Stick with what you’re doing, hang in there, and keep doing it. . . . I can’t tell
you how many times guys get turned down and rejected and battered about,
and then all of a sudden, wham!—they just pop through. I don’t know a bet-
ter way to enjoy your life than making a living doing something you really
love to do.”3