Mixing Engineers

What makes a good mix engineer?

Having the skill to evaluate the quality of sounds and to be able to relatively identify frequencies is a must have as a mixing engineer. Critical listening skills are very important for the success of a mix. A few questions that should you should regularly ask yourself as you listen to a mix are: Are levels balanced between all instruments? How are things panned? What is the instrumentation? As we learn to mix, we find out that there really is no perfect way to mix a song. There are a set of basic guidelines, with a few tools and the use of technology that gets the job done. Mixing is an art form. Therefore, every song will have its own unique mix, just like every painting has its own unique set of styles and colors. Being able to set personal preference aside to mix a specific genre is also important. Music is full of emotion, and it is a mixer’s job to bring that emotion and the performance of the song to life, in a sonic, panoramic representation.
A great mixer has learned over time to have a mixing vision. They’ll know what tools they want to use and how to use them before they enter a mix. Novice engineers aren’t able to envision a mix because they haven’t spent enough time with the gear to learn what will efficiently resolve a good mix. Some ways to practice and educate yourself on mixing: You can read and educate yourself, you can watch someone mix - but will not truly understand where they are coming from and what their motives are for the mix, or you can listen to and study mixes. None of these is as good of a learning experience as just plain mixing songs. Critically listen to your mixes and compare them to other mixes you are trying emulate. Use reference tracks to A-B your mix for level comparison. Some aspects in a mixing depends on the genre. The beat and vocals are usually mixed up front in hip hop. In jazz the snare is more important that the kick, and should be mixed more in front.
Sequenced music is another mixing process that relies on the use of DAWs. You can mix while you create music. A conflict in using many of the preset pad and sounds in softsynths is that many of the sounds have effects added. If you are working with MIDI, you can change these parameters. If you are working with sound files that have already been converted to audio, there are less possibilities during the mix-down to add effects processing. Through the process of recorded music, we start with song writing and arrangement, recording/editing and mixing, and mastering. When there are many tracks that use the same range of frequencies, it is best to listen closely and attenuate the overlapping frequencies that generally cause masking. Recording live music requires good quality gear, from microphones and cables to pre amps, eq’s, compressors. It also requires a decent performance. No mixing engineer wants to sit in the studio and spend hours editing a part to make it sound good when the performance could have been much better. A good performance captures a sound quality that “digital surgery” cannot truly replicate. Aside from the quality of each take, the mix is still what is most important, and highly contributes to the success rate of artists and their musical creations. Something may not sound natural when EQing a soloed track, but in the context of the mix it may work. Things may start sounding funky altogether if you have been sitting at the console for too long. Aural fatigue is typical when our brains require so much focus and energy to listen critically. Taking breaks is a must while mixing for long periods at a time. You may find that what you mixed yesterday sounds completely different and may not work for the mix.