The ability to recall has meant that mixing and mastering can be done remotely, easing the task of scheduling and taking advantage of a larger network of par- ticipants if you want to. It has become quite common for mixing and mastering engineers to work on their own, sending mixes or masters via email, ftp sites,
Quick Guide to Great Mixes and Masters
35
other Internet storage (cloud) sites, or on CD-Rs through the mail. Recipients review the work and provide feedback via email or telephone, and the engineer can create and send revisions for review. Working on mixes and masters with people with conflicting schedules and/or in different parts of the world has be- come routine as a result of these capabilities.
Sending audio as email attachments requires a fairly small file, generally an mp3 or other compressed format, but for critical functions such as mixing and mastering, this is generally not a good idea. I recently sent an artist mp3s (at his insistence) and he was very unhappy with the mixes. It turned out that he was listening to them on his built-in computer speaker! When he finally came over and actually heard what the mixes sounded like, he found that the work was pretty close to what he was hoping for. So, my advice is to never send audio via mp3 unless the only intended format for final production is mp3, or if it’s just to review ideas during the recording and editing process and is understood to be a rough mix.
Larger companies will often host ftp sites, and that’s a great way to post and retrieve files, but it isn’t practical for a small operator to go the ftp route (ftp, or file transfer protocol, uses it own Internet protocol for uploading and down- loading files. You need a dedicated application to use ftp—it won’t work with your browser—but there are free versions of applications that work well, such as Cyberduck for the Mac and FileZilla for the PC). There are an increasing number of free cloud services that give you Internet storage, but most of them are tied to your libraries and not really set up for large file transfers. There are options for larger amounts of Internet storage that may have free options with smaller capacity and tiered pay options, such as Hightail, Dropbox, and Gob- bler, that will give you as much storage as you need. Depending on the level of service you purchase, you can send complete multi-track files that might be many gigabytes to other users, though the upload and download times may run into hours (not bad if you do it overnight).
WHAT NOT TO DO
Don’t get caught in the endless mix or master cycle.
Students sometimes ask me “How do you know when a mix is done?” There is no simple answer to this question.
Mixers run the gamut; some accept a mix too easily before sufficient attention has been paid to each individual element and to each musical section. Others work on their mixes endlessly, sometimes losing sight of the original concepts and their creative instincts, generating a monster of a messy mix. The same thing can happen with mastering.
When working with outside clients, the limitations of budget and the demands of release schedules may help make the decision for you. For
36
those working in their own studio on their own or on other independent projects, the inability to complete a mix or master can be a significant obstacle to getting on to new music and new projects.
If you do not have the patience or stamina to stick with the project and give it the attention it needs, you are probably not well suited to the job at hand. For the more common affliction of over-attention to details and the inability to ever come to the conclusion that you’re done with your mix or master, here are a couple things to consider. When you find that you’re tweaking parameters by very small amounts (changing levels by a couple tenths of a dB, for example), and that’s all you’ve been doing for a while, you are probably done. When you listen to your mix or master with relatively fresh ears and you can’t decide whether it needs more work or not, you are probably done.
Also, be aware that what bothers you today will be different from what bothers you tomorrow. When I listen to mixes and masters some months after they’ve been done (such as when I finally get the actual CD from the artist), I almost always hear small elements of the mix or master that I would like to change, and they are almost always different from the small elements of the mix or master that I worried over in the final stages of the project. Make yourself happy with the way the music sounds—that is difficult enough—and don’t seek perfection (it’s not possible).
37
Chapter 3
Quick Guide to Great
Mixes and Masters
Four Common Mistakes
In this final chapter of the first part of the book I cover some of the most com- mon problems in creating great mixes and final masters. This is the conclusion of my “quick guide” to mixing and mastering. While some of the elements dis- cussed in this chapter will be covered more thoroughly in the chapters to follow, this information will begin to orient you to common challenges of mixing and mastering, both technical and creative.
Four Common Mistakes
1. Poor shaping and balancing of the low frequencies 2. Overly bright mixes and masters
3. Overly compressed mixes and masters 4. Being led astray by inadequate monitoring