Lowfreq
Well-known member
Well this is a first for me....... A band I tracked and mixed, got some airplay on our music channel here in NZ, and I got to see it this evening. The band let me know it'd be on tonight.
And it didn't suck ;D........................... In fact, I was pleasantly suprised
I teach guitar to earn a buck or two, and I'm not a pro engineer at all, so it's quite daunting knowing something you mixed is gonna be alongside all the big budget stuff. I've always just done demos.
I've been through the home studio thing so many times, when you think your mix sounds great until you compare it to something done by the big boys, leaving you to hang your head in shame :'( ..... too many times I tell you, too many.....I should really upgrade from my Alesis monitors sometime..............sometimes it hard to tell your head from your arse with these
I was getting quite nervous just watching........ getting more nervous as each video played............
"Is my mix gonna sound like poo?"....... "Will it have that small closed up sound, compared to everything else?"....
One more big rock production came on before my mix. Same style, same kind of band.......... "Oh crap, this sounds really good.....why couldn't they have something far removed, like something acoustic indie or something".........
it's like that feeling you get when you have to sing next, and the person before you has just torn it up with an amazing voice and performance............... I aways prefer it when whoever sings first is.......well.........um........ 'below average' :
Then came my mix.................. and blow me down if it didn't sound as big and juicy as what I'd just heard already!!
No 'little' sound....... no 'home studio' sound.............I was stunned.............
I guess all those DIY toys that I've added over time, have really made a difference......a BIG difference.
I'm sure my mixing skills have improved a little bit too, but nowhere near as much as my gear collection. I'm not practicing the craft of mixing enough to say it's because I'm the bomb digity. I may have just fluked this mix :-\
Actually, whoever did the mastering should take some credit..........It's the first project I've had done by a proper Mastering studio.
I had to talk the band into sending it off to be done properly, as the singer was dead keen on doing it himself with T-Racks or something, listening through his home stereo...... Oh man, that was a lot of talking & energy spent on convincing them........I shoulda charged extra just for that.. ha ha
Anyway, after working on a difficult mix this afternoon, and feeling like tearing my hair out, this was just what I needed to make me not want to give up..........
In fact, I wanna build some more toys now............Things can only start to sound better......right?
"Honey, can I play with the credit card now? please.........."
And it didn't suck ;D........................... In fact, I was pleasantly suprised
I teach guitar to earn a buck or two, and I'm not a pro engineer at all, so it's quite daunting knowing something you mixed is gonna be alongside all the big budget stuff. I've always just done demos.
I've been through the home studio thing so many times, when you think your mix sounds great until you compare it to something done by the big boys, leaving you to hang your head in shame :'( ..... too many times I tell you, too many.....I should really upgrade from my Alesis monitors sometime..............sometimes it hard to tell your head from your arse with these
I was getting quite nervous just watching........ getting more nervous as each video played............
"Is my mix gonna sound like poo?"....... "Will it have that small closed up sound, compared to everything else?"....
One more big rock production came on before my mix. Same style, same kind of band.......... "Oh crap, this sounds really good.....why couldn't they have something far removed, like something acoustic indie or something".........
it's like that feeling you get when you have to sing next, and the person before you has just torn it up with an amazing voice and performance............... I aways prefer it when whoever sings first is.......well.........um........ 'below average' :
Then came my mix.................. and blow me down if it didn't sound as big and juicy as what I'd just heard already!!
No 'little' sound....... no 'home studio' sound.............I was stunned.............
I guess all those DIY toys that I've added over time, have really made a difference......a BIG difference.
I'm sure my mixing skills have improved a little bit too, but nowhere near as much as my gear collection. I'm not practicing the craft of mixing enough to say it's because I'm the bomb digity. I may have just fluked this mix :-\
Actually, whoever did the mastering should take some credit..........It's the first project I've had done by a proper Mastering studio.
I had to talk the band into sending it off to be done properly, as the singer was dead keen on doing it himself with T-Racks or something, listening through his home stereo...... Oh man, that was a lot of talking & energy spent on convincing them........I shoulda charged extra just for that.. ha ha
Anyway, after working on a difficult mix this afternoon, and feeling like tearing my hair out, this was just what I needed to make me not want to give up..........
In fact, I wanna build some more toys now............Things can only start to sound better......right?
"Honey, can I play with the credit card now? please.........."
