How do I Prepare myself for Mixing?

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Mixing tips for beginners or a refresher for experienced engineers.

The first thing to do to prepare yourself to mix is to figure out when you are most focused for mixing. Some of us are early risers who mix best in the morning, others midday after a long run, or night owls who are for some reason- ready to mix at 2am. Figure out which category you fall into. Should I mix at night? Should I mix in the morning? Should I master at night?

Mixing Studio

Next thing to keep in mind is that distractions are your worst enemy. If you like to smoke or drink, or forget to eat most days- make sure you set a reminder before you start mixing to do these things. The less you leave your seat, the better.

Make your environment a place you like to mix. We have observed super clean mixing desks and others with notes everywhere. Some are decorated with photos and others with stickers. Make sure you like your space so that you want to spend time there. Something we do while mixing is to keep the lights low to subconsciously force our ears to be more alert to sound;because of our natural fight or fight response when one sense is dulled (sight), we tend to be compensate with other senses. This is how they make you jump during a scary movie. The theaters are extra dark, the films are color corrected to show darker shades, and the sound creates the ambience that makes you uneasy. It is the sounds of the film that put you on edge because they show dark and low light scenes that force you to listen to every drop, wind gust etc. as your sight is dulled.

Clear your mind. This can be done with yoga, a run, a jog etc. Just make sure that whatever is going on in your life is put on the back burner doing mixing. You are supposed to immerse yourself into the mix. You should feel the emotion, and be aware of the ebb and flow. Thinking about what's for lunch makes you want to rush the mix, and get to lunch. The goal is to get in flow. Be one with the mix.

Take quick breaks. We like to take breaks every 45 minutes to an hour. The breaks range from ten to 15 minutes. During this time we try to avoid listening to music. We make it a goal to listen to natural ambience to refresh our ears, and avoid media similar to what we are mixing. This is done to avoid coloring our mix to the media we are listening to. This is not to say to avoid material for referencing mixes- this is focused on giving your ears a break from analyzing sound. During breaks you need to 100% relieve yourself from audio related thinking or analyzing. I usually do this by watching comedy. I get a good laugh that puts me in a good mood and I go into mixing refreshed.

Have a goal in mind. Have a goal in mind. HAVE A GOAL IN MIND. Make sure you have an end result in mind before you even start mixing. This helps you stay on track , and have a goal to aim toward. For example: John is mixing a rock band today. John's goal is to mix the vocals like they did in the 90's, guitars wide like modern rock, drums punchy like indie rock bands with saturation etc. After these goals are accomplished, John now knows he has met his goals. He will also feel accomplished. Vague goals do not help you finish a mix.