How Long Do You Spend Mixing Tracks You’ve Never Heard Before?

ProSoundWeb

Reply by rankus
Actually I find it easier and faster to mix tracks others have recorded.

Reply by jetbase
trock wrote: I was wondering how much harder it is for any of you if you didn’t record the songs and were coming into the mix cold, having never heard the songs? Wouldn’t the mix be much easier if you had done all the recording also and knew the songs well and knew the artist also?

It depends on how well it is arranged, performed abd recorded (of course), but I wouldn’t say it is any harder, just that it may take longer. You have to get to know the song during the mix process rather than the recording process or before. Sometimes I like mixing a song with no preconceptions and letting the song tell me how it should be mixed.

Reply by CW Humphrey
My time commitment is going to depend on a number of things:

What condition are the tracks in?
Am I going to have to do a ton of tuning and editing (drums, punches)?
Do the instruments sound any good raw?
What condition is the arrangement in?
Is the production overly dense in spots or throughout?
Is the production too light in spots or throughout?

Reply by littlehat
I find that I spend around 6 hours a song on average — the average being between 4 to 5 hours on something tracked well (vast majority), up to 48 for a profound act of damage control for a client who can pay for the work (much more rarely).

Reply by Bill Mueller
Not one moment longer than necessary. Welcome to Whatever Works.

Reply by adoucette
In my opinion, and I’m sure many others, as long as it takes to make it sound great. This is especially true of those starting into the business. Of course, mixing can be budget dependent, but if you work in your own home studio and aren’t paying for studio time, there should be nothing stopping you from working as many hours as it takes to get the sounds you want.

In the end, maybe you spent much more time than you were paid for, but the results will show. That extra effort will increase your value as a mixer in the eyes of the musicians, and in turn, more than likely generate you much more work. If you have crappy mixes because you’re compromising quality due to “not getting paid enough,” then you’ll never move forward in your career, because you’re letting the quality of work be determined by the client’s lack of funds.

It’s all about under-promising and over-delivering. If you think you can do a great job mixing their project, find out what they are willing to offer, and if it’s to your liking, then do the job! Hell, we all know we would all do this job for free if we were millionaires anyway (at least I would).