TOP 5 Things You Should Not Say to Your Mixing Engineer

Let's have a look at things to avoid or focus on when someone else mixes your music for you. Mixing and mastering is one of the jobs that are often done remotely and even if you choose to have your tracks mixed in the same studio you record in, the sound engineer will most likely not do all the work with you peeping over his shoulder. You can't be telling him what to do on the spot simply because you don't understand half of the stuff he's doing. Thus, at some point, you will be listening to the outcome of his work and you will both face a challenging task...

1. Dream the same dream

Recently, I listened to an interview with St. Vincent about her new album, which she self-produced for the first time. She explained what it's like to collaborate with someone else on a record and described it as follows: "...your goal is to dream the same dream together." I couldn't have said it better myself. It sounds like an inherently impossible thing to do. St. Vincent later added why she had decided to produce the record herself: "I can't ask someone to paint a picture by describing it to them. I just have to paint the picture, you know?"

But as most of us don't have the opportunity to spend weeks experimenting in the studio, we have no choice but to describe the images or sounds in our heads as best we can and try to convey our vision to someone who can make it come true. The most important thing is to communicate. The metaphor of the painter who has to paint a picture hidden in your head is spot on. The better and more accurately you describe your vision, the more likely you are to get the result you want. So when asked "What should it sound like?" definitely don't answer just: "Uh...it should sound good."

2. Add guitar, turn down the guitar...

When two people are trying to "dream the same dream", it might still work. But bands usually have more than one member, and when listening to the mixes of your songs, if not earlier, you might realise that even as a band you're a long way from "painting the same picture". Suddenly, it turns out that while the drummer has always imagined a hard, metal sound, the singer would rather go for an alternative feel and the keyboard player has a 90s vibe in mind. You'll argue until you're blue in the face about what the bass drum should sound like. And the only thing that saves you from a breakup is that the bass player comes in and you go rehearsing instead.

All of this needs to be experienced, discussed and clarified before you send any kind of message to your sound guy. Ideally, before they even start mixing. Because you can be sure that's the first thing any sound engineer will ask you. As a band, you should have a clear idea about the sound direction you want to take. If you can't even agree with each other, you can hardly expect someone else to meet your expectations.

The same goes for listening to the pre-mixes. A band is more than just the sum of its members, and a song is more than the sum of recordings of individual instruments and vocals. Naturally, each of us tends to listen to our own instrument first and foremost. We all want our solo, riff, break or vocal to sound great and, most importantly, be heard well. But when mixing, we need to see the recording as a whole and not drown in the details. In addition, mixing is often about finding a balance – and having someone else in control of your music, someone with an outside perspective is often beneficial. So don't sabotage their work with endless demands from individual band members regarding the sound of their instrument, and discuss first what is really important in terms of the overall sound of the recording.

3. It sounds weird

When you start getting into sound and music mixing, you'll find out that, like other fields, it has its own rather peculiar vocabulary. For example, how would you describe the bass sound so that the person sitting at the mixing desk understands what you'd like to adjust? First of all, don't be afraid to get creative! For a mixing engineer, there's nothing worse than to learn that the bass sounds weird, period.  Yes, something is wrong, but what? The sound guy isn't clairvoyant, and the only way you can convey your idea to them is to either find an audio sample of what you'd like (which is ideal, of course) or be a bit poetic.

The sound of the bass can be thin or fat, hairy, punchy, mellow, growly, thick or muddy. It can be lost in the mix or stick out, buzz, hum or be too much in the foreground or the background. It can clash with the guitar, blend in with the drums, support the vocals, add groove to the chorus or reduce the energy of the verse. The better you try to describe what you don't like or what you'd like, the better your mix engineer can perform.

Also, remember to give exact times if you want to adjust anything specific. Someone who doesn't know your music in detail may not always know exactly the meaning of "in the break after the second chorus, there are two beats of tom missing", but if you write "at 00:01:02 there is an annoying string overtone", it's perfectly clear.

4. Something's kind of buzzing in there

When listening to pre-mixes of your songs, choose a device you normally use to listen to music. You know what a good mix sounds like on your sound system. You have a subconscious sense of how loud the bass should be, what the vocals sound like, what other artists' music sounds like on your stereo, and what the bass-to-treble ratio is.

If you've only been consuming music through your earphones on your bus journey, it might be time to get some quality studio headphones or a home sound system or monitors. None of this has to be too expensive – it is more important that you know your particular monitors or headphones well and have used them as much as possible. Only then can you really recognise a good mix or parts of a mix and give meaningful feedback to your sound engineer.

It's easy to fall into the fairly widespread trap and listen to the mix on all devices available, thinking that it must sound great everywhere. Yes, a good mix "works" everywhere, i.e. you should always be able to hear the essentials of the song, but for example, when you play it on your phone, you'll probably have a hard time appreciating the sound of the bass. If you tell your mixing engineer that the guitarist's solo gets a weird buzz on his old tape recorder, you condemn them to a futile search for something they can't hear in their sound system, or you run the risk that they will tell you to go... somewhere very far away.

5. This was mixed by a total *****

Music is often about emotions and we put a lot of our energy, enthusiasm and passion into it. So it's not always easy to stay calm and friendly when discussing something as important as the sound of your recordings. Especially when the outcome is very different from what you had in mind, plus you have to pay a lot of money for the mixing and mastering or you are pressured by time and the scheduled release date. Then you can easily lose your temper and insult everyone involved.

Just like in other similar situations, it helps to take a step back and see things from the other person's point of view. There are plenty of things in sound mixing that are clear mistakes, but there are many more that result from conscious decisions. A mixing engineer makes a lot of those while mixing a recording. They may not have had enough information from you to make the choice that matches your vision. Before you start accusing your sound guy of incompetence, imagine yourself in front of a blank canvas, painting a picture that someone else holds in their head.

What is your experience with mixing recordings?  Let us know in the comments!