Mixing
This blog continues a series of blogs on Mixing (Page 2014).
Developing a skillset by following a process
(MIDAS 2014)
I was presenting to a group of Bachelor of Audio Trimester 2 students, preparing for the mixing stage of their final creative productions. In reflection, I felt a similar sentiment as my blog last year, ”Effectively guiding creative artists through a task: process” [May 2014]. In summary, the key elements are:
Mixing is a process…..
1) Yes mixing is individual, but it is an individual process based on developed workflows accumulated over many hours of experience…
2) The ONLY thing that separates different mixing engineers is their perspective …. what they are aiming to achieve. What are you aiming to achieve in your mix? Can you articulate that aim clearly? Have you nominated a reference track as your guide through this process?
3) Genre dictates in large part what workflow you choose. The mix process (workflow) you choose should be congruent to the genre.
4) For every workflow choice, there is a positive and a downside to that process. What provides you the most benefit, with the least amount of negatives in your desired aim, for your desired outcome?
5) There are no rules, BUT like all things technical and creative, there are fundamentals that you need to develop – learn, and practice – BEFORE you commence to attempt to discard them. In the previous blog (Page 2014), I proposed Owsinski’s Mixing elements as a very worthy guide.
6) There are a diverse range of mixing approaches put in front of you, with diverse perspectives, views, and workflows. There is NO correct workflow. You are shown options, for you to decide for yourself what workflow will work for you. If in doubt though, through your lack of time to develop this skill thoroughly yet, then please consult Owsinski’s Mixing elements as a very worthy guide (see point 5)
It is intended for this blog to continue in a series of Mixing blogs here.
References
MIDAS 2014 console image courtesy of AE Project Studio. Accessed 29th June, 2014
Owsinski, B 2013 Modern Mixing Techniques, Cengage Learning, Inc USA
Page, David L. 2015. Post-Production Instrumental Editing + Processing Options Accessed 22nd January, 2015
Page, David L. 2014. Mixing part 6 – effectively guiding creative artists through a process Accessed 29th June, 2014
– ©David L Page 19/07/2014
– updated ©David L Page 22/01/2015
Copyright: No aspect of the content of this blog or blog site is to be reprinted or used within any practice without strict permission directly from David L Page.
