Stop me before I mix again!!!

[wedge]

I'm mixing my band's CD, so I don't have a pre-determined deadline. Problem #1, and really #2, 3, 4 & 5, because since I can, I keep going back and going back and tweaking shit until I've listened to the song 80 times and printed 15 different mixes to ruminate over. Each successive one is better, but I keep hearing things to change. How can I make myself stop, already?!? It's gotten to the point on one particular tune where I'm bouncing back and forth between thinking it's great -- for what it is -- or that it's total shit, period. I'm literally driving myself nuts, and the crap-part is, I still have another 18 or 19 songs to mix! AAAUUGH! Any suggestions?!?

[Bear]

My general rule of thumb: I pay a lot of attention to the mix and get everything sounding as good as I can over the course of a few days (though, I usually mix the songs as I finish them, then do a final mix of the whole album after I've got everything in the ballpark of how I like it, instead of waiting until the album's done ... mixing a record from start to finish is much more daunting, and if I don't have to do it that way, I prefer not to). Then I don't listen to those mixes or touch the recordings for at least a week, preferrably two or three. Then when I sit down to listen again, I usually notice the problems right off, jot them all down, and promptly do another mix with those problems in mind. Then I leave it alone for a week. Usually by the second and third time of this, I've got things sounding how I want, and I don't end up hating all the songs in the process, which is nice.

[Everybody's X]

never mix your own band
I've been mixing the same 20 songs for 3 freakin years man
I'll never be happy with it

[Rigsby]

Yeah, Bear's right, having space between mixing will allow you to come back fresh. Part of the problem is that you get too close, too involved in the detail and quite often you'll be listening to the part you just worked on rather than the balance of the whole thing. Long mixing sessions really play with your perception of the sound IMO.

[Bear]

Yeah, Bear's right, having space between mixing will allow you to come back fresh. Part of the problem is that you get too close, too involved in the detail and quite often you'll be listening to the part you just worked on rather than the balance of the whole thing. Long mixing sessions really play with your perception of the sound IMO.

*high-five, plus some extra headbanging*

[Rigsby]

Yeah, Bear's right, having space between mixing will allow you to come back fresh. Part of the problem is that you get too close, too involved in the detail and quite often you'll be listening to the part you just worked on rather than the balance of the whole thing. Long mixing sessions really play with your perception of the sound IMO.

*high-five, plus some extra headbanging*

*Rigsby breaks off and starts to jive, Bear looks on appaulled and slightly frightened at this rapid boney figure, then starts humping the sofa*

[spankenstein]

never mix your own band
I've been mixing the same 20 songs for 3 freakin years man
I'll never be happy with it

I hear you on that. I do not want to record my own band again.

[awolski]

I'm doing the 3 to 4 year plan myself. Only 6 songs too. I do Bear's plan, but all those "weeks off" have been part of the reason why it has taken so long. But it really does help you not hate the songs.

Anyway, you could try giving the rough mixes to your bandmates. When they start complaining "That last mix was perfect. When are you going to finish this %$&)*% thing! Dont mix it again!" it might pressure you to finish things up. Or you could be like me, tell them "Yeah, you're right" but then go home and mix it 10 more times.

If it's a solo gig, no bandmates to pressure you...I have no idea. I'm in the same boat.

[Stephen B.]

I think you just have to let it go. There's a law of diminishing returns. No matter how much work you do on it, you're still going to go back a year from now and think of things you could do better. Then again I have a streak of laziness in me. Just my two-pence.

Stephen

[awolski]

Yeah, but what do you do when every time you listen to it you think "This sucks. I could never play this for somebody else without feeling embarassed".

But then again, I guess that's what you mean by letting go.

[trianglelines]

You have two luxuries, one of which you can not afford.

The affordable luxury- all the time in the world, and
The unaffordable luxury - all the time in the world.

Work with limitations. As an artist, the most important and artistic act is to COMMIT. Give yourself five*(see addendum at bottom) attempts to "get it right." As you have discovered: there are infinity + 1 combinations of a mix.

Delete previous "rejected" mixes. Do not linger on mixes you have decided are not as good as the last - Erase/Delete/Destroy them or the past will occupy your mental space.

Share the load. If everyone in the band but you can tell when a mix is done, rely on the them for closure.

The more options we have, the more difficult it is to make a choice. Limit your choices to a binary- mix A or mix B. If you choose mix B Destroy/Delete/Erase mix A (or hide it or something) and do not consider it again (think of visiting the eye doctor--).

Walk away, as Bear said. Or do something radical, like zero out the faders so you are forced to completely reconsider what you are doing. These are ENO-esque ways of backing yourself into a corner so that you have to do something new.

That said, do what you want/need to get the best result, but less is more.

-TimT

* Five is an arbitrary limit. You COULD do eight, but it would be better if it was three... anyway, there comes a point where it "rocks" just right, even if the acoustic guitar squeaks a little. Use your "layman's ears" and trust your gut.

[MichaelAlan]

I'm mixing my band's CD, so I don't have a pre-determined deadline. Problem #1, and really #2, 3, 4 & 5, because since I can, I keep going back and going back and tweaking shit until I've listened to the song 80 times and printed 15 different mixes to ruminate over. Each successive one is better, but I keep hearing things to change. How can I make myself stop, already?!? It's gotten to the point on one particular tune where I'm bouncing back and forth between thinking it's great -- for what it is -- or that it's total shit, period. I'm literally driving myself nuts, and the crap-part is, I still have another 18 or 19 songs to mix! AAAUUGH! Any suggestions?!?

I did the sam exact thing for our last record. I think I seriously went through a full new stack of CDR's. It just never would sound the same in my truck. After a while I just got so pissed I zero'ed everything, killed all effects, then mixed in all (12 songs) in about an hour and that's what we pressed. Examples are here: www.myspace.com/istra I like how it turned out when I wasn't stressing my ears over it.
I keep telling my band I shouldn't be recording us, but to them, all they see is FREE studio time. Duh.

Mike

[8th_note]

Maybe I'm lucky and I never realized it. I've got a built in time limiter for at least some of my projects. I'm just finishing up a hardcore/metal ep and my wife told me last night, "You need to finish this record. I can't take any more of this."

[I'm Painting Again]

I dont spend more than 10 minutes on a song..I'm usually going for natural..maybe a little comp on the bass snare or vocals..but thats it..It always sounds better that way..

of course this exculudes my own records come to think of it im not only a compulsive and obsessive mixer with my personal stuff but a wacky and sadistic retracker..

maybe i should use that same rule with my own..im sure i cant though..at least in 4 more years my record will be done

[logancircle]

Wedgerstein,
Give your current sessions to someone you trust to follow your aesthetic guidelines, tell them what you did and a few notes and let them take it from there. If this is something for YOU to listen to forever and not other people, then you'll never be satisfied so just forget that. If it's for others to enjoy, then let someone save you the painstaking shit and be done with it once and for all or for ten years or so.