The "Mixing" Scam

This is a subject I've been wanting to get off my chest for like, 10 years, but now there is a video that I think vindicates me.

I just have to vent about it

My thesis?

The business of mixing, in the context of recorded music, is largely a scam and involves considerable amount of placebo effect and preying upon arrangement n00bz. They also draw people in with expensive equipment and fancy rooms.

I first came to this realization when I was going to school for digital audio, and the subject of mastering came up. What I repeatedly heard from teachers was "the mix should be so good that the mastering engineer shouldn't really have to do anything to it." So I started to question: "What the hell is the point of the mastering engineer, then?" Which naturally lead to logical follow up: Why should I hire a mix engineer? Beethoven didn't. Live orchestras without PAs don't. The 3-piece folk group doesn't. Yet the "mix" sounds stellar to me even though there isn't a guy flicking faders and compressors around. So there has to be something else to this.

Prior to this, I was sold on the idea that my tracks didn't sound the way I wanted because I wasn't good at "mixing" rather than just facing the reality that my horn samples sucked, my voicings and arrangement sucked, and there was very little any audio engineer could do to fix these things after the fact.

I remember one of the dumbest things I'd ever seen, was a video around 2015 or so of SeamlessR on YouTube explaining how to get "clarity" in a mix, and was this complicated "notch from one; boost from the other" thing that you were supposed to do across the mix....yeah, or you could just make sure these timbres are voiced so that they aren't overlapping. You have tons of instruments playing different parts, dancing around the same notes, and think the reason its hard to make heads or tails of it has to do with EQ?! What? How did people get clarity before Equalizers, then?

Then of course, he placebos himself into thinking it's actually clearer now that it sounds a bit different. This guy who made this video, you can see him doing the same to himself in real time. Most of these mixes, minus the obvious things like that one who substantially cut the bass for some reason, do not sound "shockingly" different.

Mix 2, deemed among the best-sounding of the bunch, was done by a guy on fiver

The takeaway here, IMO, should be there is nothing these guys charging between 5 - 1000 bucks are doing that you cannot do yourself. 

I often get compliments on the "mix" on my pieces these days, and honest to God: Aside from lowering some sharp resonances in certain instruments with an EQ notch and adjusting reverb to taste, you are basically hearing all the virtual instruments "out of the box". On the live sax performances I got done, which sounded stellar, the only thing I did was send it into the reverb. The player made sure to try and play with proper dynamics for the piece in his recording. I also have cheap M-Audio monitors and earbuds and no treated room. If my clarinet is too loud, it will be obvious whether it's listening on my phone, with my earphones, in the car, or at Abbey Road. Snare need more of that elusive "punch"? Just get a better snare.

In short: If the mix of your music and general production values disappoint you, spending money on someone who claims they can give you what you want simply via their studio, "expertise" and Waves plugins are probably just trying to separate you from your money and gaslight you.

Won't help that I can only add to the rant. I'm no expert so I can't pretend to compete with tradespeople who spend their days in front of this equipment. Not yet but I'm getting there.

But I think the marketing of this digital music gear is laden with the stuff that comes out of the north end of a southbound bull. I read the bleats of these sample houses. Buy our product and you'll be the greatest composer since forever. The naive and gullible fall for the patter. Firms turn it into a Lego kit: instant orchestration...join a few bits together, press the button and hey presto! You have a masterpiece. They've turned an art into a nursery school plaything.

I've heard about these mastering/mixing outfits...but I ask at the outset: how can these commercial geniuses (genii?) know what the composer is trying to achieve without him/her sitting there beside them; and, is it even necessary? Sure, it's a learning curve but if someone's going to dabble with digital music, they've got to learn. It takes time and experience. And intense self-criticism, doesn't matter what genre one's working in. By falling for dependence on these commercial crutches they learn nothing.

But I have a jaundiced view of musical education generally aside from technical/digital. (As a hobbyist I work at the electronics end of it.) Degrees in composition are a self-perpetuating cash cow. They can't teach creativity. About 1‰ becomes composers; a few, teachers and the rest get into a different trade/profession. They've turned "theory" into a technical quagmire that doesn't prompt creativity. Analysis is only useful to find out how something is done. I suppose they can promote the musical 'hack' by making people compose to order. As Elfman says, these days film music is corporatised...copy and paste hacks to me. 

So be it.

I find it funny how this video weaseled it's way into my youtube feed the day I see this post. 

I agree with the above opinions. When dealing with people in the music "biz", I've noticed that there are a lot of talentless people praying off of talented ones. It seems as though these same people try and mix as well. 

I think the most helpful thing I could offer is to get to know as many people as you can who work with music. You'll eventually be able to separate the ones who live for music and the ones that leech from it. Once you find the ones worth working with, things tend to be happier all around. I guess that's all obvious 😄

Also, a technical quagmire is my favorite description I've seen in a while. 

On 12/6/2023 at 7:39 AM, Quinn said:

Won't help that I can only add to the rant. I'm no expert so I can't pretend to compete with tradespeople who spend their days in front of this equipment. Not yet but I'm getting there.

But I think the marketing of this digital music gear is laden with the stuff that comes out of the north end of a southbound bull. I read the bleats of these sample houses. Buy our product and you'll be the greatest composer since forever. The naive and gullible fall for the patter. Firms turn it into a Lego kit: instant orchestration...join a few bits together, press the button and hey presto! You have a masterpiece. They've turned an art into a nursery school plaything.

I've heard about these mastering/mixing outfits...but I ask at the outset: how can these commercial geniuses (genii?) know what the composer is trying to achieve without him/her sitting there beside them; and, is it even necessary? Sure, it's a learning curve but if someone's going to dabble with digital music, they've got to learn. It takes time and experience. And intense self-criticism, doesn't matter what genre one's working in. By falling for dependence on these commercial crutches they learn nothing.

But I have a jaundiced view of musical education generally aside from technical/digital. (As a hobbyist I work at the electronics end of it.) Degrees in composition are a self-perpetuating cash cow. They can't teach creativity. About 1‰ becomes composers; a few, teachers and the rest get into a different trade/profession. They've turned "theory" into a technical quagmire that doesn't prompt creativity. Analysis is only useful to find out how something is done. I suppose they can promote the musical 'hack' by making people compose to order. As Elfman says, these days film music is corporatised...copy and paste hacks to me. 

So be it.

 

Alas. Must we all face the reaper of doom and realize we will never be the next John Williams...or die trying. LoL

On 12/7/2023 at 2:53 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

You'll eventually be able to separate the ones who live for music and the ones that leech from it.

You can count critics among the very worst. Most of them musical failures so they like to prey on those who actually do the work. It's a very disgruntled person who becomes a critic. Vampires. Cultural eunuchs, the lot of them.

22 minutes ago, Quinn said:

You can count critics among the very worst. Most of them musical failures so they like to prey on those who actually do the work. It's a very disgruntled person who becomes a critic. Vampires. Cultural eunuchs, the lot of them.

If they have talent they will already become artists themselves, instead of pointing their fingers to others and hope it will enhance their sense of well-being. Unless you have composing exerience yourself and create great works yourself like Schumann or Berlioz or in flim Godard or Truffaut, otherwise shut your mouth if you just wanna criticize without constructive feedback. 

On 12/7/2023 at 10:53 AM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

You'll eventually be able to separate the ones who live for music and the ones that leech from it.

On 12/6/2023 at 8:39 PM, Quinn said:

They've turned "theory" into a technical quagmire that doesn't prompt creativity.

I have learnt great English lessons here!!

Henry

On 12/6/2023 at 7:53 PM, Thatguy v2.0 said:

I find it funny how this video weaseled it's way into my youtube feed the day I see this post. 

I agree with the above opinions. When dealing with people in the music "biz", I've noticed that there are a lot of talentless people praying off of talented ones. It seems as though these same people try and mix as well. 

I think the most helpful thing I could offer is to get to know as many people as you can who work with music. You'll eventually be able to separate the ones who live for music and the ones that leech from it. Once you find the ones worth working with, things tend to be happier all around. I guess that's all obvious 😄

Also, a technical quagmire is my favorite description I've seen in a while. 

 

Definitely

On 12/11/2023 at 2:06 AM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

If they have talent they will already become artists themselves, instead of pointing their fingers to others and hope it will enhance their sense of well-being. Unless you have composing exerience yourself and create great works yourself like Schumann or Berlioz or in flim Godard or Truffaut, otherwise shut your mouth if you just wanna criticize without constructive feedback.

Henry goes beast mode!

3 minutes ago, AngelCityOutlaw said:

Henry goes beast mode!

I am always a beast since I am a Leo 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁