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While mixing may not be the most important part of the process, it is essential to creating a cohesive and complete song that has a life of it’s own. Sometimes mixing even gets overlooked or underestimated as a process, some assume it is simply a matter of getting the volume of each instrument right and can be done in minutes. Of course balancing levels is a big part of it but there is much more to it than that.  In some cases a ‘bad’ recording or mix might be appropriate for the song, some would argue that punk music should sound super raw and bad by some standards so maybe balancing levels is all the mixing it needs(if even that!). However, every song is different and most mixes often require different combinations of techniques such as EQ, compression, panning, automation, and time and spatial effects to create a 3D sonic space, separate instruments, emphasize key elements, and maintain emotional impact appropriately for the song while also considering varying playback situations.

It can take hours to shape a mix; it is an art form, like any other art. It is a lot like carving a sculpture. Early on, the mix takes form through large general changes,  just the way a sculptor carves a block of wood, first he takes off large chunks, but as the mix gets more focused, the changes get smaller until he’s just smoothing it with fine sandpaper. Perhaps our sculptor is carving a bear. He listened to the block of wood(raw tracks) a few times through and it sounded like a bear(his idea of the finished song). In a few minutes he can sketch a picture of a bear on his block of wood, but it would take a few hours before his block of wood was actually starting to become shaped like a bear. It would then be a few hours after that before it actually scares you because you think it’s a real bear. It takes time to refine a mix and the more time spent on it, the more it will actually sound like what it is supposed to be.

Also like the sculptor, any piece of wood can be made into a sculpture, but not every piece of wood can be made into a bear, some aren’t big enough, some have knots, some are shaped like something else. So before you can even begin to mix(or sculpt), you want to find the best piece of wood for creating that bear, or lion, or tiger, or whatever it is that you’re trying to make. That is, get as close as possible to a great sounding recording of an amazing performance of an outstanding song. These are really the most important factors in how good the final product will be and even the most skilled mix engineer cannot create magic if one of these aspects is no good. At a certain point, no amount of editing or mixing can fix some things. But even if some aspects of a song are less than amazing, that’s ok, certain imperfections can give a song it’s charm and a good mix can enhance what is there to get the most out of it.

Getting a good mix is always a good choice. Check out the mix example on the music page. It is two versions of a track by rapper Persona recently done here at Attic Boy. The unmixed version is the song shortly after recording, there was almost no mixing, only editing. It doesn’t sound terrible, but it certainly doesn’t sound like a finished song. The mixed version is a complete mix of the song after several hours of mixing. It’s still the same song, but it’s more even, it’s got more punch and depth, and the elements all gel together nicely; the mix really takes it to the next level and it sounds much more like a finished song now!