What's up kids? I'll be your Saturday blog host for this and every Saturday after for God knows how long. I know what you're all thinking, "a blog on Saturday?" I might as well be in the Fox Friday night T.V. lineup. But I digress...
Howdy! My name is Kyle Griffin. I'm the House Engineer here at ArtiSans Label Studios on Fender Avenue. What I bring to the table is my passion, professionalism, and killer set of ears that I have individually insured (just like America Ferrera’s teeth…those are some serious chompers). I'm absolutely in love with every aspect of music-making and get a high from being a part of every step. As far as the education goes, I have a B.A. in Recording Arts and am a Digidesign certified Pro Tools Operator.
Okay, so none of that matters. I know you're all here to read the random meanderings of my infinite wisdom...or at least the crap that I think I know :)
So today I'm going to go on a quick rant about having mixing patience. When it comes time to have your album mixed, I promise it will not save time, money or your sanity to be there during the initial mix process. What it comes down to, and what needs to be understood, is it's going to sound like crap before it's going to sound good...that's just the way it works. So when the singer is asking to have more reverb on his voice when the engineer is trying to balance the snare and kick drum, it's not helping the efficiency of the process. It is, however, costing you (the artist) more money. Every time the engineer has to stop and explain it to the singer, then the guitar player, then the keys player, et cetera, et cetera (the bass player’s opinion doesn’t matter…take that JC!), it’s going to cost you cash.
My suggestion: Don’t be there for the initial mixing. Some studios and/or mixing engineers already have this as a policy. Instead, let the mixing engineer do the initial mix then come in for a review session where you go over specific changes. What everyone needs to remember is that the initial, or "base mix", isn't the final product - there’s nothing you can do or say during the initial mixing that can’t wait for a review session (i.e. featuring certain guitar parts, tighten up the bass, or bring up the floor tom).
Also, have a “post-production” session with your mix engineer before he gets to work where you go over all the specific things you want done. Also in this session, you want to give the engineer a list of albums that you love the production on so they can use them as reference.
Now I know this is going to be a major problem for some of you, so here are my suggestions: Find a mixer that you believe in. If you know you like their final product, then believe in their process. Or, find a mixer that doesn’t mind you being there.
Until next time!
Kyle
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