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Post by Johnkenn on Jun 28, 2017 11:22:19 GMT -6
than listening to something I tracked and mixed 5 years ago and realizing it sounds better than most of what I've done in the last two years. I think I need to simplify shit.
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Post by ragan on Jun 28, 2017 11:41:41 GMT -6
Weird. I just had almost exactly that same experience.
Ears and brains are pretty fickle mistresses.
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Post by winetree on Jun 28, 2017 11:52:54 GMT -6
I just went though that with a friend. He wasn't happy with the way things were sounding.
We looked at a song and each track had 3 to 5 plugins and plugins on the master buss.
I told him to take everything off and listen to the basic tracks.
With a few tweeks he was amazed that the song sounded a 100% better.
Too much shit.
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Post by notneeson on Jun 28, 2017 11:53:25 GMT -6
The fact that you're dissatisfied with your more recent work is actually a good thing. That' your drive to do better and better talking. Still stings, don't it?
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Post by svart on Jun 28, 2017 12:02:32 GMT -6
You'll go through these periods. It's just gonna happen so the best is to learn from it. At least you recognize it, which is more than most people can say.
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Post by swurveman on Jun 28, 2017 12:38:11 GMT -6
I think the sheer number of options - in a job that requires really knowing your tools well- and the temptation to always be exploring different options is the problem. For example, instead of having one fixed frequency EQ and one parametric, we try out 15. Instead of having one converter for everything, we have converters for tracking, mixing and monitoring. It goes on and on.....
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 28, 2017 14:29:48 GMT -6
On a positive note, maybe its just our ears are five years worse ?  Seriously as per above, I find, typically, less is more. |
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Post by rowmat on Jun 28, 2017 14:51:00 GMT -6
Oliver asks for more plugins...
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Post by rowmat on Jun 28, 2017 14:56:50 GMT -6
Would you run a single track though 4, 6 or even 8 pieces of outboard gear even if you had it?
Most would did think that was approaching insanity.
Yet it seems in the plugin world it has become acceptable practice.
Just because you can...
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Post by Johnkenn on Jun 28, 2017 15:19:28 GMT -6
I've been chasing some mythical 2 bus magic...and I'm to the point where I think I stopped listening like I should. If it sounds good, why screw with it?
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Post by Johnkenn on Jun 28, 2017 15:19:58 GMT -6
And all the hype about color and grit...blah blah. I'm going back to basics.
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Post by kcatthedog on Jun 28, 2017 15:35:07 GMT -6
If you have chance to try a softube console 1 you might like it.
I am tracking with my OB pre and comps, then using softube console 1 for mixing adn stock logic verb, I eq and stam sssl 4k comp on master bus.
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Post by bradd on Jun 28, 2017 16:16:22 GMT -6
I've had this experience before too. I think, though, it may be a bit psychological. You are listening to the old stuff with fresh ears. The stuff you've mixed recently you've listen to until you're sick of it and you hear every wart. If you went back and listened to both projects a year from now, I'll bet you'd find that you had improved over time.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 15,023 
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Post by ericn on Jun 28, 2017 17:24:57 GMT -6
And all the hype about color and grit...blah blah. I'm going back to basics. Yeah time can be very kind or a total bitch! Simpler is always better and we have this weird way of chasing a sound that's in our brain, but we don't realize the total reality of those choices. |
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Post by wiz on Jun 28, 2017 18:03:36 GMT -6
This past time of our is a harsh mistress....
cheers
Wiz
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Post by stratboy on Jun 28, 2017 18:24:32 GMT -6
And all the hype about color and grit...blah blah. I'm going back to basics. Color and grit are words writers use to describe the indescribable. Sounds are our currency, so the less said, the better! Like you, I've pursued "magic in a box." I think you have to have fundamentally good gear, but beyond that requirement, it's so much more about the room, performance, arrangement and capture. The best stuff kinda mixes itself, as it were. No words involved. The color and grit come from the sound, not the boxes and not the gear reviews (assuming, again, that the gear is good enough to at least stay out of the way!). |
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Post by rowmat on Jun 28, 2017 18:28:16 GMT -6
And all the hype about color and grit...blah blah. I'm going back to basics. Color and grit are words writers use to describe the indescribable. Sounds are our currency, so the less said, the better! Like you, I've pursued "magic in a box." I think you have to have fundamentally good gear, but beyond that requirement, it's so much more about the room, performance, arrangement and capture. The best stuff kinda mixes itself, as it were. No words involved. The color and grit come from the sound, not the boxes and not the gear reviews (assuming, again, that the gear is good enough to at least stay out of the way!). I think that nails it! |
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Post by Vincent R. on Jun 28, 2017 19:25:05 GMT -6
It happens. I often have to go back and start removing compressors and saturation stuff off of my tracks. I can over do it sometimes. Just cause you know techniques X, Y, & Z doesn't mean you need to use them on every song, let alone every track.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 15,023
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Post by ericn on Jun 28, 2017 20:42:16 GMT -6
It happens. I often have to go back and start removing compressors and saturation stuff off of my tracks. I can over do it sometimes. Just cause you know techniques X, Y, & Z doesn't mean you need to use them on every song, let alone every track. A pro knows all the tricks and how to use them A great engineer knows when not use them! |
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Post by c0rtland on Jun 28, 2017 21:36:54 GMT -6
^^^^^^
That fletcher quote has stuck with me since the first time I read it.
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Post by ragan on Jun 28, 2017 22:24:04 GMT -6
I've had this experience before too. I think, though, it may be a bit psychological. You are listening to the old stuff with fresh ears. The stuff you've mixed recently you've listen to until you're sick of it and you hear every wart. If you went back and listened to both projects a year from now, I'll bet you'd find that you had improved over time. And all the hype about color and grit...blah blah. I'm going back to basics. Yeah time can be very kind or a total bitch! Simpler is always better and we have this weird way of chasing a sound that's in our brain, but we don't realize the total reality of those choices. Also, when you go back to your old stuff, you kind of, without realizing it, expect it to suck. Then when it doesn't, you can temporarily overdo it re: how good it is. |
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Post by hadaja on Jun 28, 2017 23:57:01 GMT -6
I think you should right a Song about it.
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Post by Ward on Jun 29, 2017 4:26:03 GMT -6
Could it be we all peak at some point and then it's downhill after that? (asking for a friend)
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Post by reddirt on Jun 30, 2017 7:08:50 GMT -6
Second guessing can cripple my state of mind e.g. I think the mix I did 3 weeks ago sounds better than after i made all these "essential" changes.......... or does it?
Take heart though; Bruce Swedien reckoned mix 4 (or thereabouts) was the one for Billie Jean but Quincy urged him on to get more out of it. After they had 90 something mixes in boxes of 456 stacked on top of one another in the control room, they went back to Bruce's preferred #4
Cheers, Ross
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Post by noah shain on Jun 30, 2017 8:08:16 GMT -6
I'm mixing a record I produced and I am having a hard time beating my board roughs that I made at the end of tracking.
I'm putting all my years of experience and all my gear and all my tricks in to the mixes and the board roughs just have something better about them.
It took me about 4 days to get the first mix.
Ugh
Sometimes I listen to older records I did and I can't even remember being the guy that mixed them. I couldn't beat those mixes if I tried.
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