Rough Mixes

ATHM50xMG This is the fifth installment in guest blogger Ryan Hewitt’s series on recording. Today he discusses the importance of rough mixes. If you missed his last post on having a backup plan in the studio, you can read it here. People are making records faster and faster these days, and it seems like a lot of that time is spent "hunting and gathering." That is, recording loads and loads of material that may or may not be used in the final mix, postponing the decision until sometime down the road, possibly leaving it to another person to interpret at another place and time when mixing said tracks. [caption id="attachment_836" align="aligncenter" width="553"]ryan hewit Ryan Hewitt at home in the studio. (Photo: Victoria Perova)[/caption] Now this is not always a bad thing, but in my experience, I have found it best to make decisions like this at the time of recording. The song is fresh, inspiration is happening and perspective should be focused on what is needed at that point. Why drag loads of unnecessary baggage through the process of making a record? How can one know what is needed next if the track is jammed up with tons of overdubs? If these overdubs are clouding the original details of the song, one might think that the original tracks might need to be reinforced when, in fact, they really need to be uncovered! Periodic rough mixes can provide this perspective by forcing you to balance the tracks in front of you and make decisions as to what needs to go, what needs to stay and what needs to be done next. We have non-destructive recording devices in our hands, so even these decisions can be undone later if, say, we simply must have that tambourine back for the second chorus. Good arrangements make great songs and make huge sounding mixes easy. If there has been no time spent making rough mixes, how do you know what it's going to sound like? How is the mixer supposed to know what you were thinking when you recorded all these tracks? A small band is one thing, but a recording with drums, bass, ten guitars, seven keyboards, percussion, strings, horns and the kitchen sink can leave a mixer with a headache! I often take liberties and mute tracks to help clarify the mix. Sometimes the client doesn't even notice and sometimes they obsess about those things that I remove. In the first case, it's perfect, because nothing is missed. In the second case it's difficult, because sometimes the artist has an emotional attachment to a part that has nothing to do with the song, but rather the time spent inventing it, recording it, and perfecting it. It is the job of the producer, the engineer and the mixer to be objective and unemotional about this sort of thing and make the right decision for the song, not necessarily the feelings of the artist. The next step is to work with the artist on the how and why of this. I've been on both sides of the fence on this one; I've slashed a part that the guy loved and I've had what I thought was the coolest sound in the world thrown away. We move on from these moments and onto the next, hopefully making a rough mix along the way to gain some perspective. Always in record. RH   Ryan Hewitt on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ryanhewittinthestudio Studio Prodigy on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/studioprodigy