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[Michael Brauer]

So I was mixing a song today and I realized after finishing it that without my little voices telling me which ideas suck and which ideas are good, I'd be lost. How does that work for you? How much do you depend on those little voices.

michael

[Bubba--Kron]

"if you dont eat your meat, how can you have any pudding!?!?"

[bigbone]

I always listen to those little voices, i call them my ''instinct'', at the end, there always right.

[Michael Brauer]

I always listen to those little voices, i call them my ''instinct'', at the end, there always right.

but that comes with experience so what is going in the head of a novice?

[recall]

Initially when i started recording I thought everything was fantastic.  I think you have to have this period where enthusiasm morphs into confidence because it gets you into it and keeps you at it.

Eventually, the more involved I got the more i began questioning everything.  This is not a nice period as you are essentially developing your intuition and your confidence takes serious hits.

After a few years like that I have reached the stage now where my intuition has caught up with my technical skill (and vice versa) and I know pretty quickly what a song needs sonically, or even if I don't know what the song needs I can definitely tell what a song doesn't need.  Of course I frequently have dead ends where i can't work out how to get around certain problems, but I find the more I revert to the ideas I tried initially on a song the more successful the mix is.  The more I focus on the technical presentation of the song and trying to iron out problems the less compelling the mix is eventually.  I take this to mean that I should trust my instinct (or voices) a hell of a lot more

I reckon once you have reached the level of MHB or Ross or many of you other posters, the technique is so second nature that it becomes ALL intuition backed up by experience.  Which is I guess what makes you successful.   

Thanks,

Iwan

[bigbone]

but that comes with experience so what is going in the head of a novice?

No really a ''novice ''. I play drums for the last 20 years, i may ask some
''novice '' question about plugins, but for the rest i can manage myself.....

P.S. i will post for the last time in here, i don't need that kind of condescendence behavior, no matter  how many Grammy someone can win.............

[organica_]

i listen to the voices in my heart more and more. it's helping quite a bit!

[Bubba--Kron]

Hey man, I think you entirely mis-read what Mr. Brauer was saying and over-reacted.  He was not calling you a novice, he was only asking what experienced people thought what was going through the average Novice's head.    No worries!!

Cheers, Bryan

No really a ''novice ''. I play drums for the last 20 years, i may ask some
''novice '' question about plugins, but for the rest i can manage myself.....

P.S. i will post for the last time in here, i don't need that kind of condescendence behavior, no matter  how many Grammy someone can win.............

[Bubba--Kron]

I hear the music and/or what I think the music should sound like in my head and then have to make it happen in real life.  Its really frustrating and I find myself having to hum alomng with every note on the guitar neck just to teach my brain whats really what, it actually helps a lot.    I want to perfect my skills and get to the level you guys are refereing to where desires become directly connected with intelligent decisions becoming instincts. 
When are they gonna invent that thing where music comes directly from your brain's thoughts???

Great thread, cool posts also!!!

Cheers

[Dale A.]

a novice does not have little voices always, some are anything but little

[zakco]

Interesting thought...

I was thinking about this basic idea recently while listening to some very early work of mine, which was basically my own songwriter demos and general guitar wankery. The thing that struck me initially was the huge disparity between the guitar sounds and everything else. The only thing I was sure of at that point was the tone in my head. I knew no rules but I had an sm57 and a pair of ears. The sounds were surprisingly good considering the lack of a proper acoustic environment and decent recording medium. The only explanation I can come up with was the fact that because I had no experience or theory to guide me I listened. I mean REALLY listened. I'd spend hours changing amps, pedals mic position until it sounded exactly like I wanted. By contrast, the drums, bass, vocals etc all sounded abysmal. I assume this was because I simply didn't have the sonic image in my head yet for those instruments. ie: no voices in my head.

I realize that this topic is about more than just sounds, but I thought I'd share that anyways...

Z

[Bruce Tunkel]

I would consider myself a novice mixer compared with most readers here. I am very unsure if what I am doing is "good" or not and so I go through a lot of trial and error and comparing with other mixes that I like. Ultimately, I think I get pretty decent results, but would certainly like to get to a level where I can just feel when things are right, the way I can when playing music.

[bigbone]

Hey man, I think you entirely mis-read what Mr. Brauer was saying and over-reacted.  He was not calling you a novice, he was only asking what experienced people thought what was going through the average Novice's head.    No worries!!

Cheers, Bryan

Oupsssss  you might be right, i should had listen to my little voices....
Sorry, sorry sorry.

JN

[rosshogarth]

I was mixing a couple of days ago and slaving away having no fun and hating on my gig
and  one big voice was saying
this mix sucks, you are never going to make it sound like music
get away from it .. go !!
go .. go ... go ... and grab the skateboard and take your son to the skatepark
I jumped out of my seat
grabbed Brady
grabbed our boards
and bailed
came back a few hours later
and
that voice said
check it out, it might not be as bad as you think
and
I sat down and made a record ...
sometimes the white flag in the corner wins and sometime we have to be smarter than our own persistence to persist
because
anything you resist
will persist

[J.J. Blair]

I listen to the voices, and then I drive around and listen to my car speakers.