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Author Topic: Mixing / Sculpturing  (Read 1387 times)

saxroots

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Mixing / Sculpturing
« on: March 26, 2005, 12:07:34 PM »

I've been mixing my own album on and off for months now and I've come to the conclusion that it's like sculpting or carving a fine instrument. You start off rough and gradually the smoothness becomes finer and finer until you can see (hear) even the smallest blemish. It seems everytime I fix (adjust) one thing - some other error becomes apparent - so one is constantly smoothing out the rough spots until finally, there are none left... everything is perfect... sonically. It's interesting but tiring too. I'm always 99.9% finished Surprised)


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bobkatz

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Re: Mixing / Sculpturing
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2005, 12:55:23 PM »

saxroots wrote on Sat, 26 March 2005 12:07

I've been mixing my own album on and off for months now and I've come to the conclusion that it's like sculpting or carving a fine instrument. You start off rough and gradually the smoothness becomes finer and finer until you can see (hear) even the smallest blemish. It seems everytime I fix (adjust) one thing - some other error becomes apparent - so one is constantly smoothing out the rough spots until finally, there are none left... everything is perfect... sonically. It's interesting but tiring too. I'm always 99.9% finished Surprised)





Be careful not to cut off too many rough spots, it could end up sound pretty boring! One way to keep your perspective is to listen to the raw monitor mix from before you started processing, sometimes it's very enlightening to know that instead of adding, you've been taking away from the excitement.
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Jonathan Heimberg

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Re: Mixing / Sculpturing
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2005, 06:31:00 PM »

Whenever I feel I'm almost done, I save a copy of my session, and turn off all my eq's, comps etc. It's a real eye opener, and my last project, it was a real "wow!!" experience! It was a jazz drummer and the unprocessed sound was just phenomenal. The drummer (and he's a pro!) looked at me and said, "Is that me??"

Sometimes getting rid of all your 'fixes' lets you know how much you haven't been 'fixing'.
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Bob Olhsson

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Re: Mixing / Sculpturing
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2005, 09:25:34 PM »

The rule I follow is to ONLY fix a few wrong things that most distract the listener from what's right. When you fix everything to the point that nothing's wrong, it usually sounds like a bunch of skilled musicians who are bored to death a.k.a. elevator music.

Jonathan Heimberg

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Re: Mixing / Sculpturing
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2005, 10:04:15 PM »

lol! well said
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maxim

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Re: Mixing / Sculpturing
« Reply #5 on: March 27, 2005, 07:37:43 PM »

i think it was rodin that said, when they asked how he makes his sculptures:

(in french accent)
"i take a block of marble and get rid of everything that's not necessary"
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Curve Dominant

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Re: Mixing / Sculpturing
« Reply #6 on: March 28, 2005, 12:03:21 AM »

"I saw the angel in the marble,
and carved until I set him free."

-Michelangelo

dave-G

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Re: Mixing / Sculpturing
« Reply #7 on: March 28, 2005, 06:30:21 AM »

Just to add another metaphor from another art form, one of my best buds was an apprentice of cinematographer Allen Daviau..  Daviau apparently maintained a philosophy of "light it until it's perfect, then turn off one light".

-dave
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