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[MUSIC]
We're setting up these kind of final goals right now and
we're about to go into the final mix stage.
And though we hate the term fix it in the mix,
there's a lot that can be fixed here right?
I mean if we're honest, there's a lot that can, we don't want to rely on it and
we can do a lot here.
We can really play with the emotion.
We've been talking about emotion this whole time.
You know, we're doing emotional communication here and
we've been talking about it and this is our last moment to really make it happen.
And so I thought we could kind of talk about really just the philosophy of
mixing.
You know, like what it is.
I'll start off with kind of the way I approach it, you know I
really feel like we've created this complex thing for the audience, right?
We have all these tracks, and we understand it really well.
We've been listening to it now for four weeks.
And we're deep into this thing, but it's almost like a video game for
an audience member because there's all this stuff, it's this world of sound, and
we have to give them that first path.
That's how I think about it.
I think about okay, I'm going to guide my audience, at least that first time.
They can discover all the little details later.
But I want to give him that first path kind of through the mess.
And Christie, how do you think of it?
What's your kind of way of kind of conceiving of what a mix is?
>> I 100% agree with you.
And I think it's really important as a producer,
especially when you've added all of these elements.
You did it with purpose initially and it's so important to make sure that your mix
reflects that purpose that you initially had when you created the song, so
making sure that every instrument is heard in your mix.
Making that balance happen, making sure that you're spreading out left to
right and you're using all of stereo that you can.
And I think it's really important just to make sure that, again,
your dynamic variation is a reflection of what the audience is looking for and
what the emotional timeline is for this particular song.
>> The way not to do a mix is when I have clients come in and
they have all their little pet parts.
They have a list of, I love this little guitar lick here.
I love this little thing.
I want to make sure this is right.
I want to make sure that.
You can do a mix that will do all those things, but almost always it falls flat
because it doesn't do what the big picture is, which is to keep that emotion.
So I've, you know this is the place where if you have the budget you hire
Bob Clearmountain.
You know [LAUGH] you hire somebody to mix it because you are so close to it.
And the most important valuable piece of gear you have,
the most important plug in you have is the mute button.
And you are choosing winners and losers here, and not everybody can win.
And I think it's super important like you said to guide the listener through,
what do you want them to be listening for?
And if it's a vocal tune, almost always it's the vocal.
The number one problem with almost all mixes by
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novice mixers is that the vocal is really not being heard.
You can't hear the lyric, you know, so getting that into a place
where you know you can really hear it, I advocate starting with a vocal.
And you know Bob Clearmountain does this as well as well as a lot of other people.
Make the vocal sound like a record by itself and
then start filling in everything else.
Or the lead instrument, if it's a lead instrument.
And obviously if it's an EDM thing,
if it's a dance thing, that's a different thing.
You maybe start with the beat, because that's the most important thing.
>> And that brings up the best point, maybe the most important one.
This is all context, right?
And you know, we could talk to 30 other producers and
get all these other different opinions on how to approach it, but
no matter who it is, it's gotta work for the song itself, right?
We have to bring it all back to there and back to that emotion of the song, and
that story itself.
Kind of revisiting that story, kind of getting it clear in your head and
looking at it for a while I think is kind of a good step.
And I think in the next video we can talk about process.
And so I think you started us off beautifully with pull up the vocal first.
I may have a little different approach and
I think it's going to be fun to kind of compare those in this next video.
We'll get into the nitty gritty a little bit.
>> Great, yeah.
Stephen WebberDirector of Music Production, Technology and Innovation
Chrissy Tignor-FisherAssistant Professor
Loudon StearnsAssistant Professor
