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Step 1 of 5 - Experience
20%
Your Name
First
Last
Your Email
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Rate your mixing skills from 1 to 10.
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Select
1 - EW! Help!
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 - YASSS. I am AWESOME.
How many songs have you mixed?
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Select
0
1-20
21-50
50+
How many of your mixes have been "released" online?
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Select
0
1-20
21-50
50+
What sort of mixer are you?
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Select
Beginner
Hobbyist
Semi-Pro
Pro
How often to you second guess yourself after "finishing" a mix?
Select
Bro. Always.
Most of the time.
Some of the time.
Never.
What scares you the most about mixing?
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Select
Showing my friends.
How it sounds in my car.
Releasing it online.
What people will think of me when they hear it.
How the vocals sound.
Meh, I'm not scared bro.
While mixing, how often do you take breaks to let your ears rest?
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Select
A few minutes every hour.
A few minutes every few hours.
15 minutes for every hour.
Never.
How many sets of speakers fo you check your mixes in?
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Select
1
2
3
4
5 or more
Do you check your mixes on headphones?
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Select
Always.
Sometimes.
Nope.
Do you check your mixes at both high and low volume?
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Select
Yep! Always.
Sometimes.
Nope.
How many plugins do you typically use on each individual track?
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Select
1 - 5
6 - 10
10 or more.
How often do you reference songs from other artists while mixing?
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Select
Always
Sometimes
Never
How often do you master your own mixes?
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Select
Always
Sometimes
Never
You rated your mixing skills a 10 out of 10.
That's pretty intense! This might be hard to hear- but that should be a red flag for you. Unless you've mixed some monster hits, your ego is probably actually hurting your mixes. You might think about spending more time checking your mixes against other hit songs that are in similar genres.
Your skills might be a 10 out of 10, but in my experience, 99% of people who rate their skills a 10/10 are um....not 10/10 mixers. π¬
The main culprit is likely that you're rating your mixing skills based on how good your mixes sound in your studio, not on how good you're mixes sound everywhere else on earth. Great mixes sound good everywhere. Bad mixes sound good in the studio they where mixed in.
You rated your mixing skills pretty low.
Believe it or not, that's AWESOME! Your in touch with your shortcomings, which means you're open to improving! If you had answered a 10/10, there'd be reason to be worried.
The big worry here is that you might be beating the crap out of yourself. If that's the case, you might spend more time confronting your fears. Often, the issue is actually that people who rates their skills so low is that they're not that bad, but their fear of man makes them make bad choices while mixing. Spend some time pondering that...
My advice would be to spend as much one-on-one time with people who are really good at mixing, and get their feedback on how you could improve. You could do that with a local audio engineer, at a "Sumer camp" type thing for mixing, or you could schedule a one-on-one video chat with a pro audio engineer and share you screen. One of my sites is
https://HomeStudioLessons.com
, and you can pick and choose audio engineers to schedule a remote lesson with on there. Might be worth checking out.
You rated your mixing skills in the 7-9 out of 10 range.
Believe it or not, that's perfect! You're in touch with your shortcomings, which means you're open to improving! If you had answered a 10/10, there'd be reason to be worried.
My advice would be to spend as much one-on-one time with people who are really good at mixing, and get their feedback on how you could improve. You could do that with a local audio engineer, at a "Sumer camp" type thing for mixing, or you could schedule a one-on-one video chat with a pro audio engineer and share you screen. One of my sites is https://HomeStudioLessons.com, and you can pick and choose audio engineers to schedule a remote lesson with on there. Might be worth checking out.
Looks like you haven't mixed that many songs.
My advice would be to practice as much as you can! If you're only mixing your own songs, you might try mixing other peoples songs. There are many places online that will give you free audio files from other artists for you to mix, and that might be a great place to start. Google "Free mix stems" or "free multitracks".
Looks like you have mixed lots of songs!
GREAT work! The biggest pit you can fall into when trying to hone your mixing skills is to just keep working on the same mix of the same song for months at a time. Sounds like you don't struggle with that (I hope). Keep practicing and mixing as much as you can!
Looks like you haven't released to many mixes to the public.
One of the hardest parts about mixing is getting over the crippling fear that people will hate your work. The only way to get over that is to release, and release often. Mix and release as many projects as you can, and be okay with the fact that they won't be perfect. The more you do it, the better you'll get.
More importantly, the more you release, the more you'll see that there really aren't trolls out there waiting to tell you how much you suck at mixing. Even if you do get some negative feedback, you can use that to improve!
More and faster feedback loops- that should be your goal!
Looks like you've been release lots of mixes to the public! GREAT WORK!
One of the hardest parts about mixing is getting over the crippling fear that people will hate your work. The only way to get over that is to release, and release often. Keep mixing and release as many projects as you can, and be okay with the fact that they won't be perfect. The more you do it, the better you'll get.
More importantly, the more you release, the more you'll see that there really aren't trolls out there waiting to tell you how much you suck at mixing. Even if you do get some negative feedback, you can use that to improve!
More and faster feedback loops- that should be your goal!
You're making money mixing!? That's fantastic!
There's a podcast you should check out called
"The Six Figure Home Studio Podcast"
. It's available on iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud, Youtube, etc.
As far as I know, it's the #1 resource for business owners in the recording industry, but I might be biased, because I co-host it! π€£Please check it out, and I promise you'll learn a thing or two on how to grow your business.
You're mixing/recording for fun. That's AWESOME!
What an amazing world we live in! You can record music by yourself and then release it to the world! I freakin love it. Take a moment to think about how lucky you are that you have a home studio! There where only a few home studios on earth up until a very short time ago!
Second Guessing Your Mixes
You second-guess your own mixes? Welcome to the club! The only thing less healthy than second guessing your mixes, is NEVER second guessing your mixes! You might try taking more breaks while mixing and avoiding marathon mixing sessions.
Second Guessing Your Mixes
You never second-guess your own mixes? You're either one of the best mix engineers in the world, or your doing it wrong. π
Embracing your own shortcomings is the root of growth, and growth is the root of greatness my friend. Be open to having mixes that aren't perfect after you finish. Check your mixes outside of your studio on lots of different sets of speakers. Remember- your goal is to make mixes that sound great EVERYWHERE, not just in your mixing studio.
Resting your ears while mixing.
If you're not taking breaks often while mixing, your ears will start to become "biased." We as humans, where hunter-gathers for a LONG time before recording, let along mixing was a thing. Our ears are conditioned to tune out sounds that we hear over and over again in order to help us be better hunters and to survive attacks from saber tooth tigers and stuff. π
Giving your ears a chance to rest every hour while mixing will make sure that you're focusing on getting people to like your mix the FIRST time they hear it, not the 100th.
A good target is to rest for 10 minutes for every hour your mix.
Resting your ears while mixing.
Your rest often while mixing- AWESOME! Way to go! Keep that up. One of the most common traits of mixers who make bad mixes is that they don't rest enough.
What Scares You The Most About Mixing...
This was a trick question....when I asked what scares you the most, there's really only one answer. What scares EVERYONE the most is the risk that other people will think you suck. When you're mixing out of fear- trying to anything you can do to avoid haters and trolls....when you're mixing out of fear like this, you CAN'T make great art.
The only way to make great art is to have 1 goal. That goal needs to be to make great art. Anything you do to dilute that goal- to have two goals, the goals, whatever. Your mixes WILL suffer in the long run if you're mixing for the wrong reasons.
If you're struggling with this, you're not alone! This might be the single most common thing that people in the music industry struggle with! Take some time to work on yourself and face your fears and you'll notice that you enjoy working on music much more, and that your recordings are getting better.
How many sets of speakers/headphones you check speakers in...
Oooo. Great tip for you here. Great mixes sound good everywhere.....bad mixes only sound good in the studio they where mixes in. Your goal when mixing should always be to make "portable" mixes that sound good everywhere.
The best way to do that? Check how your mixes sound outside of the studio constantly. There's nothing you can do to improve faster than this. Eventually, you'll notice that while you're mixing in your studio, that you can "hear" in your mind what your mix is going to sound like in your car, your home theater, your bluetooth speaker etc. When you can do this- your mixes will be awesome. I promise.
How many sets of speakers/headphones you check speakers in...
AH! Let's be friends! You're checking your mixes on lots of speakers, and that's awesome. The goal with mixing is to make mixes that sound great on more than one set of speakers....so it goes to reason, you're on the right track checking your mixes on more than one set of speakers.
Headphones
Checking your mixes in headphones is CRUCIAL these days. Never in history have more people spent more of their time listening on headphones than they do right now. You might call this "The Golden Age Of Headphones".
Back in the day- almost everyone almost only listened on speakers because headphones weren't as portable as they are now. As a result, it was really important to check your mixes on speakers. These days, the less people listen on speakers, the more important it's becoming to make sure your mixes are "headphone compatible."
Headphones
OH SNAP! You're fabulous! You're checking your mixes in headphones, and that's awesome. More people are listening on headphones than at any point in history- so we should always be checking mixes on headphones, right?! You rock. π§
Checking your mixes at low volume.
If you're mixing your own music- this is especially helpful. Mixes that sound great at low volume will usually sound great at high volume. Mixes that sound great at high volume don't always sound good at low volume.
Our ears hear differently- with a completely different "EQ curve" at high volume. To make great mixes, you'll want to make sure your mixes sound great no matter how loud or quite people are listening at. Most people listen on speakers at "conversational" levels in most genres, and they tend to listen much louder on headphones.
If you're mixing EDM, Hip Hop, or Heavy music, you might want to spend a little more time checking mixes at high volume though. It all depends on your genre. Your goal though- is to make mixes that sound great to your listeners in the way they'll be listening to them. Give that some thought!
Checking your mixes at low volume.
Oh snap! You're checking your mixes at both high and low volume. YOU'RE A TRUE WINNER. π Keep it up! Not many people know this simple mixing trick that is KEY to great mixes!
Using lots of plugins.
Looks like you use kind of a lot of plugins. That's not always a bad thing- but you might think about experimenting with less. Keep in mind- for decades great songs where made with WAY less individual effects than you have access to.
You might try doing a few mixes using only one "channel strip" plugin on each track. Sometimes minimalism can make mixing MUCH easier and can make it easier to not get distracted by plugins that just add a lot of smoke and mirrors to a mix.
Using lots of plugins.
Oh yeeeeeeah! You're a minimalist! LOVE IT! The less plugins a mixer uses- generally, the better the mixer in most genres of music. The worst mixes I've ever seen always have a HUGE number of plugins. The best mixes I've ever heard have always have a very small number of them.
Checking your mixes against other songs from other artists
When you're mixing, it's REALLY easy to lose perspective about what sounds good and what sounds bad. The BEST way I've found to combat this is to have a playlist of the top 10 songs that have effected your life the most....songs that have been the soundtrack to your life. Having this playlist on your phone and your computer makes it really easy to center yourself against mixes that your SURE you know sound good.
For me- this is one of the most important tools I have at my disposal as a mastering engineer. I promise that if you create this playlist and listen to it on every set of speakers and headphones you own again and again, that it will change your life as a mixer. You'll know EXACTLY how each of your speaker systems and headphones effects the mixes of each of these songs, and that's a priceless tool to have at your disposal.
Try it. Make a playlist of your favorite songs (10 or less), and then listen to it everywhere on everything. THEN go mix one of your songs.
Checking your mixes against other songs from other artists
Yo! This is great! You're checking your mix against your heroes. That takes guts! Keep it up!
Mastering Your Own Mixes
If you've been mastering your own mixes, you might think about having a "Mastering Contest" with one of your mixes.
Send one song to a few people to have them master a free sample of it. Compare the results, and you'll get a VERY good feel for how good your mastering is.
Many professional mastering engineers, including myself offer this service.
Upload one of your mixes here and I'll master a free sample for you!
Mastering
You might think about having a "Mastering Contest" with one of your mixes. Send one song to a few people to have them master a free sample of it. Compare the results, and you'll get a VERY good feel for how good your current mastering engineer is.
Many professional mastering engineers, including myself offer this service.
Upload one of your mixes here and I'll master a free sample for you and let you know if I hear anything in your mixes that I'd recommend adjusting.
Your feedback
You made it! Oh man That makes me so happy!
I'd LOVE your feedback on this quiz! What did you think? Anything that bugged you? Anything you really liked?
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