It’s important to begin with the end in mind when mixing. Without a definite destination we are prone to wander aimlessly.
The purpose of a definite and clear goal is NOT ALWAYS to achieve it 100% exactly as you’ve set it. The point of a definite goal is that it gives you access to a powerful layer of subconscious resources and decision making which most of the time you’re not aware of consciously.
It’s like when you’re at the cupboard and something begins to tip and fall over and your hand with the surprising reflexes of a ninja automatically reaches out and catches it.
We know that we wanted to save ourselves the mess; the effort of cleaning it all up.
So when we know what we want clearly enough, then reaching our goals becomes more of a reflex. It becomes a reflex because that’s our unconscious taking control and making us do the things that would make it happen anyway.
So now that you’re beginning to understand a little more about the benefit of clearer goals, let’s talk about why you’re reading this book.
The fact that you’re reading this means you probably want a well-defined mix or at the very least want to improve your mixing.
In order to achieve this, we need to know what a well-defined mix means to us.
The first thing to realize is great mixes are subjective. This means that to find a great mix, all we have to do is go find a few of our favorite songs. Then decide which of those songs you enjoy the ‘Sound’ of the most.
Whichever song you like the sound of most will become your Reference Track. This reference track will be your definite goal for a well-defined mix.
Your definite goal will be to match or exceed the sound quality of your reference track as much as you feel capable. If it seems you can’t match or exceed the quality of your chosen reference track, that’s ok because mixing is a gradual process of improvement.
All the most successful producers and mix engineers improved by referencing their favorite songs and paying close attention so they could eventually replicate that sound in their own music.
Most producers do this by keeping a copy of their reference track in their DAW session and listening back and forth between their track and the one they’re matching.