I recently had a conversation on twitter talking about an interaction I had with a young producer who was getting frustrated with his mixes. I told him that he would either have to
A.) Find and hire an engineer and then have to train him/her to mix the way he would want. (Time + Money + Feedback = Results)
Or
B.) Watch YouTube tutorials and learn how to mix the way that he want through trial and error. (Time + Learning + Effort = Results)
The most important thing to remember out of these two options is that both require TIme. I get wanting to get where you want to go faster but the only way to do that is to put in the work. Take trying to get the perfect 808. That would require:
- Finding the right VST/Sample
- EQing that 808 with your kick (or low end in general)
- Possibly having to side chain it (depending on if that’s how you want to mix it)
- Finally, making sure that its not clashing with any other instruments
All this requires time and that’s just for the 808. Now image learning how to mix every intrument and vocal in your track; time. I get that the standard now is that if you can’t make a track in 15 minutes then its not “good” but we shouldn’t forget the end goal here is to make something special. You can make any style or genre of music you want in 15 minutes, but in order to do that you have to get good. And to get good means you have to put in the time to get good enough.
