I like to dabble in woodworking from time-to-time. I’ve built and modified my recording studio numerous times as well as building some studio furniture more recently. One of the tricky things, especially working with basic tools, is getting joints to marry up neatly.
I endeavour to be as accurate as possible with the measuring and the cutting but sometimes those joints are a little skewy. At that point, you need to do a little bit of trimming and sanding to get those joints to sit nicely.
As I find myself torn between finishing up the job, getting it painted and getting it to work in the studio I know that I need to fine tune those joints before I dab the end of the brush in some paint.
Fix The Joints (Parts) Before Painting (Mixing)
Hopefully you can see where I’m going with this little metaphor.
Sometimes, when producing music, getting the parts recorded is 60% of the process. Getting a great mix is 20% and mastering is the final 10%. If you’re doing the maths we’re still short of 100%.
Getting the arrangement, the way the parts fit together, literally the “joints” in your song, aligned properly is that other 10% (maybe more).
Better Parts = Better Mixes
I mix a lot of music from artists who have a wide variety of skill levels when it comes to production. It’s just the nature of the democratisation of music through affordable recording equipment. The songs are well written and parts are well recorded but often it’s that attention to detail around the “joints” that can let a good song down.
Either there are too many extras muddying up the arrangement or the part needed to be refined a little more to gel better with the parts around it. With the client’s permission, I will sometimes make some production decisions to remove or edit a part to help make their mixes that much better.
Better Parts = Great Arrangements = Amazing Mixes
As I’ve talked about before, great arrangements make for a great mix. If you’re comfortable with your songwriting and recording, start to zero in the parts you’re recording and adding to your songs. Do they add to the “je ne sais quoi” of the song or are they fluff? Maybe that extra part you’ve recorded is to cover up something that isn’t working in the song.
I am certainly guilty of the last arrangement transgression. If something isn’t working it’s better to spend the time fixing it or finding a better fit.
The Takeaway: Try listening to your rough mix and muting the part. What is missing? Maybe you don’t need the whole of a phrase, maybe you only need the last half. Maybe you need to simplify it. And maybe it shouldn’t be there at all.
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