How to KNOW When a Mix is DONE!

Whoever said "Art is never finished, it is merely abandoned" was full of crap. You can finish a mix AND feel totally good about it, but only if you have a clearly defined goal and a process for getting there. Gregory Scott, plugin and hardware designer at Kush Audio, shares a simple philosophical approach you can use to know whether your mix is done, or if there's still more tweaking to do.

[FashionJohnson]

finally someone who can teach engineering in a way stoners can understand.

[Jasonlimitless]

When mixing your own music, you know a mix is done when you've spent so much time on it that you hate the song, yourself, all your equipment, everyone else for mixing better than you, life in general, and you can't stand to mix it for another second and just have to accept it the way it is. Then the mix is juuuust right ☝️ 🤣

[natebrown]

Clicked faster than a rookie destroying his vocal eq

[TheNexusComplex]

A few things must happen for me:
1. I can't notice any technical anomolies
2. The mix invokes emotions in me
3. The mix sounds like a "record"
4. After a day or two break for fresh ears...1-3 are still present on a re-listen.
5. Done.

[electricbuffalo]

You’re like the Mr Rogers of mixing. Always wearing the same clothes, always mellow af, and always a fountain of wisdom

[Nikos_Mavridis]

A moment of silence please, for another lesson in music and life.

[BS-temn]

I check to see if my mix is done by poking it in the middle with a toothpick, if the toothpick comes out clean then it’s done.

[tayzonday]

When the Star Wars force ghosts need a ghost, House of Kush appears.

[mrnelsonius]

I interpreted that video as just “listen to the song like your average listener does”. Meaning, you aren’t scanning the song at all. You’re experiencing it. Normal people don’t hear a tune on the radio and start focusing on tonal balance, drum sounds etc. They’re singing along to the words in their head at best. This is a hard thing for trained musicians to do! I recently bounced a track where so many things about it technically bothered me. It was more compressed and limited than I’d normally do, it’s pumping a little bit, the top end was more aggressive than I typically like... but it just “felt” right. I had two mixes, the “everything is in its right place” mix and the “I don’t know why this mix feels better one”. The artist greatly preferred the less polished one, so my instinct was right even though my head said otherwise 🤷‍♂️

[derekrushe]

You should be recording your voice for people with insomnia, not because it's boring and puts people to sleep, but because it's so bloody soothing. 'Fall asleep Derek', 'Okay'.

[AnimusInvidious]

Brilliant analogy to the movement sensitivity of peripheral vision.

[louiswright]

He is the single best mixing teacher I've ever had, everything makes total sense

[scottc]

Thanks Greg....you are the zen master when it comes to practical tips that go beyond the purely technical

[Tim_Worldly]

That’s basically what I do..
I work on it for awhile, put it down, come back later or the next day and listen.
Often times, I’ll hear things that need adjusting so I’ll tweak them, come back and repeat the process.
Eventually I listen and I’m pleasantly surprised to see that nothing feels off.
If I can listen all the way through and I get that excitement because it feels yummy, then I know it’s good to go.
Great video and great advice.

[prestonkinsey]

Being a self-taught engineer/producer myself (and still learning I might add), I’ve heard explanations and tips from a decent range of pro engineers—but none have been as eye opening, sensible, and articulate as Mr. Scott. Great advice and great video, as always!

Side note:
I saw at least a 50-60% increase in my mixing/producing ability once I grew my hair out to near-shoulder length. A coincidence? Have you seen Mr. Scott’s luscious locks? I think I may be on to something here...

[Bthelick]

The mix is done when you hit the deadline! just make the deadline 1 week and ship it! trust me you'll get used to it, its not your wedding after all!
But to lend my technique to your point; I like to go make a brew and listen from the other room with the door open. Also know your ears settle into a 'sonic profile' every 20 mins. so go listen to something else (like a kettle boiling, or nature) for about 20mins to reset them.

[TheTenderking]

First time I stumbled on your videos, I skipped and coz why bother listening to someone who doesn't show any techniques. But after watching a bunch of your videos, I'm so glad i came back. You are a jedi master!

[aarongrubbs]

Greg Scott a.k.a The Gandalf of Sound. Thanks for all you do, sir.

[tssitcom]

Greg, this is what I call distancing myself from the mix and I've only been doing it for a couple of years now. After I do all the nit picky stuff, I then turn on the song from the beginning and just listen to it as if I was a regular person. I wouldn't try to focus on any one thing but if something's not right, it will stick out like a sore thumb.

I just finished a 60s bubble gum track and as you know, that stuff could get pretty dense with all the backing vocals, orchestration and, especially the stuff the Wrecking Crew played on, all the little odds and ends you'd find. Those were some amazing arrangements. This track, on the fade out chorus, had 2 sets of backing vocals, a doubled lead vocal, string pad underneath, double tracked electric guitars, organ, lead violins line and lead French horns line as well as drums and bass. It's your typical 60s wall of sound.

When I finished nit picking (and there was a lot to nit pick) I played the track but couldn't really hear the violins and horns however I could feel them. To confirm, I muted those two tracks while the song was playing and I could just feel something was missing. That's how I knew the track was done. Nothing stuck out but everything added to the overall sound.

Ironically, I thought this was going to be an easy project because, well, you know, 60s bubble gum? Don't kid yourself. That stuff is hard as hell to get to sound right if you're looking for authenticity.

Anyway, great video as always. You teach more without playing a note of music than all the hours of noise out there combined.

Thanks.

[marting]

Fantastic use of analogy to help understand concept of 'widening focus' in an audio mixing context - thank you