Anybody here ever tried mixing on Artist Series Units like they were analog?

[KeyplayerG]

Anybody here ever tried mixing on Artist Series Units like they were an analog console? By that I mean, NO Display Monitor of any kind. You've got a MC and 1 - 3 Mix units and your reference monitors (just like an analog console & tape machine or HDRs).

Could you do it? Have you done it? How was the workflow?

[albee1952]

While it technical lt will work that way, it kind of defeats the purpose of running a DAW I'm an old analog console lover as much as anyone, but I'm not giving up the digital goodness. As an experiment, its easy to try. Route everything to a stereo bus feeding a stereo audio "mix" track. Turn automation off for all tracks(or some). Put the mix track into record ready, cover your screen(s) and hit the spacebar. That mix will be all you

[hotanjaliupadhyay]

Thanks for sharing this wonderful content. Its very useful to us. I appreciate your efforts!

[Will Russell]

I teach an advanced audio production course at Ithaca College and when we are in person I have a full class devoted to mixing only with an Artist mix. I have them set up markers so they can navigate and then they blank the monitors and mix the song using only the artist mix. It changes the way they do audio forever because it removes the eye candy and they listen with 100% of their brain for the first time.

I have a D-Command at my studio with only 1 20" monitor and I have set up a "hot corner" so that when I drag to the bottom corner of the screen the screen goes black. Then I mix with my ears the same way I did when I had a console and tape machine.

[EddieJones]

Originally Posted by Will Russell

I teach an advanced audio production course at Ithaca College and when we are in person I have a full class devoted to mixing only with an Artist mix. I have them set up markers so they can navigate and then they blank the monitors and mix the song using only the artist mix. It changes the way they do audio forever because it removes the eye candy and they listen with 100% of their brain for the first time.

I have a D-Command at my studio with only 1 20" monitor and I have set up a "hot corner" so that when I drag to the bottom corner of the screen the screen goes black. Then I mix with my ears the same way I did when I had a console and tape machine.

What Will says! So many people don't mix with their ears. They look at the Fader db level, waveform or whatever else and this all distracts from actually mixing the audio.

[reichman]

Turn the waveforms all the way up, then shrink the track size down to the smallest size. Makes the screen nearly unusable. Heaven.

Running plug-ins on knobs is especially useful because those knobs turn forever. Instead of making pretty pictures with your mouse you just twist until it sounds right.

[its2loud]

I once had an assistant walk into my mix room and he asked me how I mix with all my fingers on faders and not touching the mouse or looking at volume lanes in PT..... I told him I use my ears. 🙄

[Bifop]

It's funny that you mention that keyplayer. I recently got a connected power switch :
https://www.ikea.com/fr/fr/p/tradfri...ande-80364794/
My three monitors are powered through it.
I printed with a Dymo, a "Mix with ears" and a "Mix with eyes" label that I sticked to the off and on positions on the switch.
I added a couple of TcElectronic plugins with faceplates (TC icon series) on the desk above the 2X Artist Mix and Artist control + Transport to get "hands on control" on a few template plugins.

I switch off the screens when mixing and try to switch them back as less as possible (for routing multiple tracks to a bus or sidechaining etc).
I sometimes launch plugins directly from the artists, but I'm still faster doing it with the mouse. And then edit with knobs.

A lot can be done without screens even when playing and composing. Using Spectrasonic's Omnisphere headless thanks to their (not so) recently added "Hardware mode" is a wonderful musical experience ! You get into the music not into the eye candy, ball spinning around a circle type of distracting visual Omnisphere offers.

Overall, the experience (and the added hassle) of mixing without screens hugely worth it I reckon.

[Suad Cokljat]

Originally Posted by KeyplayerG

Could you do it? Have you done it? How was the workflow?

Hi. No problem with that here. But what really spoils the party are cheap rubber buttons and no so feel good and unprecise faders. My opinion - Artist series look much better on demonstration videos than in real use.

Regards,

S

[philgrab]

I've done it a few times just for kicks. It's helpful to stretch the ears occasionally but currently using an Artist Mix and Artist Control just for automation and summing into a mixer. I need the mouse as backup for just moving quickly around the session which I could learn to do with the Control but just not ready to adapt yet. I don't use many plugins so navigation is the only mouse duty.

I have 12 summing channels out of PT (Lynx N 16) going to an external mixer plus some sweeting devices coming out of the mixer back to the session. I use the Artist boxes just near the end of a mix.