Mixing Time

[Haniel Trisna]

Hi y'all,

Just curious to see what everyone here thinks about this: How long does it take you guys to mix a great song ? (approximately, or average time) The reason I'm wondering is that lately, I've been spending 8 - 10 hours (after trackings are done)to work with groove, level adjustments, EQ, compression, reverb, and mixing. Is that normal, too slow, or are there anyone who usually spends more time than that.

I'm a little uneasy in quoting to a client 8 - 10 hours for mixing, but to me, for it to sound slamming, it takes that long.

Maybe its level of experience too, I'm not sure. I've been doing this for 6 years, and it seems that my mixing time and quality increases each year [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

That's as honest as I get in a long time ...

Thanks y'all

[tom_mac]

sometimes i spend more than that ....

sometimes i don't .


BTW.....nice website

[Fidelis]

For me it's like 4 to 10 hours, depends...

But remember, you never finish a mix... you just give up...
Fidelis

[plenky]

anywhere from 20 min to a day.

if it takes longer than that, something STINKS! song, artist, arrangement or recording.........

still it is a good idea to give it time and listen back next day, or at least after a good break......

[Felix]

if it's at all posible, maybe do several hours one day, and check back in another few days or more to finish it. i realize this may be just a dream for many situations. but if not, going back after a few days is QUITE helpful.

[img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[Dan Clark]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:<HR> <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>But remember, you never finish a mix... you just give up...

I'm LOL! So many times this has happened!

[Mackenzie]

When I book studio time for mixdowns of 4 minute (avg) rock/pop songs of slightly-above-average complexity, and with a proficient engineer in his own studio, I generally hope for 2 songs / day with an extra slop day or so at the end. (Plus I allow an extra two days for third party mastering for a twelve song album...)

Scott

[Jules]

Day and a half per song, thats an old analog "ideal" of mine too..

Mix prep however, vocal tuneing drum edits (early on in a production) heap time on a project...

I charge per song so it's all on my nickle..

Sigh...

[tomcat]

as was said about "giving up", in film, we say a movie is never finished, it is simply abandoned at some point.

[Shawn B]

10 hours seems a little much. If the tracks are all from the same session I may spend 10 hours on the first mix. But then the settings usually are pretty close for the rest of the session. So maybe 3-4 hours per tune after that. If the tracks are from different sessions or have really different instrumentation, then ten hours may be reasonable.
I personally like to set up a few mixes in a day ( maybe 4 hours each), burn a rough and listen at night on a few different systems, and then go back and really polish it up the next day (another 2+ hours per tune). It fights off ear fatigue and gives you a little distance from the mixes.