Why I QUIT Mixing Bedroom Musicians & Local Bands
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- Опубліковано 29 тра 2024
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After producing full-time for over a decade, this year I decided to COMPLETELY QUIT mixing local bands and bedroom musicians (that I did not produce myself) within my business.
But the question is...why?? Well, the reason is simple:
Most self-producing bedroom musicians gloss over crucial parts of the production process and these common mistakes make producing a pro mix nearly impossible.
If you're a self-producing musician looking to improve the quality of your mixes, you're not gonna wanna miss what I share in this video. It's what separates the amateurs from the pros.
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I had a group send me individual tracks recorded using their iPhone. It’s was NUTS! I refused the work and offered them to use my place. I even said I’ll set up my guest room for them and they proceeded to call me racist and say that I was prick and that not everyone has all the gear or golden opportunities like I have. Guys, aside from your meaningless personal attacks, I literally offered you a great opportunity at no extra cost. I don’t get people sometimes
WoW. That's crazy.
why they called you racist ? people are funny
@@fikardam I’m not gonna say what race or whatever they were, but I’m a very stereotypical looking Spanish speaking guy and I guess that was grounds enough for them to call me racist. Idk what they were on but it made no sense
@@JavierSanchez-el4pl that sucks, just forgive them and forget them, god bless you brother, be proud of what you are and where you from !!! and btw, spanish language are the best I've ever heard !!! my mom use to play and sing from trio los panchos !!! adios amigos !!! :D I'm from southeast asia !!!
@@fikardam ayyyyyy!!!!! Lol I love making people happy. As the oldest, everyone’s happiness is my happiness and if they wanna be salty, I still got more than enough sweetness to make me smile so I’m good lol thanks a lot homie
How I imagine some job requests sound: "Hey Bobby, I have a song I want you to mix. Everything was recorded live in a single take with lav mic. Some parts were played incorrectly but you can autotune those. Here's the compressed MP3. Also, this video I recorded of a plane flying overhead has a cool sound in it, try to fit that in there. Please, make it sound like the latest Nickelback album. Thanks!"
LMAO!! You're not too far off.
My favorite is the duplicate copy of a guitar DI in place of a double.
Yup, I know that one all too well 😂
A classic :)
Bobby’s on the money-the folks who are creating their own music are often times the least likely to actually take the time to edit and otherwise work on the music at a technical level.
If the song’s creator doesn’t have the time for it, then why would anyone else!
Honestly, I'm surprised it took this long for you to give it up. Mixing my own music gives me headaches and anxiety. No amount of money is worth mixing bad recordings with unedited and unorganized tracks. Thanx for everything you do for us.
I find that the less experienced a band is, the more vehemently demanding they are about what you as the engineer should be able to achieve with the total shit that that provide. They are also the most precious about their music, and will come in with practically no trust in you lest you ruin their "art", and they will ALWAYS try to get out of paying. Often because you didn't copy the exact production from their favourite album, but usually just because they are cheap and would rather spend the cash on beer for themselves.
Yup, this is exactly what I've experienced as well!
Lmfao "beer for themselves"
I think people don't understand what mixing and master actually is.
You're 100% spot on.
Hi Bobby had a band turn up this weekend 2 hours late forgot his drum stool and drum stand their mind were on a gig they just booked that eve. one guitar between them is all they had bass player didn't have his bass. had to leave for the gig early turned up 2 hours late again next day vocals all over the place mixed it and they complained everything sounded crap I'm Done!!!
I've had similar experiences. Don't let it discourage you, there are many many many great bands out there to work with.
I enjoy editing the tracks more than mixing them sometimes because it really tightens everything up so well.
Bobby, I appreciate this message, and I'm happy for you that you've reached that place where you can pick and choose your clients. I, on the other hand, live in the Greater Memphis area. This is NOT the Memphis of the Sam Philips - Sun Records days - not even the "almost" rock era of the 80s. If you're thinking about recording any Memphis talent in 2023, get used to recording freeway shootings, liquor store robberies, and carjackings. So - what am I to do? How do I find clients under these circumstances? Do I really need to pack up and move to where the talent is?
Tracked a local band that has been around for over 3 decades. It was the worst experience... they did not prepare according to my simple yet effective check list. When I wanted to do additional takes because the previous takes were rubish, they said there was nothing wrong. The drummer could not stay in time with a click, let alone by herself. It was a sh!t show from beginning to end with these so-called veterans. You would think they learned something about being in the studio over the last +30 years. I feel your pain.
Holy moly you’re talking about me. Ok, I’m going to do the work. Liking and subscribing.
I'm glad my band always has great clean dis we make sure our stems are good and our drummer can program drums some ppl are just lazyy
No one Edits their stuff. Very true. That's why I charge for editing.
Poor file management. - Send it back, make them do it again orrrrr....I charge more.
Too many layers. - Yeah, this one IS crazy, and like you, I used to do the same thing. hahaha. But again, I'll send it back and make them either pair it down, or label them in a way that makes sense. A part of me kind of likes this because it gives me some freedom to create my own mix for them. I do make sure they know that I'll pick what I like the most, and not care about their intentions if they sent me a bunch of stuff. Sometimes they like it, sometimes they don't.
On more than one occasion, I've had a band work with me where they literally sent me scratch tracks and just thought I'd personally perform their album. haha. That was the wildest thing to me. haha.
Poor file management makes me cry. How do you not know to label “01 drums kick in” “02 drums kick out”?
I get it. People would send me unedited unlabeled crap sometimes. Like I can somehow magically turn all that crap into a polished turd. It'll drive you nuts.
I had this same problem for a long time when I started out. If you can't export your files properly, you ain't worth my time.
You are sooooo right! :)
dude ive been recording/mixing/mastering/making records in general for all sorts of bands for money since 2004. i literally just started feeling that i really don't want to mix and master literally everything i do anymore. this video can't be be better timed for me hahah
Ah yes, I remember my friend's band asked me to mix their songs and then I find out half way through their songs, the guitars are just one single guitar, but duplicated twice so they can "double" it.
I mean it's gramatically correct? 😂
I personally double track all of my guitars. More than that just gets too tedious
I feel for you dude, been there many a time on all of those points!
"Tracking tracks with intent" - Best advice ever! 👍
Any way you can post that PDF?
Amen!!! It’s all about the song…
its tough man, mixing is an art form. better have it done by a pro like frightbox :). also, when he edited our live performance, that shit was fucking fire!!! and it was a live take!!
Amen to all of this! I'm in a similar boat! lol
I'm definitely not doing the editing right because I'm not sure what that is 😂
Continue keeping it real my guy. Takes balls to draw that line in the sand.
So when can I send you something to listen to? LOL. Great advice. Keep of the super fantastic content.
Newb question. What is editing in this context?
I'm doing all of my own stuff by myself. Writing, recording (I do all the instruments and vocals), producing, engineering, mixing, mastering, etc., and have learned how difficult it is to try to fix bad tracks. My first solo ep wasn't pretty, but a great learning experience. The next got a little better, the third is going pretty smooth, mainly because I've learned from my mistakes. Do the track right the first time.
If you're working with green people (as I still am one), you can only expect so much. Experience goes a long way.
All good points. But you really don't need the jump cuts with slight variations in zoom to make them.
Organization is so important. I learned from watching your videos! Also, the importance of songwriting, performance and editing Otherwise it’ll never sound good. Ever!!
I've created a document that specify that the editing (tuning and timing) had to be done before handing me the project or I can do it charging them my horuly rate. Also I clarify that files have to be labeled in certain structure, otherwise I'll also spend time prepping the session and that also will be charge by my horuly rate.
About the lot of layers i feel you, and you just end up not using those tracks haha
Thanks for this video, really useful!
Good
People are too impatient which results in small yet silly mistakes
That is a nice shirt.
This is exactly what Jordan Valeriote says. And I discovered this truth long time ago cause it's not the same mixing pro-recorded tracks than mixing some shitty tracks an amateur did.
Haha you basically rattled off a list of the stuff I do for fun in my basement. I can’t imagine handing it to you with a straight face and asking you to fix it 😂
Yup. I was at it heavy for years, and I’m so happy I stopped. I stopped recording local bands mostly too because to be truthful most are at best bland and uninspiring and they expect so much while trying to pay so little. At worst they’re horrible musicians with horrible songs that you’re expected to fix.
I feela ya dude. I think most musicians just aren't that smart to begin with. If they were, they would figure out that you need to strive for quality every step of the way. And that just isn't the case. Musicians just don't get it I'm sad to say.
I can say the same thing about amateur producers and mixing engineers. Sounds like you’re undermining.
@@mikebrusokasdrums this is true. There's no question about that. But still.
I'm gonna guess that they are sending multiple layers of vocals and solos cuz they expect you to find the best performance from each take instead of creating 1 take from the best takes BEFORE submitting the tracks to you.. I also want to blame that they may have watched metallica's some kind of monster too many times
Can’t say I blame you lol
Send them our way lol
You are not good buddy. Get over yourself ok. You are a joke
garbage in...garbage out :) :) :)
Agreed!
Cause there ain't no gas in it
are you the killer from Scream? lol
😂... yeah ... the thing I realized that got to me the most in this endeavor was realising these people are making hamburgers and everything else in society we use 😅
Sucks the community has to lose a resource because some can't follow simple instructions. Sure, I think you should say NO or give a warning to those not following the rules but I guess the level of tolerance is not the same across the board. Especially after so many years.
C'est la vie.
I'm not going anywhere. I'll always teach production, I'm just not mixing bedroom musicians in my production business anymore.
@@FrightboxRecording "I'm just not mixing bedroom musicians in my production business anymore."
This is what I was referring to.
But if your taking yourself off the market and you don't mind sharing, are there any other producers/mixers you would recommend for us bedroom musicians? That can read a PDF and follow instructions that is.
Thanks.
I’d like to add a couple more reasons that I use as reasons for not mixing (or even recording) local bands.
- Bands who can’t even tune their own instruments properly. I cannot tell you how many drummers I’ve met that don’t know how to tune their kit, bass players who refuse to buy new strings and guitar players who don’t get their instruments cleaned and serviced before recording, singers who show up without warming up their vocal chords and refuse to drink tea or water during takes, you name it. I’m not a practicing musician, yet I learned how to tune instruments based on working with amateurs who don’t know how to take care of their own instruments.
- Unprofessionalism and a complete lack of self awareness. I will happily record a band who has zero experience if they listen and take direction, but I’ve encountered too many wannabe Axl Rose’s to tolerate know-it-alls. If a band listens to my work and wants me to record them, trust that I know what I’m doing and let me do my job instead of bickering like a diva. Also, drop the attitude and show up on time.
- They’re too broke to afford anything. I charge a very reasonable/affordable flat rate of $25/H for tracking and I only start charging time when we start recording, which means the hour or so that I’m unwinding cables, tuning your drums and setting up the microphones is me doing that on my own time. Even still, bands have called me greedy and refused to work with me. I refuse to work with bands who refuse to honor my rates and pay me for my work.
- The quality of songs is terrible. Once in a while I encounter a band that has either real chops, has a good song idea or is a diamond in the rough that has their crap together, but those are few and far between. I wanna work with bands who actually put work into their songs and want to make them sound the best they can.
- I make more money doing other work. I am a photographer by day and I make more shooting 1 wedding than recording an entire EP over the course of 2-3 weeks. My time is worth x amount of dollars to me, and I’m willing to work longer for less if the band is worth it, but they usually aren’t.
I make most of my money in music being a FOH sound guy and mixing bands live performances whether they’re at Dingbatz where I work or I record their set elsewhere. I prefer live recordings anyway personally because that’s where the energy is and I can feel the energy in a live performance vs chasing perfection in the studio.
Good for you valuing your time and skills and not settling for mediocrity.
My entire channel is about my FOH job and audio work at Dingbatz and my home studio. Not sure when you played there last but I've been there for 3 years, so chances are I might have met ya!@@salvadordiazdelvallesantana
So if a local band followed your checklist and did everything they could correctly, you still wouldn't have anything to do with mixing their music? I have a feeling this approach is going to lead to somebody making an "AI mix engineer" bot that will do all the work, which ultimately becomes yet another nail in the coffin of independent human music.
I think the real reason is that it's so easy to make things sound good recording at home and when it gets sent to an engineer like this there's not more more he can do. There is a massive jump from this guys knowledge to a top tear studio engineer that we hear in the charts and he just can't make the songs better. I'm yet to find a mixing/mastering engineer worth any money for the he studio bands like me that actually know what they are doing. I've been to music collage, I've spent the last 20 years recording at he and reading doorstop books on compression etc and for the bands that care the experience we want isn't there.
I agree that these new tools and plugins we have today really help out bands to make a decent sounding tracks on their own... But personally I have a lot of experience with bands who had that in mind, and in the end the result is rarely any good. Modern top tear production is so much ahead of what a band can do on their own using some automated or half automated preset based tools and their limited mixing knowledge. However a skilled engineer in a home studio with proper tools can get quite close to those top tear productions, if the raw tracks are recoded well enough of course.
Mixing and mastering Rule 1: you can’t polish a turd
😂😂😂
TLDW: He has outgrown mediocre talent and is seeking more professional clients.
Why I unsubscribed to your channel...
Don't blame the guy but I hate his attitude. Enjoy the ego of yours!
It's not about ego. It's about time. Time is something you on have a finite amount of and you eventually get to age were you prioritize YOUR TIME. Not letting other people waste it or being compensated accordingly. For some people there's no amount of money that will make them budge for their time. This is the case here.
@@t.c.v.t. I understand completely. It's the dude himself. Many of his videos, he's complaining about what other people do. CLA says, if it sounds good, who cares. Who's this guy to judge? I'm no mix master or anything close to an audio engineer but if I was, I don't think this is how I would approach things.
@@Tinfoilt_T No, it's about how you value your time. Get out of here. You lost all together when you quoted CLA. Thats some fanboy shit. The fact that you have never done this means your opinion of how you "think" you would handle it is void. Your opinion doesn't count until you got work under your belt. The problems he stated are true and accurate, not a thing to do with ego. CLA does this very thing. He doesn't work with amateurs whose work habit's would waste his time. You sure as hell better believe he has a optimize workflow that meets industry standards. If he sent a pile of shit project to another guy to mix the guy would be pissed as well and not want to work with him anymore. This is all this guy is doing. The extra work you have to do on these bullshit songs wears thin quick for EVERYONE that does the work. EVERYONE eventually has enough of it and either says I'm not working with these type of clients anymore or they charge a ridiculous amount so the only times they do have to deal with it they are being paid correctly for the amount of trouble they have to go through instead of just being able to mix the track which is what they are being paid for. You have no idea what your talking about.
@@Tinfoilt_T
Try it.
Imagine your job is being a bus driver, and all you ask is a working vehicle.
Yet every day you have to show up at work 3 hours before to change the oil, change the tires, paint the bus and paying for the gas.
You really love driving, yet you are exhausted even before starting the shift.
Sounds good to you?
@@Tinfoilt_T
> Who's this guy to judge?
this guy is sound engineer and he have all the rights to stop working with shit. And tell that shit is shit, but not "oh, this is some creative expression of this band and for some people they would sound great". If they can't play and sounds bad, they should sound bad in studio recording. At least they would know that they should LEARN to play better and learn how to send a files to sound engineer.
I hope they unsubscribe to you
Sweet did i win a kick in the nutz?
Sounds like a nightmare
This is what happens when everyone thinks they can mix because they own a interface, watch a video on youtube and slap on some plugin presets. completely