When I started out with recording and mixing, I felt like a
lost puppy. I had no idea what was going on. My professors in college would
show me things like EQ and compression and I would just stare into space
feeling massively confused. I felt like there were so many rules and so many
technical know-hows that I would never learn how to be a good audio engineer.
Then I heard the best tip I've ever gotten for mixing.
Don’t be afraid to try
things.
I heard this advice while listening to a podcast from Joe
Gilder and Graham Cochrane called “Simply Recording Podcast.”
It’s an amazing podcast. In fact, you should go listen to
it. Like right now. It’s cool, I’ll wait…
Okay, back? Great!
They talked about trusting your ears and trying things in
the mixing process that you think sounds good. They talked about the
subjectivity of music and how even something technical like audio engineering
could be art if we approached it that way. So I got brave and started trying
things.
I didn’t know how to use EQ properly, but so what? I just
popped it on a track and started pulling nodes every which way seeing what it
did to the sound. Over time, guess what happened? I learned how to use EQ and
get the sound I wanted out of a track. Same thing with compression. I started using
it and experimenting just to see what it would do.
The point is, I wasn’t afraid to try things. And through the
process of trying I was able to learn immensely more than I was just reading
about them. Yes, read about engineering. Yes, listen to podcasts. But most
importantly, put it into action! Knowledge without action is useless.
So I want to encourage you not to be afraid to make mistakes
and just go try things. You may have no idea how to EQ a drum set or how to
compress a vocal. So what? Neither did anyone else when they started. Over time
you will learn and you will be on your way to being a better audio engineer.
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