Why You Should Mix And Record For Other People

A lot of you probably got into mixing and recording because you wanted to be able to produce your own music. I know that's why I did. I wanted to have the freedom to make my own music on my own time and not rely on other people to do it for me. Also, I didn't have a lot of money so it was a great way to create an album on a budget. Hopefully, if this is you, you have continued to try and hone your skills and grow as a mixing and recording engineer. That's probably why you are reading this blog. However, there is one thing you may not be doing that you need to. Doing work for other people. 

Why you should do work for others.

It puts pressure on you that you wouldn't have otherwise. 

When you are doing work for someone else, they have a certain expectation of you. They want it to sound a certain way. They want it done by a deadline. They will have revisions and critique you. This sort of correction, feedback, and pressure will help you grow tremendously in your discipline. It will force you to become a better mixing, mastering, or recording engineer. Even if you don't ultimately want to do work for others, you should still work on other people's songs so that you can grow. 

It's someone else's music. 

Another great reason to work on someone else's music is simply that. It's someone's music other than yours! This forces you to work outside the box you've created for yourself and have to deal with factors outside of your control. You may have to work with a song that has more tracks than you are use to. You may have a song that has bad recording quality and you have to figure out how to mix it. Maybe the vocals are a challenge in a certain song you. You get the point. 

Doing work on others music is extremely important to your growth as an audio engineer. It will give you opportunities and challenges that you would never have otherwise. If you don't know where to find work, ask some friends. If you are a musician, I'm sure that you know people who are looking for recording or mixing for their next project. Who knows, you may even be able to charge them and make some money out of the process.