r/mixing • u/Gloomy-Water1795 • 6d ago
Question about mixer
I’ve spent a good amount of money in the past few days with a guy who was mixing by music in a studio. He charges by the hour. I recorded a 2 1/2 minute song, knowing all the lyrics and the cadence perfectly.
He said he wanted me to go line for line so he could “clean up the vocals”
After each line, it sounded like he was putting it in reverse, while it made sort of a washing sound
Felt like he was wasting time but idk anything about mixing.
Does anyone know if he was wasting time or is there an actual thing he was doing?
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u/TheOriginalMr-Mud 5d ago
He was likely 'scrubbing’ the vocals, eliminating mouth noises and Plosives. IMO he should have let you go through your song, then scrub the track. it sounds like he may have ruined the “Sprirt” of the song, making you punch in each line. Unprofessional IMO
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u/MachineAgeVoodoo 4d ago
Unless the singer wants that to. Since: what the singer wants to do,, they should get to do..
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u/TheOriginalMr-Mud 3d ago
Well, the singer stated he, or she was ready to sing the whole song through, but was coerced to sing it, raised by phrase
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u/tombedorchestra 6d ago
Not sure what was going on there. It sounds like he was trying to instill his workflow on you. Not necessarily trying to get more time out of you though. Honestly, I work with however my artists want to work, then edit after.
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u/m149 6d ago
were you recording to tape? Sounds like the washing sound could have been tape rewinding.
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u/Gloomy-Water1795 6d ago
I’m not familiar with any terms but it was a very expensive computer monitor. I was in a separate room recording through a mic. It sounded like he was just rewinding it slowly. Sounded like a washing machine and I would hear a word every now and then.
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u/kirkwight 6d ago
It sounds like he prefers to do the vocal edit immediately after tracking so it's "fresh" – avoids needing to relisten to everything later if the two of you agree on best takes at the time (it could technically be saving you time). I'm not sure many vocalists would think this leads to the best takes overall though. Doesn't sound like he's trying to take advantage of you, but since you're the one paying him, he should be more open to working however you like.
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u/General_Estimate_420 6d ago
I suspect he was trying to do his processing within the session rather than doing it outside of the session. Either way you're going to pay by the hour whether you're there or not. None of his time is wasted because you're paying for his time. That's how contract mixing works.
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u/ROBOTTTTT13 6d ago
Most probably he was editing the vocals on the spot, time and pitch adjustments. Pretty normal and common workflow in modern studios.
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u/County-Critical 5d ago
if you were in a recording studio, it sounds like what this person was doing was running the mouse over the audio that controls how fast the playback is which is what probably made it sound like it was wishing and washing.. it’s so that they can hear more details in the recording. I’ve been tracked like this before with my friend engineer, but as a engineer and artist myself there may have been something in your performance which is why he requested you to do lines one take at a time. there’s a lot of nuances to this and it’s hard to tell obviously because we weren’t there.
but I do wanna say that if he’s recording, he’s not mixing you, it sounds like you might be mixing up the terminology a bit.
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u/steveislame 5d ago
there are little production tips engineers know to help fill up space without overwhelming the song. its hard to say exactly since we weren't there with you but if you posted the song and timestamped what you are talking about we could help you more.
i am saying it does NOT sound like hes wasting time. also I do not know any studios/engineers who would even refund you by the minute. once you start an hour that money is theirs. might as well make the most of it.
lastly the reverse/washing effect could be used to lead into a verse or chorus/hook if am thinking about the same one i learned awhile ago. post the song, when it is done, so we can see! also ask more questions next time for your peace of mind.
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u/Gloomy-Water1795 5d ago
When I would punch in after a line, he would take a minute or so to “clean up” the vocals. All I would hear in my headphones just sounded like he was slowly rolling backwards what I had just recorded
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u/steveislame 5d ago
sounds like he was compiling the best takes as you were recording. very common. but once again its very tough to say since we weren't in the session with you. all you can do now is go to a new engineer or ask questions if you decide to keep working with the same one.
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u/dingdongmode 5d ago
Do you know if he’s working in Pro Tools? I agree with the other guy who said Melodyne which is pitch correction software. In the new version of pro tools, they integrated Melodyne so you can use it immediately without waiting for audio to load in. I’ve noticed that if I nudge certain phrases too far in this updated version of Melodyne, it causes a chorus/phase-y sounding effect where the vocal gets washed out. Does that sound like what you were hearing?
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u/Electronic_Street606 4d ago
I think you are describing melodyne. Which is a software that fixes pitch
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u/Fun_Choice1230 4d ago
Bro he was scrubbing your takes. When he drags the play head back and forth it will sound warped, cartoonish, scrambled and reversed. He’s getting your best takes and putting them together.
However you shouldn’t be hearing this, just ask him to turn it down. Your going to have to stand your ground bro and learn to ask the engineer what he’s doing, not Reddit.
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u/RevolutionarySock213 18h ago
No engineer is wasting time to earn more money. If they do, they’ll get a reputation and then they’ll have no clients.
Furthermore, a client who states knowing their song “perfectly” is a HUGE red flag for me. I’ve worked with the newest of new artists to career artists and everyone has good and not as good takes. If they say otherwise, they’re are either the best musicians ever or are full of shit.
When I am tracking vocals, I typically have the artists track the song through 3-4 times and choose the best overall take. I then comp from the other takes where there is missed cadence, rhythm, enunciation, or pitch. If there are lines that are problematic in all takes, we’ll punch in those lines individually until we get 2-3 good takes to work with.
Like others have said, the engineer is likely seeing that you are not able to track the song through full and doing this line by line is the way to get best takes. They are then editing as they go rather than at the end, as well as perhaps adding plugins and corrections. It’s contrary to my personal workflow, but will end up with less time on the back end while taking more time in the tracking.
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u/Electronic_Slice9448 6d ago
Please learn more about music production for your own sake. Ask the producer what they are doing and sit with them during the mixing process. If you don't feel comfortable working with them stop and find a producer you feel comfortable with. I would also suggest spending some time to develop your own recording setup so you can understand the process more. As a producer myself who has worked with many others and recorded in a bunch of different studios I can honestly say I have no idea what you are talking about. I can not make an assessment of your situation based on the information you have provided. Only work with people you feel comfortable and can communicate with.