All language subtitles for Finishing a Mix - Andy Wallace

in trying to determine whether a mix is

actually done and and finished my

philosophy on that is that there is no

perfect mix you know several different

people could and have in some instances

mix the exact same song and I can't

really say oh you know that's you know I

mean obviously somebody has to decide

that's the one that we're gonna release

in this particular medium but I don't

personally feel that there's any one way

to say oh that's the perfect mix the

rest one you know the rest are flawed

that this is the perfect one so much of

it is subjective and I work really hard

in trying to establish I guess clarity

is is the term within the structure of

the mix I'm not talking about clean and

polished and pristine but I'm talking

about clarity we're definition I guess

it's a better word for it where I hear

definition so you can really identify

what's there and if I've done my job

right there's a lot of flexibility in

there you know like a framework that can

be bent this way or that way or you know

this can be louder this can be quieter

this can be featured more that one can

be featured more or less there's room to

do that

without losing the integrity of the mix

so I try to leave a lot of room for

subjectivity and so I also rely quite a

bit on getting feedback from the artist

and producer and really whoever is

creatively involved in providing

direction for the for the mix and and

obviously ultimately rather accepting a

mix is saying yeah that's the one that

we're gonna use I try to get a lot of

information from them to help move it in

that direction because I could certainly

make my own choices in terms of how that

fabric should end up looking I like to

see it to make sure that it reflects

their concept of where they want their

music to be so to that end I don't feel

that there's anyone mix that oh that's

you know that's the perfect mix so

getting back to the point of when a mix

is finished and done the it really

ultimately ends up in their hands to

make that final decision but what I try

to do is I try to take the mix and this

varies a little bit depending on the

the nature of the of the interaction

with the artist and producer as well but

I try to take the mix generally speaking

to the point where I feel if they said

yeah that's great we're gonna use it

that I wouldn't feel like oh wait I'm

not done I have to do other things you

know so I tried it ideally I take it to

that point they listen give me some

feedback we make some adjustments and as

I said adjust the the architecture a

little bit and arrive at the final mix

there are exceptions that there are

times if somebody is like very very very

hands-on in the mix then it doesn't

always make sense for me to to take it

quite that far along before getting some

feedback from them to make sure that

we're going down the right Avenue but

for the most part I try to get it to the

point where it it has the

characteristics of a finished mix and

then they listen and we tweak from there