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Old 08-06-2020, 03:06 PM   #1
jazzmandan
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Default Mixing for multiple platforms

I have a friend who has great material but his mixes suck (well, my opinion). So here is his defense:

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I mix on the PC and it sounds great. I transfer to the cell and it stinks. I move to the Mercedes and it sounds good but a little Bassy. So I just tend to hit the middle and go with the cell phone (after throwing my hands up !!) Usually when I hear on the cell because the speakers are closer it tends to sound so much better without the lead overpowering. I started eliminating the center channel for vocals and duplicate them panning left and right and it does sound better (at least on phones). If you know a better way to mix that will hit all the platforms while mixing from a PC, feel free to share.
Is there a fix for this guy? Can a mix be made which sounds good across all media or is that not possible?
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Old 08-06-2020, 04:45 PM   #2
Fex
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I think your friend needs better speakers for his PC. He could do with a decent pair of headphones, too. He also needs educating; mixing for his cell makes no sense. Butchering his vocals for his cell is ridiculous.

His stuff sounds great on his PC speakers because he's mixing on those speakers. Think about that.

They're probably great speakers. They're probably made by Logitech. I bet GTA Sin City sounds fantastic on those speakers. They're not worth a damn as studio monitors, though, or his mixes would translate better.

He says it sounds bassy in his Merc. Well, his Merc speakers probably have impressively powerful bass. What he means is, it sounds bassy compared to commercial releases. That's because his computer speakers have a weak bass response, and he's pushing the bass too hard in the mix to compensate.

He can afford a nice car, he likes to call it "my Mercedes" and not "the car," he has great speakers in the car, but he won't buy decent mix speakers; a picture is developing of someone who doesn't really care about his music. Just saying.

He says the mix stinks on his cell. It's a phone! The bass response on the phone isn't worth a damn, because phone speakers are necessarily tiny. They do a good impression of the bass in a good mix, but it can only be an impression; the phone is designed to make a professional mix sound incredibly impressive for such ridiculously small speakers - it isn't supposed to represent what's actually there (because our species can't do that yet with such stupidly small speakers). It isn't designed with the hobbying "musician" in mind. Much the same goes for those crappy earbuds he uses with that phone. He probably found them on a bench.

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Originally Posted by jazzmandan View Post
If you know a better way to mix that will hit all the platforms while mixing from a PC, feel free to share.
The best speakers he can afford, and good headphones. Not great headphones, yet - maybe US$25 to US$40, The rest of his spare cash goes on the speakers. Next year, he can buy better headphones. Meanwhile, he continues to listen to his mixes in his car, on his phone, on his crappy earbuds, on his crappy former PC speakers, on your speakers, on his mother's speakers.... you get the picture?

He will do none of this, I suspect.

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Originally Posted by jazzmandan View Post
Can a mix be made which sounds good across all media or is that not possible?
Yes. No. Well, yes, "good" for a given value of "good" - a mix is never going to sound really good on what are inherently bad speakers! And yet, somehow, Bob Clearmountain continues to make a living....
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Originally Posted by jazzmandan View Post
Is there a fix for this guy?
I know a veterinarian who could fix him, but I'm in the UK. Ask around locally.

Last edited by Fex; 08-06-2020 at 04:58 PM.
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Old 08-06-2020, 06:34 PM   #3
jazzmandan
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I have to agree there are a few pearls of wisdom in what you say. Thanks for the input. It is much appreciated.
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Old 08-06-2020, 07:39 PM   #4
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You're very welcome. Let me know if you have any other friends you'd like me to abuse.
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