BOB’s Power

Less is more. Personally, I always tend to make my mixes way too complicated. Adding EQ, Compress, Add another EQ ( with minimal tweaks I actually could’ve done in the first EQ device). Sometimes when leaving the project for a few days and get back to it, I think, that part or element might need some eq’ing but when getting back to that specific track I discover it already has 2 EQ devices active.. That’s ok, but not ok at the same time. Maybe it comes from a messy arrange, having picked sounds that maybe just won’t fit the track, getting from there into an even more messy mix. Trust me, we all do this or we all have been there. When I look at Bob Power’s approach on how he mixes, it really looks easy with his very minimal approach on using devices on elements. In one of his online masterclasses, he explains that mixing music actually contains of just two major building blocks. The first one he explains are the ‘gain control devices’: Compressors and EQ’s. Everything that these devices are doing are somehow boosting or cutting frequencies and thus levels overall. The second building block are the ‘ambiance generators’. These are the reverbs, delays, chorus and so on. To give colour, character, depth, stereo image etc,.. to your mix. So from that point of view, completing a mix, can be done with very minimal usage of one of these devices. Of course, project dependant, YMMV. Take an hour of your precious time to check out the video with Bob. I’m sure it can be pretty eye-opening for beginners and even for more experienced mixers.

Having this said, the way I produce/arrange/mix isn’t maybe very ideal. As from the moment I start to write my sketch, I’m doing tweaks that actually need to be done in a final mixing stage. Maybe this way I’m making it more difficult for myself than it has to be. In my mind, it feels like the overall sound of a new track must be sounding ‘already mixed’ so it is more fun to keep working on it towards the end of the project. Maybe, I should try to make a complete unmixed sketch/arrange again to focus 200% on the idea or vibe of a track instead of the mix. These are things I keep struggling with myself. There’s no giant ‘cookbook’ around where everything is explained. Every chain of the game from artist, producer, mixing engineer to mastering engineer has its own tricks and spices to fulfill its final result.

There’s only one way: trial and error. Keep pushing! Have a great end of year.

Skov