I'm on a quick vacation this week. Afterward I'll be going into the studio to record a second solo song with the same guys that helped me record "Crazy For Me" and then I'll be joining
Lij Shaw at the Bonnaroo music festival where I'll be the floor engineer recording the touring bands coming through the festival.
It's comfortable to get away from it all, if only for a little while. It's good to recharge and regroup if only just to have enough energy to tackle the projects coming up. My
brain works in a weird way so the more I stay away from work, the more excited I am about getting back into it.
It got me thinking actually. Putting something out of your mind for a while really gives you new perspectives on things.
It gives you the ability to think about things in a different way.
A New Point of View
Let's take a mixing session for instance.
It's so easy for us to pound our head against the desk without really succeeding at the vision we have for a specific song.
If you're mixing and no matter what you do you just can't seem to be able to get that sound you want, just leave it.
If you're fighting a
losing battle in your mixing session, just do what an army does when it's losing a battle.
Retreat and regroup.
You may
have lost the battle with the drum sound today, but come tomorrow you might be fresh with new ideas on how to tackle the war you're waging against that uncooperative track. Especially if you take a moment to read the tricks inside the Drum Mix Toolkit.
Whenever you're in a bind and you can't make anything sound good, just do one of these things:
- Walk away or exercise
- Take a deep breath or
meditate
- Make some coffee or tea
- Listen to a different style of music to get inspired
- Read a comic book or watch an episode of your favorite tv show
- Cook a great meal
or take a break to go out to dinner
Just do anything to take your mind off the task at hand. It's amazing what our subconscious does while we're not looking. I've had many a eureka moment while I'm away from my projects and I'm sure it can work well for you too.
That's it for today. Just some food for thought if you're having a bad start to the week. Retreat, regroup and be rewarded.
Oh, and BTW, if you're still
struggling and your subconscious won't help you, I have a step by step mixing process you can use to make your mix less annoying. Step By Step Mixing will give you ideas to take even the most uncooperative of mixes to the next level.
Check it out here:
www.StepByStepMixing.com