ABSTRACT
An analogy can be made between the process of learning a new language and that of learning to mix. At the beginning, nothing seems to make sense. With language, you are unable to understand simple sentences or even separate the words within a sentence. Similarly, if you play a mix to most people they will not be able to hear a reverb or compression as they have haven’t focused on these sonic aspects before and definitely haven’t used reverbs or compressors. After learning some individual words and how to use them, you find yourself able to identify them in a sentence; in the same way that you start learning how to use compressors and reverbs, and learn to recognize them in mixes. Pronouncing a new word can be challenging, since it is not easy to notice the subtle pronunciation differences in a new language, but after hearing and repeating a word 20 times, you get it right; likewise, after compressing 20 vocal tracks, you will start to identify degrees of compression and quickly evaluate what compression is most suitable. Then, you will begin to learn grammar so that you can begin to connect words together and construct coherent sentences; much like all your mixing techniques help you to craft a mix as a whole. Finally, since conversation involves more than one sentence, the richer your vocabulary is and the stronger your grammar, the more sentences you are able to properly construct. In mixing, the more techniques and tools you learn and the more mixes you craft, the better your mixing becomes. Practice makes perfect.
