ABSTRACT
A B-side of a commercial release can be mixed in as little as three hours. An album’s lead single might take six days. Generally, for a standard release it would be normal to spend a day or two per song; within this period an engineer will often nail the core of the mix (the critical sonic decisions and overall feel) within a few hours and anything after this could be of a slightly more technical nature. Albums are very often mixed within about three weeks; Nirvana’s Nevermind took about 14 days to mix. The complexity of the track is an obvious factor – a 24-track production that has a simple structure, involving a five-piece rock band, should take less time than a 96-track production with many varying sections. The recording quality also plays a part – poor recordings mean that the mixing engineer spends more time fixing the recordings than creatively crafting the mix.
