ABSTRACT
When you are going through tech it is a test of your focus. Your job is to throw faders and not miss pickups, no matter what is going on around you. It is a hard concept to master. As you are mixing, you may have two or three people working on the board at the same time. They could be grabbing knobs and pushing buttons and doing who knows what. Your job is to focus on the actors. If a designer needs something from you, or for you to get out of the way, he will tell you. More than anything the designer wants to shape the sound while you mix with a consistent mix. I have worked with many young mixers and it takes them time to understand that I will let them know if I need something and to ignore me. Inevitably I will go to grab an EQ and the mixer will pull his hands off the desk and stop mixing. Rule number one as a mixer is that you never take your hands off the faders. Never. After I repeatedly say, “Keep mixing, ignore me,” the mixer will finally get it and just mix so I can work.
