Pramod Chandorkar - Founder, SoundideaZ Academy
You might be reading this because you want to be a mix engineer. You may
or may not have already been misled by preconceived notions and/or marketing campaigns
geared towards enrolling more and more engineers to the various sound engineering courses.
In this column, Pramod Chandorkar busts several myths while also providing expert insight
into how you can actually hone this art of mixing and go on to become successful mix
engineers down the years. This column which is the second in a series of “Soundideaz”
columns which is dedicated to all the “Sound Artists” of India. Engineers and industry
professionals are free to express your thoughts and suggest topics you would like Pramod
to cover in this column by writing to him on the below mentioned email id!
I wanna MIX !!!! This is the most common line we hear from almost all kids who wish to enter the
pristine corridors of Sound engineering. I am sure most of you have heard it at least once.
So how do we respond!!
Yes welcome to the world of sound. We conduct courses in sound engineering and after finishing
our course you will be a Mix engineer !!! Bang ... here is our fee schedule.
You tell them what they wanna hear. Of course - I have to sell my course after all. I teach mixing
too (and I have designed an extensive 6 months course).
Really!!!! All these so called successful mix engineers learn mixing in 6 months or may be a year
or two??
Guys let’s face the facts.
Mixing is an art and it takes years to hone this art. Unfortunately widespread notion is that once
I learn any DAW I can mix. You know, it’s like, I just did my MBA and I wanna be the CEO.
Unfortunately the impression is “if I can operate a DAW well, and if I can understand EQ, Compression
and little bit of music, I’m ready to be the next mix engineer to hit Indian shores.”
Guys!! These are the tools of the engineer; the most important aspect is how the engineer hears the
music, his ears, his brain and his emotions.
Mixing is a very psychological process. An engineer has to understand the psychology, vision,
beliefs, thought process of not just the music composer, but also the producer, musicians,
singer & the financer too. There is no ‘one’ language of communication between all of them. There
is a unique language for each of the them. The engineer has to understand everyone’s point of view,
build his own approach and present all their points to the audience with his own approach which suits
the music style, in totality. It’s a humongous task. Whereas in the many tools of engineering, the
sound is only one part of this complete process.
You must have heard that there are some favorite engineers of some composers, why are they favorites?
It’s simply because they understand each other well, their silent communications channel is already
established & they don’t need to explain their thoughts. This only happens after you work with each
other for a long time. Every composer and music producer hears his music in a specific way in his head
& expects the engineer to deliver it as close to the one he has heard in his head. Now these lines of
emotional communications cannot be taught or explained. They have to be experienced.
I have myself experienced it so many times when the song tells me itself, what it needs !!! I just become
like a robot which is controlled by my mind and my hands start doing things which make the song sound
‘how it should sound‘.
I have experienced that magic happening so many times. You need to understand it and practice it. It’s
like learning any instrument.
I always cite the example of child birth to explain the process of mix.
Mixing can be compared to the process of giving birth to the child.
You are the Doctor who is responsible to ensure that all goes well. The composer and the lyricist are like
the parents, they are very emotional about their baby. They have taken utmost care to grow the fetus and
now have complete trust and faith in this doctor to deliver there child. The doctor has learned all the
techniques and technology to help deliver this baby. Here the doctor cannot be too mechanical or too
emotional about the process. He has to have a third approach, irrespective of his liking, he has to
ensure hat the child is delivered healthy and the parents have to feel comfortable and secure with the
doctor. After the child birth, the doctor cannot be emotionally attached to the baby as he has another
couple ready for his attention.
Mixing is about the balance of the music. The co relation of each sound and each instrument used in the
song. The dynamics and the expression of the song. It’s the reflection of the composers thought.
The engineering information which is updated during the time you work is supposed to be installed in your
operating system like a language. When an experienced engineer hears any track the most important process
that automatically starts, is the diagnosis of the track. The human ear has an amazing capability of
listening to specific details with focus. An engineer has practiced that art of hearing and can ignore
everything else around and just focus on the part he wants to hear. By utilizing this capability he can
identify the things which are disturbing the overall balance. After diagnosis, is the application of
tools to fix the problems which are diagnosed. Other than fixing the problems these tools are majorly
used for creative purposes to enhance the specific parts. The focus is on what the listeners should
experience. An accomplished engineer has honed his art of mixing during the years of his work.
With today’s technology you can keep mixing a song for as long as you want. Only an experienced engineer
knows where to stop. He has an unique ability to change his position from an engineer to an average
listener. Going back and forth helps him make the decision about where to stop.
The more you practice this art, the better you keep getting better. The best of an engineer is always
yet to come.
Mixing is a complete musical and psychological art where the tools used are merely technical.
So if you have done your course and dream to become a mix engineer, start working at some studio and
assisting a senior engineer and gather patience. Don’t plan... let it happen...
Happy mixing...