Last year I was mixing a song from my old band. Did a mix, bounced it, and then I thought "This actually needs more high end". So I edited that and bounced again. Then it was another thing, and another... I ended up with like 8 different versions. Then the next day I open up the DAW to hear what I did, and the first mix was the best. By far. I'm certain I'm not the only one.

Great tips. I totally agree... I found out that "roles", "mindset", "organization", "knowledge", and "discipline" are what it takes to become great at practically anything. For mixing...

Roles: If you are a "mixing" engineer, you should firstly know where your job starts and where it ends. Set your own range limits (realistic ones, of course), inform yourself and/or your clients how to work with you, how they should deliver the tracks to you, etc...

Mindset: Important to separate creative from technical. Creativity is amazing, but can also become a ninja assassin who sneaks into you and becomes that procrastination monkey, that also brings in perfectionism, and all in all, you never get done; instead of getting faster, you get slower.  So take off your creative hat and put on your technical hat, and you're much better ready. Next steps are part of what a "technical" hat encompasses.

Organization: Organize not just your session, but your day, heck even your life!. Make your space inviting to work in, clean, hide cables, remove clutter from your desk, get some good lights, and for your own persona, train, eat correctly, get a shower before a session, create a ritual of steps, and follow them to a T. (put a red light outside your room,  and give instructions to those living in your house, that "when the light is on (or red)" no disturbing allow... not even 5 minutes. Just if there's an emergency, a real crisis. If it can wait, wait until the light is off.

Knowledge: We "musicians" usually think we know everything that is about engineering, but usually, we know nothing, or very little. Yes, maybe we know what we want something to sound like when finished, but getting there is not as easy as we think, and while we might get something right, there are lots of things we will get very wrong, and trying to fix these will destroy what was good, and so on. So, Knowledge... read some books, learn workflows, practice, and become better. For guess what, when you know what everything (eq, compressors, limiters, reverbs, etc...) does, you have to practice to get to know how to tweak the specific settings to achieve your vision, and then how to fix it when something isn't working as it's supposed to, and by practicing with lots of songs (take advantage of the Cambridge and Telefunken tracks), and "learn".
In knowledge, there's also equipment selection (monitors/headphones, acoustic treatment, plugins/outboard gear, etc.).

Discipline: By reaching all the way down here, you have created a system for you, which will work. For some faster than for others, we are all different and need to take the steps at our own rhythm. You might have a main job, or family duties, etc. This is part of the organization we already discussed, and obviously it has to be a personal approach, as we all are different and have a different set of life stuff; this is just how it is.
And when you have achieved the above points, you need discipline to keep the "ritual" going, let it become a habit, and rinse and repeat.

btw. There are mixing engineers who mix a song in 45 minutes or less, consistently, and get Grammys for their work! So... there, when you learn and read about mixing, you'll probably find who they are and how they do their job. But remember, they might "explain" their workflow to some extent, but you have to make it yours, and you have to learn the core principles of mixing, so learn with the course advertised in the video above, which is structured and will save you countless hours going around the rabbit holes you'll find and "lose" precious time on. I learned the hard way, although also, to be honest, when I first sat down (in a completely different room than my "home studio") and started organizing my thinking first, took the time to go through everything I commented above, and created my own system that works for me, then I started getting better and faster.

Wish you all good luck on your careers and go get some Grammys, will ya!
Beni

As an official 'old git' I remember the days of hands on level mixing  - a joy. Note pad in front of you for cues on moves and your hands all over the desk for some tricky sections, and having assistance or a band member do certain changes as you did others. It was so refreshing... After many years of working in the DAW I have left and returned to the old school. Mind, just for fun and my own music and tinkering. My mixes are much more 'dynamic' for it. And there is a certain thrill of rolling the 2 track to print the mix :) It really sharpens you up.

Thank'e, Justin!

as someone who does a pretty high volume (only as of recently) if I'm spending more than 1 week on something, it's not getting any better after that. usually 3 days is the sweet spot for me - I'm also doing mostly live recordings from scratch, so that includes all editing, too. I'd love to continue getting faster though.

I just finished mixing my production of "Reggae Love Songs Are Back Again" after starting mixing it in June 2024... but I learned so much along the way

Phenomenal content for an aspiring professional. Thank you!

The first song I mixed I got done super quick, probably 2 hours. It was a band playing together and I had FOH mixing experience, so I just pretended it was a live mix.

My second mix took me like 6 months lol

This second song was a song I produced and co wrote, so I felt I needed to really add my own twist to it.

Over the years I've been trying to "get away" from the songs and treating them more like my 1st mix and less like my 2nd mix. I like that outsider perspective.

This is great! I've learned that the creative process is very similar to mixing. Make decisions and move on. Stay focused on the big picture. Stay out of the weeds. Better music and better mixes!

You break this information down so well. That it’s so easy to understand. Awesome teacher 💪💯🙏

Thanks for this one! 🔥🔥🔥

You're really good at what you do, JC! Thanks for continuing to share your tips, there's some gold in here! 🎶🎵💎👍

Golden Tips People 🏆

What a great video! I really appreciate your insight.

final Final FiNal FiNaL FINaL FINAL FINALL FINALLL FINALLLL version

Needed to be .25 dB quieter. I mean, .3333333 dB louder

hi there, I have been working on my mix since last month. The biggest reason for my project delay is that I'm working on my headphones 🎧 🙃

Yeah, that mix 3 Final Final …is hilarious!! First of all the Naming and the final final part, I have done that!! It’s just so true!! 😂

solid mix time efficiency perspectives Justin!  :person-turqouise-waving:

I've seen some mixers mix in 1-3 hours. They were all using an SSL 4k or 9K.

Mixing Breakthroughs is a great course!!