Hi all,
I spent the first ten days of November in LA at the Taxi Road Rally and visiting with friends in the industry. It was SO nice to see everyone. I have many friends that go the Taxi Road Rally every year but the past two Road Rally's were cancelled due to COVID so it was an extra special reunion. The Taxi Road Rally is a convention for songwriting and production. Over two thousand song writers from all of the world attend. It has a tremendous, friendly vibe and I always learn a ton.
I got to talk to Producer Derek Nakamoto at the Road Rally. He's worked with a ton of people including Michael Jackson, The Jacksons, Teddy Pendergrass, etc. He's still very active in the industry and he loves my daughter's group, ATLYS, which is really a compliment. So I sat down and talked to him for 15 minutes to ask him some questions for us. The first question I asked him was what he does to protect his ears. His answer seems obvious. Mix at a low volume. He said that all his colleagues that have hearing issues now mixed at loud volumes. So mixing at a volume similar to a conversation with a friend will help you protect your ears.
Derek also made a second point regarding mixing volume that is really important too. Loud music is exciting to listen to. It has a lot of natural energy to it, interactions with the room boundaries, etc. Soft music does not. Soft music is unforgiving. If you can mix so that the song you are mixing sounds exciting at a low volume then it will sound absolutely spectacular at a higher volume. So, mixing at a lower volume makes you a better mixer. Mixing at low volume is definitely a win, win and should be the way you mix. You may occasional vary the volume to do checks at a louder volume and also at a whisper volume, but your main volume level should be that of a conversation. I have spoken to other successful industry people regarding this topic and will to make an informative blog post about it.
We do have a Mixer Mixer tonight. Hope to see you there. The studio has been working on some really cool projects that we'd like to share with you. Bring some samples of your work too! The Mixer Mixer is all about learning from each other and encouraging one another regardless of your skill level.
See you tonight.
Neil