Mixerman – ZEN and the art of mixing (book review)

Generally speaking

This book is about “life, the universe and everything“, focused on mixing, production and psychology. Mixerman will get into your mind, play around with the Neurons and throw you away if he has all your money..

that’s close but not 100% accurate.

Content

Except the wonderful enlightments mixerman shares with us in this book (medidation and becoming one with the aether is the key of mixing) it contains a lot of technical aspects of mixing. I like that part the most.

While his previous book was a lot cooler to read (as it developed out of mixermans blog, during tracking a band), this one was written intentionally. This is a lot more difficult to achieve and I think Mixerman really nailed it. He also talks about how certain notes can affect your mental health status (mol or dur-melodies) and again the tough topic “how to deal and speak with clients”.

Concentrate

He got me right into his book! After the boring entry, where he explains why the answer to everything is not 42 (it’s ZEN… damnit you don’t understand!) it’s getting to the point. The point in this book is certainly entertainement for audio engineers. And I got entertained.

The good news is also that the book contains relativly large letters and a small number of pages, so you can read it in 24hours, means more time to mix for you.

Conclusion

Go buy it. Warren Dent @ ZENaudio (yes, you got that right) is stocking them. Shipping to Switzerland took him 3 days. Lovely.

Content of the book

Acknowledgments

Introduction
Pressure
Comprehension
Steps to Enlightenment
Mixerman’s 10 Steps to Better Mixing
Communication and Compromise
Caveats and Definitions

Chapter One
The Mix and the Mixer
The Great Mix
Song,Production,and Performance
Sing It Loud!
Fullest Potential
The Production and the Mixer
Confidence Is an Attitude,Too
Your Musical Brain
Third-Party Mixers

Chapter Two
Arrangement and Focus
Function
Prosody
Mixing Is an Illusion
Planes of Space
Panning—Left to Right
Frequency—Up and Down
Equalizers (a.k.a.EQs)
Low End
Lower Midrange
Upper Midrange
High End
Contrast—Sparse to Dense and Bright to Dark
Reflectivity or Reflection—Far to Near
Balance—Front to Back, Large to Small
Forward Motion
Relativity
Visualizing Space

Chapter Three
TheMechanics
Discovery and Framing
Phase Coherency
Drums
Bass
Monitoring Levels
Bring in the Parts!
Underdubbing
Parts
Electric Guitar
Acoustic Guitar
Piano and Keyboards
Percussion
Science Experiments
Referencing Other Mixes
Rough Mixes
Makethe Mix Sing,Pop,and Gel
Automation
The Vocal
Compression
Finding Compromise
The Payoff
Refining and Enhancing
Finishing Your Mix
Mix Notes
Printing the Mix
Saying Goodbye Is Hard to Do

Chapter Four
Gear
Monitoring
Monitors
Monitor Varieties
Summing
Testing Your Summing Box
Consoles Sum, Too
Stereo Compressor
The DAW
The Brickwall Limiter
Analog Tape
Reverbs and Delays

Chapter Five
Dealing with Clients
Declining Projects
Dealing with Problem Clients
Establishing Trust
Picking and Choosing Your Battles
Communication
Mix Notes (The Reprise)
Mix Notes by Committee
“MoreMe”Syndrome
Ego
Money
It’s Their Record

Chapter Six
Mastering
How Do You Know It’s a Good Job?
Retaining Your Influence
Putting Up the Good Fight
Stems
Mastering Your Own Work

Chapter Seven
Thinking Outside the Box
Turning Weakness into Strength
Kismet!
Factory Work
Art vs.Commerce
The Price of Mixers
Creating a Reel
Mixing Can Take Time
Outsmarting the Band
Shootouts
Break Time
Mix Session Files
Drugs
Mixing Outside the Box
Invention Is the Mother of Necessity
Develop Skill, Don’t Defer
Conclusion