Often when mixing an album I will be faced with a dilemma: with all the tracks roughly balanced at a level where you can hear everything, there is no way for all the tracks to live together in the same song - there is too much going on.
So, I am forced to make a tough call, a musical "Sophie's Choice", if you will. Someone has got to go. I need to cut some tracks.
I will often consult the artist or producer before doing this. No one really likes this at the mixing stage because it involves a compromise. There are often a lot of good ideas in there and you know that by choosing one direction, you are shutting down another one.
In the end the music sounds better. The song and the melody will likely be more memorable or maybe the music just grooves better. But there is a better way: the heartless task of arranging you music.
- Write your song.
- Establish an arrangement that supports all the best elements of the song.
- Record your song in the most fun and natural way you can.
- During the overdub stage, feel free to get all your crazy ideas out there but keep the overall song and the melody in plain view all the while.
- Before you mix the song, ruthlessly cut every part that doesn't add to the original vibe and magic of the song. Cool sounding or not, if it doesn't support the song and jives with all the other elements, cut it.
