What do you do? [message #89385] |
Thu, 06 September 2007 22:04 |
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When you give a client a bunch of rough mixes and he/she thinks they sound
so good that they must be almost done (like, maybe only another 15 or 20
minutes of work, 30 tops) but you haven't done ANY of the things that you
know need to be done to a good sounding finished mix, like using some nice
sounding plugins, setting up some automation to keep voices and solos on
top of the music and maybe even (God forbid!!!) tuning a note here and there.
And then they find out that the GOOD mixes take an hour or two or even three,
never mind the big production numbers that eat up 8 or 9 hours of editing
and mixing time and STILL need some tweaking to be "just right".
Most of my clients sweat at least a little blood for every dollar they pay
me. I have to try to strike a ballance between what I want and what they
need. I had one project where I just gave up on doing all my fancy mix tricks.
I slapped my UAD-1 plugs and my Waves plugs on a few tunes and he came back
saying "I like the rough mixes better".
So... What do you do?
Gantt
Gantt Kushner
Gizmo Recording Company
Silver Spring, MD
www.gizmorecording.com
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Re: What do you do? [message #89407 is a reply to message #89388] |
Fri, 07 September 2007 06:38 |
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I meant what I want the mixes to sound like!
Gantt
"Neil" <OIUOIU@OIU.com> wrote:
>
>What do you mean by what you want? Do you mean what you want
>in terms of payment for the work, or what you want in terms of
>what you think the finished product could or should sound like?
>
>Neil
Gantt Kushner
Gizmo Recording Company
Silver Spring, MD
www.gizmorecording.com
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Re: What do you do? [message #89419 is a reply to message #89385] |
Fri, 07 September 2007 08:14 |
Carl Amburn
Messages: 214 Registered: July 2005
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Senior Member |
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This is a tricky on Gantt. I've run into this before. Now, I just make
project arrangements beforehand so that it doesn't happen. Letting the
roughs go is cheaper for the client, but you will potentially look better
(advertise your talents/studio) - and them too!!!! - if you can "mix" them
up. I would just talk to them and explain it best you can - but if they
can't hear the difference OR think it's worth it, then it's not gonna be in
your interest to hassle them about it, and you should just let it go. Maybe
ask them to give you proper credit that perhaps mentions that it wasn't
mixed.
good luck,
-Carl
"Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:46e0dbd2$1@linux...
>
> When you give a client a bunch of rough mixes and he/she thinks they sound
> so good that they must be almost done (like, maybe only another 15 or 20
> minutes of work, 30 tops) but you haven't done ANY of the things that you
> know need to be done to a good sounding finished mix, like using some nice
> sounding plugins, setting up some automation to keep voices and solos on
> top of the music and maybe even (God forbid!!!) tuning a note here and
there.
> And then they find out that the GOOD mixes take an hour or two or even
three,
> never mind the big production numbers that eat up 8 or 9 hours of editing
> and mixing time and STILL need some tweaking to be "just right".
>
> Most of my clients sweat at least a little blood for every dollar they pay
> me. I have to try to strike a ballance between what I want and what they
> need. I had one project where I just gave up on doing all my fancy mix
tricks.
> I slapped my UAD-1 plugs and my Waves plugs on a few tunes and he came
back
> saying "I like the rough mixes better".
>
> So... What do you do?
>
> Gantt
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Re: What do you do? [message #89441 is a reply to message #89419] |
Fri, 07 September 2007 13:44 |
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A long time ago I had a friend who told to never make a rough mix sound too
good. His premise was that sometimes people would like the roughs so much
that they wouldn't even come back for the finished mixes. And this was
back in the cassette days! I once had a client who I had co-produced who
reneged on our deal threaten to take rough mixes to mastering when we refused
to give him the final mixes. We finally caved just to keep the inferior
mixes from getting released.
Gantt
"Carl Amburn" <carlamburn@hotNOSPAMmail.com> wrote:
>This is a tricky on Gantt. I've run into this before. Now, I just make
>project arrangements beforehand so that it doesn't happen. Letting the
>roughs go is cheaper for the client, but you will potentially look better
>(advertise your talents/studio) - and them too!!!! - if you can "mix" them
>up. I would just talk to them and explain it best you can - but if they
>can't hear the difference OR think it's worth it, then it's not gonna be
in
>your interest to hassle them about it, and you should just let it go. Maybe
>ask them to give you proper credit that perhaps mentions that it wasn't
>mixed.
>
>good luck,
>-Carl
>
>
>"Gantt Kushner" <ganttmann@comcast.net> wrote in message
>news:46e0dbd2$1@linux...
>>
>> When you give a client a bunch of rough mixes and he/she thinks they sound
>> so good that they must be almost done (like, maybe only another 15 or
20
>> minutes of work, 30 tops) but you haven't done ANY of the things that
you
>> know need to be done to a good sounding finished mix, like using some
nice
>> sounding plugins, setting up some automation to keep voices and solos
on
>> top of the music and maybe even (God forbid!!!) tuning a note here and
>there.
>> And then they find out that the GOOD mixes take an hour or two or even
>three,
>> never mind the big production numbers that eat up 8 or 9 hours of editing
>> and mixing time and STILL need some tweaking to be "just right".
>>
>> Most of my clients sweat at least a little blood for every dollar they
pay
>> me. I have to try to strike a ballance between what I want and what they
>> need. I had one project where I just gave up on doing all my fancy mix
>tricks.
>> I slapped my UAD-1 plugs and my Waves plugs on a few tunes and he came
>back
>> saying "I like the rough mixes better".
>>
>> So... What do you do?
>>
>> Gantt
>
>
Gantt Kushner
Gizmo Recording Company
Silver Spring, MD
www.gizmorecording.com
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Re: What do you do? [message #89460 is a reply to message #89447] |
Fri, 07 September 2007 18:06 |
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Way cool!
"Neil" <IOUOIU@OIU.com> wrote:
>
>This is how you prevent that from ever happening (or, for that
>matter, also prevent someone from being so happy with the
>roughs that they don't want to come back for a final):
>
>http://www.voxengo.com/product/beeper/
>
>I used it recently on a commercial that had to be sent out for
>approval prior to payment. Wrote right on the CD that it
>was "beep-encoded" so there was no suprise or shock on the
>client side when they heard two little beeps in their 30-second
>spot.
>
>Neil
Gantt Kushner
Gizmo Recording Company
Silver Spring, MD
www.gizmorecording.com
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