I've just finished mastering my latest EP and to some extent, I can say I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Now how is it related to my title? Well, if I look back to the tunes I've mixed and mastered yeeeeaaarsss back, I can definitely say I've come a long way. Time does indeed help you out improve your sound.
How? Spend time with it. It took me years to be able to ge the sound that I'm getting now from my final output.
If you want to improve your mixes, then mix a lot. Practice practice practice. Spend time listening closely to your tracks and learn to listen critically on how your favorite tunes were mixed. Pick out some nice reference tracks that you want to study and listen to not to enjoy but to dissect. Don't try to go through it too quick and expect to get a nice polished sound. At first, you may think or feel that you're not getting there at all but my advice is to be patient and keep at it. We all go through it and those who come out after are the ones who come up with decent mixes all ready for mastering and release.
Also try to read up on mixing and how each mixing device works and how it can improve (or destroy) your sound. Not knowing what to do will take up a lot of your time trying to tweak things because you rely more on trial and error. Of course in the beginning, that's how it is so you can train your ears on what each knob does to the sound. Don't stop at just knowing that "this knob that says threshold does this to my sound." Understand what the knob's function is and why it's there.
Don't always rely on "what they say" because people have different approaches to mixing. There are of course guidelines to follow to help you through, but don't hold on to what you may hear from someone as "the right way" all the time. Some may prefer compressing every track on his project and some may just rely on automation.
Also try to understand arrangement and dynamics. This can definitely help your mixes as it can help you tell a story not just with your music elements but also with how you mixed it. How you pull down or pull up volumes or automate things add to the story of your final track.
You may have heard and read this a lot of times already but it's worth reminding... try to listen to your mix in different listening environments like your car, a pair of headphones, hifi components, and even your laptop speakers. You'll be surprised how this can help you fine tune your mix.
Rest your ears. Don't go mixing a whole album in one day and then be surprised the next day why it didn't sound as it did the day before. Give your ears some rest between mixes. If you want to master it also then do it another day.
Now, I'm not trying to say I'm an expert because I don't think I am. I'm just here to share what I've learned along the way having time and practice behind me so that all of you guys who are new at this can at least get there quicker.
At the end of the day, trust your ears. You may read a lot about mixing, hear a lot about "how to do it" but just arm yourself with the knowledge and always trust your ears in the end.
Have fun!
Cy
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