I'm just always amazed by how much people rely on turning up frequencies as opposed to really examining what's going on.
Well, that happens when I get a mix with a ton of low end, like what happened? I never EQ this much, but I'm EQing out 5 dB of low end. When you do that, you're also affecting everything else on the top end. They've been over-compensating on their end, most likely because their room is not accurate and they can't hear what they're really doing, so they add low end and then they add a bunch of top end. It can be a mess. I have to get over it when they can't change the mix, work with what they sent and take out that low end. I also have to cut the top end, which is so counterintuitive to me. I have such a hard time even doing it... it's like, "Oh, the air, the breath, the life of the track!" I'll sit back and listen after I've made the changes, and it's still good. It's as good as it'll get.
I know clients will be like, "It's not as bright," even though you've fixed a lot of problems for them.
It becomes a dance. Sometimes I'll be rolling off a shelf at 7 or 10 kHz. That's crazy. It might just be a half dB, or not quite a dB, and then I'll try to bring a little bit out at 4 kHz to kind of give a bit of sparkle back. There are all these little things that you can do that end up adding to the big picture.
What are some of your favorite projects you've mastered in the past few years, as far as musically or as a job too?
