Mixing Secrets

CHAPTER 7

Comping and Arrangement

Although this isn't a book about recording, there are two specific aspects of the tracking process that I want to discuss briefly in this chapter because they so regularly shoot small-studio mixes in the foot: comping and musical arrangement. Both these factors are important for almost every type of production, regardless of the budget level, yet small-scale projects almost universally undervalue their significance. If your comping and arrangement are good, then mixing is a lot less like hard work; but if they're not, you can be left with an underwhelming record no matter how top-drawer the musical material or your mixdown skills. “I think there's too much dependence on the final mix,” says Tony Platt, “and ...