Do stuff until it sounds cool

A corollary to yesterday’s piece: when you’re approaching a mix from a framework of play and experimentation, you can feel more free to try things out, to see what resonates with you.

With this in mind, I have a simple mantra that guides me as I play with mixes: do stuff until it sounds cool. I literally just try to do something with every single sound that makes me think “Ooh, that’s really cool!”

I don’t always end up using all my cool ideas in the final mix. Sometimes I’ll get rid of them; sometimes I’ll change them out for a different cool idea; a lot of the time I’ll use them but dial them back somewhat.

Even if a cool treatment doesn’t make it all the way to the end of the mix, I believe fervently that having it in there for a time helps influence where the mix goes. Sometimes treatments can be temporary but influential guides on the way to your destination.

Hey, check this out — jamie