Start loud, finish quiet

When I’m working on producing or mixing something, I like to start working on it at a nice loud volume. It helps me stay excited, especially in the beginning phases when I don’t know exactly what I’m doing. It also helps me avoid over-compressing the master bus.

And then when I’m finishing a mix, I like to work on it very quietly; on laptop speakers, on my Auratone, and/or on a couple of different phone speakers (I use the indispensable ListenTo plugin to work on mixes in real time on phones / laptop / Sonos / etc). Quiet listening is where I always hear the little details that I miss when I’m listening loudly — vocal syllables that need automation, delicate nuances of compression and limiting artifacts, et cetera.

Zooming in and out — jamie