Inside the Studio with Mark Hornsby: The One Hour Mix

I know what you’re probably thinking–mix a song in an hour? Yeah, right.

I get it. You’ve got that song you keep going back to over and over again, re-mixing, re-editing, re-doing, checking it in the car, sending it to friends, etc. That takes hours, right? Of course it does. I’m going to let you in on a little secret: when recording and mixing music, if you take your time simply because you can, then it’s always going to take hours to mix a song. When is the last time you set a deadline for yourself? For example: I’ve got four hours to mix this song, then I’m done and moving on...

Professional engineers have to do this all the time. Clients have budgets, and budgets usually dictate how much time I can spend mixing a song. Some people want me to take as much time as needed, and others simply want the best I can deliver in the shortest amount of time possible—hence, the title of the article. I promise you, I can mix a song in an hour. Will it have all the bells, whistles and ear candy of a mix I spent a whole day on? No, it won’t, but I can balance what’s there and provide a functional product that showcases what’s been recorded. So, here’s how I do it...