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Fresh Ears
Hi all.
I would like to discuss the subject of 'Listening with fresh ears'
I find that after a hefty session of recording or mixing, my hearing gets quite fatigued, to the point of not knowing whether something sounds right anymore!
Does anyone have any hints or tips for refreshing your ears other than locking yourself in a dark silent room?
Comments
Take a break. I think that's the only tried and tested solution.
Coming back to it the next day is even better.
For a full dose of extra objectivity put it away in a dark drawer for six months and then come back to it with not only fresh ears, but a fresh mind.
Thanks Richard. Yeah, break is probably best, but sometimes you have time limits!
On your other recommendation, I dug out an old song from years ago yesterday.
Sounds way better than I remember and I'm now gonna rework that one.
Maybe working on a few songs at a time would keep things fresher?
I've heard everything suggested from taking small breaks every hour, to full days off. But more importantly I've noticed the greater suggestion all around is that your ears shouldn't get to the point of fatigue during mixing sessions. If they do, then it's a matter of monitor levels and / or mixing in a shitty room. But really it's all kind of situational. I think the best combination is to step away from your mix several times during a long session, listen to a bird or something that isn't part of your mix, and to also listen to reference tracks that you think are great mixes. This can help ground your definition of what an electric bass, saw wave, high hat, etc. "should" sound like.
In summary: don't blast your monitors for extended sessions, take a boatload of breaks, and periodically listen to reference mixes to help bring your ears back down to earth. That seems to be the ticket.
And, if you're one of those people who can work on several mixes at the same time, then I say definitely try that out. Can definitely help keep you moving forward!
As with any creative activity, go do something else. Doesn't matter what as long as it can shift your focus and you'll see it in a different light. It's a tried and true method. Famously, Google used to encourage their employees to spend 20% of their working hours on what ever they thought would benefit Google the most rather than on their current project
Also, and this is probably highly individual, i find i'm more creative if i have several projects going at once
Being sound engineer or visiting a Otorhinolaryngologue ?
@brice @jn2002dk
Thanks for advice! Yeah, I do think I need to turn it down a bit if over a long period.
And definitely would be a good idea to listen to something else for a while.
I'm gonna give working on a few things at once a try, just to keep it fresh.
It's a hard lesson to learn, or at least to stick to. After all, it's a proven fact that louder always sounds "better." And if you've got some good monitors then it's even more tempting. But ask any of the seasoned pros and they will tell you they mix at very low volume levels, and "treat" themselves to short playbacks at higher volumes. Your mixes will not only benefit from this tactic, but your ears will also live a longer life. The same holds true for headphone mixing. Which can be even more fatiguing, particularly if you've got headphones that block out the noises around you. It's easy to slowly increase their volume over time as your ears become more adjusted to the bombardment. But just do the same thing...take breaks....mix at low volume....and pop in a Celine Deon or Nickleback jam every once in awhile
Thanks @brice
All good tips, except I'm not going to listen to Celine Dion....EVER!
Understandable. But I'm a bit concerned that you left Nickleback out of your deceleration.
I was so horrified at Celine Dion, that Nickelback went over my head.
Maybe use that as a don't sound like this reference!
Good topic.
Agree with the obvious above, but would also add share the mix with others (if you can find the right others to share it with). It feels a little bit like the difference sometimes of writing a letter and then knowing someone has actually read it. Once something has been consumed by someone else the simple knowledge of that fact seems to bring the content into clearer focus. I ALWAYS find typos once I've sent something, even f I've read it many times before....:) This is one of the great and friendly benefits of the Song of the Month Club.....along with the clarity (agreed with or otherwise) of another's input and ears...
Thanks @JohnnyGoodyear Yeah, someone else listening is helpful, I agree. If I ask someone who doesn't want to offend then I don't get much input!
However, if I ask my girlfriend, she is full of criticisms. I just have to pick out the helpful ones!
@richardyot is correct. When listening for a long time you need your ears rest & decompress.
Ack! Skip over our New Canadiana sound and just go straight to the classics. Anne Murray, William Shatner etc.
Joking aside, it might be a helpful exercise to put on something professionally-recorded you don't think you'll enjoy so you can concentrate on the sound engineering. Can you hear all the instruments? Is the voice intelligible? How does it sound at different volumes? If you think it's "overproduced" what makes it that way?
Speaking of volume, I tend to vary the volume a lot when mixing, from loud to extremely quiet. I read somewhere that relative equalization varies by volume so it effectively imitates listening on different speakers. That's the theory anyway, but sometimes something disappears at a very low volume that just needs a bit of volume or EQ to reappear and then sounds perfectly fine at louder volumes.
As someone who HAS to listen to music all day long for a living, I find that the key for me to keep from getting ear fatigued throughout the day is taking a lot of short breaks, and working at lower volumes than you would expect. For me breaks work best when combined with some light activity to get the blood moving again, a quick walk around the block with the dog, 15 minutes of yoga to stretch out some, some quick push ups and sit ups, etc. In general I try and get 15-20 minutes of break time for every 90 minutes of critical listening.
One thing I find helps a lot is getting outside if I can, since that tends to reset your ears to the acoustic space you were just in (IE, your room). I find that it works better than just turning off the music or going into another room for a few minutes. Plus it's just nice to get some fresh air and sunlight too, those go a long way towards revitalizing and calming people studies have shown.
In terms of volume, I always mix and master at very quiet levels for 90-95% of the process. It's definitely easier on your ears, and I've found if you can make everything sound good when it's quiet, it's very rare that it doesn't sound better when turned up (google fletcher-munson curves). Another trick if you just don't have the time for breaks, is to try working with some white noise in the background. I'll turn on a fan and put it behind me, or maybe open the window some to get bit of street noise. Again, if you can make everything still be clear and audible with the noise happening, more than likely your mix will still be balanced when you turn it off.
I only tend to turn things up late in the process, and generally only for a couple minutes at a time. Helps make sure there's not too much excessive low end I might have missed, and also that the midrange isn't too harsh. But like I said, 90% of the time I'm working at volumes where it would be easy to hold a conversation with someone without raising my voice.
Good luck!
Thanks for the fantastic and in depth advice!
Must force myself to work at lower volumes.
As you say, if it sounds great quiet, it should sound great loud.
And variety is the spice of life!
Treble Fatigue
https://www.head-fi.org/f/threads/high-frequency-hearing-fatigue-how-do-i-know.581022
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/91-audio-theory-setup-chat/796649-what-causes-audio-fatigue.html
Great post.
Fortunately, when I find myself working on a song project I usually don't feel compelled to finish it in a certain modicum of time & therefore I will constantly go back to it (after working on other projects) and tweak, say, two notes in a GB drum pattern I decided then I didn't like. Just going off and get a different rhythm/song in your head might spark something in another file... it's very symbiotic.