Mixing music is as much an art as it is a science, and our ears are the most vital tool in the process.
However, prolonged mixing or recording studio sessions can lead to ear fatigue, diminishing your ability to make critical decisions. The following tips are designed to help you reset your hearing and regain a clear perspective, ensuring your mixes stay fresh and balanced. Whether you’re tackling a challenging mix or just feeling stuck, these techniques can help you realign your focus and achieve better results.
Before we get to the tips there’s a few things you should be doing already which will hopefully help mitigate getting tired ears in the first place. Firstly, make sure you’re monitoring in a really quiet room. This will make your ears less tired as the mix won’t be fighting with the sounds of cars passing in the distance or someone bickering on the street.
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You should also be attempting to mix at a reasonable level to start so you don’t blow your hearing so quickly. Many successful engineers will mix at low volumes for the whole session and then test it in bursts throughout which makes you have to achieve loudness in the mix as opposed to with the dial. Finally, use reference tracks! You’ll drive yourself in roundabouts without them!
Go to a quiet room and talk to yourself
Seriously! Listening to your own voice allows your ears to realign to what it is most familiar with, your own voice. If you feel that you’re not making the right mix decisions, go to a different room and recite some story to yourself. A technique I used to work with used to ask people what they ate for breakfast when doing sound checks which is a good one. Maybe you can talk about what you think of the mix, or what you’re gonna do this weekend but the key point is to speak aloud and hear your voice reflected in a different room. Hearing yourself in this way will assist you in locking back in and knocking out that mix!
Go listen to a different song on a different set of speakers or headphones
I have a pair of bluetooth earbuds which do the trick for me but these could be anything, even listening to something on your living room sound system. The concept of listening on a different set of speakers is in no way new, most professional mixing studios have multiple speaker systems, but this is more for translation of a mix than resetting your hearing. Although they can do this, leaving the room and being in a different acoustic setting—be that headphones, earbuds, another set of speakers in a different room or even your car—helps your ears attune to different reflections and audio characteristics, even if the reflections are in your own skull.
A similar hint involves actually leaving the room with your mix playing at a reasonable volume and hearing it through the walls. This helps to realign your ears and listen to your mix from a new perspective. Thanks to the great Dave Pensado for this one!
Wear earplugs and go for a walk
Going for a walk by itself can help to calm and reset your hearing, although pairing it with earplugs will take it to the next level, especially if you live in a busy area. Turning your ears off and focusing on your visual surroundings will give them a well needed rest after berating them for hours in the studio. Occasionally I like to walk with earplugs in for 10 minutes then take them out for the next 5-10 minutes and do a small meditation, focusing on what I can hear in my surroundings. This helps me switch my ears back on before entering the recording studio while forcing specific attention to my hearing.
Listen to pink noise on your system at a low volume
Now this one can be magic. As you sound engineers know, pink noise is evenly distributed noise across the frequency spectrum, which is used extensively in sound system installation and tuning but using it in the studio is less heard of. The even distribution of noise played at a low volume on the setup you’re listening to, can reset your ears back to a point of reference. Occasionally the reference tracks you’ve been given or chosen for yourself aren’t even in their frequency balance so referencing them might actually push your ears in the wrong direction. On the flip side, pink noise will always be a consistent reference point and guide your ears back into the right pocket.
Go to sleep!
Sometimes, you have to call it and say I’ll tackle that tomorrow. Staying up really late working on a mix that isn’t fully working is a surefire way to burn out and be stressed about the outcome. Finishing up for the day and coming back with a fresh set of ears can change your perspective. There’s been many situations when I’ve come back to a mix the next day and solved the clutter in the mix with one EQ cut with fresh ears. Sometimes all you can do is be patient.
Maintaining fresh ears is essential for effective mixing. By working in a quiet environment, mixing at reasonable volumes, and using reference tracks, you can set yourself up for success from the start. Techniques such as talking to yourself in a different room of the recording studio, listening to music on alternate playback systems, or walking with earplugs can help reset your auditory perspective. Additionally, listening to pink noise at low volumes can provide a neutral reference point, while knowing when to call it a day and return with fresh ears is invaluable for preserving your hearing and creativity. Implementing these strategies can improve both your mixing workflow and the quality of your final product. Now, go finish that mix!
The aforementioned Dave Pensado has interviewed countless world-class engineers and recording studio professionals, as well as mixing huge hits himself. Keep up with him and his work here.