---
title: "My Mixing Workflow (How to structure creativity)"

description: "It's a give and take between creativity/chaos and order. Here's how I approach workflow, to up my pace but still keep it chaotic. Questions? Wanna hear my work? Visit"

status: complete

date: 2022-08-31

kind: solo

guestSlugs: []

listenUrl: "https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/lovemusicmore/episodes/My-Mixing-Workflow-How-to-structure-creativity-e1n7br7"
appleUrl: "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-mixing-workflow-how-to-structure-creativity/id1567355195?i=1000577946878&uo=4"
spotifyUrl: "https://open.spotify.com/episode/6R5GeTJ6El0nlPsV9UNLKt"

topicsDiscussed:
  - "Creativity"
  - "Mixing"
  - "Music production"
  - "Spatial audio"
  - "Creative Structure"
  - "Organizational Techniques"
  - "Best Practices"
  - "Creative Flow"
  - "Dolby Atmos"
  - "Color Coding"
  - "Sound Design"

hostNote: |
  Creativity thrives in mess; mixing requires order, the trick is applying the order only where it helps. My workflow starts with cleaning: organizing tracks, naming them, removing cognitive noise before the creative phase starts. Then I go instinctive.
  
  The key frame is **maid first, musician second**: handle the housekeeping so that by the time I'm making a sonic decision, I'm not also thinking about track routing. I also get into how Dolby Atmos sessions add a new layer of this problem, and why the whole point is to stop reading the owner's manual.

selectedMoments:
  - label: "Introduction to Workflow"
    startSec: 1
    note: "Introducing the topic of workflow in music mixing and how to balance creativity with a structured approach."
  - label: "Mixing Process Explained"
    startSec: 137
    note: "Elaborating on what mixing entails, likening it to baking a cake with different ingredients."
  - label: "Chaos and Order in Mixing"
    startSec: 315
    note: "Discussing the necessary chaos in production and how it transitions into the structured approach needed for mixing."
  - label: "Organizing Tracks"
    startSec: 272
    note: "The importance of organizing tracks in a mixing session to create better sound cohesion."
  - label: "The Role of Instruments"
    startSec: 405
    note: "How different instruments contribute to the overall mix and the concept of 'glue' in mixing."
  - label: "Adapting to New Technologies"
    startSec: 721
    note: "Challenges and opportunities presented by new mixing technologies like Dolby Atmos."

excerptQuotes:
  - text: "What is workflow? How do you get faster? How do you get better at mixing? How do you streamline things?"
    startSec: 87
    reviewed: true
  - text: "There's something that we can take from that corporate kind of thing and bring it into music. But there is a line. There's a place where it goes too far and then things start getting sterile or repetitive."
    startSec: 90
    reviewed: true
  - text: "So I take the foundational elements. I organize them first, and I clean everything. I go through it and I am the maid."
    startSec: 273
    reviewed: true
  - text: "I think when you produce too sterile, it doesn't work for me. It makes the whole thing too procedural."
    startSec: 313
    reviewed: true
  - text: "Mixing without the bass changes the way that everything else sounds, mixing without the drums changes the way everything else sounds."
    startSec: 266
    reviewed: true
  - text: "The goal is then I have to think about them anymore so you can actually make some damn music instead of like thinking like I'm reading an owner's manual."
    startSec: 766
    reviewed: true

faq:
  - question: "What is my mixing workflow?"
    answer: "I describe a balanced mixing workflow that combines creativity and structure, focusing on organization, cleaning, and track relationships."
  - question: "How do I approach creativity in music mixing?"
    answer: "I emphasize the importance of maintaining chaos and fun in the creative process while also applying structured techniques during the mixing phase."

transcriptPublished: false

draft: false
---