AUDIO
MIXING MUSICALLY : EXPANDING YOUR MUSICAL VOCABULARY | Jeff Hawley
Quickly name your top five songs of all time . Jot them down or take a mental note . Now think about how you ’ d describe their genre or basic musical style . Repeat the exercise with your top five albums ( remember those ?) of all time . Do you sense a pattern ? There isn ’ t a right or wrong answer here of course , but perhaps a particular genre or vibe starts to emerge .
For me , my top five songs include ‘ Lawns ’ by jazz pianist Carla Bley , ‘ Pancho and Lefty ’ by Merle Haggard & Willie Nelson , and ‘ The Golden Age ’ by Beck . There is likely a Chopin piano prelude in there , too . It ’ d be tricky to narrow it down , but the list would be rounded out with a cut from John Coltrane ’ s ‘ A Love Supreme ’. A bit all over the place genre-wise , but all share a particular relaxed and reflective mood .
Album-wise , I ’ m a sucker for Wilco ’ s ‘ Yankee Hotel Foxtrot ’, Bill Frisell ’ s ‘ When You Wish Upon a Star ’ and Jon Brion ’ s ‘ Meaningless ’. Probably Dire Straits ‘ Brothers in Arms ’ and Brad Mehldau ’ s ‘ Largo ’ would likely make the cut . A fairly wide spread , but they still all live in a similar musical land .
Now think about the last time you listened to - really listened to - an album in a genre that was completely outside the norm for you . Heard any good 1970 ’ s Highlife or Afro-funk lately ? How about deep Vaporwave or Lowercase ? You are probably thinking , “ Ok , Jeff , where the heck are you going with this article ?” right about now , but stick with me .
As audio engineers , we are entrusted with mixing , enhancing and massaging various sound sources together into the most effective and engaging and tasty sonic experience . Professional musicians ( particularly studio musicians ) continually push the art and craft forward as artists by expanding their listening horizons and bringing in new elements to their playing . Jazz musicians are known for reaching out to other genres and incorporating bits and pieces back into the ‘ straight ahead ’ jazz vernacular to keep it fresh and steadily growing and evolving . How can we emulate these practices as engineers ? We can ’ t build out our mixing toolkit if we limit ourselves to listening to only a narrow range of musical styles and moods - to paraphrase jazz legend Charlie Parker , “ If you don ’ t listen to it , it won ’ t come out in your mix .”