I love mixing with Slate Digital plugins and my trusted Sennheiser HD650 headphones. But today something terrible happened…
Limitations are always creeping up on me. Sometimes they are external but most times they are internal.
Most of the time the thing that held me back was me. My outlook and my insecurities.
How many times have you mixed and re-tracked the same great song that you have over and over because you had to get it perfect?
The only way to get it perfect is to adjust your outlook.
I’ve been working on the same record since 2009 when this year I finally said enough is enough. It was me that was holding me back. The next compressor, vocal lesson, co-writer, producer, etc. wasn’t going to take my song from zero to sixty. I was.
You have to let go.
So why do you hold yourself back so often? If you’re anything like me, it is because you lack the “perfect tool” that you need to that will make your song and your mix great!
That’s the lie that we tell ourselves. It wasn’t until I went broke buying every piece of gear imaginable that I learned that lesson.
So I walked to my favorite mix spot in Chiang Mai, Thailand where I sit on a rooftop view overlooking the mountains and I’m in the zone. I am ready to mix my first song for this record!
I open up my computer, fire up my DAW, and take out my headphones. And sure enough… limitation.
I forgot my damn headphone adapter for my Sennheiser cans!
So how do I react to this external limitation now? A year ago I would have thrown my hands up, blame myself, start beating myself up about it and do anything but what a stoic should do.
But today… I have Apple earbuds. Without a second thought, I plug them in.
It’s time to mix. Why would I let this get in the way?
In the video below I show you how I’m mixing with Slate Digital plugins and Apple earbuds. And I do it live.
With a little motive, the know-how, and some good tools that show me what I’m looking at I am more than capable to get a mix 80-90% there using just these earbuds. After all, it’s the main thing people will listen to my music on anyway.
I could have turned around and sulked home defeated by my lack of gear for about the 5,000th time in my recording life. Or I can move and lean into my limitation.
If you get one takeaway from this website, it would be to accept and lean into your limitations. That is where greatness comes from.
Most of you don’t believe I could do it. Most of you don’t think it’s possible. So if you’re interested, check out the video below of me mixing with Slate Digital plugins on my apple earbuds. By the time I’m finished, it’s about 80-90% there. I can tweak it on my second and third mix.
We can all afford to start mixing with Slate Digital plugins and Apple earbuds.
Slate’s package is only $14.99 a month (less than you spent on beer last session) and the apple earbuds come with our iPhones.
Once you finish the video, you’ll understand my approach to mixing drums, EQ, compression, time based effects, creating space in an arrangement, and a rough master. By the time I am finished my mix is 80-90% there.
So I ask you… what is stopping you from making great music? Chasing your dreams? Releasing your gift of music to the world?
You have no excuse to not start learning and putting out good mixes and music with the gear that you already own!
Remember… you’re just one song away…
Watch video below: