Balance and the Sweet Spot

I’m writing this blog today from 34,000 feet, somewhere between London and Raleigh. These long flights are a great time to catch up on reading and thinking about things, pretty much everything except catching up on sleep!

I’ve been to Europe twice in the last 3 weeks, and about 8 months of magazine and podcast backlog is now erased! I’ve read the SkyMall about 16 times too. Still a couple hours before I get home, so out comes the trusty iPhone for some blogging.

While over in London I received an email and secured a small job for the studio! The dude needs it done Friday for a gig Saturday, so it will be the first thing that I do when I get back and get it out. I’m always excited when a project comes my way whether big or small, but it was a bit frustrating to be so far away and not be able to get right to work on it.
While I sat here thinking random thoughts, I started the usual pondering of the meaning of life. I had great plans for this point in my life. 9 years ago, I planned to be sailing around the world now. The telecom/dot-com bubble came 1 year too early, and that plan went to the backburner. 3 years ago I planned to be at least a part-time songwriter by now, and wanted to be spending more time on stuff like that and less on being a corporate monkey. I changed jobs in my company to one that gave me more personal time and no travel a couple years ago, but the economy (and best-in-class lack of leadership) killed the company and I had to jump to a new gig last year to keep the lights on and food in the fridge. So I’m on a plane again, thinking about the saying “if you want God to laugh, tell him your plans!”

And I sit here and think about life balance. Should I chuck it all? Is this my destiny? Or is it like mixing…trying to find the sweet spot where everything fits just right.

I think of all the advice I see on various forums about audio and mixing, and wonder how much does more harm than good. Sure it’s all well-meaning, just like your mom telling you what to do in life, or your Uncle Phil telling you where to put your money. But how do you know you’re not inadvertently going down the wrong path and ending up in more of a mess than when you started?  The more I think about it, life is a pretty good analogy to recording. There are some big things you have to do well to tackle the main parts, and lots of little things that can make life that much better.

Great tracking is like having a great relationship with your spouse, if you have it everything else is so much easier to deal with…if you don’t, all the beer (or compression) in the world won’t make it so.  Knowing how to mix is like knowing how to do your job well. A good acoustic environment is like a good boss…a bad room is like a bad boss. A good boss makes your work fun and productive. But even if you know how to get your job done, a bad boss or environment can really get in your way and have you pulling your hair out.

If you get the big things right, the little ones aren’t as big a deal and can add the sparkle to one’s life or song. The trick is finding the right balance, the sweet spot where you smile because everything is just right. You just know it when you see or hear it.  Sometimes it’s a smile from someone, or a half db of eq in the right place that makes all the difference in your day or mix.

Just like in life, nobody can tell you exactly how to get there on your audio production, though good advice always points you in the right direction. If you need good advice on recording, come by the GatorForum, we’re there to help. If you need life guidance, you’re probably better off asking your mom though, lest she show up on our forum too ;)

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