By Steven Levine
Too often the question is asked in bars and parlors around the world, “Why is pop music so pop-ular?” I say too often because the answer is simple: quality mixing. People turn off the music when they can’t hear everything. Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift’s mind-numbing inanity that passes for lyrics can’t possibly be freaks of nature; there is a formula to their success. What else can explain the masses listening to Taylor Swift sing about breaking up with her boyfriend in 12 different iterations?
A small home studio, the likes of which can be used to transform otherwise sub-standard mixdowns. Photo by Steven Levine
The top echelons of the mixing business are expected to methodically convert disastrous post-production mixdowns into actual music that a human being can listen to without running head first into a semi. If a section of a song is missing something, they may be the last checkpoint called upon to add a track or two, but the opposite applies much more.
A book I bought to read up on my own mixing skills. Photo by Steven Levine
A raw track can be overcrowded, maxed out across all frequencies so as to be a jumbled mess. The truly great records are simple and bring out the objectively important element, whether it’s the vocals, layered guitars, or even the corny saxophone solo. It is the role of the mixing specialist to make the most important decisions: What is the most important element here? What can I drop?
Justin Bieber needs no caption. Photo courtesy of http://www.aceshowbiz.com/
All this makes the job of music production no less important than the writing and recording phases, though they can be more glamorous with all the hotel-trashing and shameless product endorsements that come along. The sound engineers and grunts that quantize and cut for hours on end are the true soldiers of the music industry, turning otherwise complete swash into billboard-topping wonders.
