The other aspect that is important here, is that I am not just mixing to get a middle-of-the-road sound - I work the audio to get a particular sound and vibe. For those that know my work, they tell me that I have "a sound", that they like. One professional audio engineer feels I am "top class" in terms of my use of soundstage, clarity and bandwidth. Whether he's right I don't know, but those are areas I put considerable effort into. If I were to share mixing and mastering duties with other people I would not be able to acheive what I set out to acheive. I don't share that part of my work with other people, as is my prerogative. I do collaborate with other musician friends on songs, I mix and master for people if they want me to and I share my music on soundcloud and youtube (all for free). What I am saying is that the production quality of the audio is as important as the compositional quality in my music which doesn't lend itself well to sharing with others. I'm not fighting back, I'm just giving more detail as it may be and interesting or amusing anecdote to somebody...MogwaiBoy wrote: Tue Jul 13, 2021 1:19 amI'm in full agreement with you! However, for purely technical things like "Is the high end of my song too strong?" because I've heard it 3000 times and my ears have accepted the harshness.... it is good to have an 'objective' opinion, like a mastering engineer's.plexuss wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 11:39 pmThat's the the crux, I don't care how it would normally be heard by other people. I write and produce music for my own edification. With that there are very specific characteristics I want imparted in my music and over-all sound - there is no way I could rely on another person to achieve that for me. If my output works for other people, great. But if not, I don't really care. That is part of the freedom I achieve by decoupling the need for income from my music efforts.MogwaiBoy wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:04 pm Being over-exposed to your own music completely obliterates objectivity. You can no longer hear it how it would normally be heard by other people.
But yes, absolutely agree to make music for your own gratification first and foremost. If other people like it, that's merely a bonus
'nuff a'dis!
Anyone try AO's Loaded. I used it recently on an important track to see if I could steer it where I wanted. I was pretty impressed. The gate was a nice surprised as it allowed me to add more "motion" in the dynamics - its an arp synth line with reverb, i could dial the gate in to gate in the reverb which allowed for more of this "motion" and a clearer sound by dialing down the reverb between notes. the other modules sounded pretty good in the mix. I didn't do any technical or detailed analysis.
Free Streaming! 
