Answer: Yes, I’m happy to do test mixes for EP’s and albums.
I want the chance to show you what I can bring to your music and I also want you to compare it to many other engineers mixes so you are absolutely sure you get the best result for your album before committing your deposit. I understand this can be a significant spend for some bands, especially unsigned bands with smaller fanbases.
Money isn’t everything however, if you’re getting test mixes from multiple studio’s (smart move by the way…) check the studios online Google or Facebook reviews or speak to some of their customers and find out what their service was like.
Some questions to ask are:
- Do they keep their clients informed throughout the whole process?
- Are they easy to talk to?
- Have they mixed anyone you know or have heard of?
- Do they have any commercial album credits?
- Did they understand the brief?
- Did they help with promotions?
- Was the mix they got any good?
- What was the mix revision process like?
- Did they finish the project when they said they would?
- Will they offer your money back if you don’t like the mixes?
Another approach is to send your best mix version to me for a free video consultation. I’ll listen to your mix and send you a video of me explaining how I’d mix the song, the elements I’d like to bring out, any changes to the arrangement etc. I can advise you on any issues I hear that might be to do with how it was recorded, if there’s distortion for example.
By watching the video you’ll see and hear me talking about your music and you’ll get a solid feel for how I work and if I’ll bring the qualities you’re looking for to your album.
There is always the old fashioned way of picking up the phone or a quick chat on Skype. However you do it, do something to suss out which mix engineer is going to be right and who’s going to be wrong for your project, before handing over any cash and you won’t go far wrong.
If you’d like to talk to me about any of the above please get in touch and you can take a look at my reviews on my mixing and mastering pages
