Hello guys !!!

I've been doing this mixing thing for almost 20 years, it's been 17 years since my first mix was released, and I'm mixing professionally full time last 10 years.

As time flies, I'm getting more known and more popular clients.

98% of the mixes I send are approved, of course some minor revisions are always there, but 98% of the time people like it. And also, more importantly people keep coming back, I have very high rate of people coming back, which I mostly think is due to my commitment to make clients feel happy and safe.

My question is clear, the one in the topic, even after 17 years of mixing, and thousands songs, I still have big anxiety while sending the mix and waiting the clients response, even though I know that 98% of time it'll be approved

The reason why I'm asking this in audio board, and not in some psychiatry board is because I read Andrew Scheps saying this:

"...The other is my never ending self-doubt and lack of self-confidence. I sent a mix off yesterday and had the exact same adrenaline rush as I did when I first started."

Is this a thing with all of you guys, or majority of you, or some of you ?

Or should I (and Andrew also) go see a shrink ?




Let's go :D

Imposter syndrome/related feelings are super real - I feel them all the time! On the bright side, it means that you're working hard and you care. But definitely try to find some ways to boost your self-belief

i've been in this business about twice as long.

luckily, i only occasionally/rarely get hit with doubts - besides very fundamental thoughts on the (lack of) meaningfulness of 'moving some air' (which i counteract by doing something really meaningful)!

interestingly enough, when it happens, it's not on the occasion of larger/more important projects/events but always prior to small gigs which any newbie would survive without getting into troubles...!?

if it really bugs you, of course (try to) get some help - and tell your friends about it...



...or start your own label so no one tells you to redo things! :-)

I get anxiety as well, it was worse when I used to do this for money, now I'm doing it for fun again it's mostly gone away, most of what I do is for myself now, you're constantly pandering to sometimes very difficult people.

Yeah, I would say that difficult people I was getting at, in my life while mixing for them, are what made me become anxious... Since I'm mostly doing urban music genres (hiphop, dancehall, pop-dance..), and since demoitis become a thing more and more, I started developing anxiety for unreasonable demands etc... I just can't don't care if the low end is not where it should be, or vocals are super too bright, or too loud to the point that music doesn't matter... But I see that in top pro level as well, destroyed mixes because artist or manager wanted that, take Shakira - Hips don't lie as an example, awful mix, basically a karaoke demo, the mixer itself told, and I think here on GS, something like Shakira knows what she wants and it was her demands to make it that way... And I get it, we serve the artists and the producers, but imo some good taste borderlines got to exist...

And I must say that I have less problems and demands from known clients, and more problems with unknown... I guess experience is playing the role as well...

You must get to the point where you trust your gut and your ears and you have to REALLY know your system. Sometimes, these whack-ball artists are right in their decisions. The key is for both of you to be happy with any give and take. Some artists think they know exactly what they want or want something to sound a certain way. And then you find out they really don't have a clue and are just trying to keep control over their project. Most musicians/composers/artists are control freaks.

Remembering a true Streisand story where she kept complaining about some flute notes. The poor session flautist was just crushed from overhearing the comments about "the bad notes". The arranger said ok, I'll rewrite them... told the flautist to play the same notes and Streisand said, "oh, that's much better".

I just listened to some of your work. You do very good mixes. Don't be so hard on yourself though I know its hard to not sometimes. Just remember when you end off that you are happy and people trust you. Its very normal to feel the tense and anxiety. Just keep rocking on those killer mixes!

Ahahah thank you!
A lot of them are actually imo destroyed because of artist desicions lol??? (like too much highs, cheap distortion etc... Not enough bass, or too much bass...)
There are just few of them that I think are good representation of my work.
Recent days were crazy, I got contacted by a major label from another country, they heard one of my mix in a club, and found me. Got an opportunity to mix a really big artist, I did it, they loved it, zero complains...

EDIT: I just updated my credits list with my recent work :D I realized this discogs is a mess

I have clients like that a lot...Not Barbara Streisand obviously :D :D

Listen to what HZ says here:

https://youtu.be/_JAlOTl84yc?t=86

1:26

Not exactly the same as sending off a mix and anxiously awaiting approval, but similar in a lot of ways.

Cheers.

Experiencing anxiety is not necessarily a negative thing. Sometimes it's just a matter of perspective. Maybe your anxiety incentives you to be successful. Possibly it helps you put in additional effort into your craft. It's healthy to consider how anxiety might inspire self-improvement.

If anxiety is having a detrimental effect on your well-being and overall quality of life, maybe it could be wise to seek professional help. Not necessarily a psychiatrist at first. A psychologist might help you find the insight you need to deal with your anxiety.

I hope this helps!

Yes, for both things.

I'm thinking about go see a psychotherapist first.

My quality of life do suffer, I have huge problem with insomnia.

I really thought I'm crazy. Then I went to a vacation, and I was sleeping like a dead man, 8-9 hours a night, no problem... Going to bed early, getting up early, zero problems, nothing, I felt reborn...

While I have an excessive amount of work (and that's almost all the time), and dealing with tough people, I have hard time falling asleep, and when I do fall, I wake up in 2 or 3 hours and then I can't fall asleep again... I started to redirect people to a colleague of mine, because I want to unload myself a bit...

And all that insomnia are driving me to loose concentration, to eat a lot of sweets to feel better, I'm gaining weight, then loosing weight (when I have good period), I like lifting weights and playing basketball, but disturbed lifestyle is not helping me at all...

So yeah, I'm ready to see a psychotherapist, and luckily I know one great.

My comfort is that I see a lot of music professionals are experiencing the same thing, so I don't feel alone... Recently I saw Alex Tumay, famous mixer from ATL, basically saying the same-ish thing on twitter, advising people that follows him to take care of their health...

I thought talking with you guys, and sharing some experience could help a bit.

Basically I wouldn't talk about that here, but I saw few famous music professional talking about that, and you are the only group of people able to understand problems etc... A lot of you guys are experienced than I am, I guess a lot of you were going threw same things and developed some mechanisms to fight it.

Thanks

Oh, Hans is an inspiration, so down to earth guy.

I don't see anything wrong with you sharing how your work is affecting your well-being with fellow engineers, musicians, and hobbyists. On the contrary, I applaud it. I think everyone would have an overall better life experience without the primitive mental health and well-being taboo.

Keep up the good work and I hope you get some sleep. Insomnia is a PITA.

It drives me crazy when they "need the mix by tomorrow" but don't answer back until two weeks later...

AMEN!!!