There is a deceiver in our midst.
Where is it? In your stereos. Your car, your home, your boom box... And it's name is Bass Boost.
You may say, "Ppphhttt! HA-HA! Is that what you're talking about?!? That's stupid! I know about Bass Boost. You just shut it off."
BUT, did you know that sometimes it goes by other names? Or sometimes, there is no name, it just is automatically embedded in some systems and you have to physically counter act it in order to hear a true mix?
For example, on my expensive home stereo, it's called "Night". So the last mix you heard of mine, Can't Say No, you might have thought it was thin, or tinny. That's because the studio monitors were telling me good things, but when I'd listen on my stereo, the Night feature was on - so it boosted the bass. This caused me to do at least 30+ mixes trying to get rid of the boomy bass. *Sigh* So aggravating.
Another time the gremlin struck was with my last album. My car stereo doesn't have a bass boost, but is so bass heavy! After mixing, I went out to the car excited to listen to all the music I had worked so hard on, only to be put to tears because of how boomy the bass was. I was devastated and basically destroyed my work trying to get it to sound correct in my car stereo. It wasn't until later that I realized what happened.
This is a huge issue for anyone trying to mix/master their own work.
Most of us like to listen to our pieces on several different devices/systems to hear what it will be like for our patrons. So please, be aware of this sinister prankster.
*** Make sure to use a reference track not only in your mixing, but on the other places you listen to your finalized mix. ***
It will make a world of difference. I have learned my lesson.
Don't let this, or anything else stop you from making music. You can do it.
Dream Big. Move Mountains.
Amy