Collaboration
How to give mix feedback an engineer can act on
The difference between "the vocal feels off" and "01:43, lead vocal 1 dB up until the drop". A format for notes that get the mix you want in fewer rounds.
Most mix revisions are not caused by bad mixing. They are caused by notes that could mean three different things. “Can the vocal sit better?” might mean louder, quieter, brighter, drier or more in time, and the engineer has to guess. Each wrong guess is another round.
Good feedback is specific about four things: when, what, which way, and how much.
The format
<timestamp> · <element> · <change> · <amount, if you know it>
01:43 · lead vocal · up · about 1 dB until the drop
02:17 · transition · love it, keep exactly as is
00:00–00:24 · intro pad · too wide, feels detached from the kick
When. A timestamp, or a range. “The second chorus” is ambiguous in songs with a double chorus; 01:43 is not. If the note applies to the whole song, say so.
What. Name the element as the session would: lead vocal, BVs, 808, kick, snare, pad, strings. If you don’t know the name, describe it: “the high synth that comes in on the pre”.
Which way. Louder or quieter, brighter or darker, wider or narrower, drier or wetter, earlier or later. One direction per note.
How much. If you can hear the size of the change, say it: “a touch”, “a lot”, “about 1 dB”. Engineers can calibrate to your scale after one round.
Say what to keep
Positive notes are not politeness. They are instructions. “02:17, love this transition” tells the engineer not to touch it while fixing something nearby. Without it, good moments get changed by accident.
Listen on the version, not in the thread
Write notes against a specific version. “Mix 19, 01:43” can be checked in six months. “The latest one” can’t: by the time the engineer reads it, there may be a newer latest. If your tools let you pin comments to a timestamp on a specific version, use that; the note then appears exactly where it belongs, on the waveform, and it stays attached to that version when the next one arrives.
One voice per round
When an artist, a manager and an A&R all send notes separately, the engineer gets contradictory instructions and has to referee. Collect the notes in one place, resolve disagreements before they reach the mix, and send one list. If people disagree and can’t resolve it, say so in the note (“Karim wants more vocal, Harris wants less; can we hear both?”) rather than leaving the engineer to pick.
Listen fairly
- Match levels when comparing versions. A louder mix sounds better even when nothing else changed.
- Compare at the same moment. Switch between versions at the same timestamp rather than restarting.
- Listen where the song will be heard, as well as on good monitors: phone speaker, earbuds, car.
- Take a break before a final round. Ears adapt within an hour.
Close the loop
When a new version arrives, check each note from the previous round and mark it resolved or not. Notes that stay open get carried forward; notes that were fixed get closed. It takes two minutes and prevents the most frustrating message in music: “I asked for that three mixes ago.”
Examples
| Instead of | Try |
|---|---|
| The vocal feels off | 01:43–02:05 · lead vocal · up about 1 dB, it’s behind the synth |
| More energy | 01:12 · chorus · drums louder and snare brighter; hats a bit forward |
| The low end is weird | Whole song · 808 and kick fighting around 60 Hz; 808 a touch less in the verses |
| I don’t love it | 02:40–end · outro feels long; could we hear it four bars shorter? |
| Perfect | Approved as Mix 20. No further changes. |