By Andrew Hughes
Readers of our newsletter will know that two reminders appear at the top of each one: the first is for our monthly song share, which we tend to call SAMI for convenience’s sake, and the other is for the Mixer-Mixer. Both of these meetings serve vital parts of the music community, offering songwriters and mixing engineers the tools to turn an idea into a finished song.
We discussed in last month’s article what the SAMI meeting is in great detail. It serves songwriters and poets by giving them an inviting, nonjudgmental place to share their work and receive feedback. They can do this by performing their work live or by sharing a recording. The group focuses primarily on lyrics and song structure, catering its feedback to whatever the individual sharing has asked for.
On the other hand, the Mixer-Mixer caters to mixing engineers and musicians. Hosted by Neil McTavish, this event has been going strong for the last few years as a sort of companion to SAMI. It gives community members the opportunity to hear their recording on great speakers in a treated room. The benefit of this is that, if your mix sounds good in this environment, it will sound good anywhere. That includes your car, your phone speakers, your earbuds, your studio headphones, or anything else you can think of.
Neil is an experienced mixing engineer who works with REC Room Recording, but spends most of his time working with Atlys, his daughter’s string quartet. When he critiques your mix, he’s looking to help you reach the full potential of your artistry. To help take you to the next level, he’ll let you know what sounds right and what sounds off, while also giving you the tools to fix whatever problems he might notice. Attendees can bring in their recordings on a flash drive or share them via email or AirDrop. Much like SAMI, both works in-progress and finished songs are welcome.
Learning to mix is a daunting task for the uninitiated songwriter, and it may not be necessary for you. But learning the terminology allows you to think like a mixing engineer, so you can better communicate your artistic intentions to those you trust well enough to mix your music. At the very least, having the tools to refine your demo recordings is a great start, and we’d love to help you with that!
The discussion isn't just limited to mixing, either; Neil often opens the proceedings by sharing what marketing tools he's been using for Spotify for Atlys. He's full of insight into what plugin or piece of gear works in any given situation. On top of that, there is usually a smaller group than the average SAMI meeting, giving the group time to dive deep. You're bound to learn something if you come by!
SAMI is exploring ways to give community members additional outlets to discuss recording. This includes occasional workshops and other events at the studio. Details are still developing, but we’ll keep you informed!
The Mixer-Mixer takes place on every fourth Tuesday, except for June and December, at 7:30pm. That means our last meeting of the year has already passed, but we'll be back next year! We’d love for you to join us if you have any recordings to share, or if you’re interested in mixing. The best way to stay up to date on this event is to join Neil’s separate mailing list. To do this you can send an email to samisecretary@gmail.com, use the contact form on the website, or come to a Mixer-Mixer.