Reminder for your ears

WHAT CAN I DO ABOUT "EAR FATIGUE"? The first step is acknowledging that ear fatigue is a common problem in the studio, primarily during overdubs and mixing. The best way to combat this is to work at low volume. While turning the monitors up may inspire you to create a great mix, you can work much longer with a clear head by keeping the levels down. (Naturally, you'll need to crank it up every now and then to make sure the mix is exciting.)

Tip: If the guitar player is in the control room and needs to hear it really loud -- maybe even to the point of creating feedback through the control room's monitors -- wear earplugs and let the musicians' ears bleed if they want. One of the keys to a successful mix is to take frequent breaks. Maybe it's a five-minute break every hour or a 20-minute break every few hours. It's easy to get so deep in the process of tweaking levels and frequencies that you start to lose perspective. Eventually, you don't realize that you can't hear anymore. If the client is there with you and paying you by the hour, don't be shy about stepping away from the console several times.

Also, be careful about packing too many hours into a mix session. It's tempting when you're on a roll (or if you've blocked out a studio for 24 hours) to keep going for 12, 16 or even 20 hours of mixing. But there are two reasons to cut your session short before then. One, your ears naturally shut down after too much exposure, and finding the right frequency to tweak can get elusive. Two, there's a tremendous benefit to sleeping on it. You can learn the same things in fifteen minutes the next day as in 3 hours of late night hair-pulling.

:clap:

i'm just after getting back into the studio after a long session yesterday and i'm really noticing things in the track that dont sound right at all... i thought it was bangin yesterday.

your ears are by far the single most important part of your music making process - look after them.

+ if poss. tune your ears to a reference file from time to time (before) you start of and possibly before. when not mixing sober (i.e. drunk) you will prolly boost the highs to much... :)

in addition to that make use of a spectrum analyzer.

words from the wise, good stuff

All excellent advice

The other main tip is to avoid clipping a signal at high volume. Sound is a pressure wave throught the air - clipping produces square waves at high SPL - a square pressure wave hitting your unbelievably sensitive eardrum and the tiny tiny tiny little hairs that reside behind it is highly damaging.

To use a slightly weird analogy imagine standing in the sea. If a powerful wave washes over you it affects you strongly but it passes through you. If a big fat **** off wall of water slaps into you its going to do some damage.

Take breaks. Avoid loud clipping signals.
Also - don't play headphones too loudly! Far too many people rag headphones far too hard and they can be really damaging.

Love your ears!