How To Guarantee You'll Make Better Recordings And Mixes In The New Year

Today I’m going to cut to the chase – if you want to take your recordings and mixes to the next level in the coming new year, there’s only one thing you must do.

It doesn’t require a new piece of gear or a radical change in your day to day life.

Rather, all it takes is a simple commitment to one thing and one thing only: finishing more projects.

The Art Of Finishing

What’s wonderful about the art of recording and mixing music is that you get better by doing it.

Just like how the first picture you ever drew as a kid was horrible in comparison to what you could probably draw now if you tried – music making is an acquired skill that improves with each and every project you finish.

But the key here is finishing.

Just hacking away at the same song for months and months all in the name of “perfecting” it, simply won’t do. You must finish that sucker and move on.

It doesn’t matter if it’s one album or one song, if you can finish something and move on to the next project your odds of getting better improve dramatically.

Why is this? We only get better by doing a large body of work.

The more experiences you have with music in the studio, the more your ear is trained, your brain is stretched, and the more your confidence increases.

All three of those take time, but they lead to a better recording and mix immediately on the next project.

Don’t Commit To Anything Overwhelming

As the new year approaches, many of us announce (either publicly or inwardly) very ambitious goals and resolutions – things that we will do completely differently.

Many times we bite of more than we can chew, making it hard to stick to our new plan for self improvement. Which leads ultimately to us burning out and giving up on our goals.

There’s no need for that with your music this next year. Instead make a simple and doable commitment to something quite underwhelming – making slightly more music than you made last year.

Seriously that’s it.

If you wrote, recorded, or mixed just one more song next year than you did in the past twelve months, you would be sure to improve your craft.

And that’s the goal – constant improvement. Not perfection.

I know it’s been a good year in the studio when I can look back and see some steady progress in my skill. That’s all I’m shooting for. And that’s all you need to shoot for as well.

A Plan That Will Help You

Later this week I will be revealing a simple, yet doable plan for you that I think will help launch you into more (and better) music making in the coming year and I’m really excited to share it with you.

We’re going to take the sometimes daunting goal of completing a big project and simplify it (and break it down) into a much more manageable approach. Plus I have a few surprises to go along with it!

But for now I want to know two things:

1. What was one thing that really “worked” this year for you in the studio? A new technique? A new approach? Better time management?
2. What was one thing that did NOT work for your music making this year?

Leave your answers below and stay tuned for later this week!