
In The Daily Adventures Of Mixerman, we have a no-holds-barred-starring-Hulk-Hogan kind of deal going on. He tells you exactly what is on his mind and he couldn't give a damn about such slavery-inducing concepts as “sensitivity” or “tact”. Don't get me wrong. He's anything but a mindless barbarian. He's a well-spoken, sharp dude who just doesn't give a damn and has a low tolerance for idiots. (We are a dieing breed.)
In Zen And The Art Of Mixing, Mixerman must have visited the Trojan factory because we are in much, much safer territory. All that nasty, fun stuff from before I can barely even feel this time. You could read this book with your mom looking over your shoulder. In fact, there are only faint little glimmers of hope here and there when it comes to the recreation aesthetic. In Zen And The Art Of Mixing, I wasn't able to blast through it in a few days like I did Daily Adventures. In fact, it was much like a lot of the science books I read where the info is worth the effort, but it does take effort to read.
I guess one could argue that this is an “educational” book and it needs a serious tone. I'd like to punch whatever accountant came up with this notion right between the balls. I learn when I'm having fun. End of story. Anyone attempting to formalize “training” in a world where the pinnacle of our “industry” are coked-out remnants of human beings (basically everything in The Daily Adventures of Mixerman) has lost their bearings. I don't blame Mixerman (yet!!). I'm blaming a guy with a suit on. If his next book is this serious, he's going to be the victim of one of my Youtube rants and it won't be pretty.

Why This Book Is Worth Double It's Price
Zen And The Art of Mixing is not intended to be an all-things mixing book. The thing isn't big enough for that. I learned the hard way that if you want to give someone a comprehensive KAPOW, it takes multiple books, which is why it took me two years to create the 13 books in Killer Home Recording. You can't learn mixing without understanding audio engineering, which you can't learn without understanding......bla bla bla, you get the idea.
So this book pretty much expects you to have a good chunk of the fundamentals down. It's not the “Your first guitar chord” type of book, although Mixerman does an excellent job of “keeping it real”. (I've been saying that a lot lately. I don't know what it means.)
This book is worth double the price because you have a real guy (actually, a real, OPINIONATED guy) with platinum records with his name on them telling you X. He doesn't beat around the bush. He doesn't sugar coat anything.
Example
You may remember about a month ago there was a massive debate about whether a mixer should use a 2bus compressor: Compression: For Tone Or For Dynamic Control? (I LOVE 2 bus compression, btw, as I think it's the ONLY way to mix PERIOD, although it appears I'm in the minority here at Recording Review.) Ironically, not long afterwards, I find out in Zen And The Art Of Mixing that Mixerman feels the same way. While it's possible (or even likely) that we are both crazy, I suspect that there is something to this.
While I pretty much take everyone's opinion on a provisional basis (with a hefty helping of skepticism), when a real deal platinum engineer dude feels STRONGLY about something that I've found to be ultra-effective myself, that one gets a nice, big “No Longer Worrying About It” stamp. This magical stamp is something us home recorders normally only dream about! The “What if I'm doing it wrong?” complex eats us all alive!
This notion of having a big wig confirm your views is absolutely critical. This is the #1 reason I recommend the Michael Wagener Workshop to everyone. It was one of the best times of my life. Mixerman, Ken Scott, and a few other big wigs are putting something similar together. Maybe he'll post the details.
Other Highlights
Mixerman put quite a bit of time into the sections on working with artists, how he charges, and things of that sort. He's obviously been there and done that. This knowledge is not something you can gain normally unless you go ahead and stick the fork in the electric outlet yourself.
Fair Warning! Mixerman tells you right off the bat that this isn't a checklist to mixing platinum records. Those don't exist. It teaches you how to think. I personally find this more valuable.
Well done, Mixerman. Just next time a person in a suit has an opinion pull out any of 10,000 smart-ass comments from Daily Adventures.....please.
Brandon




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