It’s really pretty similar to learning to play an instrument - it takes repetition to hone your craft. You might try doing several quick mixes of the same piece as an exercise. Start off with everything set to zero, give yourself just one hour to mix and see what you come up with. Aim for different things with each mix (e.g. big guitar vs. lean). Use Save As… to give each mix its own Project. Then don’t listen to them for a few days - a kinda palette cleanser. After that listen & compare - what worked or didn’t, what’s worth further exploration, etc.
Also it’s very easy when mixing to spend a huge amount of time gradually making things sound worse. Frequent short breaks to reset your ears helps combat this.
LOL - embarrassingly the story of my mixing. Have sometimes to close a project and go an open one of its .bak files and do a bit of backward time travel before I overdid things.
Absolutely! As a matter of fact, this advice is gold.
I had to learn it the hard way as it´s not easy to let go in the heat of the moment. However, there is no way around. At the end of the day you´ll not only end up with a better mix but also save time taking a break.
When it comes to finalizing your mix put it aside for a day or more if there´s no deadline involved. You´ll be surprised how clear things are all of a sudden. Listen to the song from start to finish resisting the urge to fix something instantly. Take notes instead if something pops up. Works like a charm, every time.
