I have that same problem as well - One thing I have noticed is that less really is more when it comes to making executive decisions. Because of that, I really try to make level and panning adjustments before I even think about reaching for e.q. or compression. I've found from my own personal experience that you can really fuck up a mix when you use signal processing that maybe isn't necessary - You add more gain stages and can raise the noise floor/phase issues when getting all wild with e.q. and compression.

I agree with the above statements regarding making sure that he material is well recorded - If you have that, I think you are 3/4 of the way there. Also, what specifically are you noticing that seems odd about your mixes? Have you made any adjustments to the room you are mixing in? As I'm sure you probably already know, the acoustic integrity of the room can have a profound effect on the ability for your mixes to translate. Do they sound really good on your monitors in the studio?

I have found the comedy equivalent of my mixing skills:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM2UtVhV3Yw

(View from 4:00 to 5:00 for the scene in question)

from a book called mixing with your mind I read I found a technique that really works for me.

it outlines that the first step after levels (obviously) should be panning. you should find the instrument's place in the mix before adding any eq's/effects etc. and then eq as little as possible but trying to take away frequencies rather than adding them. I like to do most the mixing with a few instruments going at once as well. sometimes I'll add some really light compression before panning as I don't have the means to compress while tracking.

Flux Capacitor wrote:Well, the insanity arises when you don't want said recording to be "what it is"; you want it to be larger than life, HUGE, FACEMELTING. So you start making the drums sound enormous. But now the bass isn't cutting like you would like; it doesn't sound as aggressive compared to that huge drum mix. So you smash the bass and EQ it up to sound big, but now the guitars sound a little puny too in relation to that bass....so on and so forth. It's not an easy task, even for seasoned mixers to do. It takes time, endless processing, automation, editing, etc. I often get frustrated myself during such an endeavor.

I have been struggling really badly with this problem for the past few weeks. I'm glad this thread is here so I know I'm not alone.

"Hello, my name is Kyle, and I over-obsess mixing."

I tend to do the same thing. "Wow, that sounds great. I wonder what would happen if I...". It takes a lot of effort to stop at "Wow, that sounds great", which is silly.

I have a rule that I try to adhere to: only use effects to fix problems. If I'm not thinking, "Hey, those dynamics are too uneven, that's a problem", I shouldn't be using compression. It takes a lot of willpower, but I'm getting better at it, and my mixes are getting better as a result.