Mixing Audio, and the Art of Many Interests
In music production, mixing is the art and science of balancing the relative volume, frequency, and perceived spatial relationship of all of the elements that you hear. It’s where most of the magic happens.
In fact, there are many outstanding musicians that, nevertheless, do not know how to mix their work very well. Bad mixes can make great arrangements, and great playing seem amateurish. Great mixes can make even nauseating arrangements sound polished and professional.
Actually, you’ll get an even clearer understanding by doing it. Throw on some headphones and give it a try.
Mixing Life
As you mixed, you probably noticed something: the louder you made a certain part, the more you couldn’t hear other parts. Addressing that fundamental problem is what audio engineers spend years perfecting. In fact, there’s even a paradox to it: the more tracks that you add to a song, the harder it becomes for any one element to stand out. You can often get a bigger impact by reducing the number of elements in a certain section.
It’s actually a beautiful, albeit bittersweet, analogy for lifelong learning, self-development, and healthy relationships.
There is only so much time in the day, and life is all about choosing what, and who, is most important to you at any given moment.
One of the challenges that I’ve always had is that in really specific communities, I am often the proverbially dumbest person in the room. And I’m not being self-deprecating here. It’s more of an observation. I have pursued competence and proficiency in a variety of domains…which also means that I’ve become an expert in none of them. In a room full of experts, I won’t be able to move the conversation forward in a meaningful way, and I greatly benefit from listening.
For a long time, I saw it as a bug. I now know that it’s a feature. A broad perspective is it’s own kind of expertise. But it takes an eclectic array of soft skills, patience and self awareness to see it in a positive light.
Exploring different topics, in my experience, is usually seasonal. I ebb and flow between subjects in chunks, and I usually come back around and revisit previous seasons, newly informed with whatever else I was learning.
Again, it is surprisingly similar to what an audio engineer does with a music mix.
Now that I’ve had many seasons, I’ve been able to reflect on structural themes and challenges that underlie many of these tidal interests.
Here are a few meditations in the cooker:
No one really cares about your inner world, unless the behaviors produced by your inner world have a measurable impact on their experience.
When you choose many interests and a wandering path, you will inevitably, continually be in a position of low clout. You can’t rely on linear progression and long pedigrees to propel you forward, and it forces you to learn other ways of establishing yourself.
A strong interest in ideas can lead to weaker interpersonal ties. That can be lonely and isolating. It takes more work to keep the ties that you do have, strong.
If you hate the feeling of starting back at square one, I strongly advise against this kind of life. The feeling of starting over is a central theme of my experience.
There is a priceless, beautiful sense of perspective that comes from trying on many different ideas, and listening to people with a variety of perspectives. I don’t know that I could live any other way, even if I wanted to.
I don’t think I’ll ever have the satisfaction of feeling like I got the right mix of choices, but I’m also thrilled by the prospect of continuing to experiment.
