I was out walking my dog for our Sunday stroll and decided to put on some music. I opened the TIDAL app on my phone and searched for an old favourite - Micheal McDonald. I spent a few seconds scrolling through the albums available and then decided to play what TIDAL considers the best tracks.

"No more runnin' down the wrong road" came the opening lyrics to Sweet Freedom, a classic. Within seconds of the song playing, I was doing it again! Wondering what the synth part is, the hi-hat sound… is the snare too loud?

Arrgghhhhh! Rather than simply enjoying the song and performance for what it is, I'm deconstructing it. I do it all the time.

I blame my work as a programer in the 1980s. I was tasked with taking studio albums and figuring out how the sounds were made so that the band could take them on the road. Half the time, the band would have worked with a producer and had no idea how the sounds were arrived at. Or the sounds were created with Fairlights and Emulators, which were too costly to tour with for most mere mortals. I, therefore, had to deconstruct tracks and recreate every keyboard sound for the live tours.

The process of deconstructing tracks was how I made my living; it was a blessing. It also became somewhat of a party trick when people would ask me what the sound was on a particular track. But 35 years on, it's a curse!

Blessing Or Curse?

I thought I can’t be the only one? So when I got home, I decided to ask my peers if they suffered the same fate.

Mixer Craig Bauer said, "I’m afraid of music industry folks that DONT do this. They clearly suck at their job. 😉"

Producer/Engineer Alan Branch suggested it was something to embrace, "I like it, it’s natural to deconstruct that which we make each day, much like a builder can see how things are constructed, what gets me is when I can’t immediately work out how something is done"

Some felt it a curse...

Capitol's Steve Genewick said, "The curse of the job." With engineer and producer Steve DeMott being somewhat scathing about the issue, "It’s horrible. Between analyzing song form, arrangement choices, melody & chord theory to mix decisions, I don’t know how to “just listen” anymore."

One thing is sure, for some of us, a career working in music production has ruined our ability to enjoy the music that inspired us to do the work we do.

What About You?

Do you suffer from the mixer's curse. Do you even regard it as a curse, or like some think of it as a blessing?

Let us know in the comments your thoughts.