Producer Turned Mix Engineer: A Conversation with Dave Weingarten
In an industry often focused on dramatic transformations, mix engineer Dave Weingarten has built his reputation on a more nuanced approach. With a background spanning touring drummer, producer, and now mix engineer, Dave brings a unique perspective to the craft of mixing. His "5% approach" and calm studio presence have made him a sought-after name in the industry.
You've made quite a journey from producer to full-time mixing. What inspired that transition?
First of all, thank you for having me! It's an honor to be featured here and I hope folks reading this can take something constructive away!
The transition to a more mixing-heavy focus was gradual. I've always enjoyed mixing, and have been encouraged along the way to do more of it, but earlier in my life I imagined I'd be producing records. I have produced a bunch, I've engineered/tracked quite a bit, and I'll probably still continue to take on a few very special projects here and there. However, in the last few years I've been asked more and more to purely mix for folks, which has been an absolute joy.
There is something really special about helping an artist finish a record that really speaks to me. I love hearing a song for the first time and imagining the possibilities of where it could go and how to bring the emotion into focus. It's like a puzzle of the heart, and I dig that.
Your "5% approach" to mixing has become somewhat of your signature. Can you explain what that means?
Totally. SOMETIMES, not always, the producer and artist have already spent many, many moons expertly crafting the sonic landscape of a song. They have already gotten it to a place that they love. And sometimes, all that recording needs is a little 1-inch putt into the hole (I am not a golfer, I don't know where the golf analogy came from).
This is where the 5% approach comes into play. I'll always put the ideas I have into my first mix pass, which can sometimes be pretty dramatically different from where the producer and/or artist left off. But a lot of the time the song doesn't need a heavy-handed mix. The idea is to shine a spotlight on the song. Sometimes the emotion is already there, and doing too much is detracting from, not adding to, how directly the song is speaking to your heart. It's always different - you have to feel it out and listen to what your instinct is telling you.
As a former touring drummer and artist yourself, how has that experience influenced your approach to mixing?
I try to get an understanding of what the artist wants. I imagine the song playing in venues that match the artist's aspirations, and then I try to get the song to match that energy. Sometimes the song is in somebody's bedroom, sometimes it lives in a stadium, sometimes you're bringing basement show energy to an arena tour.
It's really important to me that I have a mental image of the venue for the song I'm working on. I guess it's about understanding the artist as best as you can. Sometimes you have aspirations for them that they don't have yet for themselves. Sometimes it's your role to help them understand their potential. I try to get as good a sense as possible of who the artist is and what they want. I think if you make the artist happy, you will be happy.
Let's talk gear. You've made some significant studio upgrades recently. How have these improvements affected your workflow?
The biggest change has probably been the purchase of a pair of PMC IB1s (the active ones) a couple years ago, which have been great. They combine 80% of what I loved about my Twotwo6 speakers with the added bonus of being really fun to listen to. It's honestly hard to go to other studios and listen to other people's speakers now. ALTHOUGH I did get a pair of NS10s (with a Yamaha P3200 amp) recently and it's been nice to have those in the mix as well. They give me a totally different perspective from the PMCs, which I think has helped me to make decisions faster.
Soundflow has been crazy. I'm still new to it, but it's saved me days already. I have a button on my StreamDeck that turns off the fridge near where I sometimes cut vocals and piano, which I think is cool.
Having the privilege of working with you on my own record, I am always impressed by your calm and collected demeanor in the studio. How do you maintain that mindset?
To be honest, it might be a fight, flight or freeze response from being in a pressurized/social scenario. But really, I like to keep it light in the studio. It's all music. We all take it seriously, of course, but at the end of the day our job is music, not open-heart surgery. We can afford to have some fun with it.
And when something goes wrong (and it will), it helps nobody to have a freakout. Maintain. Make it light. You'll figure it out. And whatever happens will be a learning experience for next time as long as you use that knowledge to prepare. The VERY LAST thing an artist or producer wants is a stressed out engineer, and the last thing you want is to be a stressed out person. You got this.
What have been some of the most significant mindset shifts in your journey from producer to mix engineer?
The biggest thing is probably understanding that these are not your records. You should ideally like the mixes you're making, but there's no need to fight battles for your creative ideas here. I think of it like my job is to give somebody a haircut. My hairstylist career is going to be pretty short if I use 100% creative license on every haircut. There's a lot of room for your taste and creativity! But you're not the artist. You're the barber for their music.
Another thing is I've started really appreciating and leaning into the notes process, which I used to dread. I've realized it's an opportunity to build a closer working energy with the artist, producer, and team. The idea is that everybody comes away with something they're super proud of, that they can still be proud of years from now, and everybody is still friends. The notes process can be the bulk of the time on some mixes, and I've started to embrace that.
How has working with a coach helped you navigate this transition and grow as a mix engineer?
Michael has helped me tremendously. He's been a sounding board, a fountain of ideas, and an all-around invaluable second perspective. The same way a song often benefits from a separate set of ears come mix-time, having Michael around has been an asset to helping me move into new territories in my career. He's helped me step into myself in a sense that's hard to put my finger on. I think it's about seeing the same thing from more than one angle.
ALSO Michael put me onto some very cool ways to organize my tasks and ideas, as well as showing me new ways to manage my calendar. It's kind of not the stuff you think about when you imagine a life of making music, but it's really a limiting factor. Getting this stuff right with Michael has raised the ceiling of possibilities with how much and the types of work I can take on, not to mention how happy I am as a person. He's the best and ONLY person who does what he does in the galaxy, as far as I know.
What advice would you give to other producers or musicians who are considering a transition to mixing?
My greatest takeaway is that everybody does everything differently. Figure stuff out for yourself. Experiment. All of the great mixers do things their own way. This takes time. It's not 10,000 hours, it's 10,000 iterations.
Invest in treating your room. Invest in GREAT speakers. This is not my area of expertise but realize you're stepping onto the court with folks who can hear things that you can't if your monitoring isn't up to par.
