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Farming out mix down and mastering from Cakewalk, but engineer wants to do it by phone...


Dreamer

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Finished my project on Cakewalk. I don't like mixing or mastering so I'm farming it out. Problem is that the sound engineer wants to do the mix over the phone using my DAW. Not that I want to put down my axe its great but I thought that's why one would want it farmed out. New set of ears, (golden I'm assuming),  in addition to a  high end studio. And I already mentioned to the engineer that I don't like mixing. Has anyone ever been asked to  this??

I've been out of the industry for 30 yrs now. Does this sound right? This is unusual to me.

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I'm not clear on what is meant by "over the phone using my DAW."

When someone proposes an unusual process, I usually want to ask why they aren't doing it in a more conventional way.

Considering that Cakewalk is freeware you can send them the project, or if they don't want to use Cakewalk, you can send them your raw stems. Why wouldn't they just have you send your files and do a mix in their studio on their hardware, with their fancy plug-ins, their high-end monitors? They send you a mix, you approve it (or suggest tweaks), they master it, you approve it (or suggest tweaks), you get a finished product.

As far as I know, that's the common way to go about it.

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It sounds like something similar to when Waves and other companies take control of your computer remotely while you're on the phone with them in order to troubleshoot, but in this case the guy would be mixing on your daw and using your gear but with his expertise. Problem is, I get how the "physical" part could be done remotely, but not the audible part. How will this dude be able to *properly* hear what he's doing? I was thinking maybe he uses your daw remotely and can hear your daw through his studio monitors.. but then in that case why does the phone need to be involved? I'll give dude benefit of the doubt and assume he's not going to be monitoring over a severely hipassed phone signal, so.. 

@Dreamer, did the guy break the process down to you? Because now I have to know 

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Sorry for all the confusion. To answer, the engineer basically wanted to coach me over the phone as a co-mix, not remotely.  I've since pulled back and hired someone else. This idea to me was ridiculous and the mere suggestion of doing this teed me off.  I thought that after so many years wow has the industry really progressed. But something just didn't sound right and despite the explanation that was given to me, (to keep the project in an acceptable budget for me), my gut was telling me he was taking me for an idiot.  As always, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.  But I've learned to trust my instincts and the red flag stuck out like a sore thumb.

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1 hour ago, Dreamer said:

Sorry for all the confusion. To answer, the engineer basically wanted to coach me over the phone as a co-mix, not remotely.  I've since pulled back and hired someone else. This idea to me was ridiculous and the mere suggestion of doing this teed me off.  I thought that after so many years wow has the industry really progressed. But something just didn't sound right and despite the explanation that was given to me, (to keep the project in an acceptable budget for me), my gut was telling me he was taking me for an idiot.  As always, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.  But I've learned to trust my instincts and the red flag stuck out like a sore thumb.

Computer issues remote for $$ yes. Only if I trusted them. Something's not right..........I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

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