Placebo Effects in Mixing or Mastering

Mixing and mastering has a lot of placebo effect potential and considering all the esotheric advices and approaches that some people advocate for on the internet regarding the improvement of their mixes, it is also a field to get incredibly lost in. Try to remain objective when you’re mixing/mastering.

It is great to experiment with a few things to see whether they have an objective influence on the music but if you just “feel” that there’s something different, it is most likely a placebo effect. If you are unsure, try to get a second opinion from someone with trained ears.

But also consider that when working in the media world with the financial and time constraints, it is most important to focus on getting the job done and applying the things that obviously have an effect.