What happens when 8 producers mix the same song?

What is it about?

A song's final sound is shaped considerably by the music producer. To understand this creative process, we ran a unique experiment. We composed an original heavy metal song and then commissioned eight of the world's leading metal producers to mix it, with each producer working independently. Even though every producer started with the exact same recorded tracks, their final versions sounded strikingly different. Their approaches demonstrated two main philosophies. Some producers aimed for a classic, 'live' feel, working to capture the raw energy of a band playing together in a room. Others used technology to build a modern, 'hyperreal' sound, creating an intense and powerful 'wall of sound' that surpasses what a live band could physically produce. This study demonstrates that music producers are creative artists in their own right. Their decisions about how to blend instruments, create a sense of space, and control loudness fundamentally shape a song's character and emotional impact. Our work offers a new way for listeners and analysts to understand the craft behind recorded music and appreciate the producer's essential artistic contribution.

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Photo by Ivan Jermakov on Unsplash

Photo by Ivan Jermakov on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Our study is the first of its kind to have multiple, world-leading music producers mix the exact same song for a direct, controlled comparison. This unique research design allowed us to isolate the producer's individual creative choices from the songwriting and performance, creating an unparalleled resource for analysis. Two findings are particularly significant: 1. We found that producers’ choices generally fall along a spectrum, from aiming for a classic ‘live band’ sound to crafting a modern, ‘hyperreal’ sound that is intentionally larger-than-life. 2. We introduce a practical framework for analysing these choices, showing how producers manipulate dimensions like loudness, spatial width, and depth to create a recording's final emotional impact. This work makes a difference by bridging the gap between the technical craft of music production and the academic analysis of music. It provides a new language and a clear method for researchers, students, and fans to understand the producer's foundational role as an artist in shaping the music we hear.