Curing Demoitis and Preserving the Magic: How Artists and Engineers Can Communicate Their Way to Better Mixes

Follow these tips—on both sides of the glass—to enhance your communication in the studio for better end results.

Imagine you’re a mixing engineer who just did a fantastic mix for your client, but you’ve barely hit send to share it with them before they tell you you’ve ruined the magic of the demo. Oh boy.

That demo was terrible! It had all sorts of problems from pitchy vocals to terribly recorded bass, with pops and digital distortion all over the place. Your client is clearly suffering from demoitis – an unreasonable preference for the demo version of their song over the new professionally mixed version.

Now, imagine you’re the artist. Your engineer just sent you a mix that sounds good technically, but it really lacks the emotional impact you were looking for. You know there were issues with your demo, but it also captured a magic that’s missing from the new mix. Demoitis? That’s totally unfair! You have real problems with the new mix, and your engineer is just trying to blame you for their failure. What a jerk!

So… who’s right? As someone who has been on both sides of this story, I’ve come to realize that it actually doesn’t matter—that’s not the point. Talking about demoitis or ruined magic will not get your song finished and sounding good; it’s a dead end that simply blames all your disagreements on your collaborator.

Instead, what if you could resolve those disagreements through better communication, unbiased evaluation, and more realistic expectations? In this article, I’ll share 8 tips for artists and 8 tips for engineers to do exactly that. If you and your collaborator follow these steps, the magic will be preserved and demoitis will be cured!

8 Tips For Artists to Cure Demoitis:

Stop telling your engineer they’ve ruined the magic. It doesn’t give them any tangible details they can use to improve the mix, and will only make them feel bad. Instead, talk about specifics. Is the new mix less punchy, full, or exciting? Words like these can help your engineer actually apply your feedback.

Listen to your demo closely before sending it to your engineer in the first place. Which specific instruments sound great? What’s lacking? Then, tell your engineer what you like and dislike most about the demo before they start working on the new mix.

Directly compare your demo against professional reference tracks so you can hear how it really holds up. Compare the new mix too! A good reference track should be in a similar genre, use similar instruments, and most importantly, give you the feeling you want from your track.

When giving feedback on the new mix, be detailed and clear about specific elements, making sure to include both positives and aspects that need improvement.

Avoid the temptation of listening to your demo right before the new mix. You want to be comparing the new mix to other professional tracks, not to your demo.

Be flexible. Embrace that you will not get exactly what you’re imagining. It doesn’t exist. And even if it did, you need to leave room for your engineer to put their creative stamp on the song too.

Take your engineer’s feedback seriously. They know different things than you do, and that means they may notice things you don’t.

Ask friends their opinions on both your demo and the new mix. You might start to feel differently based on their feedback.

8 Tips For Engineers to Preserve The Magic:

Stop telling your client they have demoitis. It will make them feel unheard and frustrated. Instead, explain that a new mix may sound odd to them at first, and share the steps above so they can evaluate your mix as objectively as possible.

Ask questions about the demo up front. Legendary mixing engineer Michael Brauer talks here about what he asks clients before starting to work.

Speak your client’s language! If they are not an engineer, then using technical terms will not help them understand your perspective. Instead, talk in terms of their artistic vision, and use plenty of analogies.

Ask what reference tracks they’re using, and more specifically, what aspects of those mixes they love.

Ask their priorities for the song. Danceability? Emotion? Clarity of the lyrics? Creative priorities should always shape the mix more than technical parameters.

If you disagree with your client about a specific aspect of the mix, share your own references, reasons, and feelings behind your disagreement. This will help contextualize your ideas for your client and help them understand your perspective.

Don’t be precious about sound quality. Some great records may not sound as “objectively” good as others, but they emphasize the right things in the right ways. Sometimes paying too much attention to technical perfection can distract from artistic power.

Learn from the demo instead of fighting against it. Your mix may be better in many ways, but the demo might also have captured something that your mix didn’t. What can you learn from it?

Summing it Up

This article was written with hopes of helping both the artist and the engineer, because collaboration is always a two-way street. It doesn’t matter how right you think you are if you can’t communicate your ideas well. It also doesn’t matter how wrong your collaborator is if you can’t convince them to understand your point of view. But if you and your collaborator use these strategies, you’ll both develop better communication and evaluation skills, which will lead to the ultimate goal: better mixes. Good luck!

David Schockett is a music producer, mixer, and teacher making music under the name Puppet Life. Find his music at puppetlifemusic.com, Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms.  Follow on Instagram or Facebook for more on becoming the best musician you can be. For lessons or consultations, click here.

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