Why are people always stressing about headroom? I get that things need to be below -0db and stuff but if anything clips I can just bring the entire mix down in logic pro by selecting all the volume faders and dragging them all down at once. It keeps the balance the same but lowers the levels.

So why do people stress about headroom as if getting it right in the beginning of a mix is so important it's gonna cause irreplaceable damage if it's wrong at first?

Should the mixing be approached differently or the same?

How much symmetry do you guys like within your arrangement? By symmetry I'm referring to repetition of a  section after it's already been played. Do you guys ever just straight up copy and paste a section of a track so that it repeats the same thing twice?

I've noticed that a degree of symmetry is necessary within an arrangement that way the track maintains a clear structure. I've never had a section of a track repeat more than twice though. And by twice I mean copying and pasting a section and having it repeat the exact same thing later on within the track. I feel like if a section of an arrangement is repeated more than twice without any sort of variation then it gets boring.

So how many times do you guys like to repeat sections within arrangements and when you do repeat sections do you just do a ditto copy and paste or do you guys like to add variation?

EDIT: I found a random project file on the internet and added some text to it to help illustrate my point. Notice how some of the sections in this project file contain perfect symmetry? How many of you guys have that in your arrangements?

I've been thinking lately. When I improvise on an instrument I don't really think consciously about what I'm doing. I just do it. When I start to think about things I start making mistakes.

I've noticed the same thing when writing music. I write my best stuff when I'm not really thinking about anything. I just do it. When I start to think about stuff I begin to second guess myself and analyze things far too much.

Do you guys think that the conscious mind can be a barrier? Particularly by overthinking things and analyzing too much instead of just doing things and not really giving a crap as to "WHY" things work?

I mean... even with engineering. I heard Avicii never even knew what a compressor did from a technical perspective for a very long time. He just sort of heard how it would affect the sound and trusted his ears.

Just for an experiment I set a kick to -0.0 db and slapped an EQ on it. I removed the 40hz frequencies and I expected the peaks to get lower. Instead, the kick was now hitting at +1.1db.

What gives? Doesn't removing the sub bass INCREASE head room. Not reduce it?

What is the difference between say mixing in a studio vs mixing live sound? I mean you're dealing with the same tools correct?

Do you guys cut the highs off of vocals and if so how far do you cut down?

How do you get tame them? Is this a desser job?