Mixing Goals for 2026: Outreach, Skill Stacking, and Staying Hungry as a Pro

In Episode 358 of the Mixing Music Podcast, hosts Dee Kei and Lu do a loose “New Year, New Goals” conversation focused on real, practical upgrades for working engineers, both technical and career-related. They start with the career side: how easy it is to get comfortable when work is steady, and why that comfort can quietly turn into less outreach, fewer in-person hangs, and slower networking. The guys talk about rebuilding the habit of showing up, saying hi, staying visible, and keeping relationships warm, even when you do not feel desperate for the next client. On the technical side, Dee Kei shares a simple but powerful listening habit for 2026: mixing at lower monitor volume more intentionally. He describes how turning the monitors down can instantly reveal vocal level problems and balance issues, especially when comparing what a limiter is doing to your drums and mix shape. They also get into the challenge of mixing a live performance EP to sound as close to the studio record as possible, including the reality of trying to make live drums feel more like samples. From there, the conversation turns into “skill stacking” and education. They talk about learning tools you may not personally prefer, simply because certain environments demand them, like Pro Tools in many studio workflows or Digico consoles in a lot of festival and live sound situations. They discuss the idea of getting Digico certified, what high-end live consoles are built for (including redundancy features), and why expanding your toolset can help you scale into bigger gigs. They also explore an unexpectedly practical idea: taking community college courses for cheap, from Pro Tools and recording classes to music business, marketing, and even basic economics and personal finance. The point is not chasing a degree, it is staying sharp, learning from experienced teachers, and intentionally investing in growth without going into debt. They wrap the episode by encouraging listeners to choose a technical goal for the year and keep it front of mind, plus a few fun side tangents that are very on brand.

You can listen to Mixing Goals for 2026: Outreach, Skill Stacking, and Staying Hungry as a Pro online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Mixing Goals for 2026: Outreach, Skill Stacking, and Staying Hungry as a Pro is an episode from Mixing Music | Music Production, Audio Engineering, & Music Business by @DeeKeiMixes.

This episode is 37:29 long.

This episode was published on Jan 27, 2026.

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