It may apply to live more because of pressure. Best advice I can give is when you become too deep and not getting anywhere fast, walk away for 5 to 10 minutes and let your mind regroup. When you come back you may view/hear things differently.
Not a thing wrong with your mixes.
The difference between live (especially monitors) and studio is I have 2-3 seconds to make the right decision, or lose work. In studio you can lose your mind in time and options. We’re just going to recreate what you decided on in the studio. So your decisions go on for a long time. So ya, immense pressure to get it right on both sides. Its just a different type of pressure we bring on ourselves to be the best we can be.
I used to work in a wood shop as a side job. Built custom wood doors for mansions ( some sold for 5-8k), windows, furniture. I’d drive myself nuts getting the ultimate perfect finish. A guy watching me with my face 2 ft from it inspecting it, said if you can’t see it from 6 ft away, don’t worry about it. That was a game changer that reset me.
I suffer from perfectionism, the problem is, nothing is “perfect”. But I drive myself nuts trying to get there. I’m rarely happy with my own work. Even when others call it great. “No, its not, its OK”.
In studio, I think one big factor is the mixing volume. Certain frequencies have a very pronounced perceived volume level depending on the level you're listening at. I try to do most of the mixing at around a level of normal conversation. I turn it up briefly to check things like bass and to see if anything gets harsh.
yeah - breaks! Take breaks.
After I'm burned out on mixing, I try to not come back to the mix for a day. A lot of times you end up being able to hear what's not working immediately after the fist listen after a long break.
Live mixing has a lot of challenges too. Just different. Same idea with taking a break, I think.
For studio mixing, I picked up of a good tip for getting a mix started. I like to start with the drums. I usually have 16 drum tracks, including percussion. So I bring all the faders to zero and panned center. Then ONLY touch the faders and get a rough balance for everything before touching the pans or adding any EQ or Compression. Then start to pan stuff.
Also, when EQing stufff in a mix, I try not to solo that instrument unless I'm checking for something specific. I do my changes in the context of the mix. A big trap is soling stuff and trying to make something sound good on it's own - and usually that will backfire and not sound good in the mix.
I could go on forever! lol. I love music. I love playing my guitar, writing songs and working with my good friends in a band context. It's rewarding.
