I did something I’ve literally never done before: I went live on my mobile, mostly because I’m feeling the pressure. This is Day 13 of my Black Friday Project—my self-imposed challenge to write, record, mix, master, and release a song in 20 days using the gear and software I’ve been talking about for Black Friday. At this point the song is written, Suzie’s already done the guide track, and we came back a couple of nights ago to record the final vocals. We’re not doing “gazillions of takes” either—usually three takes, comp it, then grab a few overdubs if we need them. Today was basically all mixing. I got the session organised (around 70+ tracks once you count all the vocal layers and instruments), picked one reference track to keep my ears honest, and knocked out a quick static mix first—about 15 minutes to get the foundation happening. After that, it was refining the chorus, taking breaks, and then spending the afternoon automating the rest of the song: levels, transitions between sections, and send levels for effects. The big takeaway is mental more than technical: I started second-guessing and chasing a tiny vocal “artifact” for way too long. Suzie couldn’t even hear it—so it’s staying. Sometimes you’ve got to accept a bit of imperfection to actually finish the record, especially with a deadline.