A Machine That Feels

When you start out as a freelance audio engineer, it’s easy to think the goal is to outwork everyone. And honestly, at first, it kind of is. You’re building something from scratch. No team, no label, no safety net. Just you, your gear, and a dream that sounds way better in your head than your bank account reflects.

Early on, you have to operate like a machine. Consistency becomes your superpower. You mix, tweak, revise, and render until your ears start questioning reality. You’re learning your craft, building your reputation, and saying yes more than you probably should. That relentless work ethic, the grind, the late nights, the endless sessions, that’s how you get good. That’s how you become undeniable in this industry.

But here’s the part most people skip: a machine can’t feel.

And in audio, feeling is everything.

Whether it’s a client’s debut single or a small business podcast, your job isn’t just to make it sound clean. It’s to make it sound alive. Every compressor, EQ, and reverb setting should serve one purpose: translating emotion. Because listeners don’t care what plug-ins you used. They care about whether the song hit them in the chest, whether the voice in that podcast felt real, whether they believed it.

That’s the balance… being a machine that feels. You need the discipline to push through the grind, the precision to keep your sessions tight, and the awareness to know when to step back and listen like a human.

Great mixes don’t just sound perfect. They feel intentional.

So yes, work like a machine. Show up, outwork, outlearn, and outlast. But when it’s time to create, remember why you started: to make people feel something.

Because that’s the difference between a freelancer who mixes and an engineer who tells stories through sound.

You’re not just polishing audio. You’re capturing emotion, one frequency at a time.

-Aaron On Audio