Hey Warren,
I like this new Academy Lesson Suggestions area! Very cool idea!!!
So, we spend a lot of time learning how to mix from others, and there's a lot of great resources out there on the internet to purchase and learn from. One thing that you don't see as often is the all of the work, effort, and time that goes into prepping the mix properly. The more work that goes into the front end (recording and, of course, the editing/mix-prep), the smoother the mixing process will go when it's time to start mixing.
As far as an idea for a video, I think the best place to start would be to possibly share with the Academy how you like your audio files, and session to be prepped before you sit down to mix. When you have an assistant, what do you ask them to do, and how do you prefer your tracks - labeled, colored, gain staged, etc. etc.
Some people like to get dirty during the mix and deal with certain issues, like editing, tuning, and phase correction. Some like to have all of that handled ahead of time, as a way to stay focused on mixing, and not getting lost, or tired while fixing performance or audio-related issues.
I've worked with and mix-prepped for a few different mix engineers, and they all have different preferences... Some don't like anything phase corrected, as they prefer to handle that themselves. Some prefer all of their tracks to be nice and loud (not gain staged), so they can set their own levels based on their studio / work environment.
Anything you can share from personal experience to stories you've heard, I believe would be of great value to many of the members here, as a way to get the mind focused on the task at hand. One of the most common issues I see (and hear) comes from trying to mix a song that hasn't been properly edited, gain staged, and/or (fill in the blank with your own experiences). I'm guilty as well, especially when someone is trying to put a rush on something that just isn't ready.
That's all that I got for now, and hopefully other members will be interested in this topic as well.
Tobi.
Benjamin Rico
Musa Henderson
Tobi
thedove