I've briefly mentioned the subject of this in other places before, especially when talking about orchestration and arrangement. I think this is something that composers often overlook when sending their pieces out to be mixed. Mixing and orchestration are stablemates, they are in many ways similar, but they take place during different parts of the audio process. In mixing, a lot of our work is spent, not only enhancing what should be emphasised, and accented, but equally important is the work we do deciding what should be suppressed, or even removed because it doesn't serve the song. Another correlation is that it's likely the same time, effort, and attention to this will be required no matter where it happens. That is to say, that the more time you spend on the front end during composition with careful planning of the orchestration so there is breathing space for everything and all the parts support each other well, the less time the mixing engineer will be required to spend making these same artistic decisions. This is what the title is referring to. I love complex, well written pieces of music, but sometimes it's easy to get carried away and build layer upon layer of our favourite instruments, until we end up filling all the available space, and we end up suffocating the idea that we began with. If we leave space, room for the piece to breathe, and space to highlight the interaction between the sections, it brings life to the music, and ensures that your creation remains true to the original concept you imagined.
Chapter 7 of the Tao te Ching says:
Thirty spokes unite at the single hub;
It is the empty space which makes the wheel useful.
Mold clay to form a bowl;
It is the empty space which makes the bowl useful.
Cut out windows and doors;
It is the empty space which makes the room useful.
Are you leaving enough space to ensure the utility of your creation? I wish you all the best on your musical journey.
