_ Every released recording, every signed-off mix, is a result of hundreds or thousands of individual decisions. These range from the big (does the world actually need a harmonica version of Eruption) to the detailed (what Q setting should I use for the mid-range cut on the glockenspiel solo).

One of my largest personal hurdles in getting things done with music has long been the concern that there might be a "better option" for any given decision.  The hard-won (in some case the REALLY HARD-WON) realisation is that in most cases the fine detail "really-doesn't matter that much". Am I suggesting that detail is unimportant?  Not by a million miles, I'm suggesting that in most cases you can split the detail from the idea and make a lot of your initial decisions based just on the idea.

Let's say I'm mixing a bass part and it has fret rattle all over it.  I have no option to re-record because I'm just mixing this one.  The fret rattle is obtrusive, well past the point of adding just a bit of useful attack.  What are my options?  I can
- fire up a VSTi and play a new bass part
- borrow another bass player and sneak-in a new part
- fix the rattle with EQ
- fix the rattle with compression
- volume automate the rattles
- do something else that I haven't yet thought of.

OK, in this case the first 2 ideas (replacement) are not on - so I'm not going to bother auditioning sample libraries nor checking my 'phone list for bassists I won't use.

EQ and multi-band compression both fix the problem but leave the bass lacking uper register detail so it gets lost when I check the mix on small monitors.  The compression option appears to be less damaging, so I'll run with that.

I now need to get some more higher register information into the bass part.  I can
- layer on some clean guitar
- use a harmonic generator
- add distortion
- use an octave doubler to blend-in a new part
- copy the part, offline process it to produce an octave higher copy and blend that in.
- do something else that I haven't yet thought of.

I try them and settle for the distortion approach. Up until this point I haven't worried too much about the detail, I didn't fret (sorry) about which precise EQ plugin to try, what release time to try on the compressor, which distortion generator, which octave doubling algorithm; I simply auditioned the IDEA then put the time and effort into refining the detail for the one concept that I chose. Occasionally the detail will trip-you-up, if the compressor set-up was totally shot then the idea would never work, but I suggest that most "Right Idea"s are pretty resilient;  an automated volume drop at the beginning of the drum-solo was clearly the way to go irrespective of the detail decision of -95 or just -85dB.

This could save you about 10 hours a day - YMMV!