It's also good to understand the expectation of one's customer base. For example, an African musician was not pleased at the mix of this professional studio. The instruments were hand drums, vocals, and a wooden marimba called a balafon. The problem was having the balafon stand out in the mix when all the drums were playing. I told him that he had sit in during the mixing process to guide the process. He did that, but the mixing person had a difficult time as he could not hear the same thing as my friend. Eventually they got it right, but it was a painful process. Too much ego on the part of the mixing person. One can rely on one's own ears but one has to understand how the target customer base wants it. That can be difficult if one deals with a different cultural perspective. Olushola