They’re skills. And yea you can be artful in them.
Though I didn’t find anyone discussing the art of his kick EQing in this thread, for example.
Instead it’s “fidgety, hypnotic, formulaic grooves, no journey in the arrangement” etc.
I’m only noting the distinctions between the title and the discussion. These aren’t black and white. Plenty of grey space between.
Speak for yourself, it’s all air between mine.
Yeah I think part of it might be that his mastering is reinforcing something many here aren’t into, I suppose a question would be can someone master a deadmaus track in a way that would actually make lets say a more IDM focused crowd like it.
scratch the CD?
That’s a bit assumption.
Mastering shouldn’t have much to do with that.
Mixing… definitely.
I suppose, I feel like all the lines are blurred in electronic music especially if you master your own work… I have definitely subtly tweaked the groove of a track before at what I call the mastering stage, you can add in more variation to the dynamics with how you squash and pull. Obviously mastering is meant to reinforce the content and his goal, but I think you could make his work feel a little less predictable and breathe a bit more through mastering if that was the goal.
Life goals. Or not…
The only goals in my life are own goals.
A lot of people who don’t like Deadmaus have a lot to say about his music. 
Ya’ll sleepin on Mr. Bill if you lump him in with every other EDM artist. His DAW prowess is no joke and he may not sit and twiddle with analog all day but his output is massive & has a large catalogue of interesting, experimental EDM. Very prolific despite not being a mainstage producer.
Tons of learning content online via his website, youtube, etc.
And I agree to Dr. K’s comment above, lot of cork-sniffing coming from folks who may not have followed deadmau5 from his humble beginnings posting on Newgrounds & being part of a community similar to this one.
But he wouldn’t be where he is today without the hate. I don’t even like him/his music particularly but I guarantee a good many of us here would switch places with him in a heartbeat. I’m not afraid to admit it.
What he releases is generally pop EDM, where predictability is important for the audience.
That’s what I mean by context being meaningful.
Does it mean you like it? You don’t have to. There’s plenty I don’t like but I can appreciate how he mixes and masters for his audience.
Take your fellow Elektronauts comments in good faith, feel free to argue their points, but don’t simply dismiss their opinion as invalid.
This seems fair critique.
I tried to contribute more “mixing and mastering” content to the thread with a leading question, but failed even in that by offering feeble opinion alongside the question.
that’s true, I was asking myself why I‘m commenting so much here. What do I know about deadmau5
I’ve enjoyed a few Deadmau5 cuts. I could listen to either or both of the following on repeat for a good length of time. I know this because I have!
I also occasionally enjoy his hangin’ at home sets where he just spins for three hours and plays very little of his own music:
But all of the above being said it is just impossible for me to get much deeper into his stuff. There is one unfortunate fatal flaw. This guy just LOVES to work with those shitty breathy/whispery modern whitegirl ‘singers’. I cannot abide. Nails on a chalkboard to me.
Even though I can’t truly get into his output I also can’t really understand the negativity. Here’s a guy that did music all the time because he wanted to. Sounds like myself and perhaps a few others around here? It’s not his fault that he was rewarded with money and fame. And if doing music all the time because you like to and then being rewarded with money and fame is bad, am I supposed to hope that all of you whose music I enjoy every day because you do music all the time because you like to never receive anything for your music because then you’d not be ‘authentic’ or some shit? Waste of energy. I don’t find Deadmau5 to be any more or less authentic in his output than either of the two Davids presented as authorities on the matter above. I don’t honestly care much for any of them but generally speaking all the thought (negative or positive) I’ll put into the matter is moving on to music I do fully enjoy.
I laughed pretty hard at this one. Well played!
Why do people keep thinking this is why people don’t like him 
I actually quite like his music - listened to it back before it was cool.
I don’t like him because he seems like a bit of a nob.
I wish someone would challenge some of the actual criticism people have levied - rather than just attributing things they assume to be the reason for it.
So far my understanding is that the only reason anyone couldn’t like Deadmau5 is that they are jealous, ill informed or simply too far up their own arse. All criticism is invalid.
I’ve noticed that when I’m negative, it’s sometimes a defence mechanism… but it’s quite often a tool for learning better what I want to make. Sometimes I can’t describe what I want out of my own music & practice, or I don’t know how to get there. But when I hear something that’s the opposite, it moves the torch beam closer to where I think I’m going.
I quite like that track with REZZ you posted. Bit more journey, a bit more space “between the notes”; the different sections seem to connect together and feel like a progression of one another, for me. The slower tempo’s nice too. Now I’ve listened to a few of the mixes in the thread, I can hear “a deadmau5 sound” that’s not just the musical content, it’s the mix too. It’s very precise, plasticy… a lot of forward, dry synths; there’s some grit but it’s controlled and seems to sit in focused parts of the spectrum.
You’ve met him? I think it’s possible people might have a look around here and assume we’re all nobs?
I will counter with: I wish more people would be honest with themselves about the real reasons they’re taking time out to be negative. 99% of it reads like jealousy to someone who’s mostly indifferent. If I don’t like music I’m hearing I move on to music I do like. I could tell you all about how much I hate the Talking Heads (because I do!) but why bother? We all have better things to do.
No dismissal here, I’m no deadmau5 loyalist (big Mr. Bill fan though, only reason I’m commenting here) but reading though this thread, there’s a lot of not-quite-vitriol that puts a bad taste in my mouth.
The only dismissing/discrediting in this thread seems aimed at deadmau5 success. I’m sure none of us want that polished, radio-friendly, typical EDM sound but there’s no faulting his skill in marketing himself, his music & his brand.
I think the title of “mixing and mastering god” just triggers a lot of people here. But to each his/her own, I just know that I walked away from reading this thread as “that’s enough elektronauts for today, I should go make some music instead”.
EDIT: To add value here - if the thread were titled “Mr Bill is a mixing & mastering god”, I’d 100% agree. The guy’s micro-editing and knowledge/speed of use in Ableton is incredible. Back in the old days, he used to fade EVERY sample and many times by hand. Obviously this isn’t an esoteric skill but his love for sound design and getting everything to “fit” has a tremendous impact on the clarity of his arrangements. He has such a chaotic sound design yet everything meshes so well because of his attention to the small detail.
He may make brostep that no one really likes these days but that’s only because he was disillusioned from only making weird, atonal stuff that he loves but that was never going to launch his career. For a guy who is so passionate about music and didn’t want to stop making it vs. a non-musical career, there’s going to be some pandering to the lowest common denominator. Also, this isn’t just me making up a reason, I regularly talk to the guy in his discord and watch him stream his ableton sessions.
I don’t fault him for that, I’m just happy he continues to do what he loves everyday: make music, regardless of genre / final sound.
We should all be happy for the general success of our musical peers, no matter if we are privy to their particular sound. Is creative expression not equivalent amongst us all?
It feels like skittles dissolved in ecto cooler dusted with cool ranch doritos.