Your fellow musician questions your latest track's production quality. How will you respond to improve it?

I think it is important to listen to references from your favorite song. The questions are what did they do to get the pre-mix, how did they break it down? If you're in a band playing let's a tamborine and that tamborine is such an important element of the "vibe" of the song, then how can you get it to blend in well where it doesn't stand out so much? Most experts at this point would listen to each individual track seperately, put a first touch eq, compression, pan etc and then put it back into the mix to blend with the other instruments with minor adjustments here and there. It's not always about what you add, but what you can take away to create the vibe/blend/groove. Music makes people feel, when mixing, feel it and others will too.

Definitely listen to the different view points nothing wrong with getting input from people, from my experience most love their rough drafts of a production but a proper mix can always make it sound better adding more depth, clearer vocals and all around just sonically better.

Firstly, I would say don't ask people who's professional opinion on the matter you don't respect. We tend to just ask the closest friends of our about their opinion just because we respect their opinion but we know they can't give a detailed opinion about the matter. Asking a professional is important and knowing that this professional is genuine in the delivery of his opinion. This is important to bettering the quality of the track.

Working with a good mix engineer is key someone who understands the different frequencies, sound balance, not just guessing for the room they are in but for other spaces

I can’t say it enough to producers and artist getting a good mix will help your sound cut through the clutter of everything else out here

One approach that I can say should always be add is a clean version always do a clean version so your not putting yourself in a box with your product because it’s not able to be played everywhere

While constructive criticism can be helpful it is important to rely on professionals around us to determine the best course of action. Is it judgement or criticism?

Go to the car and test it out, also with some headphones too is definitely some of the things I have done to listen to a record to see where it can be adjusted

The best perspective is your own, after time away from a track. If you have the luxury of time, ignore it and listen to completely different music for a while. Forget it if you can. When you listen again you'll know precisely what's working and what isn't. Other people's opinions can be a good piece of radar if you're lost, but stick to your own road map and you'll get there.