All language subtitles for MWTM5

hello everybody Joe chicka relly here

we're at the beautiful wonderful la

Fabrique studios in the South of France

we just finished a week at mix with the

Masters fantastic just magical week with

13 participants that that shared their

ideas and quite quite a fun week and we

had the beautiful and talented Rachael

Yamagata here singing and recording a

track with us and quite inspiring for

everybody we have some questions from

from the sports fans and the gear addix

and the first question from Daniel Elba

Daniel is asking about basically how to

get started in the business and what the

best way for a young engineer is whether

he should take the traditional approach

which is working at a major studio and

kind of working his way up the ladder

from gofer to assistant engineer to

first engineer or if he should go to a

recording school and take the approach

of working in his own private studio

cultivating a client base and maybe

coming up with his own unique way of

recording I think honestly both

approaches work the traditional one

unfortunately there's less and less

opportunities there's less and less

commercial studios

sadly less opportunities you're going to

have to do a lot of dirty work a lot of

cleaning floors and coiling microphone

cables like I did and but the positive

thing is you can be around other

engineers and producers and learn from

them and that's one of the really

amazing pluses is seeing different of

different people work their workflows

their style their their sounds their

conceptualization that's really

important that's how I learned and and

and that was really wonderful for me now

you can start your own studio build your

client base and learn in your own unique

way that's cool too you may end up

carving a very unique and specialized

niche for yourself could be really good

and then later you can always go and

work with other producers and learn from

other producers and engineers their

style in fact that that might even be a

good way to do it because you'll have

developed a lot of the basic techniques

things that you didn't learn in school

and then you'll be able to really

understand other producers and engineers

their workflow their their thought

processes so perhaps that way can work

too so it's really what's best for you

it's a life decision more it is a career

decision ok next questions from cheat -

Alexandre and he's asking about vocals

in a mix and how do you make them sit

well in the mix and glue to the track

good question and he's talking about

pretty much in the box techniques but

honestly what I do in the box I would do

outside the box and first of all it

tends to be parallel compression

sometimes I might put a bit of a

compressor on the insert of the vocal

just to give it a tone keep the peaks

under control I might do more of my

compression in the parallel compression

I blend that in with the normal lead

vocal track I add 20 30% just depends

often I'll use multiple parallel

compressors perhaps I'll mix and match

things one compressor because it has a

certain sound I'll use that in the verse

another compressor that perhaps has a

bigger or more aggressive sound I might

use that in the chorus could even use a

third one for the bridge just depends on

the song but I will definitely apply

some sort of effects even when

Vogel wants to remain a bit dry I'll up

maybe put some dark delays back there

behind it but if if you do

rhythmic delays with lead vocal and you

get them so they're not heard as delays

they tend to help the vocal glue to the

track they make it bounce a little bit

more they give it a little bit more life

and rhythm and help help it sit above

all the other instruments and tracks so

so I'll very subtly do that kind of

stuff and it really depends on the music

how much it's heard how bright or how

dark those delays are perhaps the vocal

might need a little bit of extension a

little bit more depth I might do some

type of dark plate or Hall whatever's

appropriate for the music and that

really that I have to say the music

really determines everything I think

you're mostly asking about pop so with

pop the delays can be brighter the

reverb zeni chorusing effect you might

use sometimes even a little bit of flan

gene helps get the vocal to to be a

little bit more exciting and they can be

brighter and pop music that they can be

perhaps in rock or even rap music for

that matter hope that answers your

question

Mao is asking what effects in popular

music have surprised me lately when I

listen to the radio I think the one

thing that's that's pretty funny to me

is how it's cool again to use reverb

whether its natural or artificial having

grown up in the 90s and made records in

the 90s it was not cool to use reverb

those were dry times you were you were

fired as an engineer if you tried to

sneak some reverb in a rock bands mix

dry was in even in in bigger pop records

that you'll go back in time and they're

definitely drier and I

so now everybody's using reverb and it's

cool and it's okay

and you'll hear big giant reverberant

records on grizzly bear and even even

adele for that matter isn't afraid of

using reverb so it's kind of funny to me

how trends of effects happen and they

come and go and you know years ago in

the 80s everything was very processed

and lots of delays and and unfortunately

when you hear that music now it sounds

very dated so I don't know let's see in

ten years if if things sound like 2013

we'll find out okay next question

Ricky Tara Ferreira asks what are your

methods of layering different vocals in

a track that's good question there's a

lot of different ways to do it

I'm assuming Ricky that you're talking

about actually recording them and if

that's the case I'll tell you one or two

things that I often do

perhaps if I'm doing a lead vocal then

doubling it often I'll do the double on

a different microphone perhaps I'll look

for sound for the double that will

complement the lead vocal in other words

if the lead vocal is very bright I might

look for the double to be very dull and

I'll do the same with background vocals

perhaps if I'm doing stereo background

vocals I might do one where the singer

is very close on the mic and one when

they're further away especially if I'm

doing especially if I'm doing gang

vocals where you might do three four

passes of group background vocals I'll

always make sure that they are each at

different positions in the room I'll

switch the singers around move them

further back off the mics anything to

get a little bit more depth and bigness

in the sound so it's not the exact same

vocal sound on top of the exact same

vocal sound I make sure that

each track even if it's via compression

or equalization or microphone placement

I make sure everything's just a little

different because I think they add up to

a much bigger sound that way

hope that helps question from Andrew

Pettit Andrew asks mixing in analog or

mixing in the box or hybrid mixing I'm

assuming he means via summing and some

console which do you prefer and why well

I grew up with analog tape and mixing on

analog consoles so that's the most

familiar to me I'm the most fluid at it

it's sort of part of my being so that

would probably be the easiest and most

favorite way for me however there are

obvious advantages of mixing in the Box

primarily recall these days

record companies want multiple different

versions of songs for an hour approval

manager approval European market versus

Asian market so having the ability to

quickly recall mixes is a fantastic

thing hybrid mixing meaning I'm sure he

means via summing boxes where you do a

lot of mixing in Pro Tools and then some

through the desk is great I think it's a

great way to get the advantages of in

the Box mixing but to get the quality of

an analog console so given a lot of the

needs of things these days

hybrid mixing can be the best way to go

the good thing about analog mixing is

that usually every time you recall it

it's a little bit different so it's

almost like a painter he's never going

to paint the same mix twice so sometimes

you come up with things that you

actually beat the original and are

indeed better where sometimes when

you're in the box I find that you just

repeat yourself maybe you turn that

guitar up

a little bit but ultimately it's it's

the same mix so they both have their

advantages hope that answer isn't Andrew

okay Andrew Gentilly asks a very tricky

question here yes what my position is on

mixing loud and do I find myself mixing

louder than I was in the past perhaps

and they also asked an interesting

question about mastering if it's really

really necessary these days in the fact

that we're not necessarily always doing

vinyl or CD and we're delivering files

direct to iTunes or whoever so he's

asking if mastering is necessary my my

feeling on on deliberately mixing loud

and pushing digital levels and trying to

outdo somebody else on the radio to me

it's it's not my favorite way of working

it's not something I believe in I think

you make the best most musical record

possible you don't worry about loudness

because every single radio station is

going to sound different and sometimes

if you try liberabit ly to push the

level when it finally gets out there on

the radio the radio compressors can be

pretty evil boxes and usually the

loudest thing tends to get compressed

even more so if you're compressing your

mix is hard to make them sound loud

chances are they're going to start to

sound smaller compared to things that

are more honest and organic and I also

feel it's your your job it's your duty

to the artist to make a record that will

stand the test of time and even though

over the past years

mixing loud was a trend I think that

artists might not want to listen to that

record in five years or ten years time

so I would hate to do anything that

would compromise the artists long-term

career so I would prefer to make a great

sounding record and then

worried about the levels when it comes

to the radio

I think mastering is really really

necessary because everybody needs an

objective year a band hires a producer

because they want an objective year a

producer needs an A&R man because he

needs an objective year and I think the

mastering engineer is the engineer or

the mixers objective year and sometimes

it's what he doesn't do to it and

sometimes it's the things he adds to it

so I trust my mastering engineers I give

them a lot of freedom I I hope that they

will look at my work and find the one

little thing that I missed that they can

add to it that'll help make it out

well-rounded musical mix so I'm always

in favor of using trusted and great

mastering engineers I think it's

something that no artist should ever

skimp on okay Joel Davis this question

is what was my approach when working

with Jason Mraz on the song the woman I

love interesting question Jason wanted

to do something where we showcased great

musicians great arrangers great

recording and and we're really sensitive

to the song and we all listened and

loved to those we all listened and love

those classic albums that were done in

Muscle Shoals with Paul Simon and Aretha

Franklin and dire straits where the the

musicians were really a part of the

record and you you heard virtuosity and

you heard tasteful playing and it wasn't

about layering lots of tracks it was

really about honest organic parts and

the chemistry of the the musicians in

the room so with that particular song I

can say I think we were very much

thinking of a 70s Muscle Shoals almost

blue-eyed soul version of the song and I

think if there was a theme for the album

it might be to incorporate those real

honest

L

of great songwriting great singing and

great musicianship and not a lot of

trickery so we have a question here from

Daniel Bruns a little tricky question

and I might surprise him with my answer

here he asked when I sit down to mix a

song rock or alternative what instrument

do I start with and they also asked what

are some of my go-to gear or starting

points from the mix the tricky point is

I don't start with one instrument I

start with everything I put the whole

mix in I get myself a great rough

balance before I do any compression or

EQ or anything I put every single fader

up make it sound like a song and then

I'll sit back take a listen and go okay

perhaps the drums need a little

adjustment a bass needs to be more

powerful drums need a little bit more

Sparkle a little bit more snap the vocal

needs some effects to glue it to the

track and then I might break the mix

down a little bit but I'm not going to

use a solo button I'm going to maybe

take the vocal out and start to work on

the drums with everything else in there

the way I look at a mix is it's a it's a

house and you build it and build it and

build it but you don't necessarily start

with the second floor and expect the

third floor is going to work with the

foundation so I like to kind of start

with it all together and put the pieces

together like a painting and very rarely

will I solo an instrument maybe I'm

having problems with it I will because I

think it's about how each element works

together and not necessarily what they

sound like unto themselves and solo so

it's it's all about the entire mix all

faders up and then in terms of what gear

I go to you know I have my favorites but

but every kind of

very kind of music requires different

gear Daniel's asking specifically about

rock and alternative so if that's the

case I would want gear that has

character and power and attitude so I

would certainly use API EQs Neve modules

for low-end I would use Universal Audio

compressors for thickness and power

might use my Chandler compressors for

effects I love my Chandler curve bender

I use that on the stereo buss especially

for rock music because just a little

tiny bit of it really adds a lot of

aggression and energy to the sound

lately I'm hooked on the Clara phonic EQ

that seems to be a beautiful EQ to use

for the overall stereo bus even just a

crack of it somehow helps guitar rock it

helps the guitars and bass and organ or

whatever's in there just come forward

and outside the speakers so maybe the

Clara phonic is my my new piece of gear

for for 2013 that might be my one of my

favorites I love my shadow hills

compressor the listened grove compressor

is great there's lots of good gear

that's out there that I really truly

love but in terms of mixing rock music

those are some of the go-to things

there's a question here from Ray Ketchum

I think I know you Ray it's a funny

question you asked basically about what

have I discovered new in 2013 well

certainly a lot of new music but I'm

sure your questions about gear because

everybody's question is usually about

cure okay so some of my favorite pieces

of this year have been the shadow hills

mastering compressor the shadow hills

you a mastering compressor plug-in a lot

of the UA

plugins are fantastic I used my

satellite everywhere I go that's a

fantastic box I like the new listen

Grove compressor it's a sort of

emulation of the old Altech for thirty

Six's those are fantastic

I used my Chandler stompboxes all the

time

there there guitar distortion pedals

that just have a beautiful and unique

tone my Clarisonic stereo EQ has become

my go-to buss EQ it just does something

that no other equalizer does

oh boy in terms of microphones there's a

lot of great things out there I was just

able to hear the new Audio Technica

rectangular diaphragm mic and I'm sorry

with the numbers I've forgotten the

number but the new Audio Technica mic is

very very unique sounding very open and

clear and natural and has a way of

almost removing the glass from the wall

the other thing I'm hooked on these days

are the new mic pre e cues from

undertone audio they sound unlike

anything that you could ever hear there

are a combination of a thick retro sound

but a very fast modern sound they're

very sophisticated in terms of the

equalizer and the mic pre has a tone

that everything sounds outside the

speaker's everything sounds more present

than all your other instruments there

it's quite a unique box that Eric

Valentine's built Peter is asking a

question about how far do I take my

mixes how close do I get them to the

finished product what do I do in terms

of compression EQ how much do I leave

for the mastering engineer he says he's

been disappointed in the past when he

lets the mastering engineer do all the

work Peter I trust my mastering

engineers I am fortunate and I've worked

with Bob Ludwig and Ted Jensen and Greg

kalbi and

Emily Lazar and Gavin Larson and some of

the great ones and they consistently

always do good work so I never process

my last step of the mix too far I trust

them I let them do their job I will do

some stereo buss compression in EQ but I

always do very very minimum because I

want to preserve the dynamics but I want

aggression and I want glue that a final

compression will give you I don't

finalize them normalize them anything

eyes them I leave that to the mastering

engineer so if I'm doing stereo buss

compression with a Alan smart C 2 or a

Chandler or a shadow Hills I'm only

doing a couple of DB at the very very

most and in terms of buss EQ if I'm

doing any it's 1 DB on the bottom 1 DB

on the top and that's about it I'm very

very gentle with it and I always feel

that a good mastering engineer is going

to objectively hear your mix and be able

to finalize it that's what he's there

for

so I would say to trust your mastering

engineers and hopefully you have to you

know one thing I do sorry Peter one

thing I do is I've studied mastering

engineers and I listened to their

records and their sounds if you will and

I try to choose a mastering engineer

based on things he's done in the past in

other words if I'm mixing a very heavy

guitar oriented rock band one thing I'll

do is listen to other records in that

genre and I'll happen to see oh look at

this

Greg Kelby or Ted Jensen mastered all

these records and I like the sound of

all these records they have something in

common

and then I'll perhaps choose that

mastering engineer for that kind of

music

perhaps if I'm doing something very warm

organic and tasty and simple and I want

air and openness or a jazz record

perhaps I might see that Oh Bob Ludwig

did all my favorite records in that

genre so I'll choose Bob Ludwig and

there's many many other younger

mastering engineers that are coming up

and doing great work so there's plenty

of people to choose from and sorry you

had a bad time in the past

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