Friday, March 24, 2006

WORKING FOR THE WEEKEND

Mixing it up this weekend...

Tonight Strikes Again! comes to Smoke and Mirrors (all 4 members - a first? maybe a second) to finish mixing their 5 song demo (Working title - "It's Not An EP"). When I say "finish" I mean get the songs to the point where our mixes may be finals... we'll listen in our various environments over the next few days and decide if they really are done. If so, cool. If not, cool. We'll tweak and go again.

I anticipate some loud music and possible imbibing. I, of course, will remain completely in control. After all, mixing a song is like flying a plane. I base this on my extensive piloting experience.

Basically, I try to keep my eyes on the dials, keep us level, and make tiny adjustments to maintain balance. If I stall, I point the nose down, and I always make sure I have enough space between me and the ground to recover (thanks Dave).

We'll have air sickness bags on hand.

Tomorrow... more mixing.

George, Ted, and I will be heading over to Headgear in Williamsburg to run an analog mix of "Hugo Magnolia" for the upcoming House of Blondes record. At some point George was able to convice lead singer John Blonde that running the ProTools session through an analog board and mixing to tape would benefit the sound immensely. They ended up booking Headgear, and we'll mix through their Trident 80C console to 1/2" tape (moving at 15ips - that's "inches per second" - the prefered speed for rock).

I'm excited about the session. The board's got flying fader automation, and the idea of mixing to tape has enormous appeal for me. Unlike mixing in ProTools at Skyway Studio (George's space), you can adjust levels on more than one track at a time. This seems so simple that it's hard to believe that it's been lost more and more as people mix in computers. Unless you have a dedicated control surface, ie a bank of faders connected to the computer, you're forced to use your mouse to do one thing at a time. Not the way it used to be done, not the way it was meant to be, and not the way we'll be doing it tomorrow.

Headgear has an actual EMT plate reverb. For those that don't know what that is, it's the weird looking box in the upper left hand picture on this page. This is one way they used to do reverb. It's heavy and very cool, and it certainly ain't digital.

Will the mix be better on analog? As I said to George, Mike, Ted, and John, we know it'll be different.

2 Comments:

At 2:25 PM, Blogger Tony Alva said...

WOW! Mixing on a Trident console. I have had the distinct pleasure of doing this and it was very yummy. My dream studio would have a Trident console in it.

Timely that you mention the dig/analog fader thing. Tape Op features some discussion on this very topic this month. I love faders and consoles for all reasons I've stated before. It's the inclusive aspect of the set up that appeals to me. More than the person driving the mouse can be touching the mix at any given time.

Can't wait to hear how it goes...

 
At 4:49 PM, Blogger Dave Cavalier said...

Just as long as you remember not to use full flaps on final in stiff headwind, you should be able to bring this puppy down to the deck.

If you finish with SA!, can Gizzard of Ozz, the Blizzard of Oz tribute record, be far behind?

 

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