Check this out.. Mixing Article..

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VOXVENDOR

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One of my Mixing Hero's, Tom Lord-Alge in MY opinion is the best Rock Album mixer... He's Done, Steve Winwood "Back in the Highlife", Oasis, Stones, Marilyn Manson, U2, Peter Gabriel, Sarah MacLachlan.... and the list goes on......

He has a very interesting view on compression, and it goes totally against what most the guys say about not over compressing.... I mean his albums are sweet.. and he says he compresses, sometimes every track 30db......

I mean, even just mentioning "Back in the Highlife" is enough notoriety.... that album was amazing sounding...., He also did "If you Leave" by OMD..... And that song is solid!

I love going against the grain and leaving the Naysayers behind in the dust.. and this man has done that!

Check it out....
http://www.sospubs.co.uk/sos/apr00/articles/tomlord.htm
 
Good article BG!! He even mixed one of my fave performers, James Brown!! Annnnd his love of 1/2" tape & Sony DAW over Protools tells me he's oldschool, just like me!!
 
Excellent article, but dammit! He's giving away a great mixing secret that many "pros" advocate against. The secret is using healthy amounts of compression.

I know I may get bashed for this, but I love to squash my mixes. I love to make them punchier, I love to make them smoother, I love to wax and polish the bastards. Gimme more compression! Loud. I wanna hear it loud!

Granted if you're mixing classical or jazz, even a little compression will ruin the dynamics associated with the genre. However, for pop and rock, you NEED compression.

Check out the second last paragraph on this SAE Institute page:
http://www.saecollege.de/reference_material/pages/Mixing.htm

Don't just compress for the sake of compression. Learn how to use it and which settings apply to which circumstances. If ya learn how to tame the beast, he will become an important ally.


Matt
 
I love compression... but there is defiantely a technique to be learned.. Anyone can turn a few knobs, and make the meters move and add compression...but, I find the hardest thing is to get the attack and release right... I find that too fast of an attack and too long of a release time will kill the punch... but then the opposite, doesn't give it that compression sound we have all come to love :).....

One thing I have to say is that alot of Home Recording people don't compress enough... I always hear a decent drum machine beat and some cool Eddie Van Halen guitar riff... and then this vocal, that sounds like the engineer is bringing the fader up to the top and then half way down and up again, and back and forth...... Especially in rock, I like to hear a nice smooth crisp.. (no too much bottom end) vocal recording, thin as hell... Or it just takes from the instruments....A loud uncompressed vocal makes ver uninteresting rock music.

I love Tom Lord-Alge's concept... sort of like "Screw the dynamics-freaks, and make it smooth!"......

Although His recordings still have a depth and dynamic.... on top of a smooth almost squashed sound....

Of course all the above is my opinion....And only applies to hard rock recordings.... If it's female soloists or jazz or something else, then it's a whole other story....
 
I partly agree, but there is always a 'too'. Too much compression can kill your mix. A song varies in dynamics, and like some radiostation compress, it can kill the charm in several songs.

Compressing is almost an art. Be carefull with it.
 
Great article, however if you look at the compressors that he is using, most are not what you would call "home recording" gear. Also, he uses the SONY 3348, in case you were wondering how much you need to spend to get one of these, check out this link.

http://www.tmopaudio.com/Digital Machines.html

It goes to show that the better you get, the better the toys!!
 
Sonic Misfit said:
Great article, however if you look at the compressors that he is using, most are not what you would call "home recording" gear. Also, he uses the SONY 3348, in case you were wondering how much you need to spend to get one of these, check out this link.

http://www.tmopaudio.com/Digital Machines.html

It goes to show that the better you get, the better the toys!!
Click to expand...

$65,000 thats it.... Hell, I'll go out and buy 4 tommorow morning.:D
 
SOS is a great mag, but I can hardly find it over here, and when I find it, it costs a fortune
 
Lopp - the band I was referring to in that SAE article (I wrote it BTW) was Savage Garden. I'm not sure who the mix engineer was on that album, I got my info from Charlie Fisher the producer.

cheers
John
 
John Sayers said:
Lopp - the band I was referring to in that SAE article (I wrote it BTW) was Savage Garden. I'm not sure who the mix engineer was on that album, I got my info from Charlie Fisher the producer.

cheers
John
Click to expand...

Savage Garden was the one with all the compresson? Which album? I'd like to check out the results.

Also, excellent article! I stumbled onto the site while considering studio design considerations. All of the information on the site is excellent advice put into a practical context.

Beerz,
Matt
 
It's true

I originally did a mix of a song that I though caught the ambiances of an acoustic performance...it was...ok

I then compressed it at about 5:1 - brought everything way up and just stuck in your brain...much better recording. I expect it for drums and crap, but not really something that stripped down.

RB
 
OK but

Do you guys think using a software compression patch or even worse my DBX266 that I could squash and not leave all kinds of pops and strange artifacts?

I have tried leveling tracks before, but it always seems that if I get too agressive that I end up with an unuseable track. I admit I am not the king of compression, but Do you think with cakewalk FX1,2,and3 I could pull off the theory?

Thanks

F.S.
 
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