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mixing walk-through / tutorial of #1 radio single (youtube video)


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Glad folks have been finding it useful. There is very little on youtube from really knowledgeable people. It's mostly the blind leading the blind. And the stuff from knowledgeable people that actually have records on the radio with some regularity are usually very short - one technique - kind of things. There's only a couple where people walk you through an entire mix (Ken Lewis's Jermimih song comes to mind), but I have yet to find one that goes this far in depth.

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What defines this as a hit record?

 

 

I think I covered it hitting #1 at radio within the first few minutes. This was my third #1 single. Making records has been my full-time job for just over a decade. I've been very lucky and have worked extremely hard. I work on records for major label artists and unsigned artists and everyone in between. You can find an abbreviated list of who I've worked with on my website - don't want to post here as I don't want to seem like I'm promoting myself... the purpose of the video was just to provide some info as I am a bit of a nerd.

 

The reason I used this song is because a) a popular record is more interesting, b) clearing a song for a video tutorial is a nightmare and since I was the sole songwriter it made it much easier to clear the copyrights, and c) it's very light on outboard processing making it a good candidate for a screen capture.

 

I should make people really aware that this record was a non-typical mix because I produced it and did some really good tracking. I mention that in the video, but I don't think a lot of folks fully understand the impact. Everything went through great preamps, sometimes compression and sometimes EQ, all on the way in. As a result, I didn't have to use much hardware at all at mixdown and even the plugins are a little on the light side - in particular I didn't have to use much saturation, distortion, or "mojo" plugs - certainly much less than a typical record that comes to me for mixing. That said, everything in the video translates well to any other song in a wide variety of styles. I just say this because some people who are very familiar with how I mix have commented that this record seems a little different in terms of how I'm processing some things. It's not different, it's just that a lot of the sounds had mojo during tracking so I didn't have to add it during the mix.

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I think I covered it hitting #1 at radio within the first few minutes. This was my third #1 single. Making records has been my full-time job for just over a decade. I've been very lucky and have worked extremely hard. I work on records for major label artists and unsigned artists and everyone in between. You can find an abbreviated list of who I've worked with on my website - don't want to post here as I don't want to seem like I'm promoting myself... the purpose of the video was just to provide some info as I am a bit of a nerd.


The reason I used this song is because a) a popular record is more interesting, b) clearing a song for a video tutorial is a nightmare and since I was the sole songwriter it made it much easier to clear the copyrights, and c) it's very light on outboard processing making it a good candidate for a screen capture.


I should make people really aware that this record was a non-typical mix because I produced it and did some really good tracking. I mention that in the video, but I don't think a lot of folks fully understand the impact. Everything went through great preamps, sometimes compression and sometimes EQ, all on the way in. As a result, I didn't have to use much hardware at all at mixdown and even the plugins are a little on the light side - in particular I didn't have to use much saturation, distortion, or "mojo" plugs - certainly much less than a typical record that comes to me for mixing. That said, everything in the video translates well to any other song in a wide variety of styles. I just say this because some people who are very familiar with how I mix have commented that this record seems a little different in terms of how I'm processing some things. It's not different, it's just that a lot of the sounds had mojo during tracking so I didn't have to add it during the mix.

 

 

Thanks Chris i did watch some of it and it was interesting.

I asked the hit record question just because it seems nebulous to me as to what is a "hit" now days.

Number one where and for how long and on what stations and who paid for it etc. That kind of thing. Nothing to do with the fact that you do good work.

Honestly though, do you like that music?

No judging intended i am just curious, do you view the job as an opportunity to use your skills. I understand taking pride in process and taking something and making it into something that is the best you can in as many processes as you can get involved with, i'm curious though how much of your heart actually lays with this music?

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