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It's hard to believe that albums like Dark Side of the Moon had no automation...


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Sometimes we take technology for granted... I just finished watching the Classic Album series on The Dark Side of the Moon, and it never dawned on me that it preceded console automation. That's quite a mix to manage without it. I guess there were times when the entire band's fingers were called in to help cover the board.

 

What an amazing production...

 

Todd

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Despite having automation, I don't really use it all that much. I still regard a mix as pretty much like a performance, in that letting yourself go and moving the faders based on "feel" can produce some really good mixes.

 

The main way I use automation is to capture those moves so if it ends up being a really good mix except for a couple of issues, I can go back and fix them.

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Too many people are already forgetting how short automation of all kinds has been around.

Until the '70s and '80s cars, ships and airplanes were built by HAND.

 

When Kelly Johnson at the Lockheed Skunk Works built the U-2 and SR-71, they went out into

a hanger and sketched the outlines in chalk on the floor and then pulled out their slide rules.

 

// yeah get off my lawn kids....

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Before automation most of us mixed in pieces and then spliced them together. Today I mix into a Pro Tools track punching in the sections I want to change. It's lots faster than screwing around with automation.

 

^^^

 

We'd get the grease pencil marks set. Here for verse, here for chorus. Mutes all figured out. "Don't open guitar 2 mute till verse 2." We'd get as many pairs of hands we needed. Then we'd mix to 2 track till we blew it. Back the 24 up, and carry on till we blew it. Back the 24 up and...

 

Then edit it all together. :idea:

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