On Air Gomez Gomez has far too much time on his hands on long flights, and impresses on us the importance of knowing the medium our music will be replayed on.

find myself on planes quite a bit at the moment. always has other noise to compete with. In the car Recently, somewhere between Brisbane and Sydney, your potential No. 1 hit that you’ve just got added to I I was sitting next to a guy who had his Walkman on the radio station’s playlist has to compete with people playing his favourite tunes. I don’t know what’s wrong talking, traffic noise, air conditioning noise, babies with me but at times like this I like to play a little game. crying etc. It involves being nosy but what the hell, he’s too busy While all of this is going on, the radio is generally listening to his music to care. The game is really simple not at a high volume because otherwise people can’t and if, like me, you have absolutely nothing better to hear themselves talk. So why then, if this is the case, do on a one and a half hour flight, I’d recommend it as would you bother mixing your precious tracks at a a nice diversion. The theory is that you pay very close volume no on else will hear it at? By all means, crank attention to the tinny noise leaking out of the guy’s the volume up, get comfy in your fave chair, and listen headphones and try and pick the songs. to it at Sydney Stadium volume a couple of times, but That’s the easiest part of the game though. if you do that before you’ve actually finished mixing The next part is to analyse the sounds you’re hearing it then you’ve just become your own worst enemy, and work out whether its good production or bad as your ears just lost a level of hearing accuracy that production. How many of the separate instruments won’t be back for another few hours. can you identify? What it is the EQ like on those instru- Are you with me so far? ments? I even go as far as seeing if I can recognise any Let’s now talk about how to make sure your precious of the sounds off the more popular keyboard worksta- tracks are audible and clear at the required listening tions that I have, but as I said, I have no life outside volume. Before I go on though, take into account that I audio most weeks. am not just talking about music here. These principles In a previous article I’ve written for AT, I was are just as relevant for radio production or audio on explaining about the perfect mix, and how if you mix television commercials etc - media is inevitably back- a track at a low volume, you’ll get a better mix - with ground information, whatever medium you’re talking everything sounding a lot slicker - than if you mix it about… music more so, though. incredibly loud with the bass vibrating you off your seat. This issue I thought I’d take that a little further Close Your Eyes & Visualise First step, is to alter the way you visualise the track Low Volume, Small Speakers you’re working on. In all probability you’ve been staring So what is this obsession that I have with mixing at at rows and rows of brightly coloured audio on your low volumes and where did it come from? Well it’s DAW. When it comes to mixdown, the temptation is certainly not a theory originating with me. It’s a theory to continue to think of your song in that manner. But that has been worked out by many producers and that’s not thinking audio, it’s thinking visual, and that is engineers over the years, all sharing theories, tips, the first major mistake that you can make. Stop looking tricks and all learning from each other. People use it at the mix and start listening to it instead. Some because it works. sequencers allow you the option of ‘blacking out’ the To learn more about it you have to start thinking screen, if not, simply turn your computer monitor off more like a radio listener or club-goer. What is going and really listen. on around you while you’re listening to music? What Once you’ve cleared your mind, your mix is now sounds does the music have to compete with? How going to become an empty stage. It’s your job now to loud are you all talking over the music? place the different actors on that stage so that from where you sit in the audience you can see every single Competing with Everyday Life one of them without one actor blocking another. What In everyday life - whether it be in a club, down the do I mean? Think of each instrument in the mix as an pub, in the park, in the office, in the car on the way to actor. Each one needs breathing space, each one needs work, on a bus with your walkman on, or just in your room to move, and each one needs to be placed in room doing your homework - you’ll see that music such a way that they do not clash.

70 choice. So I get tips from magazines, the Internet, books and it’s being played in the track first. Picking or soft strumming from real engineers like Jason. I don’t have any real rules, I just needs different mic placement than a loud thrasher. Then I try try to get things to sound and feel good. If this means turning all to find sweet spots for both mics. I don’t use a lot of EQ to tape the knobs up to 11 then that’s what happens. – the digital EQ is so precise in Cubase SX’s Q plug-in and the GH: Talk us through one of your recent songs to give us an idea Universal Audio’s Cambridge that I can get rid of any problems of how you work… much more accurately in the mix. GM: The first single off my next album is called Take It On. It GH: How do you approach programming? starts off with a boxy little guitar and some electronic drums GM: It depends on what kind of work I’m doing. For some of the and then does a hard jump straight into a full-on guitar, bass and last Stella One Eleven album I was after much cleaner sounds drums thrash rock number that lasts about three minutes and is than I’d usually go for, but at the moment I’m working on a conducive to head banging. It’s not typical of the other songs on project with an electronic band called Kolliope who are much the album, but it was fun to do and incorporates the electronic more 'glitch-orientated'. and organic aspects that I like to muck around with. If I’m heading for clean and luscious, I’ll use lots of different First I set a tempo and mapped out the song with a click track. sounds to make pads and play with delays, reverbs and com- I had already done the programming for the demo version, so I pression until it feels right. For more punchy stuff, I’ll use loads printed the sequenced stuff and chopped it into time. I ran the of EQ, degrade the quality of the sample with [Steinberg’s] tracks through the Avalon and the Distressor to get some colour Bitcrusher or by resampling. I’ll change pitch and time-stretch into it. The Distressor has a couple of modes that add harmonic stuff, too. A lot of the feel of a loop comes from the sounds of the distortion like you get from analogue tape saturation. beats. If you get a little glitch in a time-stretched hi-hat it might Then I put down guide guitar and vocals for a drummer to be rhythmically interesting. play to. Once the drums were down I edited them to make sure GH: What’s your approach to mixing and monitoring? they were nice and tight. I used very straight rock drum sounds GM: I bought the Soundcraft desk because I wanted a clean for this track to make the band sections as dynamic and different sounding mixer to monitor through and the EQ is okay and it has to the electronic bits as possible. I used light compression on the six aux sends if I need them. I usually have to mix here due to kit. The snare had quite a ring in it, so it was tuned to the song budgetary constraints, so that was important. I chose the Tannoy and sounded good in the track. When I mixed it I ran a split monitors after listening to seven or eight other options. I used through my Comptortion pedal and got a really good bark to it, an album I had just finished work on, so I really knew what it which I fattened up with a short and nasty gated reverb. sounded like. They sounded the best out of everything there. I I put the bass down next. I don’t use an amp because I don’t still like them and they’re easy on the ears. have one. I used the Telefunken preamp and the Avalon, and I’d love to have someone else mix for me but it’s not financially summed them. The Telefunken handled the lower mid range and viable. I get the tracks ready to mix and have ‘mix days’. If I have the Avalon looked after the subs. My bass is not very subby, so the money I try to get in a bit of extra gear – a couple of extra it’s a struggle to get a good fat sound. Then I went through and Distressors, a Pultec EQP-1A for example. It all helps, although tightened up any timing issues. I’ll be interested to see how well the UAD-1’s plug-ins go. Guitar-wise I had my Gibson Les Paul, a Samick Les Paul copy I have a second set of speakers, just some old Sony stereo (that can sound a bit like a Telecaster) and a Rickenbacker to ones, in a different room in my house. When I need perspec- use. I wanted to get a good, fat contrasting blend of sounds, so tive I switch them on and go into the other room to hear what’s I used my boss GT5 guitar effects processor’s preamp models. happening. I make a cup of tea or something and try to listen as From there I went into my Musicman amp. I have two cabinets. if it’s a finished product. It’s really helpful to have another space I used a SM57 and the Avalon on the top cabinet and a Samson to hear the mix in. into the Yamaha to the Distressor on the bottom. The two chains GH: How much automation do you use in software and how resulted in very different sounds which was great for the ‘fat much is pushing faders in mixing – and why? factor’ when it came to mixing. I used the Comptortion pedal too GM: I use a lot of software automation. I love it. I if had an to get a good warm fuzzy sound out of the Rickenbacker. automated desk I’d probably only use it for mutes and the odd For vocals, I used the CAD mic into the Avalon, the de- vocal or outboard manoeuvre. At the moment I’m working with esser and the Distressor. I still use outboard de-essing, then I a vocalist who has extreme dynamic range and timbre changes only have to go through and get the really big ones. There’s a in her voice literally syllable to syllable. There’s no compressor distorted and compressed vocal that starts the song. in the world that could keep up with that, so my approach is to I tried tracking with a clean sound but I couldn’t get the vibe, automate the vocal levels as they change and try to get the take so I used a Shure SM58, the Avalon and my Comptortion pedal. evened out a bit – pretty much compressing by hand. Then I run Then I slammed it with the Distressor on ‘British mode’. it through my Avalon or the Distressor as well. That way I get a GH: What is your acoustic guitar recording technique? good even vocal through the track. Automation is the bomb. GM: Depends on a number of factors. I prefer to go stereo, GH: Any technical advice for people recording music like yours? making sure that both mics sound really good, and then I GM: Buy the best preamp, compressor and vocal mic you can make up my mind in the mix if I really need stereo or if I can afford. You won’t regret it and good gear holds its value. place both tracks in the same spot pan-wise. If I only have one good preamp then I go mono. I use the Ocktava mics on For more information or to talk to Genevieve about production cardioid pattern. I have a good listen to the guitar and the way work, go to www.genevievemaynard.com

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