All language subtitles for 6. Workflow discussion, typical approach, pre-mix groundwork, experimenting, communication with artists_EN

I think I'd like to just say a little bit
about... that's all the parts

and definitely not in the order
I would have mixed it.

I mentioned it a little bit before where
it's pretty... what we say in the UK

or in America,
it's pretty willy-nilly.

I can't imagine...

I can't remember what I would
have done on this song,

because it's so dependent
on the day and my mood

and how much coffee
I had that morning.

I'll get into
the studio.

My ears may feel a funny way,
because some days

my ears are off
and truly off.

One is sort of dull and then
two hours later, it's fine,

and so it changes
my approach.

So I just
go with it.

Natural horsemanship,
they say you always work

with the horse
that shows up.

Don't try to make the horse into
something that you want,

but work with
the one that shows up.

So that's
my horse.

I try to work with it,
whatever it is, that day.

I have ways
around it.

I can switch the speakers
on my console.

So if I need to hear the top end
over there, I switch the speakers

and go, "Yeah.
Okay, that's fine."

I can go back and know that it's fine,
even though I can't hear it as well

in that hour or two.

I can definitely do that.

So I'll just say
how it could have gone.

I may have seen all the stuff
and listened to that kick, and said,

"Okay, I need
my sub..."

Let's get the sub
worked out.

I'll get that in there
because that's going to be major

how I see everything
else in the song.

And to do it, I might have done it soloed,
built a trigger, soloed the kicks up,

make sure that it's not flamming,
or if it is, that I like it.

That the phase is the way I want it,
whether it's dropping the pitch down

and out of phase but lowering it all
and then it bringing up, all that stuff.

But while I'm doing that,
in between each move,

I might be coming down here
and going, "What's the bass doing?

Okay, that's
what it is doing."

I might bring it up to full level
and then bring it down to -15,

where it's just in the mix so I can
at least hear that it's there

because now I know
what it sounds like.

It's in my head.

Oh vocal,
I better check that.

Then put the vocal in, get a
little something on it like that FX 1 one,

the reverb,
which is the Space Echo.

I'll just put that on a little bit
so it's not just a dry vocal in the track.

And then go back up and bring
some of these other elements in

and go, how's that work?
Oh, that's sort of bridge.

Oh, that's sounding cool.
Oh, wow.

Oh, so that sounds
like it's close.

I'll get a quick level and, the snare
drum is not really speaking here.

Let's do that on SansAmp
because I haven't used it yet.

Oh, that sounds good.

Let's go down here
and adjust the Omnipressor.

And, no, that's
not going to fly.

Bring up
the bass.

Oh, that's not going
to fly with the bass.

Bring up
the vocal.

I know, I'll spread the SansAmp
and make it more like a room sound.

And then it will unclog the center
and then listen to it.

Go, "Yeah, I think
that's going to work."

What are those
crashes doing?

Oh, shit, there's
percussion.

Just bring the
percussion up quickly.

Oh, okay.

No, I can make those so they're not
going to clash with the crashes.

I'll worry about
that later.

I want to get the crashes
on the kit so they really work.

I know I can do stuff
to this to fit it in.

Work on
the crashes.

Oh, there's toms.

Damn.

It's getting crowded.

What do I do?

Oh, okay.

No, too much top end,
dull amount,

not long enough, can't really
hear that they're toms.

SansAmp, yeah,
that sounds better.

Oh, I can hear
the length now.

Oh, that's
a tom.

Too loud.
Sneak them in.

All right.
What's happening with the bass?

I can get away with more toms,
a little more toms, bass.

Oh, guitars. I better check
these guitars against that.

Let's put
the guitars in.

Okay, now, those are going to work,
but let's spread them.

Hold on, that looks weird.

What's that?

That looks like
a low thing.

Oh good,
it's not.

It's a midrange
beauty thing.

I can fit that in later.
Get rid of it.

For two and a half hours
that's what I'm doing.

Going back
and forth.

I try to lose
myself in it.

There's no words
when I'm doing that, okay?

I'm just being
comical here.

That's what
I'm doing.

Listening
to everything.

I'm changing phase, even the guitar
against the bass because there might be

frequencies in there that
you hear something change.

Probably not, but
sometimes there are.

It's amazing.

Sometimes, you change
one keyboard against another

or the guitar against
the keyboard, and you...

Oh, wow.

So that's like changing the EQ to me,
which you would do normally.

Let's go and change the EQ
against the keyboard

and make sure it's
going to work together.

Carve out a spot for it,
or try to blend them together

so they sound
like one sound.

No rules.

No way of knowing it's going
to work, to me, until I do it.

And I let myself do all sorts of stupid
things that I... in front of somebody,

I'd probably be embarrassed,
but the amount of times that it's worked

after I've done it is maybe not a high
percentage, but that's enough to...

even if it was twice out of eight,
that it would have been

really embarrassing for
somebody to see me do that.

If I get two out of there, I go,
"Oh, my gosh, that worked. It's worth it."

It's worth the shame,
so I do it.

And I might have put that
Buenos on this feedback.

Come down here,
done a keyboard.

Go, "Ah, nah."

Take the
Buenos off.

Okay. Back to
the keyboard.

Oh wait, back to
the keyboard over here.

Now, what's
the guitar doing?

Oh, no, maybe,
the Buenos was better.

I can't tell if it's better,
but I would leave it

thinking
maybe it's better.

If it becomes a problem,
then maybe I'd solo the two.

But if I never think
about it again,

I don't think
about it.

If I get to the end of the song,
playing it without trying to make

more moves because something's
bothering me, then it's working to my ear.

And that's
how I finish.

I do this practically the whole time,
and it's like I teeter back,

turn stuff off, turn EQ off,
turn compressors off.

Go extreme on the EQ,
go less, flip phase.

Turn off the effect, change the panning,
level up, level down.

All over the
place, drums.

I never stop the drums,
I never stop the vocal.

It's the whole thing.
So it's a seesaw.

And as I get closer to when I think
I'm going to be finished,

the seesaw just stops
doing as much until...

And I play from the top, most often,
because for me to hear how this guitar

is going to work coming in,
or maybe, a keyboard pushing it up,

I'll do the move, and then I'll listen
from the top for other things.

And then when it hits that point, I go,
"Ah, that level doesn't work,"

coming in after hearing
the whole song, doesn't work to me.

So I do
that a lot.

So as I'm listening,
I'm doing less and less and less and less

and less and less and less and less
until I play it from the top

and I'm ready
to do a move,

and I get to the end and go, "Oh,
yeah, I think there was just this one

little vocal move I wanted
to make or... and that's it."

And then I go
and hit record.

And then at that moment, sometimes,
I hit record and literally 5 seconds,

and I go, "Oh, shit, I got to
bring this down. Boom."

I'll bring that
way down.

And then it'll get up to here,
I'll be recording, and I go,

"Oh, you know, what?
That needs to hit harder.

Let me bring this down
a dB and a half."

So when that comes in,
it really kicks.

That's not too bad,
but we all know more is better.

Sounds
better to me.

It's a dB and a half
on your Stereo Bus.

And then I'll do that,
I'll start again.

And once I get to the end
and I haven't made a move,

that's when I
send out my first mix.

And I usually get sent a little bowl
of confetti and a bottle of champagne

from the artist to celebrate
that I finished them.

No, I'm kidding.

Then they tell me what they want...
what they really want.

And I'd say half
the time it's not that.

I bet I did what I wanted
to do on the project.

On this project, I think it was
very little that she wanted.

She really
loved it.

But like I said, half the time
I'm working for artists who say,

"No, there's too much...
You got to pull this in.

There's too much on the extremities,
or there's too much distortion in places.

I don't like the crunchiness of the snare,
or can you add more crunch to the vocal?

Vocal up,"
whatever it is.

But I think it's important
for me to do...

I do the mix for me.

That's what I'm doing this for, and
I'm hoping that the artists will like it.

I don't feel good if I go in going,
"I'm doing this for the artist,

and whatever they want, I'll alter it
and get what the artist wants

because it's
their record.

I think that's okay. I'm not
dissing that, but that's not what I do.

I do the mix for how I want
to hear it sound,

and then I'll do
it for the artist.

But if I don't do that,
I'll always resent myself

for not doing
what I wanted to do.

And I get it out of my system,
and then I'll make adjustments.

If it's too many adjustments
and they don't like the direction at all,

that to me is a red flag
that I'm not the right guy.

And I usually say so, because
I don't want to go in second-guessing

next time I go in and pan stuff wide,
add SansAmp to a snare drum.

I don't want to go, "Oh, last mix they
didn't like it, so I better not do that."

To me, I'll quit
right then and there.

If I start thinking like that,
that's when I don't take a project.

So, luckily, Queen Kwang and me
were on the same page,

and I'm really happy about it
because I really loved this record.

And that's why I wanted to do this because
I think it's one of the better things

that I've done
and worked on.

And to me,
it was a gift.

And thank you very much, Carre,
if you ever watch this video,

and John for
bringing it to me.

That concludes our mix deconstruction
from Mix With The Masters studio in Paris.