August 2014
WELCOME
August 2014 Editor’s Note: Talking About People
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Tom Kenny
This month’s cover represents quite a departure for Mix, and it’s pretty striking. Half a face, black and white, no console or room. One person. One profile. We are not trying to be Esquire or Men’s Health, or change our mission, and next month there will be a big Harrison console in a big room at Sony Pictures Studios. But there are a few reasons we did what we did on this cover….
ON THE COVER
Chris Pelonis: Music, Design, and a Life of Truth and Passion
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Tom Kenny
There are people who know Chris Pelonis the Musician, and he is a monster guitar player. Others know him as Chris the Engineer/Producer or Chris the Singer-Songwriter. Closer to home, he might be known as Chris the Martial Arts Guy, Chris the Surfer, Chris of Chris & Pits BBQ or Chris the Choir Director. Lately it’s been Chris the Photographer. In our industry, he is known as Chris the Studio Designer or Chris the Speaker Maker. …
FEATURES
Crisis Management in Mixing: Quick Remedies for Shabby-Sounding Tracks
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Michael Cooper
The process of mixing can be broadly divided into two primary challenges: whipping individual tracks into shape and achieving a proper overall balance when blending those tracks together….
Morrissey’s Flair for the Dramatic: ‘World Peace Is None of Your Business’
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
When producer Joe Chiccarelli describes the Morrissey album he produced last winter as “musical theater,” he doesn’t mean it in the Showboat way. It’s a record full of original stories, with dramatic productions that frame the iconic artist’s creations in theatrical settings. …
New Consoles for the Studio
COLUMNS
TechTalk: Upgrade? Is It Time Yet?
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, By Kevin Becka
As an engineer, educator, content creator and communicator, I’m constantly wrestling with tech upgrades. But the first question I have to always ask myself is: Will a software/hardware upgrade make me better at what I do?…
Robair Report: The Eternal Swap Meet
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Gino Robair
Do the products we use for music production ever become obsolete if they still work?…
REGIONAL: CANADA
Canadian Cred: Garth Richardson & Mike Fraser
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Wes Maebe
With nearly eight decades of experience between the two of them—including seminal projects for Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Metallica, Van Halen, Aerosmith, AC/DC, and Biffy Clyro, as well as a number of Juno Awards—Garth “GGGarth” Richardson and Mike “The Fraze” Fraser are two of Canada’s finest, most well-respected producer/engineers….
Canada News & Notes 2014
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By The Mix Editors
Revolution Recording has ordered a Neve Genesys G96—with 48 1073 mic preamps, 24 1084 equalizers, 24 88RS EQs, full dynamics, full recall, DAW control, and Encore automation—to be installed in Studio C this fall….
Canada Session News 2014
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By The Mix Editors
Videogame developer Ubisoft worked on material in Studio A with producer Dave Gossage and engineer Padraig B. Schnirer…
LIVE
Gavin DeGraw: High-Energy Show With a Responsive Mix
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, Text By Matt Gallagher // Photos By Steve Jennings
Multi-Platinum selling singer/songwriter Gavin DeGraw is in the middle of a hectic summer touring schedule, co-headlining with singer/songwriter Matt Nathanson in across the U.S. before heading to Europe in September. DeGraw is touring behind his fifth studio album, Make a Move, released last fall on RCA….
Imelda May’s North American Tour
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
Irish rockabilly artist Imelda May’s new album, Tribal (Verve Records), won’t be released in the U.S. until the fall, but it’s already reached into the Top 5 in Ireland and the UK….
MUSIC
First Aid Kit: Haunting Americana from Sweden (and Nebraska)
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Blair Jackson
Like a lot of people, my first exposure to the duo known as First Aid Kit—Swedish sisters Klara and Johanna Söderberg—came from seeing their gorgeous 2008 YouTube cover version of Fleet Foxes’ “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song.”…
Classic Tracks: “Life in a Northern Town,” Dream Academy
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Blair Jackson
Every once in a while a song comes totally out of left field, far away from the mainstream, and for some inexplicable reason becomes a huge hit. One such tune was the 1985 Top 10 smash “Life in a Northern Town,” by an unknown new English band called Dream Academy….
Richard Thompson: Home Alone for ‘Acoustic Classics’
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Blair Jackson
Richard Thompson’s latest album, Acoustic Classics, is an unexpected gift to his many devoted fans—solo acoustic versions of 14 of his finest songs, spanning his work with ex-wife Linda (six songs), to his productive years with producer Mitchell Froom, and beyond. …
Heaven’s Jail’s ‘Ace Called Zero’
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
Engineer/producer Ben Greenberg says he enjoys working in “proper studios,” but he’s equally fond of the way he recorded alt-rock band Heaven’s Jail earlier this year: They rented a house in upstate New York, where Greenberg set up his mobile rig, and they all camped out and tracked music for a week. …
Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas at Sonic Ranch
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
Producer Milo Froideval spent a month in Detroit, working on pre-production with Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas before bringing the band to residential Sonic Ranch Studios (El Paso, Texas) to make their new album, Secret Evil….
Cool Spin: MacManus Brothers, ‘Elephant in the Room’
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Barbara Schultz
As I write this, the MacManus Brothers are playing onstage at Kew Gardens, London, opening for their brother, Elvis Costello, and fans who scored tickets to see Costello solo are lucky and then some. …
Giving Back by Helping Kids: Road Recovery, Masque Sound and At-Risk Youth in NYC
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Tom Kenny
One of the all-too-true clichés of the music and entertainment industry is that it is riddled with temptation. Drug use, alcohol consumption and countless other types of behaviors can very easily, and often very quickly, steer a life right off the rails. Some get sober, some don’t. Some are able to manage change, and some continue to struggle. It’s the rare individuals who go on to devote the rest of their lives to giving something back….
TECH REVIEWS
CADLIVE D82 Moving Ribbon Mic: Affordable Passive Transducer for Live Sound
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Brandon T. Hickey
Imagine 10 or 15 years ago if someone told you that they were going to take ribbon mics on tour to put in front of guitar amps onstage; the thought would have been absurd from every angle. …
Genelec M040 Active Monitors: Entry-Level Speaker for Music Creators
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Bobby Frasier
Genelec speakers, manufactured since 1978, are as common today in professional recording environments as the venerable Yamaha NS-10s were in the 1980s. Various models have become staples for recording, editing and mixing, but for some budgets these transducers are just out of reach. By introducing the M-Series (M030 and M040), Finland-based Genelec brings a more-affordable design to project studio owners….
LaChapell Audio 983S Preamp: Dual-Channel Tube Gain with Personality Plus
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Kevin Becka
LaChapell Audio is a Nashville-based company comprising designer Scott LaChapell and his father, a retired senior design engineer at Lawrence Livermore Labs who brings the electronics expertise. The 983S reviewed here is their fifth product and is based on the company’s 583, a 500 Series preamp module. LaChapell takes a no-compromise approach to design, fit and finish, and it shows in the 983S, which I was able to use across a range of sessions and inputs….
PreSonus StudioLive 24.4.2AI Mixing Console: New Features, Solid Sonics and Wireless RC
Aug 1, 2014 9:00 AM, Mix, By Steve La Cerra
The first generation of PreSonus’ StudioLive mixing consoles combined generous analog I/O featuring PreSonus’ XMAX microphone preamps, a FireWire DAW interface, plenty of DSP, and “Fat Channel” surface control for easy operation. …
