MIX WITH THE MASTER

In any self-respecting profession there is always a reference standard, a peak to which we try to strive for certain results. This is also true of the mixing engineer profession. The totality of music listened to in different formats passes through the hands of an M.E. since the early days of multitrack recordings. The final result of an album depends on his hands and above all on his ears. The figure of the M.E. is often easily dismissed especially in this part of the world, being it relegated to the role of an executor who pleases the will of the artist. In different environments of the music industry it is instead held in very high regard. The reason is simple: the mixing engineer is comparable to a painter who paints a portrait that was commissioned to him following his own personal style and without "pleasing" the customer. After all, this is exactly the meaning of commissioning someone something they don't know how to do and which results in an artistic product.There are many mixing engineers around the world who do their work collecting credits on more or less successful albums. Tchad Blake is one of them. Tchad has mixed records of very successful musicians. His portfolio includes Sheryl Crow, Finn Brothers, Los Lobos, Arctic Monkeys, Peter Gabriel, Pearl Jam, U2, Tom Waits, Crowded House, Soul Coughing, Tracy Chapman and the list is too long for this page. In short, Tchad is one whose hands bring out the "sound" of a great deal of music that is heard around. Fortunately it is also music that counts.

The past October I attended a one-week masterclass with him at the Studio La Fabrique in St. Remy de Provence. The masterclass was part of the Mix With The Masters seminars and with me 18 people were there to witness Tchad's work at his side. In practice It was like spending a week in Rembrandt's studio watching him at work and being able to ask him any questions.

We were every day from 10am to 6pm (officially) in front of a 72 channel Neve 88R desk, comfortably seated, watching Tchad mixing 19 tracks (one for each of us) in a week completely "in the box" on Pro Tools while two huge screens allowed us to watch and study every step of his mixes in real time.

I believe this situation is what every wannabe mixing engineer would like to attend, considering the fact that it is almost impossible to do it unless you are lucky enough to work as an assistant in a large format studio. During the long working hours I was able to witness Tchad's modus operandi in real time, learning above all a new approach to mixing and confirming my opinion that to mix there is absolutely no need for a large studio but only for technical mastery, taste and trained ears. Of course, watching Tchad distort most of the tracks and deliberately changing the arrangements was enlightening and further corroborated my opinion that the mixing engineer is an artist in all respects.When we were not in the control room we spent time in the garden listening to Tchad answering endless questions about anything concerning his work or his life in a philosophical seminar atmosphere. In fact the whole week was a total immersion in the philosophy of mixing.

Apart from the technical issues I will not dwell on, I must confess that the thing that struck me most was just watching Tchad. A sixty-five-year-old man who looks like he's thirty-five and who behaves like a youngster with a total willingness and humanity towards us that I rarely met among human beings. The first to arrive for breakfast and the last to leave the control room late at night, deliberately going over schedule to give himself completely to all of us, satisfying every request. If there are still men like that then there is still hope that this planet can be better.

To sum it up, it was a really unusual week for me and for all the other lads (French, Peruvian, Venezuelan, Danish, American, Germans and Austrians) who were at La Fabrique. My advice for aspiring mixing engineers is to stop wanking about plug-ins and stuff like that and start developing your own taste. This is how you become a great professional.

#mixing #music #mastering #recording #flstudio #producer #studio #musicproducer #hiphop #musicproduction #recordingstudio #protools #audioengineer #audio #ableton #artist #producerlife #studiolife #musician #masteringengineer #musicstudio #travel #travel #travelphotography #photography #instatravel #trip #travelblogger #traveling #photo