Mixing / Production

Links to the before and after mixes.

This months mission proves that to get the best from a song you need to pay as much attention to arrangement as to mix technique.

Take one Bollywood soundtrack, add a Pussycat Doll and a heap of new instruments, and you have a recipe for a big mix. Peter Mokran was the engineer who cooked up an international hit with Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny).

Why is Al James poppy and well-arranged track not reaching its potential in the mix, despite extensive EQ treatment and other processing? We dissect his original Cubase project to find out.

Here is a selection of audio files to accompany this month's Mix Rescue of Al James' song 'Schoolboy Fascination'. You can...

As well as having all-round audio engineering ability, a remixer needs to be proficient in remix-specific processes. We explore the essential software and skills.

For their fifth album, The END, Black Eyed Peas main man will.i.am took the band — and their long-serving mixer Dylan Dresdow — in a new direction, with stunning success.

We didnt have to fight through competing walls of sound in this months Mix Rescue, but a sparse arrangement offers challenges of its own...

This page provides links to MP3 and WAV files that accompany July 2009's Mix Rescue article.

We continue our insiders guide to remixing with some practical tips on the creative decisions that will underpin your remix.

The sessions for U2s No Line On The Horizon took the idea of spontanaeity in the studio to new levels. Engineer Declan Gaffney was the man charged with creating order from apparent chaos...

Beefing up bass parts played on guitar and importing GarageBand songs into Logic are among the challenges for Mix Rescue, as we add some spice to Adam Bevans mix.

These audio files are presented in both MP3 (for auditioning) and AIF, for more serious critical listening and comparison in your DAW software.

Remixing is a modern phenomenon that has turned into a viable way for hi-tech musicians to make money from their skills. But how do you get heard, how do you land a job, and how much should you charge to do it? We get you started with the insiders guide.

Songs suffering from superfluous sibilance? Study SOSs super strategies for sorting esses...

Looking for a follow-up to her smash-hit debut album, Lily Allen ditched her many other collaborators to work mostly with LA-based producer and musician Greg Kurstin on Its Not Me, Its You.

Ever wondered why your beats cant compete with commercial mixes? We show you how to nail them... without losing sight of the song.

Links to the MP3 preview and high-resolution WAV files that accompany the SOS MAY 2009 Mix Rescue article, for our newsstand/bookstore readers who do not have eSub-access to the main web article.

A short practical guide to getting more from the standard five-way pickup selector switch.

When Seal decided to pay tribute to classic soul records on his album Soul, he turned to legendary producer David Foster — and his right-hand man, Jochem van der Saag, who was responsible for mixing and much more.

Recording simple ideas quickly often helps you to capture a good, fresh-sounding performance — but it can also leave you with frustrating technical problems in the mix. This month, we tackle just such a recording...