Grammy-winning mixer Cameron Craig talks to ACM studentsBack in May, the Academy Of Contemporary Music (ACM) ran its annual event for Music Production students, the Audio Production Event (APE). Students were treated to masterclasses from some of the industry's top players and even had the opportunity to book one-to-one tutorials to pick the brains of the extremely knowledgeable guest speakers.
Neil Comber (Django Django, Charli XCX) demonstrates techniques to ACM studentsAs just one of the services provided to students to help further their careers, APE aims to not only bring students up-to-the-minute knowledge of current music production practice, but also to give them those all important contacts needed to get ahead in this tough business.
The speakers who appeared on the day were Cameron Craig, Lee Slater, Dean Humphreys, Phill Brown and Neil Comber. We at Sound On Sound asked our social media audience to put questions to this illustrious panel, and we also asked a few questions of our own. See how they responded below.
Cameron Craig is a Grammy award-winning Producer, Mixer and Engineer whose credits include; Adele, Robbie Williams, Annie Lennox and Bjork, to name just a few. We asked him about mixing remixes and posed a question about royalties.
Lee Slater is a Producer, Mixer and Engineer at Air Studios whose credits include; Emeli Sande, M.I.A, Tinchy Stryder, The Vaccines and Lana Del Rey. In the clip below, he shares his golden advice for getting the best out of an artist and how to select a vocal mic.
Dean Humphreys is a renowned film and TV Sound Supervisor, Sound Designer, Editor and Mixer who has worked with leading film directors such as Bernado Bertolucci, John Schlesinger, Sir Richard Attenborough, Roman Polanski, Francois Ozon and Cristina Cario. During Dean’s class, students were thoroughly entertained as he told students about the troubles of ADR and his studio session with Al Pacino. Students were very focused and engaged throughout the session as they listened to Humphreys describe working on shows such as Only Fools and Horses. The top advice of Dean’s session was to network and get on with people as that is how you get work in this industry.
Phill Brown - Sound Engineer whose credits include the likes of David Bowie, Pink Floyd, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and The Rolling Stones. Closing the day was Phill Brown, whose session was enjoyed by students so much that it ran over by 30 minutes. Throughout, Phill reiterated to students that you don’t need to use loads of tracks in a song and that you can get a great drum sound with just four mics. We asked him about vocal mic technique, and what the best piece of advice was that he'd ever received.
Neil Comber - Mixer, Producer and Engineer who has his own space at Miloco’s complex in Bermondsey. Neil has worked with artists such as Florence and The Machine, Placebo, Charli XCX, and many more. We ask about royalties, layering, and more.
“This has been a fantastic opportunity for our students to meet some of the best technicians in the industry through masterclasses, Q+A sessions and one on one tutorials. I hosted Phill Brown’s masterclass and we all had an amazing insight as to how records were made through the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s… the session ran over and no-one wanted it to end!” says John Gallen, Music Production Tutor, ACM
If you want to get one-to-one tutorials from those working in the business, giving you inside knowledge, sign up to an open day now.
