Mixing / Production

Creating alien worlds, bringing droids to life and giving Star Wars more realism. We talk sound design and foley with the team behind the critically-acclaimed Rogue One.

Achieving a naturalistic sound on a Hollywood film set isn’t easy — but was central to director Damien Chazelle’s vision for La La Land.

Thoughtfully prepared DAW templates can leave you with more time for the creative and musical side of mixing.

Not many dance acts start life as string quartets — but Clean Bandit’s fusion of classical and electronic music has powered them to worldwide success.

Recorded, mixed and co-produced by Greg Fidelman, Metallica’s Hardwired... To Self-Destruct has proved an unexpected career high point.

Having set out to capture a live-band feel when tracking, our engineer is tasked with steering the mix in a more polished pop direction.

We examine the production of some recent hits to help you brush up on your listening skills: Neiked featuring Dyo • Rae Sremmurd featuring Gucci Mane • Michael Ball & Alfie Boe • The Rolling Stones • Robbie Williams • Classic Mix: George Michael ‘Careless Whisper’ (1984 Single Version).

Watch engineer/producer extraordinaire Eric Valentine as he crafts a shimmering surf guitar sound, in the vein of Smash Mouth or Third Eye Blind, that employs three amps and judicial use of modulation effects.

We sat down with songwriter/producer Jake Gosling ahead of his masterclass at ACM in Guildford, UK, to talk about creating better arrangements, getting the best out of performers, and the advantages of having a simple recording setup. 

When it comes to mixing drums, few things have studio newcomers tearing their hair out more often than compression. We clarify matters by identifying a series of distinct drum-mixing tasks for which engineers commonly use compressors.

The team behind a three-day event on Hastings Pier had to battle weight restrictions, noise limits and the elements to make it happen!

Beyoncé’s right-hand man DJ Swivel has reinvented himself as a mix engineer — and his work with the Chainsmokers produced 2016’s biggest track.

I’ve been reading about iZotope’s Neutron, and how it is described as automating the process of attenuating some frequencies of audio track B, so that the simultaneously played audio track A, which has signal in the same frequency range, sounds more prominent...

Live opera can be a life-changing experience — and London’s premier opera house is using immersive sound to explore new ways of sharing it.

We explore some more advanced techniques and less-obvious applications for Synchro Arts’ powerful audio-alignment processor.

Maximising A Minimal Arrangement: Our engineer tackles the recording of some stripped-down electric-guitar and vocal arrangements.

This month mixes from: Kent Jones • Hailee Steinfeld & Grey ft. Zedd • Rag’n’Bone Man • Little Mix • Classic Mix: Toto ‘Africa’ (1982)

Dolby Laboratories have been leading the development of surround-sound systems for four decades, but over the last year or so they have been piloting an intriguing surround system in a famous UK night-club...

Electronic, heavily processed and sample-based, 22, A Million was a radical departure for Bon Iver — and from normal recording and mixing practice...