Audio Production

A Nashville Mix Experience

December 1, 2008 While in Nashville recently I got to sit in on a mix session with Matt McClure of Rooster Tail Productions. His in-home mix room was absolutely beautiful; he had built the whole thing himself – really cool – with a very large mix room and a small live room. Matt was mixing a few songs from demo sessions he had recently recorded. (Demos in Nashville are a huge part of the industry; most of the mid- to upper- level songwriters there record their songs to album standard.)

I got to take a look at Matt’s session template, which was definitely intense and set up quite differently than anything I’d seen before. He used a combination of in-the-box mixing, some outboard gear, and a D Control console. The speed at which he mixed was awe-inspiring. If I were able to mix the song he mixed, and do so as well as he mixed it, it would probably have taken me two or three days. He completed the mix I heard in two hours. He certainly knew his way around both the D Control and Pro Tools but his ability to hear what he wanted and make every change with complete confidence was really impressive. I obviously wouldn’t expect to be anywhere near his level at this point but it was definitely something to shoot for. 

I couldn’t help but wonder if part of how he had become so fast was from his years as a live sound engineer, but it would make sense to me.
 

Leave a Comment

Name (required):

Email (required):

Website (optional):

Comments (required):

Please help us fight Spam by typing what you see into the box below: