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that, all five of the songs are somewhat different from one another in genre and feel. Getting back to that whole “thread of consistency” thing: Nick is widely known as a drummer, so the drum performances on all of these songs are important and sometimes intricate. Showcasing his performances behind the kit and keeping a good sound and feel to them from song to song was tricky. Remember, these were all recorded in different places—some in professional studios and some in home studios. So even though all the songs are a quite bit different, my goal in the mixing process was to find a groove (no pun intended) and apply it to all where applicable. Capturing the important stuff It’s so easy to get caught up in the “sound” that we sometimes loose sight of performance. In Nick’s case (as a drummer, even though he’s the singer and plays other instruments on the EP) there are certain things about his playing style that need to be audible in a mix. One of those is his use of ghost notes that he often plays underneath the groove. A bottom snare mic is essential to bring this out, instead of just crushing the top snare mic with a compressor. Every song was recorded with a bottom snare mic—and Nick made sure of this, because he is aware of its importance to his playing. So, no matter where the drums were recorded, that element is there for every song. Also, Nick and I have worked together a lot and we both prefer a deeper snare drum sound, 61/2 inches or deeper, so the bottom snare mic is essential. It’s the small things like this that seem like common sense but are so often overlooked. Creating a common space and dynamic signature All FX processors have their own sound. If you’re using plug-ins, reverbs in particular, they each have their own sonic character, no matter how you manipulate the settings. On Pieces, every song is different; however, I found that using the same reverb on the drums for each song (McDSP’s Revolver and Nomad Factory’s Blue Verb), then adjusting the settings as I saw fit, gave me the ability to present each drum sound as its own thing, while still maintaining a similar room consistency from one song to the next. What type of compression you use can also play into this. Take the drum bus, for example. Sometimes I like to compress the entire drum bus, which was the case in all the songs on Pieces. “Childhood’s End” was the first song we did. It was done and mixed before the other songs were even halfway recorded. (Some readers might recall that “Childhood’s End” was the song featured in my year-long series “Song Production In Pro Tools”, which ran in Recording throughout 2008.) For that first track, I used IK Multimedia’s classic T-RackS compressor on the drum bus. As the other songs evolved, I started out with the same plug-in and same settings then began tweaking from there. T-RackS has a nice analog warmth to it that works well on drums. Again, another way to bring sonic consistency to the drum element of each song. Of course this whole method can be applied to eq as well. Importing settings and other data Pieces was mixed in Pro Tools, with the aid of a few pieces of outboard gear. At this point, the Import Session Data feature in Pro Tools should be nothing new to most people. The ability to import tracks, settings or apply settings to certain tracks is a great way to work. FX, Compression, eq, automation, routing—these are all things that can be recalled quickly and easily, so you can start the next song where you left off on the previous song. If you’re just dealing with individual settings, saving plug-in presets is also quick and easy. One thing that is often overlooked

When turning tracks from all over the world into a coherent record, consistency is key
By Mark Hornsby Tracks seem to come from everywhere these days: recording studios, bedrooms, gymnasiums, hotel rooms, swimming pools, bars and shopping centers. I can’t count the number of projects I get asked to mix that have been pieced together from various parts of the world. Like everything else, it usually goes one of two ways. Either everyone involved did a great job recording their parts and keeping track of the proper takes, etc. Or, it’s a complete mess and I spend more time fixing stuff than I do mixing it. The irony is when a young indie band sends me a bunch of really clean, good sounding tracks, but a wellknown artist (that has funding) sends me tracks that all sound like crap. We’ve all been in this movie, so I digress. But, it brings up a valid question: When you’re dealing with tracks that have been pieced together in various places, how do you weave a thread of consistency through them in the mixing process? In other words, how do we make a handful of random and different recordings sound like an album? Simple: You use the Force. Bits and Pieces I just finished a solo EP called Pieces with artist and friend Nick D’Virgilio. We co-produced all the songs, we both did the bulk of the engineering and I mixed it. What was interesting about this project is that it was recorded over the course of a couple of years in different countries, cities, and studios. On top of
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Recording - October 2011

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