Recording - October 2019 - 26

DEAD MAN'S POP-REMIXING AND
REVISITING THE REPLACEMENTS
DON'T TELL A SOUL

JUSTIN PERKINS

--------------- Interview by Paul Vnuk Jr.
Mastering engineer Justin Perkins runs Mystery Room Mastering in
Milwaukee, WI. One of his most recent projects was mastering the
new Replacements box set Dead Man's Pop for Rhino records. A further tie into the Replacements camp: Justin was the mixing engineer
on Tommy Stinson's last Bash & Pop record, Anything Could Happen,
and he also played bass on the accompanying Bash & Pop tour.
Like many mastering engineers, Justin got his start as a mixing engineer, most notably at Smart Studios in Madison, WI
before moving into the specialty of mastering. Justin is also a
regular contributor to the pages of RECORDING Magazine.

Tell us about the Mystery Room-you have a pretty
extensive collection of analog and digital tools. Run
us through your setup.
Starting with the conversion I have a Crane Song Avocet IIA,
a Crane Song HEDD-Quantum, and a Prism Sound Lyra 2. For
routing, I just got a Crookwood M3, but on the Dead Man's
Pop set I was still using my Dangerous Master and a customized Dutch Audio IM1.c.
For monitoring, I use PSI Audio A215-M speakers along with
PSI Audio A125-M subs.

What do you use for dynamics?
I have a Manley Variable Mu, a pair of Dave Hill Titans, a Neve Portico MBP, an API 2500 which was one of the first pieces I bought when
I started mastering, and a Dangerous Compressor which was the one I
used the most on Dead Man's Pop. On the specialty compressor side, I
have a multiband Maselec MLA-4 and a Maselec MDS-2.

The MDS 2, is that the de-esser? Do you use it more
for de-essing, or do you use it for frequency limiting
as well?
This one is just a de-esser. Maselec makes a different model that
has a limiter built into it. I don't like to limit in the analog realm because no pun intended, it limits your options down the line. Basically, I want to have that flexibility after the capture. I always assumed
that I could handle any de-essing in the box before it goes digital,
but it's great to have something near the end of your analog chain
that can tame the sibilants before you capture back to digital.

What do you use for outboard EQ?
There is a Dangerous BAX EQ, a Maselec MEA-2, a Gyraf
Gyratec G23-S, and the Bettermaker Mastering Equalizer.

The Bettermaker is a digitally controlled analog EQ
with a plugin interface, correct?
Yes. The Replacements box set was one of the first projects I
used the Bettermaker on. I don't think I had it when I mastered
26 RECORDING October 2019

Photo by CJ Foeckler

the Matt Wallace remixes, but it came shortly after that, and I
was able to use it on the bonus tracks and the live concert on
discs three and four. Since they were kind of all over the map in
terms of tone and what they needed, it was great for programming different EQ moves per song but in the analog realm. In my
DAW, I can insert the Bettermaker plugin on each song, and it's
all programmed and automated.

The last piece of hardware I see here is the Vertigo
VSM-3 Mix Satellite. I know it's one of your favorite
pieces for analog.
It really is. I first became aware of this because of the Plugin
Alliance and UAD Powered Plugin versions. It's still one of my
favorite plugins, but it was just so unique that I had to try the
hardware. The tipping point for me was that the hardware has
two insert points inside at the start of the chain.
For instance, I can insert a tube EQ on insert one, and instead of using it at 100% I can blend it to maybe 70%, which
is a nice feature. So, part of the reason why I have the hardware is not because hardware sounds better than plugins, but
because it adds those insert points.
Saturation can be touchy in mastering, and the great thing
about the Vertigo is that you can hone in on a specific frequency band, decide how saturated you want it, and then blend it in
in parallel. It offers five different frequency choices, or you can
process the full spectrum. I use it very subtly most of the time.

What do you use for software?
I use Cockos Reaper to interface with my analog gear, and then
Steinberg WaveLab Pro. I also use iZotope RX, which touches basically every project I work on, removing clicks and thumps and noises. I used RX heavily on the Dead Man's Pop live show material.

To clean up noise?
Actually, every song in the live show had dozens of loud
feedback squeals in the vocal microphone. The show was in a
cafeteria, which was probably not meant to have concerts in,
and so the sound guy had some difficulties that night. They're
unfortunately part of the mix.

Did you use the RX spectral tool to draw them out?
Yes. Since the live show is two full discs, it took a while, but
it was easy to draw them out.

Recording - October 2019

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