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Post by seawell on Aug 31, 2022 0:52:50 GMT -6
One of the best interviews with Bob Clearmountain, I've come across yet:
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Post by reddirt on Aug 31, 2022 1:51:22 GMT -6
Thanks big time to all involved; so informative . I have a mix to start and I've been putting it off, dialled up RGO, found this and the importance of feeling where it has to go rather than getting bogged down intellectual about it. The released mix took "maybe a couple of hours". - What?!
My takeaway is trust myself ;it's not as difficult as I keep making it.
Also , I love real desks.
Cheers for this Josh
Ross
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Post by thehightenor on Aug 31, 2022 8:00:27 GMT -6
Thanks big time to all involved; so informative . I have a mix to start and I've been putting it off, dialled up RGO, found this and the importance of feeling where it has to go rather than getting bogged down intellectual about it. The released mix took "maybe a couple of hours". - What?! My takeaway is trust myself ;it's not as difficult as I keep making it. Also , I love real desks. Cheers for this Josh Ross Kinda helps doing the framing when the painting is by Bruce Springsteen :-) I mean, what a truly great song, great vocal, great performance, great vibe, great sentiment - great music. My take away is focus first on the quality of everything pre the recording and mixing, then when you have some genuine magic to record the tracking and mixing will be a much easier joyful process. Talent will out. |
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Post by chessparov on Aug 31, 2022 8:16:45 GMT -6
And a huge hit in Scandinavia.
When he released the special "Bjorn In The USA" version.
Chris
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Post by svart on Aug 31, 2022 8:36:00 GMT -6
"you guys are dissecting this, but I don't think about it that way.. I just sort of add stuff, turn some knobs and there you go"
This right here is how pros work.
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 15,012 
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Post by ericn on Aug 31, 2022 9:22:29 GMT -6
A couple of take aways
First I mix like BoB fing Clearmountain! Yup don’t think about it a very organic approach.
2 Bob would make a great FOH mixer, it’s find the groove in the moment and ride it.
3. “ these guys pretty much mix themselves “ yup that’s what you want, funny but all I can think of his Tchad Blake talking about Peter Gabriel handing him hundreds of tracks recorded over the years for one song.
4. I wasn’t nuts in the 80’s and 90’s when I dreamed of a Rack full of H3000’s.
5. As much as In theory I’m not a fan of celebrity pre set plugins I really think Bob’s would work live.
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Post by thehightenor on Aug 31, 2022 10:14:15 GMT -6
The point is BC 'aint polishing turds!
He's mixed some of the best songwriters and singers in pop music history.
In my experience mixing for other people when you're handed something amazing to mix it's funny how
pushing up a couple of faders and turning a couple of pan pots and your 90% on the path to musical gold.
That's when the 4 hour mix happens. Done. Easy.
When you're handed something very mediocre making it "sound" better than it fundamentally is can mean digging
deep into the bag of tricks which can in turn be tedious.
This video reminds me as a singer/songwriter to pack as much colour into painting the rainbow before going looking for the pot of gold.
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Post by srb on Aug 31, 2022 12:25:10 GMT -6
It's the Scary Pockets dudes! I thought I recognized those cats. Cool!
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Post by bchurch on Aug 31, 2022 13:41:41 GMT -6
BC’s mix on Aimee Mann’s “Whatever” (1993) has some absolutely stunning mix work. The immediacy of the vocal is unparalleled, I check my vocal recording chain against it every time.
Check out “Jacob Marley’s Chain”. Track 7 I think. Very interesting instrumentation through the bridge - the way he makes that gel is so cool.
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Post by paulcheeba on Aug 31, 2022 16:07:07 GMT -6
I hate that record.
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Post by gwlee7 on Aug 31, 2022 16:53:04 GMT -6
Lol. Not my favorite either. Couldn’t escape it if you had your radio on for sure. |
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Post by copperx on Aug 31, 2022 17:52:50 GMT -6
Clearmountain is the clearest example I've seen of a top-level performer that cannot elucidate his process. It took two annoying guys asking questions in different ways to be able to extract a bit of insight. Some experts internalize knowledge non-verbally. If I had to guess, Clearmountain might have rarely talked shop with other engineers. He's the guy that says "I just tweak knobs until it sounds good." A mathematician, when asked about their reasoning process, would say "well, I think about the problem, then I write the answer." Well, thanks. Experts forget what it feels to be a beginner, and that's natural.
I still remember when I asked my mom, "if you want to avoid a pothole, how do you know exactly when to turn the wheel?." When driving, you just don't think about those things. Things like "I wonder how soon you should turn the wheel before you reach the pothole?", and then think, "hmm, I think that depends on the speed." As a beginner, I wanted to know the answers to that. "So, how do you know how much should you press the brakes?" The answer is that you never think about that after becoming an expert. But saying "you just know" or "just turn the knobs" isn't really helpful.
It's not that one is being "too analytical," like Clearmountain says. I don't think anyone that has mixed 1000+ records can mix analytically. It's all about doing what you know.
Ironically, like him or not, I think CLA has a good instinct for teaching. He's the exact opposite of his mentor.
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Post by craigmorris74 on Aug 31, 2022 18:12:46 GMT -6
Jim Bouton told a tale of when Yogi Berra was coaching the Yankees, he was standing around the batting cage trying to verbalize what he wanted to the hitters to do. He finally got frustrated, told the guy to get out of the way, and said, “here, do it like this!”
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Post by Ward on Sept 2, 2022 12:55:23 GMT -6
Well, you would. LOL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA |
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Post by chessparov on Sept 2, 2022 14:02:03 GMT -6
Jim Bouton told a tale of when Yogi Berra was coaching the Yankees, he was standing around the batting cage trying to verbalize what he wanted to the hitters to do. He finally got frustrated, told the guy to get out of the way, and said, “here, do it like this!” Yogi got "Yogi", because he sat cross-legged in the dugout usually, waiting to bat. Just like an Indian Yogi. He even sued the Yogi Bear show, for "Defamation of Character". But like an error in the Outfield... It was eventually dropped. (Kinda like Driver Support) "Everyone" in Hollywood knew the cartoon was based on him. But unlike Yogi Bear... Berra couldn't stand Boo Boos. Picnic Baskets? Did he ever get an offer from The Rangers? Hmm... Chris |
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Post by robschnapf on Sept 3, 2022 6:18:21 GMT -6
Turn down the prophet and turn up the gtrs
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Post by fellowshiphallsound on Sept 3, 2022 9:12:15 GMT -6
Turn down the prophet and turn up the gtrs Seriously. I liked the song for the first time when they had *that* mix up. |
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Post by drumrec on Sept 3, 2022 13:03:23 GMT -6
Always fun to dive into someone's head and hear how they come up with their mixes. Bob Clearmountain seems to be such a humble person. Another one I come back to just for inspiration on MWTM is Tchad Blake. Love his vision and approach to the music and mixing. No rules!
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Post by bgrotto on Sept 4, 2022 9:38:14 GMT -6
Random fun fact that I love about Bob: he played bass on the Dead Boys' seminal "Young Loud and Snotty"
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Post by bossanova on Sept 4, 2022 18:03:28 GMT -6
Turn down the prophet and turn up the gtrs Seriously. I liked the song for the first time when they had *that* mix up. Which song does this refer to? |
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Post by fellowshiphallsound on Sept 6, 2022 8:58:36 GMT -6
Seriously. I liked the song for the first time when they had *that* mix up. Which song does this refer to? 23:40 or so |
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Post by christopher on Sept 6, 2022 10:31:56 GMT -6
For me that was really great hear him explain mixing in the pre-automation days. It’s way fun to ride faders manually on mixdown, I highly recommend it! It’s very challenging! Now he gives confirmation they used to punch in their screw ups back then and splice together the final… which means punching in for us will be even easier.. no need to spend 6 hours trying to practice and print the perfect pass
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