New Overlay technology embedded in Elements of Mixing video

In addition to the gratuitous product shots, what you may also notice is that people and information are also embedded into the video, so if you want to do more research on that 1176 compressor, you just click on it and it takes you to the blog about that compressor. No more having to stop the video and go research it. It's built in to the video. You will also notice several alumnus of EOM2 at Legacy appearing as well. Any graduates that woudl like to cross promote their production company or product with us just send us a link and we'll include you in the next webisode. Ryan and I will probably be releasing these 4 to 5 minute webisodes leading up to the release of the Elements of Mixing DVD which will be longer, and deeper.

De-Essing Vocals with Waves de-esser

Elements of Mixing Seminar Vol. 2

Mixers Bassy Bob and Ryan West announce the plans for another Mixing Seminar for target date May 25th
2008. "The enthusiasm has been such that Bob and I decided to schedule another one. The guys from the last
one were all really talented producers from all over, and we're looking forward to another exciting one in May",
said Ryan West. "We're hoping to capitalize on the feedback we got from the last one to make it better and
more useful to the guys who really need this information, the producers of this generation," said mixing veteran
Bassy Bob.

Selective Focus

Much of what I do as a mixer over the course of developing a finished mix for a song is what i call Selective Focus. It's basically a glorified term for paying attention to one thing, or maby two things at a time while listening to playback. When I begin a mix, I always start with all the faders at unity and I start to sort of clumsily put together a perspective for the song, moving elements like bass, drums, guitars, and keys into a rough perspective. From that point on, I begin "shaving" off elements either by doing individual fader passes on the part, say the lead Vocal, while also paying attention to other tangential parts, like say a piano accompaniment on guitar lick that supports the vocal. I have always closed my eyes while riding things because it eliminates many of the things that might be getting in the way of my concentration.
it is a technique that sort of came to my by osmosis, I just found that once I began closing my eyes while focusing that it was easier to "see" the image of the element that I was riding, in this case the lead vocal. Once I have a decent balance on the lead vocal, I sortof place the backgrounds in the back of the mix and then begin the process of bringing out the elements that I feel are important to the listener.

Obviously, if the band or performer play guitar or piano or other lead instrument, that instrument is going to take nearly top billing next to the lead vocal. I think about the Edge and Bono, or Tori Amos and her piano playing, or James Taylor and his acoustic guitar. These elements do a contrapuntal dance through the course of the song. The current project I'm working on for Geffen records is a 19 year old operatic tenor, Griffith Frank, who is the son of legendary synth-pop R and B genius David Frank, who's band The System, had a string of hits in the 80's. David wrote nearly half the songs on the album, and plays piano on quite a bit of the record. In addition, there are some amazing orchestrations by Jeremy Lubbock, who I believe is one of the greatest living orchestrators. Part of my job is to navigate the constantly changing relationships between Griffith, David, and the Orchestra, all of whom may move into center stage at any moment for a beat or a bar.

This is where my technique of selective focus comes into play...I decide before I begin a playback of the song to focus my attention on one or two things at the most.
In this case , maybe the lead vocal and grand piano, who are doing a musical dance where the piano, if well excecuted, is nicely playing in the cracks around the vocal.
I close my eyes, get my ears squarely between the monitors and I focus my concentration on the two things Im thinking about, with my fader on whatever I'm riding. Once they get into wht I believe is a good perspective, I continue with the process with the next supporting instruments until everything is in good perspective.

I usually do this process many many times before using any EQ or COMPRESSION or other processing, particularly with liverecording that are phase sensitive, like Orchestras, Pianos, and Drums. Many mixers are happy to dive right in EQing the drums individually before getting a proper balance and perspective. The problem I have with that approach is that it immediately begins messing with the overall phase of the kit which makes it harder to "see" the images. The same happens with any stereo image when EQ is employed, because EQ is by definition accomplished by altering the phase. This is why many legendary recording engineers use little or no eq when recording live instruments. The same applies to mixing. Not so much with a mono instrument like a guitar, but definitely with multi miked things like drums and orchestra.

Ryan West and Bassy Bob in association with DynamicProducer.com announce Elements of Mixing Seminar

Elements of Mixing
For Immediate Release
January 22nd, 2008


Multi-Platinum mixers Bassy Bob and Ryan West will begin
teaching hands on music mixing in their new seminar," Elements of
Mixing", hosted by Dynamic Producer, a grassroots organization that supports up and coming music producers.

Bassy and Ryan have worked for
Many of the top record producers in the world (P Diddy, Babyface,
Trevor Horn,Ron Fair, LA Reid, Just Blaze, Brian McNight, Pic Conley) And
synthesized many of the insights they've gained into a compelling and
intensive training program geared towards producersand students alike.

"Many of the greatest lessons I learned came tome from great mixers and
producers I trained under at the top studios in NYC when I was an assistant",
says Bassy Bob..."now that most of the big rooms are closed, where are the
young new mixers going to learn their craft, in music school?? They teach you
how to operate a console, but not how to mix pop music. That's what we teach,
and why we chose to teach.. Because there's a huge vacuum out there. We're
hoping to fill that void", said Bassy.

"And with more producers than ever mixing in their home
studios, they need help, either by learning mixing
themselves, or by hiring a young competent engineer who can", says
Ryan West, "we will be training the next generation of those mixers."

Together, Ryan and Bob have mixed records that have sold over
250 million Copies worldwide, testament to the consistency of their work and talent. And, unlike many teachers, they are still mixing hits.

The first seminar will take place at
Baseline Studios( home of Just Blaze) on:
Saturday, March 29th from 10am to 630pm.

Lunch and Light dinenr will be served.

For signup information please contact Felisha@DynamicProducers.com
At: 1-770-456-5365 or email:
Elementsofmixing@gmail.com

Ryan "So you want to do the eqs and Ill do the gates?"
Bassy "sure, and Ill setup the mix"