Episode 18
Show Notes
Live With Matt Rad - Episode 18
Sept 15, 2020
w/ Jon Castelli - Week 17
Show notes by: Bradley Will
Producer Sample Packs:
Matt has been making sample packs for the last few days from his old work.
He suggests making drum samples and bounced loops of all loops from your existing songs in order to make yourself a producer sample pack that’s unique to you.
Jon takes mixed samples from each of his sessions and used to give them back to his clients at the end of a mix, for their future productions.
When you’re in a writing session you don’t have time to make a loop for yourself on the spot. Have your loops ready to go.
Don’t spend time hunting for drum sounds in a session. You can always change out the samples later.
Have four kick drums that make a vibe as soon as possible.
Make these sample packs for yourself so that you don’t have to hunt for this best ones.
Producers today are the sonic architect of the song.
You have to be okay getting less credit than you think you deserve, because extra people will always come into the session later to contribute.
It’s known in the pro world that people will keep being tacked onto credits for each new job they do. You need to be okay with your share being reduced.
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As a mixer, understand that you’re being hired to facilitate someone else’s vision. Know what your role is on a production.
Jon was deterred from being a producer because his vision was rarely accepted by labels. The labels were unwilling to unlock a budget to pursue the ideas to include strings, and things that are outside of the realm of typical loop-based pop music.
He realized that he’d need to sell the vision to the label, and he is not a salesman. He’s a mix engineer.
The vision was always an obstacle to him getting his records made the way he was hearing them.
For someone like Quincy Jones, their vision is what makes them the producer.
They also need to be handling the relationship between them and the artist.
Kanye and Pharrell are describing ideas visually like movies to their artists to describe what they want.
That’s their style.
In contrast to them, you’ve also got the quiet, soft-spoken types who share vision by doing.
Q: How important is it to understand your gear from an electronic engineering standpoint?
Jon doesn’t care at all. You don’t need to know this.
Let it be a passion, but if a piece of gear breaks or you need one designed, hire a professional to do it.
Definitely don’t talk about this stuff when the artist is in the room.
Don’t let that get in the way of the creation. Jon thinks part of why he does well is because he doesn’t get into super-nerd talk around his clients. Nobody cares.
Monitoring at Low Levels / Levels of Listening:
Jon:
You should not turn your volume knob often.
It’s beneficial for him to stay at one listening level for an extended period of time.
By constantly changing the volume you are tricking yourself into thinking there is improvement.
Jon makes most of his critical mix decisions quieter. Though he enjoys listening loudly. It feels really good when it’s turned up the kick is hitting you in the chest.
Jon makes his midrange adjustments at low level.
He has two settings on his monitor controller that he listens at most of the time. They are very far from each other. It’s almost like having a dim switch.
Jon doesn’t want to make decisions at any number he’s not comfortable with.
Matt:
You need to be aware of your perception and Fletcher-Munson curves.
Q: What is the value of reference speakers like NS-10s or Auratones?
Jon and Matt don’t use these speakers, but they do listen on AirPods.
Audiomovers ‘Listen To’ to stream audio to your phone. Check your mixes there.
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Q: Does shelving out low end affect low-end the same way as filtering?
They both affect phase, but they do it in different ways. It’s hard to compare.
Jon doesn’t like to use linear-phase EQ;s. Especially on low-end. Never on low-end.
Jon: Go to Fab Filter Pro-Q linear phase demo and listen to what it does to transients. You’ll never want to use it again. It’s something that you cannot un-hear.
Is natural phase better for low-end? Yes and no. Use your ears. Try both.
Low End:
Jon is amazed on how often he can fix someone’s low end by simply flipping the phase between a kick, a bass, and a loop that has low end.
There’s no such thing as perfectly in phase unless you have two identical signals. There’s always going to be a compromise, but one is usually better.
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Q: What is one mistake you made in your career path and what did you learn?
Matt:
You have to make mistakes every day. You have to.
The process of being creative is going in with an intention and receiving something different. How you respond to that is what dictates what your creative life is like.
Be aware of what your tendencies are: Are you a people pleaser? Learn to say “no” more often. Are you someone who’s unwilling to take risks? Say yes to more things.
Early on, Matt’s advice to people is to “say yes to most things”. Most people don’t create enough or release enough music early in their career.
Jon:
Saying yes to a project that you know that you’re not the right person for. Jon likes to be a people pleaser.
If you’re not sure, ask to hear the record. See if you like it first. No sense in being involved if you’re not the person for the job.
You want a contributor to be super-hyped about it, if they’re going to touch your record.
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Jon doesn’t think anyone should work 7 days a week.
Matt thinks you should at least do it once so that you know how it feels.
You may not need to do it, but if a big record comes through you need to be prepared.
Jon: Doing more of what you know you want to do early on helps you find your identity early on.
Jon wants to be cross-genre.
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Q: What is the purpose of attack time on a limiter?
Jon: The faster the attack the more he perceives the transients.
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Q: Tendencies and trends in today’s mixing/production?
Jon:
Loves the 24k Golden Mood record. He’s obsessed with it. It’s because of the vocal approach. The beats are sick, but it’s the vocals.
He’s not feeling the 808-without-kick vibe. He wants it to hit just a little harder.
Doesn’t like mixers mixing for radio with dense top-end compression always, even if they’re not playing on radio. Non-dynamic top-end.
When Jon doesn’t get the gig it’s because the rough had no transients and when he brings dynamics to it it sounds foreign.
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Q: Do you still get paid if your mix doesn’t get chosen?
YES. Jon never mixes on spec.
Do it if you need to impress an A+R. But as soon as you can, don’t do it.
