Episode 49
Show Notes
Live with Matt Rad - Episode 49
April 20, 2021
w/ Jon Castelli - Week 45
Show notes by: Bradley Will
Matt:
Explaining why Young Thug so important:
Thug came out as a Lil Wayne impersonator at first. Then he went deeper into his own style and felt like he was always being himself. Because he came with so much authenticity and originality he should get credit for this entire generation of melodic hip hop, post hip-hop. Whatever it is.
Jon:
Jon thinks it’s punk because of the whole package of “I don’t give a fuck” music, aesthetic, and fashion.
Q: How do I come up these days?
Don’t move to a big city and try to intern in a new city because there are so few spots.
Find your own people and collaborate with them and build those long-term compound relationships.
It’s so much more fun to win with your friends than to win in isolation.
Jon:
Artists should be in good hands.
Our jobs as engineers should be to take the artist and present them in the best way possible.
———
Matt:
Business folks, A+Rs, or agents always ask Matt: “Who are the artists you want to work with?”
I want to work with anybody who’d be excited to work with me.
The collaborative relationship is hugely important. It has to work.
There’s a lot of great artists, but the chemistry might not be there.
Get your people. Get your collaborators. Get the people that elevate what you do. To help you see what you do that is valuable. That would push you to do thing you wouldn’t normally do.
Having people you know for a long time is going to be better for your music career than finding the new person to meet.
That’s the only way he’s really seen it work for most people.
Jon:
I feel I have a responsibility as a product of mentorship. I have a responsibility to now offer that to others. I don’t feel comfortable with that, but I am going to pursue it because of that.
————
Jon:
If you’re all-in on a project and you feel you have this obligation to finish it, but don’t feel you have the means to do it well, consider passing it off to a finisher who you trust.
Consider doing a co-mix with someone.
If you want to maintain the control, but you know that it needs fresh ears, find yourself a collaborator and a finisher that you can co-mix with.
If I was making a whole album as an engineer and the mixes aren’t feeling right, I’d have a few people I would reach out to and offer to do a co-mix.
———
Jon:
As a mix engineer I’m trying to make the record as much of itself as it can possibly be.
It needs to sound unlike something has ever sounded like.
It needs to be the most unique version of what is on that canvas.
Matt:
There is a practical reason to have titles because it tells people what you do who don’t know about you.
If you become the guy who is needed to make the thing sound the best and can do something that no one else can do, then you will be a valuable part of the crew.
Jon:
If I’m trying to have longevity in this business, I don’t see myself only continuing to mix records solo by myself in my loft.
If someone is trying to do what I’m doing currently doing in a long-term way I would reconsider that and it’s potential for longevity.
Ableton Sound Quality
Jon:
Supposedly Ableton starts dynamically reducing bit-depth
Says he knows someone at Ableton who has told him this 5-6 years ago and the behavior persists through Live 11 (current version).
Over 24 tracks it starts to do this. Over 25% CPU usage it starts to do this.
Supposedly drums start to lose transients.
Jon says the audio quality is also degraded on a bounce.
Supposedly this is not public knowledge and supposedly someone from Ableton has confirmed it. Their identity cannot be shared.
Q: How do you approach mixing something you don’t like if it’s a good opportunity?
Jon just did this for a new song on Warner Bros. First song was great, second song was not to Jon’s taste at all.
If you don’t like the song, find the elements in the mix that you DO like and just work from there. Try to build it around those.
Start over as many times as you need to until it feels right and you find the right approach to make you enjoy the song.
Q: How do you know when to stop mixing? What does finishing really mean?
Matt:
If you don’t know when something is done. Then that’s a good time to rely on your collaborators and get their perspective.
