Episode 93 - Jon Castelli

Show Notes

Live with Matt Rad - Episode 93
May 31, 2022
w/ Jon Castelli - Week 75

Show notes by: Bradley Will

Editor’s Note: Today’s stream was cut short due to connection issues. Video of the first 45 minutes in not available to watch. So today’s record will be in the form of show notes only.

Testing Your Mixes In Different Ways

Jon:
I do an airpod test, a phone test, and a car test if I need to.

• I always test my mixes at a lower volume.

• I want my mixes to sound good in a Tesla and in a Prius, so that all range of car stereos are working well.
  

If you mix too loud you end up with less high-mids.

• So if I client wants a track really bright I end up having to mix quieter than I usually would.

• If I can get the high-mids controlled and cut them then I have room to turn the vocal up and make it feel louder.
  

Matt:
When I need to mix really bright I get the low-end and the bass hitting right and then I turn down to mix.

Re-assessing Mix buss Chains and Saturation

Jon:
Nicki Minaj - Run and Hide

• I mixed this four years ago when I wasn’t mixing with a clipper and the low-end sounded sooo good.
  

Recently I turned off my entire mix buss to see what it would sound like, and it sounded so amazing and energetic compared to a mix that is more choked by the processing in order to get the level that the clients want.

• We need to let the mastering engineer do a little more heavy lifting.
  

Matt:
Theres this middle zone of saturation that everyone is doing in every step of the process, and while it tends to add up to something very musical by the end, there is something very soft about it.

• On the other side of things, artists like Dylan Brady or Cali Carter are completely exploding sounds with saturation and distortion. There’s nothing subtle about that at all.
  

If we do a little bit less mix buss stuff and allow our mastering engineers to do their thing and get more level in their way, then we will all benefit.


Jon:
With tubes you can run the risk of them softening sounds too much, but when done right they can be rich and add to the record in a musical way.

• If I hit the tubes quietly so that they’re not over-hitting the transformers you can get a subtle harmonic sound without making it soft.

• Now I start every mix with the gain down low through my tubes and try to make up the level in the mix by other means, and without the limiter doing all of the heavy lifting.

• This means that I have to work harder to match a rough mix’s level.
  

Matt:
Back during peak loudness wars there were less stages used to get the super-hot levels of mixes. More often than not there was one limiter or piece of gear that would be doing all of the heavy lifting.

I would like to lean more on mastering engineers and have to think less about how loud my mixes are.


Jon:
One solution would be for me and Dale Becker (my mastering engineer) to master every track before it gets sent to an artist for approval.

• Granted this is difficult to do, but it’s a possible way through the dilemma of an artist requesting loud mixes and not trusting that the loudness will come in mastering.

Q: How to adapt to different relationship dynamics in a project? How to adapt as the newest member of a team? How do you adapt to different workflows and different power dynamics from project to project?

Matt:
Understand what the project you’re entering needs and how you can fit in. This is a very important skill to have.

• Learn to read situations quickly.

• Learn to understand who has the authority and decision making power. Not to discount the other people, but to know who’s approval will be necessary to get something over the line.
  

That’s what the job is. The job is being a lot of different things to different people.


Editor’s Note: The streaming connection was broken and cut short prematurely. Matt had to relaunch the stream and start again.


Jon:
I’m working on three different projects right now where the teams I have to interact with are completely different and have different dynamics for how everyone communicates with one another.

• This is normal. Every project has different requirements.
  
  

Editor’s Note: The streaming connection was broken and cut short. Matt had to relaunch the stream and start again. Matt and Jon decided to end the stream early and start fresh on the next episode.