[Wall2Wall]

Interested thread from another site, where I lurk from time to time. What's interesting to me is many taking it as a personal affront and assault against the world of music that others work differently than they do. Many even state that the only reason Andrew Schepes went 100% ITB for mixing is because he now has a Waves' plugin.

Andrew Schepes himself posted in the thread:

Hey everybody,

Somebody emailed me a link to this thread today and I'm shocked that anything I have to say can generate 13 pages of posts. It's humbling and kind of scary! So, in what is probably a terrible move, I want to reel off some random thoughts and clarifications, then I'll retreat back into the shadows and pretend I never posted. These are in no particular order, just thoughts I had related to some points raised in the thread. Keep in mind this is only about my mixing process, it has nothing to do with recording (or better yet, modular synths).

1) At the moment I am mixing 100% in the box. No outboard gear or summing. It took almost two years to make the transition from the consoles and all of the outboard gear, but the transition is a complete one. The only analog gear I use are power amps, speakers and headphones. If I happen to be in my studio and think bouncing something through some analog gear would help then I will, but that's very, very rare (I'm having a hard time remembering the last time I did it).

2) I was terrified to make the change and it was a slow and sometimes painful transition. I started the move because of logistical and economic reasons. Now that I have done it, I absolutely 100% believe that my mixes sound better. I could be kidding myself, but considering how hard I am on myself I doubt it.

3 I spend way too much time over-analysing everything I do, so I have spent months hunting for answers as to why I think it sounds better. I think that the ability to only work on a mix for as long as I'm feeling creative, and then switch instantly to another song and come back to the first one later is probably the major factor. The whole D/A issue is something that I thought about after the fact as a possible explanation for some of the sonic things I was hearing (especially with summing tests). I stand by the idea that no D/A is better than some number of D/As. How much? I have no idea. Probably not a lot, but some.

4) The records I mix don't always come out in the same order I work on them, so my discography doesn't have a clean OTB, ITB break, and there were projects along the way that were hybrid (ITB summing with an ever dwindling number of hardware inserts as I found ITB replacements for them or just abandoned them). Since it's come up in this thread and I've done a mixing tutorial using it, I'll confirm that Ziggy Marley's record was almost completely ITB, with a couple of hardware inserts left over during the tail end of the transition.

5) I mix on speakers whenever I can. I love my old Tannoys. There have been a few times when I couldn't use speakers and had to complete a mix entirely in headphones. It was always a logistical choice, not a creative one, and I was incredibly surprised with the results. I expected all kinds of problems, especially in the low end, but there weren't any. I probably got lucky.

6) I am painfully aware of my legacy of quotes referring to mixing using analog equipment. That is how I mixed. For years. I was an evangelist for it; as much for the ergonomic, visceral workflow as the sonics. Now I mix ITB. It's a completely different way of working. I still love mixing and try and make every mix I do super exciting and musical. In ten years who knows what I'll be using.

7) For recording there is still nothing better to me than an old Neve and good mics (and the occasional guitar pedal).

8) I love Neve style EQs, especially 1073s, 1084s and 31102s. I was thrilled to be asked by Waves to collaborate with them on the 1073 plugin. I love the way it turned out and use it all the time. I think it has the same musical character I love in the hardware Neves. I know some people don't like it, and that's totally cool. There's plenty of stuff I don't like. I also use lots of other plugins.

So, there you have it. I know this doesn't answer all the questions that have been brought up, and I'm in no way trying to stop the discussion, just clarify a few things. I'm not going to post again, and I won't read the thread any more either. Too nerve wracking (and kind of creepy in a weird eaves-droppy way). I'm sure I haven't worded all of this carefully enough to keep it from being slightly vague or open to interpretation, but that's the fun right?

Anyway, thanks for thinking my words somehow merit discussion and debate!

Andrew Scheps