Mixing / Production

With country guitars, what you hear on the record is what was played in the studio. We asked Nashville's leading engineers how they capture those tones.

Mike Vernon produced some of the greatest blues records of all time. A full decade after retiring, he's back in the studio with some of the British blues scene's brightest lights.

Some of the friends we've made over the years share their congratulations on our 25th birthday!

The man behind the biggest UK single of the year — 'Pass Out' by Tinie Tempah — is 21-year-old musical prodigy and maverick Labrinth.

One of electronicas most adventurous spirits, Markus Popp has returned with an album that sounds surprisingly... musical. But is everything as it seems?

As the Prodigy's chief live sound engineer, Jon Burton gets to unleash untold kilowatts of bass power on an unsuspecting world. He has also made multitrack recordings of every show on their 26-month world tour.

Silver Apples jammed with Jimi Hendrix, counted John Lennon as a fan, and produced extraordinary electronic music — with nothing but a drum kit and a pile of electrical junk.

Nashville heavy-hitter Paul Worley was so impressed by Lady Antebellum that he gave up his high-profile job at Warner Bros to produce them. With Clarke Schleicher at the desk, the gamble paid off in style.

Pioneers of everything from circuit-bending to multimedia art, Devo have always belonged to the future.

MGMT could have followed up their smash hit debut album with more of the same. Instead, they headed straight into left field, with help from a legend of British psychedelia.

In 1969, Faust used their massive record company advance to build a unique studio and a collection of weird, custom-made effects units. The same experimental spirit lives on in their new album, Faust Is Last.

Plan B entered the public eye as a rapper, but its as a soul singer that he has conquered the charts. He and his production team revisit the tortuous story behind The Defamation Of Strickland Banks.

Every new Porcupine Tree album sells over a quarter of a million copies. And with founder Steven Wilson in control of everything from songwriting to shrink-wrapping, theres no middle man to take a cut. Read his valuable advice for SOS readers wishing to do likewise...

Phil Thornalley learned his trade as a rock engineer and producer in the 80s. Then he co-wrote a little-known song called Torn...

Legendary songwriter and Kinks frontman Ray Davies got his first taste of recording in 1964, and hes never looked back.

From humble beginnings in provincial Norway, the Stargate team have gone on to become one of Americas leading hit factories. Songwriter and producer Mikkel Eriksen explains how their hard work and talent brought success.

Dave Stewarts career has spanned several generations of music technology (from National Health band in the 1970s to hits with partner Barbara Gaskin. For his latest project, he faced the challenge of bringing his old multitracks and MIDI sequences into the computer age.

What do you get when five American jazz musicians lock themselves in the studio with a collection of Steeleye Span albums? Through a series of reinventions, Midlake have won critical applause for their music and plaudits for their self-production skills.

Some of the latest advances in electronic music technology have been geared towards acoustic music — played by robots. For his latest album, guitarist Pat Metheny assembled an entire automated orchestra to back him.

Thanks to years of experimentation with budget equipment, brothers Peter and David Brewis have developed into one of the UK's best and most interesting studio bands, with a sound that is very much their own.

Following their unlikely breakthrough into the mainstream, Flaming Lips made a conscious return to the outer limits with their recent album Embryonic. Dave Fridmann manned the controls.