Mixing / Production

Ambition and talent can take you a long way, as Alex Da Kid has discovered on his journey from the football pitch to the recording studio.

The Chemical Brothers bring more gear on stage than most of us have in our studios. Matt Cox is the man who has to make sure it all works come showtime!

• Calvin Harris 'Bounce' • Arctic Monkeys 'Spangled Shalalala' • DJ Fresh 'Louder' • Bon Iver 'Calgary' • Pitbull 'Give Me Everything'

John Forbes talks to SOS about how he became musical director for Ne-Yo, creating live arrangements for one of the world’s top R&B artists using recorded parts.

Not many artists would make an entire album from field recordings of the life of a pig. But not many artists are like Matthew Herbert...

Twenty-five years ago, studio legend John Wood retired from the music industry. In a rare interview, he explains why he’s making a comeback, and lays bare the techniques behind some of his greatest recordings.

• Ed Sheeran 'The A Team' • The Wanted 'Glad You Came' • Jason Aldean 'Dirt Road Anthem' • Caro Emerald 'A Night Like This'

Carl Cox’s latest album is available only to those who purchase a uniquely coded USB pen drive. Is this an idea that will turn the tide against file‑sharing?

Fifty years ago, Wayne Moss created a studio in his Nashville garage. And while big-money, purpose-built complexes have come and gone, Cinderella Sound still thrives today.

The creation of Beyoncé’s album 4 involved 10 studios and almost 20 producers. The one constant, apart from the singer herself, was recording engineer DJ Swivel.

• Alison Krauss & Union Station 'Paper Airplane' • Katy Perry 'Last Friday Night' • Alexandra Stan 'Mr Saxobeat'

Live sound engineer ‘Trip’ Khalaf and his colleagues talk about touring Pink Floyd’s classic 1979 album with band co-founder Roger Waters.

French pop music was once as uncool as you could get, but over the last 15 years, AIR’s distinctive, retro-tinged electronica has conquered the world.

This year’s Glastonbury Festival boasted a recording studio built of straw — complete with 24‑track tape and grand piano. SOS followed Joe Leach’s project all the way from blue-sky thinking to muddy reality.

Prodigy live engineer Jon Burton talks to some of the world’s top sound engineers about the similarities and differences between tour and studio work.

• Dev Featuring The Cataracs 'Bass Down Low' • Wretch 32 'Traktor' • Aloe Blacc 'I Need A Dollar'

The Black Keys’ Brothers was the first album to be recorded at Muscle Shoals in 30 years. But with all its equipment long gone, would engineer Mark Neill be able to recapture the studio’s legendary sound?

Hampered by high expectations and an unhealthy obsession with vintage gear, Fleet Foxes’ second album took a year to make, in five different studios...

• LMFAO 'Party Rock Anthem' • Nero 'Guilt' • Noah And The Whale 'L.I.F.E. G.O.E.S. O.N.' • Nicole Scherzinger 'Right There'

Arctic Monkeys’ fourth album, Suck It And See, is a dazzling return to form — and to producer, long‑time collaborator and ‘fifth Monkey’ James Ford.

Are modern orchestral sample libraries really good enough to power an entire 90‑minute film score? Mark Russell found out the hard way...