Mixing Breakthroughs: 5 Top Mix Engineers

We invited five top engineers to share some of the key ‘aha’ moments in their mixing journey, and to offer advice for those who’ve recently embarked on their own.

I always enjoy talking with fellow engineers about mixing, but it’s particularly fascinating when they’re top professionals who offer valuable insights that I can try to apply in my own work. This interview is a case in point.

I started by inviting five very successful mix engineers (more about whom you can read in the ‘Meet The Engineers’ box) to look back at their careers and pinpoint some key ‘breakthroughs’ on their path to mixing professionally ‑ lasting lessons learned on a project, pieces of advice that struck a chord, or perhaps deliberate changes they made in their own approach.

We covered such questions, of course, but, inevitably, we also wandered more widely into the skills and mindset that are necessary to become and remain a successful mix engineer. They all offered lots of advice and insights that every student of mixing should find valuable.

Solid Foundations

A common thread was how the engineers’ early grounding in recording studios provided both inspiration and a level of technical understanding that would set them in good stead for their future careers. David Wrench, for example, worked for several years as the house engineer at Bryn Derwen, an independent studio in Wales, and it was this experience that made him want to mix: “I decided I had to really figure out this mixing thing. I would see so many projects come through the studio, where so much care had been taken during the recording stage and then watch as they ‘overworked’ individual elements or overly mucked around with things at the mixing stage. Respecting and ‘working with’ a production is a huge part of how I mix.”

Barney Barnicott recounted a similar experience. “I was lucky enough to work for eight years in a great independent studio, and I noticed how the most talented engineers made things look so simple and easy. Early on, I realised one of the most important things in mixing is to do as little as possible in terms of processing, and really work hard on balance.”

Barney Barnicott.

Marta Salogni, who offered up some great thoughts on the personal and artistic approach to mixing music, was keen to point out that the technical grounding she gained in studios allows her creative freedom today: “I am very thankful for my past as an engineer, as it gave me the tools to be able to not worry about the technical aspect of a mix any more. The technical side is so assimilated it has become second nature. That is why I feel I can afford to focus purely on feelings, empathy, and the emotional response of my work.”

Mikko Gordon also has an eye very much on creativity, which he attributes in part to working under creative engineers, such as Nigel Godrich, but says: “I was always drawn to mixes and productions that sound ‘interesting’ rather than ‘good’, and I think it’s a great bit of advice to keep in mind. Looking back I can see how much of the music I grew up liking has a distinct sonic identity, which still influences how I work today.”

Understanding The Client

In the early parts of our conversation, Jolyon Thomas chose to discuss the importance of interpersonal skills and client relationships. “I learned very early on the importance of finding out what [the client] is feeling, or trying to aim for with a piece of music. You need to find a way of getting that vital information. I once had a call from a fantastic artist I was working with, she said her favourite part of the mix was this vocal effect on one word! If you’re tuned in, these sorts of things will appear with not much effort.”

David Wrench: I often try and imagine someone is in the room with me: how would I feel if I was playing this mix with Iggy Pop standing behind me?

Most of the other engineers also offered advice about understanding their clients’ wishes, and David Wrench suggested an imaginative technique for getting into the head of a musician or artist: “The life of a mixer can be a solitary one these days, and you can’t underestimate how different music sounds when you have other people in the room. I often try and imagine someone is in the room with me: how would I feel if I was playing this mix with Iggy Pop standing behind me, for example?”

Marta Salogni observed that “We as people are all different and don’t experience emotions in the same way. The bridge to those differences to me is an open communication and the desire to be their interpreter. My own ego stays beyond the threshold of my studio door. With my work I am merely asking questions: does this sound like anger to you? Does this feel like love or is it more like longing? Are we on the same plane, looking at the same landscape? If not, I’ll get back to work and plough this mix further, until I hold it up like a mirror and my artists can see themselves in it and say, ‘That’s it, that’s me, that’s what I wanted to convey.’ Nothing brings me more joy than to hear those words.”

Marta Salogni.

Mikko Gordon also suggested an interesting tactic. “In recent years,” he recounted, “there have been a few instances where I’ve felt something was missing in a track I’ve been mixing. In these situations, I’ve mixed the song as it is, but then also made an alternative version with a tape loop or some kind of other atmospheric texture underneath. I’ve then sent both versions to the artists, and nine times out of 10 that’s the version that gets used. So I’ve learned to trust my instincts, but also to make sure I’m respectful to the artist and to include the original version without additions.”

Breakthrough Moments

A couple of the engineers shared anecdotes about specific moments when their careers moved forward, or they gained a valuable shot of confidence. Barney Barnicott said he “was towards the end of mixing a Kasabian album, which I’d also recorded, when the American side of the label told us they were going to get Andy Wallace to mix the record for the American market. I just assumed that was it for me, as there was no way I could compete with Andy’s mixes. When he had finished, we set up the whole album back to back on an A/B button with everyone there in the studio to compare the two mixes. It was extremely daunting, but to my shock, most of his sounded pretty much exactly the same as mine. The band chose half Andy’s and half mine. It really gave me a lot of confidence in what I was doing.”

David Wrench.

David Wrench highlighted an experience that occurred on a specific project. “I was mixing the Caribou record Our Love and it was a project where my love of low end began to really cement itself into my mixing style. We were mixing the record at Strongroom Studios [in] London and managed to find a way of auditioning the mixes in some nearby clubs (Plastic People and Fabric) during the day. We spent a lot of time fine‑tuning the relationship between the kick drum and the bass — changing samples or using EQ or ducking. It was around this time that a clutch of projects I was involved with came out in quick succession and things began to take off for me.”

On that occasion, David had clearly gone the extra mile to ensure those mixes would work in the right environment, and it seems this wasn’t the only occasion. “Being based in Wales,” he said, “it was relatively easy to get your mixes onto Welsh‑speaking radio,...