Mixing with your mind michael paul stavrou

MIXING WITH YOUR MIND MICHAEL PAUL STAVROU HOW TO

Preamp tests cover solid-state, valve, and transformer-coupled designs, and there is also an illustration of the sounds of optical and solid-state compression. Each comparison involves up to about a dozen audio excerpts, with 'A' and 'B' sources switched at random.ДЄfter the mixers, a variety of digital and analogue recorders are compared, both multitrack and stereo, before attention turns to processors. The CD kicks off with a comparison between a Mackie eight-buss analogue mixer and the original Yamaha 02R digital mixer, using various sections and components of country-rock and R&B tracks. However, this new CD aims to make this easier by providing audio comparisons of different studio equipment. +61 (2)9953 The A/B CD Audio Comparisons CDДebates over the sonic qualities of different studio setups can go on endlessly, and sorting fact from fiction can be difficult. Mike SeniorД©9.95 Australian dollars (around ВЈ37.50) including UK p&p.

I would heartily recommend this book to any SOS reader, and it has already earned a permanent place on my studio shelf alongside such well-thumbed tomes as Bob Katz's Mastering Audio and Howard Massey's Behind The Glass. Some may find the book's structure and presentation a little haphazard, and a number of the justifications Stavrou offers for his techniques might raise an eyebrow, but the sheer quantity of inspirational practical guidance - much of it unavailable elsewhere to my knowledge - more than makes up for this. He then goes on to suggest a variety of ways to get your subconscious mind working for you, and also reveals some unusual tactics for keeping your objectivity while making critical mix balancing decisions. For a start, Stavrou structures his mixing sessions to separate left-brain and right-brain tasks, thus avoiding interruptions to the creative flow. Unsurprisingly, when it comes to mixing, a lot of emphasis is placed on the less tangible elements of the process, and this is the book's greatest strength in my opinion. However, despite the inherent difficulties involved in actually describing Stavrou's approach in a written form, these chapters do make genuinely exciting reading, and should certainly inspire any recordist to re-assess their mic technique. Given that Stavrou avoids technical explanations, I think it is a shame that no audio examples were provided here to exemplify the differences between 'hard' and 'soft' sounds, for instance, as this distinction is at the heart of his strategy for choosing mics. The value of this section of the book is difficult to assess, as Stavrou relies on a variety of extremely subjective terms in his discussions, and these could easily be misinterpreted by readers. And if you think you can guess what order he suggests, guess again!ДЄ good third of the book deals with recording - effectively fixing things before the mix - and hinges on Stavrou's very unusual and subjective approach to mic selection and placement. Thus the chapter on compression doesn't tell you about the mechanics of a compressor, but instead discusses what order to address the compressor controls for the best sound. However, Stavrou breaks from the norm, by deliberately steering a course away from scientific or technical discussions, taking a relentlessly left-field approach to the subject in search of practical solutions to practical problems. In his book, Stavrou collects together a generous fund of engineering tips, tackling not just mixdown, but the recording process as well. Even if he hadn't engineered for big names such as Elton John, Paul McCartney, and Cat Stevens, Sir George Martin's glowing foreword to Mixing With Your Mind would leave me in little doubt as to his credentials.

MIXING WITH YOUR MIND MICHAEL PAUL STAVROU HOW TO

Michael Stavrou clearly knows how to get great sounds on record. Published August 2004 Book Review: Mixing With Your Mind

Mixing with your mind michael paul stavrou