Join the legendary Al Schmitt and his assistant engineer Steve Genewick at Studios La Fabrique to record jazz singer Melody Gardot with her musicians. We begin with Steve explaining how he plans a session with Al and the roles they both undertake when working as a team. He then elaborates on the procedures taken prior to tracking (preparing the console, polarity checking, headphone mixes, and choosing outboard processing for EQ, compression and reverb). Following this, Al Schmitt illustrates his microphone placement and signal processing techniques for vocals, drums and double bass, while discussing microphone choice, acoustic space and performance style. He also explains why he advocates simplistic microphone setups and no EQ while tracking.

Join us at The Village studios for a masterclass in creative recording techniques with engineer Sylvia Massy! Hosted at Studio A with rock band The Melvins, this in-depth series takes you on the journey from equipment choice and microphone placement to tracking, production, and the rough mix. Using a Neve 8048 console and outboard compression, Massy explains her signal flow and session setup, discusses the source material, and crafts her sound for drums, bass, guitar, strings, and vocals. She records live performances of the band, adds overdubs, and implements a few unconventional ideas of her own to culminate in an exciting rough mix of the song!

Step inside Spank Studios in Miami, home of renowned rock mixer Tom Lord-Alge! This in-depth series focusses on TLA's editing and mix techniques used on 'Back to the Shack' by Weezer. Tom explains his hybrid setup and workflow, giving a rationale for choosing to implement a combination of Pro Tools, a Sony 3348 HR tape machine, and his SSL G+ console. Following an overview of his setup, TLA takes you through the mix session and reveals some of his very clever and useful techniques; notably, how he triggers drum samples with high precision and removes cymbal leakage from tom-tom signals.You'll see how he effectively manages his sessions, time-aligns drums, adds effects to vocals, compresses his mix buss, and much more!

Join the iconic rock engineer Tom Lord-Alge, mixer of alternative and punk anthems from Blink-182, Avril Lavigne, Hanson, and many more. In this series, we sit alongside Tom as he digs into the multi-track session of Sum 41's breakthrough release, 'Fat Lip'. At Studios La Fabrique, he overviews the original analog recording and mixing process, demonstrates how the audio can be enhanced in the digital realm, and reveals his tricks for effective drum separation, sample triggering, flanging, and more. Operating in the box with console summing, you'll see Tom's daring use of effects, heavy compression, clever editing and EQ within Pro Tools. He also covers the important subjects of session setup and management, phase coherency, and gain staging with faders versus plug-ins. To finish off, TLA compares his three mixes – the analog original, the new hybrid (ITB with analog summing and mix compression), and the new digital (100% ITB).