Alice Klar.
Mixing AK’s Record
The question of how and where to mix Alice Klar’s Record comprising 12 songs was more difficult to ask then what may usually be the case.
A vast range of ideas from different periods of songwriting was to be put together and the responsibilities of family life had to also take priority. It so proved as an advantage to some that the producer’s family got stuck in holidays because of an erupting volcano!
Mixing requires a lot of attention and I prefer the producers to be in the room if possible. Email, Skype, Server technology and the likes are great, but when the producer and/or artist is in the room, suddenly the arrangements get refined and added to, parts re-recorded and changed and everything is instant. That I think is really fun when mixing and this was the case with my close friend, producer and songwriter Christian Badzura of Alice Klar.
We started the mixes at The Chairworks, but ran into time constraints and the mixing process was put on hold. Meanwhile the songwriting continued and the break was actually of advantage, because some of the best songs were written then.
When it was finally time to finish the album, Chris Badzura and I thought long about how and where the budget would be spent best and the logistics of mixing it on a large frame console such as The Chairwork’s SSL.
Mixing at Whitewood
We wanted great flexibility and it needed to be happening in Liverpool for above mentioned reasons. It was then that I suggested to equip my own mixing setup to gain the ‘SSL-Sound’ and lock ourselves into Whitewood Recording Studio, located right next to Badzura’s production and songwriting room and 5min away from our homes.
I was confident that the results would be great and it indeed proved to be the best solution – with, well, great results. This sparked an ongoing working relationship with Whitewood, which is run by Rob Whitely and Danny Woodward, hence the name. You can read more about this here» .
The sound to the Alice Klar record
Moving on from the technicalities I would describe the sound of the Record as electronic synths pop including electronic synths pop ballads, which were a particular favorite of mine in the mixing process. My newly found love for reverb emerged mixing tracks such as ‘Don’t Turn Around’ and ‘Pagoda Red’.
Throughout the album I followed the concept of glassy or icy vocal sounds with clear reverbs accompanied by round Moog bass sounds and drum programmings. To state the obvious: it’s all about the bass!
We developed a steady workflow and Chris Badzura was able to improve the arrangements on the fly by adding and changing synths sounds, mostly discretely but with great impact. Mixing reveals those moments in a song where small additional parts can help the energies that influence the listener so much.
Hopefully I can add some tracks to this post soon.
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