translating emotion into a mix

[boody]

Hello Russel, warm greetings from the Netherlands. As many already have said; thanks so much for your time and your enthousiasm on this great forum site.

I'm working on a project where both the singer and I (producer) came with some examples of what the album should 'sound' like... most of the songs we individually picked were mixed by you The reason was, apart from the great sound you get, that your mixes translate the emotion of the songs and performance so well that it sounds more like a statement than merely a mix (hope I'm not being too vague). I love what you did with Nikka Costa and Erikah's Mamma's Gun, which I didn't see mentioned a lot here.

Question: with those two records, was the emotional aspect in your mixes already present in the demo material and did you extend that vibe or did the artists hire you for your specific emotional input and give you a free hand with it?
Do you sometimes refer to classic recordings (i.e. old jazz records) when you mix?

Thanks for the inspiration! Although I'm restricted to the digital side of things I am on a mission to give the album that warm emotional vibe!

warm regards
Budy

[Russell Elevado]

Question: with those two records, was the emotional aspect in your mixes already present in the demo material and did you extend that vibe or did the artists hire you for your specific emotional input and give you a free hand with it?
Do you sometimes refer to classic recordings (i.e. old jazz records) when you mix?

hello budy,

many thanks and it's nice to be here. i worked with "the margarets" awhile back on their last record. do you know any of them? they were all such nice people!
I love nikka and erykah and i'm glad you mentioned them.
with artists as intense as erykah and nikka, they really have their own vibe. but i guess artists like them come to me to inhance and perhaps to keep intact the initial vibe or even to understand what they're all about. i definitely get in their heads and find out what they're all about. and we talk about our influences and they get to trust me and give me a lot of freedom with their music. when i mix, i really get into the crux of the song as well and yes, i try to get some sort of emotion out of it. there have been times where i've connected so deeply while i'm mixing that i get choked up!

most of the time when i mix, i won't be ready to print it until i get a certain feeling. everyone else could be loving it but if i don't get that feeling when i close my eyes, then it's not ready. and i won't give up until i've acheived it. persistence is another key element. just keep going for it until you've exhausted all of your resources.

yes, i will listen to different albums throughout the project. in fact, i've been known to send people out and get particular albums for me when i mix. one reason is for inspiration. another is for putting a particular vibe in my head (ears) but i'm not really trying to copy anything (although sometimes i do try and get close to an effect that i've heard someone else do), i'm mostly going for vibes. i try and hear different sounds and frequencies from other sources and vibrate them in the control room. sort of like constantly cleansing the pallette. this may not work for everyone though.

I'll come back with some more on nikka and erykah soon.
you might be interested in my post on the thread "sound vision".
sound vision

all the best