Hi All! Last weekend I returned to Alchemea College Studios for a two day mixing course delivered by Marcel van Limbeek. The week I had spent at this studio in the Summer was brilliant, and this occasion was no less instructive. 

 

Marcel changed the way I thought about various processes, for example compression. Compression reduces the dynamic range of recorded music, making it more forward, denser, and if you want it, plain louder. It is a process I am very familiar with, but Marcel explained its various guises and applications in a refreshingly new and artistic way, and demonstrated the results using a song recorded by a band.  Equalisation is similarly one of the audio engineer's principal tools, and again this was presented and demonstrated in a very stimulating fashion. 

 

The weekend was a great mix (!) of theory and practice, and Marcel is a very engaging teacher. I hope to attend more of his sessions in the future!

 

Marcel has a very long association with Tori Amos, both as a live sound engineer on her world tours, and in the studio. Knowing your stuff backwards, and artistically guys.... you cant beat it! Already applying these things to my current mix-work.

 

Thats all for space this time. Bye for now.