Master Your Mix Podcast

Howie Beck is a Toronto-based mixer and producer whose credits include Feist, Barenaked Ladies, Ron Sexsmith, Walk Off The Earth, and Charlotte Day Wilson, whose breakout single "Work" he mixed and co-produced. Before turning to mixing full-time, Beck built a cult following as a solo artist, writing, performing, and recording every instrument on albums like Hollow and How to Fall Down in Public himself. He's been nominated for three Juno Awards in three separate categories: Album, Recording Engineer, and Producer of the Year, a rare spread that reflects his range. He now runs Studio H, a Dolby-approved Atmos mix room in Toronto's Queen West.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• How four-track and ADAT recording forced him to commit to musical decisions
• Why unlimited tracks can work against the editing process instead of helping it
• The Prince song with no bass on it, and what it says about restraint
• How Howie stays objective when working on his own music
• Why he goes to tape for certain projects and what it changes sonically
• His drums-first mixing workflow and the reasoning behind it
• How he approaches vocal depth and space to make vocals feel forward in a mix
• The tradeoffs of heavy vocal compression (breaths, sibilance, mouth pops)
• Why he pulls up an artist's rough mix before he opens the real session
• How demoitis shows up more today than it used to, and how he talks clients through it
• Training his ears and body to trust his monitoring environment at different volumes

To learn more about Howie Beck, visit: https://www.howiebeck.com/

Looking for 1-on-1 feedback and training to help you create pro-quality mixes?

Check out my coaching program Amplitude and apply to join:

https://masteryourmix.com/amplitude/

Want additional help with your music productions?

For tips on how to improve your mixes, visit: https://masteryourmix.com/

Download your FREE copy of the Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: https://masteryourmix.com/blueprint/

Get your copy of my Amazon #1 bestselling books:

• The Recording Mindset: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Pro Recordings From Your Home Studio: https://therecordingmindset.com
• The Mixing Mindset: The Step-By-Step Formula For Creating Professional Rock Mixes From Your Home Studio: https://masteryourmix.com/mixingmindsetbook/

Get the latest plugins from Carve Audio:

• Smashburger Compressor: https://carveaudio.com/smashburger/
• Busboy: https://carveaudio.com/busboy/
• Slapshot: https://carveaudio.com/slapshot/
• Gas Can Amp: https://carveaudio.com/gas-can-amp/

ALL PODCAST LISTENERS GET 25% OFF. USE PROMO CODE: PODCAST25

Check out our Sponsors:

Download Waves Plugins here: https://waves.alzt.net/EK3G2K

Subscribe to the show:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/master-your-mix-podcast/id1240842781
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5V4xtrWSnpA5e9L67QcJej
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@MasterYourMix

Have questions you’d like answered on the show?

Send them to [email protected]

Please leave a rating and review:

https://masteryourmix.com/review/

Thanks for listening!

Brendan Dekora is a Los Angeles-based mixing engineer and producer whose two-decade climb through top studios like EastWest culminated in a full-time engineering post for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, earning him a Grammy for his work on Pixar's Soul score. His credits also include Foo Fighters' Concrete and Gold, Steven Wilson's Hand. Cannot. Erase., Billy Idol, Danzig, Muse, and Deafheaven. He now mixes and produces independently from his home studio, focused on rock and art-rock artists.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• The two questions he asks every client before touching a single fader
• What he does when a client hands him references that contradict each other
• How to pick the right reference tracks
• Why "I don't want to sound like anyone else" is the hardest brief he gets
• How he decides whether to keep a "wrong" sound in a mix or fix it
• Why he considers "putting his own stamp on everything" a mistake, not a selling point
• Working with Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross on Nine Inch Nails tracks and film scores
• How he balances his own creative instincts against what the artist is actually asking for

To learn more about Brendan Dekora, visit: https://www.brendandekora.com/

Looking for 1-on-1 feedback and training to help you create pro-quality mixes?

Check out my coaching program Amplitude and apply to join:

https://masteryourmix.com/amplitude/

Want additional help with your music productions?

For tips on how to improve your mixes, visit: https://masteryourmix.com/

Download your FREE copy of the Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: https://masteryourmix.com/blueprint/

Get your copy of my Amazon #1 bestselling books:

• The Recording Mindset: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Pro Recordings From Your Home Studio: https://therecordingmindset.com
• The Mixing Mindset: The Step-By-Step Formula For Creating Professional Rock Mixes From Your Home Studio: https://masteryourmix.com/mixingmindsetbook/

Get the latest plugins from Carve Audio:

• Smashburger Compressor: https://carveaudio.com/smashburger/
• Busboy: https://carveaudio.com/busboy/
• Slapshot: https://carveaudio.com/slapshot/
• Gas Can Amp: https://carveaudio.com/gas-can-amp/

ALL PODCAST LISTENERS GET 25% OFF. USE PROMO CODE: PODCAST25

Check out our Sponsors:

Download Waves Plugins here: https://waves.alzt.net/EK3G2K

Subscribe to the show:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/master-your-mix-podcast/id1240842781
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5V4xtrWSnpA5e9L67QcJej
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@MasterYourMix

Have questions you’d like answered on the show?

Send them to [email protected]

Please leave a rating and review:

https://masteryourmix.com/review/

Thanks for listening!

Steven Lee Tracy is the owner, producer, and mixing engineer at Saint Cecilia Studios in Tucson, Arizona. Before he was behind the board, he was on stage: a decade as guitarist and songwriter in Seattle indie-rock band The Myriad, whose single "A Clean Shot" became MTV's most-played video in spring 2008 after the band won MTV2's Dew Circuit Breakout. That artist-first background shapes his mixing today; a self-described "production-style" approach built for records that sound like the artist's favorite albums, not just a polite balance of tracks. At Saint Cecilia, Tracy has worked with acts spanning Seattle indie rock to Tucson's Latin-music scene, including Orkesta Mendoza and the Morrissey tribute act Mexrrissey, alongside sync and commercial work for MTV, Adobe, and Axon.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• Why your 50th listen is lying to you about what's wrong with the mix
• The one thing Steven does in the first 30 seconds of every new song
• Why he builds drums, bass, and vocals in the same order every single time
• What separates a song that needs help from a song you just need to get out of the way of
• The mistake Steven made early on that he'd undo if he could start over
• Why lower overhead led to better work, not less of it
• What changed the moment he stopped saying “yes” to every opportunity

To learn more about Steven Lee Tracy, visit: https://www.saintceciliastudios.com/

Looking for 1-on-1 feedback and training to help you create pro-quality mixes?

Check out my coaching program Amplitude and apply to join: https://masteryourmix.com/amplitude/

Want additional help with your music productions?

For tips on how to improve your mixes, visit https://masteryourmix.com/

Download your FREE copy of the Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: https://masteryourmix.com/blueprint/

Get your copy of my Amazon #1 bestselling books:

• The Recording Mindset: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Pro Recordings From Your Home Studio: https://therecordingmindset.com
• The Mixing Mindset: The Step-By-Step Formula For Creating Professional Rock Mixes From Your Home Studio: https://masteryourmix.com/mixingmindsetbook/

Get the latest plugins from Carve Audio:

• Smashburger Compressor: https://carveaudio.com/smashburger/
• Busboy: https://carveaudio.com/busboy/
• Slapshot Delay: https://carveaudio.com/slapshot/
• Gas Can Amp: https://carveaudio.com/gas-can-amp/

ALL PODCAST LISTENERS GET 25% OFF. USE PROMO CODE: PODCAST25

Subscribe to the show:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/master-your-mix-podcast/id1240842781
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5V4xtrWSnpA5e9L67QcJej
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@MasterYourMix

Have questions you’d like answered on the show?

Send them to [email protected]

Please leave a rating and review:

https://masteryourmix.com/review/

Thanks for listening!

Joe Caithness is a mastering, transfer, and restoration engineer based in Nottingham, UK, with over 18 years of experience and more than 1,500 completed projects to his name. He's become the go-to engineer for video game soundtrack vinyl and digital releases, having mastered over 260 titles for Laced Records alone, including Resident Evil, Bloodborne, Borderlands, and Dead Cells. In 2025, he mastered the vinyl edition of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Nintendo and Laced Records the first official Nintendo physical music release in the West in generations and worked on the physical rollout of the Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 soundtrack, which went on to hit #1 on the physical albums charts in both the UK and France.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• Why passion for music matters when becoming an audio engineer
• Why mastering attracts introverts
• What mastering for video game soundtracks involves
• The specific technical challenges of turning a game score into a listenable album release
• The tools Joe uses to rescue overprocessed, hard-limited mixes/masters
• Why Joe starts with his limiter before touching any EQ or compression
• The gain-normalization step he does before any processing and why it makes everything easier
• Why mastering is really about context and consistency, not stereo processing
• How he creates cohesion across 9+ hours of wildly varied audio
• His approach to vinyl QC
• Why he tells clients not to listen to their masters in their studio

To learn more about Joe Caithness, visit: https://www.joecaithnessmastering.com/

Looking for 1-on-1 feedback and training to help you create pro-quality mixes?

Check out my coaching program Amplitude and apply to join:

https://masteryourmix.com/amplitude/

Want additional help with your music productions?

For tips on how to improve your mixes, visit: https://masteryourmix.com/

Download your FREE copy of the Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: https://masteryourmix.com/blueprint/

Get your copy of my Amazon #1 bestselling books:

• The Recording Mindset: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Pro Recordings From Your Home Studio: https://therecordingmindset.com
• The Mixing Mindset: The Step-By-Step Formula For Creating Professional Rock Mixes From Your Home Studio: https://masteryourmix.com/mixingmindsetbook/

Get the latest plugins from Carve Audio:

• Smashburger Compressor: https://carveaudio.com/smashburger/
• Busboy: https://carveaudio.com/busboy/
• Slapshot: https://carveaudio.com/slapshot/
• Gas Can Amp: https://carveaudio.com/gas-can-amp/

ALL PODCAST LISTENERS GET 25% OFF. USE PROMO CODE: PODCAST25

Check out our Sponsors:

Download Waves Plugins here: https://waves.alzt.net/EK3G2K

Subscribe to the show:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/master-your-mix-podcast/id1240842781
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5V4xtrWSnpA5e9L67QcJej
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@MasterYourMix

Have questions you’d like answered on the show?

Send them to [email protected]

Please leave a rating and review:

https://masteryourmix.com/review/

Thanks for listening!

Bruno "Brown" Barcella is a recording, mixing, and production engineer based in northern Italy. He got his start behind a drum kit, touring the US and Europe with bands like Miss Chain & The Broken Heels before crossing to the other side of the glass. After studying sound engineering in Milan, he joined TUP Studio in Brescia in 2011, an analog-focused room built around a Neotek console and Studer 2" tape where he's spent the better part of 15 years crafting records rooted in garage rock, punk, and rock 'n' roll. He's the engineer behind the catalogs of Bee Bee Sea, The Peawees, Faz Waltz, The Apers, and dozens more. In 2020 he launched his freelance career, collaborating with studios across northern Italy, doing live sound for artists, clubs, and festivals, and increasingly mixing records remotely for artists from around the world.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• The one-monitor rule: why Bruno mixes exclusively on Sennheiser HD 650s and never switches between sources while working
• The tools he adds to headphone mixing to get closer to a speaker-like experience
• The arc every mixer goes through for getting good
• Why artists shouldn't be in the room during a mix session
• How doing less usually gets you better mixes
• Getting mixes to feel warm, but not muddy
• The benefit of using analog saturation plugins across multiple tracks in a mix
• How he thinks about blending saturated and clean microphone signals together
• Why he aims for low-tuned, dry drums, and how that affects the saturation and tone decisions he makes
• Why being willing to fail is still the most important thing a young engineer can do

To learn more about Bruno Barella, visit https://brownbarcella.com/

Looking for 1-on-1 feedback and training to help you create pro-quality mixes?

Check out my coaching program Amplitude and apply to join:

https://masteryourmix.com/amplitude/

Want additional help with your music productions?

For tips on how to improve your mixes, visit: https://masteryourmix.com/

Download your FREE copy of the Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: https://masteryourmix.com/blueprint/

Get your copy of my Amazon #1 bestselling books:

• The Recording Mindset: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Pro Recordings From Your Home Studio: https://therecordingmindset.com
• The Mixing Mindset: The Step-By-Step Formula For Creating Professional Rock Mixes From Your Home Studio: https://masteryourmix.com/mixingmindsetbook/

Get the latest plugins from Carve Audio:

• Smashburger Compressor: https://carveaudio.com/smashburger/
• Busboy: https://carveaudio.com/busboy/
• Slapshot: https://carveaudio.com/slapshot/
• Gas Can Amp: https://carveaudio.com/gas-can-amp/

ALL PODCAST LISTENERS GET 25% OFF. USE PROMO CODE: PODCAST25

Check out our Sponsors:

Download Waves Plugins here: https://waves.alzt.net/EK3G2K

Subscribe to the show:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/master-your-mix-podcast/id1240842781
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5V4xtrWSnpA5e9L67QcJej
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@MasterYourMix

Have questions you’d like answered on the show?

Send them to [email protected]

Please leave a rating and review:

https://masteryourmix.com/review/

Thanks for listening!

Toby Lloyd is a Music Producer, Studio Owner, Mixing Engineer, Artist, and Film Score Mixer from New Zealand who has worked with artists such as Shapeshifter, Nightmares on Wax, Hollie Smith, Blindspott, and Stan Walker, and has also worked on films like Avatar 2, The Hobbit Trilogy, and Hunt For The Wilderpeople. He runs Tiny Triumph Recordings, a bespoke rooftop recording studio in the heart of New Zealand's capital city, Wellington. He has also started releasing music under the artist name Paper Mountains, which blends folk, soul, and pop music, and is about to release his debut album in July.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• Why he almost quit the industry entirely and what stopped him
• The one thing that makes or breaks your relationship with clients (it's not your mix)
• Why the studio is a therapeutic space, and what that means for how you work with artists
• Why your mixes feel flat even when the individual sounds are good
• The low-end approach Toby uses to stop kick and bass from fighting each other
• What film audio teaches you about stereo mixing that most engineers never learn
• Why he EQs guitars based on what it does to the vocal, not what it does to the guitar

To learn more about Toby Lloyd, visit: https://www.tinytriumphrecordings.com/

Looking for 1-on-1 feedback and training to help you create pro-quality mixes?

Check out my coaching program Amplitude and apply to join:

https://masteryourmix.com/amplitude/

Want additional help with your music productions?

For tips on how to improve your mixes, visit: https://masteryourmix.com/

Download your FREE copy of the Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: https://masteryourmix.com/blueprint/

Get your copy of my Amazon #1 bestselling books:

• The Recording Mindset: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Pro Recordings From Your Home Studio: https://therecordingmindset.com
• The Mixing Mindset: The Step-By-Step Formula For Creating Professional Rock Mixes From Your Home Studio: https://masteryourmix.com/mixingmindsetbook/

Get the latest plugins from Carve Audio:

• Smashburger Compressor: https://carveaudio.com/smashburger/
• Busboy: https://carveaudio.com/busboy/
• Slapshot: https://carveaudio.com/slapshot/
• Gas Can Amp: https://carveaudio.com/gas-can-amp/

ALL PODCAST LISTENERS GET 25% OFF. USE PROMO CODE: PODCAST25

Check out our Sponsors:

Download Waves Plugins here: https://waves.alzt.net/EK3G2K

Subscribe to the show:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/master-your-mix-podcast/id1240842781
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5V4xtrWSnpA5e9L67QcJej
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@MasterYourMix

Have questions you’d like answered on the show?

Send them to [email protected]

Please leave a rating and review:

https://masteryourmix.com/review/

Thanks for listening!

Justin Cortelyou is a Grammy-award nominated, multi-platinum mixing engineer/producer. Justin started his career working with Chuck Ainlay at Soundstage Studios in Nashville before moving to Los Angeles to work with mix-master Mike Shipley at The Animal House. Justin teamed up with artist/producer Tommy Henriksen and in 2008, moved their operation back to Nashville and began working with legendary producer, Bob Ezrin.

Through the years, Justin has worked with artists Paul McCartney, Alice Cooper, Ke$ha, Taylor Swift, Jerrod Niemann, Phish, Chingy, Vince Gill, Andrea Bocelli, U2, Randy Travis, KISS, Will I Am, Lady Gaga, and many others.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• The ice maker moment that turned his internship into a job
• What the Mike Shipley editing process taught him about standards
• Why the engineers who get the biggest clients keep raising the bar long after they've "made it"
• The moment Justin had to tell Paul McCartney to do another take — and what happened next
• What constructive feedback actually sounds like when it's working
• Why being great at your craft isn't enough to build a career
• The hard lesson about putting 90% of your work with one client

To learn more about Justin Cortelyou, visit: https://www.justincortelyou.com/

Looking for 1-on-1 feedback and training to help you create pro-quality mixes?

Check out my coaching program Amplitude and apply to join: https://masteryourmix.com/amplitude/

Want additional help with your music productions?

For tips on how to improve your mixes, visit https://masteryourmix.com/

Download your FREE copy of the Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: https://masteryourmix.com/blueprint/

Get your copy of my Amazon #1 bestselling books:

• The Recording Mindset: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Pro Recordings From Your Home Studio: https://therecordingmindset.com
• The Mixing Mindset: The Step-By-Step Formula For Creating Professional Rock Mixes From Your Home Studio: https://masteryourmix.com/mixingmindsetbook/

Get the latest plugins from Carve Audio:

• Smashburger Compressor: https://carveaudio.com/smashburger/
• Busboy: https://carveaudio.com/busboy/
• Slapshot Delay: https://carveaudio.com/slapshot/
• Gas Can Amp: https://carveaudio.com/gas-can-amp/

ALL PODCAST LISTENERS GET 25% OFF. USE PROMO CODE: PODCAST25

Subscribe to the show:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/master-your-mix-podcast/id1240842781
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5V4xtrWSnpA5e9L67QcJej
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@MasterYourMix

Have questions you’d like answered on the show?

Send them to [email protected]

Please leave a rating and review:

https://masteryourmix.com/review/

Thanks for listening!

Sam Moses is a Nashville-based mastering engineer and owner of Moses Mastering, with roughly 15 years in the business. He describes his work in short as helping artists "finish their record and bring peace of mind that it's ready for release." He is a multi-RIAA Platinum and Gold Record mastering engineer, a voting member of the Grammy Recording Academy and AES, and a Grammy NEXT class alumnus.

Most notably, Moses is a Grammy Award–winning mastering engineer for Brandon Lake and Jelly Roll's "Hard Fought Hallelujah," which won Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song at the 2026 Grammy Awards. He is also a multi-Dove Award winner and 10-time Dove Award nominee, with wins spanning Brandon Lake/Jelly Roll's "Hard Fought Hallelujah" and Blessing Offor's "Brighter Days." His client list spans Christian/worship (Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham, Skillet, Tenth Avenue North, Kari Jobe, Passion), mainstream pop and rock (The Aces, Smallpools, Nightly, Joan, Underoath), and country/mainstream artists (Dolly Parton, Kesha, Billy Ray Cyrus, Ashley McBryde, Maddie & Tae).

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• The three-meter system: how RMS, dynamic range, and momentary LUFS reveal the tonal balance of any song before you touch a plugin
• What RMS values tell you about low-end weight
• Why LUFS momentary reflects top-end brightness, not just loudness
• Why Spotify normalization doesn't make songs sound equally loud and what actually causes perceived volume differences
• Why Sam never aims for a target LUFS and what he looks for instead
• Why Sam uses only limiters, not compressors, and how he approaches mid-range
• How to compare your meters against a commercial reference using normalization off in Spotify
• How to know when a master is done (and why most engineers don't have a clear answer)
• The advice Joe Barresi and Andrew Scheps gave Sam that led him to move to Nashville
• Why niching down to mastering only was the career decision that changed everything
• How Sam's mentor taught him to listen first and ignore the gear entirely
• Why the most important question Sam asks every client is one most of them have never thought about

To learn more about Sam Moses, visit: https://www.mosesmastering.com/

Looking for 1-on-1 feedback and training to help you create pro-quality mixes?

Check out my coaching program Amplitude and apply to join:

https://masteryourmix.com/amplitude/

Want additional help with your music productions?

For tips on how to improve your mixes, visit: https://masteryourmix.com/

Download your FREE copy of the Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: https://masteryourmix.com/blueprint/

Get your copy of my Amazon #1 bestselling books:

• The Recording Mindset: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Pro Recordings From Your Home Studio: https://therecordingmindset.com
• The Mixing Mindset: The Step-By-Step Formula For Creating Professional Rock Mixes From Your Home Studio: https://masteryourmix.com/mixingmindsetbook/

Get the latest plugins from Carve Audio:

• Smashburger Compressor: https://carveaudio.com/smashburger/
• Busboy: https://carveaudio.com/busboy/
• Slapshot: https://carveaudio.com/slapshot/
• Gas Can Amp: https://carveaudio.com/gas-can-amp/

ALL PODCAST LISTENERS GET 25% OFF. USE PROMO CODE: PODCAST25

Check out our Sponsors:

Download Waves Plugins here: https://waves.alzt.net/EK3G2K

Subscribe to the show:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/master-your-mix-podcast/id1240842781
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5V4xtrWSnpA5e9L67QcJej
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@MasterYourMix

Have questions you’d like answered on the show?

Send them to [email protected]

Please leave a rating and review:

https://masteryourmix.com/review/

Thanks for listening!

Dave McNair is a mastering engineer, producer, and recording engineer with over four decades in the music industry and more than 900 credits spanning rock, blues, country, pop, and world music. Originally from Corpus Christi, Texas, he came up through the working-studio world of New York City, including a stint at The Hit Factory, before spending years producing and engineering in Los Angeles and Austin. He's now based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he operates Dave McNair Mastering from a studio in his own home, monitored on a high-end audiophile playback system.

What sets McNair apart is the breadth of his pre-mastering career. He toured as a drummer with indie/alt-country band The Silos, engineered and mixed landmark sessions with Stevie Ray Vaughan and Cyndi Lauper, and produced artists like Buddy Guy and Kelly Willis in the Austin music scene. That lived-in understanding of how records are made from the ground up, tracking, arranging, mixing, deeply informs his mastering philosophy. His approach emphasizes what he calls "mastering with mixing in mind," treating the bass and vocals as the true anchors of any record.

McNair's audiophile background is equally distinctive. He spent time working the sales floor at high-end audio retailers Innovative Audio and Sound By Singer in NYC, and that world of critical listening hardware never left him, he credits it with transforming his approach to monitoring and sound judgment. His 2024 Grammy nomination for Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical) for Bokanté's History represents recent recognition, but his catalog, which includes David Bowie's The Next Day, Shovels & Rope's Little Seeds, and mixed credits on SRV's In Step, reflects decades of work at the highest level.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• The moment he realized a mentor's "amazing room sound" was actually a tiny dead room and a heavily compressed mic
• Why losing head-to-head comparisons to another engineer became one of his biggest learning tools
• What changed in his approach after sitting in on a session with one of the most respected mixers in the business
• The exact moment Dave knew he needed to change direction, and what tipped him off
• Why he didn't tell any of his old clients he was getting into mastering until he felt ready
• How 20 years of sitting in on other people's mastering sessions became the foundation for his new career
• Why he says the chasing and reinventing never really stops, even now

To learn more about Dave McNair, visit: https://www.davemcnairmastering.com/

Looking for 1-on-1 feedback and training to help you create pro-quality mixes?

Check out my coaching program Amplitude and apply to join:

https://masteryourmix.com/amplitude/

Want additional help with your music productions?

For tips on how to improve your mixes, visit: https://masteryourmix.com/

Download your FREE copy of the Ultimate Mixing Blueprint: https://masteryourmix.com/blueprint/

Get your copy of my Amazon #1 bestselling books:

• The Recording Mindset: A Step-By-Step Guide to Creating Pro Recordings From Your Home Studio: https://therecordingmindset.com
• The Mixing Mindset: The Step-By-Step Formula For Creating Professional Rock Mixes From Your Home Studio: https://masteryourmix.com/mixingmindsetbook/

Get the latest plugins from Carve Audio:

• Smashburger Compressor: https://carveaudio.com/smashburger/
• Busboy: https://carveaudio.com/busboy/
• Slapshot: https://carveaudio.com/slapshot/
• Gas Can Amp: https://carveaudio.com/gas-can-amp/

ALL PODCAST LISTENERS GET 25% OFF. USE PROMO CODE: PODCAST25

Check out our Sponsors:

Download Waves Plugins here: https://waves.alzt.net/EK3G2K

Subscribe to the show:

• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/master-your-mix-podcast/id1240842781
• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5V4xtrWSnpA5e9L67QcJej
• Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@MasterYourMix

Have questions you’d like answered on the show?

Send them to [email protected]

Please leave a rating and review:

https://masteryourmix.com/review/

Thanks for listening!

Greg hails from Detroit’s vibrant rock scene. He’s lived in New York and Los Angeles. In 2015, he relocated to Pittsburgh, producing and mixing at his Wood Hollow studio, and recording and exploring ATMOS mixing at The Vault studios.

Greg Gordon has produced, engineered, and mixed a wide spectrum of classic ‘big beat’ groups and artists of every genre. His discography reads like a three-decade history of cutting-edge music. Embracing all types of passionate sonic expression, Greg thrives on using his knowledge of music and recording techniques to build a foundation of traditional integrity and cross-pollinate elements to introduce unexpected, ear-opening events.

Greg’s #1 piece of advice to any new engineer/mixer - “Listen for the record - it’s easy to get caught up with the technology and possibilities, and lose sight of the song… The record will reveal itself if you’re listening for it. There will be a moment when you forget that you’re working on a track, and you’re just listening to a favorite record … PRINT!!!!!!”

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

• Jumping into opportunities even when you're scared
• How the old-school mixing approach as a performance changes the way your mixes feel
• How Jimi Hendrix treated the studio as an instrument, not a documentation tool
• What it actually means to "capture the moment of discovery" when tracking
• Why Greg avoids click tracks and how that affects the energy of a performance
• How stepping away and returning to a mix creates the objectivity you can't get from staring at it for hours
• Why producers weren't allowed in the room for Motown sessions
• How your headphone mix affects whether a singer nails the pitch or misses it
• The automation trick that makes mixes feel like live performances instead of static playback

To learn more about Greg Gordon, visit: http://www.gregordon.com/

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