I just got back from Nashville and here are a few mixing tips I picked up. We were mixing at Soundstage Studios which is on Music Row in Nashville. We were talking to a guy who mixed a Kenny Chesney live record in that same room recently. The way I understood it, Chuck Ainley, is part owner of the studio or something. His personal racks of gear where setup in the room. If you are not familiar with Chuck Ainley, you can find his endorsements in just about every recording magazine under the sun. The room features a SSL J9000 which is a mega mega console. I'd say it was between 12-14 feet long. This is the kind of console that Metallica records are mixed on.

Anyway, here are a few things I noticed by watching a real deal.

You Still Have To Know Your Studio Monitors

Malcolm chose to mix on Yamaha NS-10s (although he says he may have to switch because they are no longer making the NS-10s and eventually studios won't have them any more). Either way, everything sounded mega hifi on the monitors in the room. While the mixes did come out great, they weren't nearly as hifi in the car stereo we listened to on the way home.

The lesson learned here is to know your studio monitors. There were times when I thought that guitars and snare were extremely bright. It turns out that Malcolm did this on purpose. He knew how to get the song to translate on other systems. He knew his monitors.