Mixing

Smoke Break

Carrie Underwood

Chris Lord-Alge

Song : Smoke Break

Duration:2h10 Subtitles: English, Spanish, Portuguese

Description

Step inside 'Mix L.A.', the studio of superstar mix engineer Chris Lord-Alge! Throughout this series, CLA guides you through his mixing process with the country rock anthem 'Smoke Break' by singer Carrie Underwood. With the original Pro Tools mix session feeding his SSL 4000 console, Chris takes a listen to his original 2015 stereo mix, then challenges himself to remix the song in real time. He begins with a walkthrough of his session management principles, hybrid template, and an overview of his premium outboard gear used on the project. Going through all parts of the session, CLA reveals what plug-ins and equipment he applies to vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, bass, mandolin, electric guitar, drums, samples, claps, Hammond organ, and the mix buss. He then dives into the exciting process of mixing, and clearly explains his signal processing, automation moves, and other actions every step of the way!

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16 min

Part 1

Track sheet, console, grouping, labelling, sends & returns, hardware reverbs & delays
18 min

Part 2

Mix vs. desk output, track management, parts, summing, hand-offs, recalls, VCAs, mix buss
14 min

Part 3

Analog vs digital signal flow, ITB template, hybrid benefits, EQ & compressor inserts
14 min

Part 4

Treating drums & acoustic guitars, sample blending, combining reverb types
09 min

Part 5

Bass & acoustic guitar, claps, B3 organ, live & looped drums, static balance foundations
08 min

Part 6

Piano, organ, electric guitars, mandolin, interplay between parts, parallel vocal chain
21 min

Part 7

Lead vocal, harmonies, BVs, printed & newly added effects, parallel EQ & compression
14 min

Part 8

First automation pass, building excitement, console vs. Pro Tools workflow
12 min

Part 9

Second automation pass, fine tuning vocals, low-level monitoring, final listen
Trailer

Comments

(24)

Brendan Gilman November 4, 2025 at 5:11 AM

So, did we end up fixing that organ thing? lol
Niikkie Jurnigan July 11, 2022 at 5:51 AM

can we have the Raw multitracks can you ask
Jonny Quickstad March 8, 2022 at 11:32 PM

Hey everyone :) Did Chris mention where the Eventide set to dense room gets returned to?
Noah Lockett March 8, 2022 at 12:24 AM

any1 here from RRFC and want to collaborate?
Sanjay R A August 11, 2021 at 10:25 AM

its a dual mono parallel compression setup.
Benjamin May 21, 2021 at 5:11 PM

what a legend!
Greg Smith April 19, 2021 at 9:55 PM

a great mix starts with a great recording friends
Mari-jean Joron May 19, 2020 at 1:23 AM

SOUS TITRE FR PLEASE
Dan Osberg December 19, 2019 at 11:54 PM

When he talks about the Parallel EQ on channel 1 as a power boost.... what kind of EQ is it and what are the settings?
Sebastian Reunert August 4, 2020 at 2:19 AM

just the SSL channel strip eq with a mid and high mid boost it sounds like. he talks about it a little at 5:30 in part 1. magicians can't give away all their tricks, i guess

Mike Wallace January 16, 2021 at 3:22 PM

One of the most frustrating things. I haven't heard him give the EQ parallel settings. Been asking the same question.
Pau Paredes January 13, 2019 at 5:39 AM

Where he applies the Api eq. He says "drums", is that kick and snare? He's got only 2 channels of Api.
Pau Paredes November 18, 2018 at 12:49 PM

Anybody knows where is he using the API eqs? He says "drums" but only has two channels. Kick and snare? Ohs?
Hernan Mastrogiacomo November 25, 2018 at 9:06 PM

Yes, kick and snare but before hitting the ssl console.
Pau Paredes November 14, 2018 at 8:44 AM

Anybody knows where is he using the API eqs? He says "drums" but only has two channels. Kick and snare? Ohs?
Paolo Bermal January 12, 2020 at 4:09 AM

i think he's using it in his drum bus
Jason Swensen June 3, 2018 at 7:01 AM

Mr. Chris- I have a ssl pic of you in my studio. 25+ years working. Thank you for the Pultec mix bus settings. Worth the membership. Keep up the good work. Jason
Adrian Loera September 22, 2018 at 8:43 AM

You're so full of thruth it makes my I love you long time meter go off.

Grzegorz Porowiński April 9, 2020 at 1:07 PM

Yes, this concept is great!
THANAKRIT AMONNUKUL April 6, 2018 at 3:55 PM

What kind of channel 13 for drums parallel compression , Mono or Stereo ?
Hernan Mastrogiacomo December 2, 2018 at 6:27 PM

The additional parallel eq/comp for the drums is a mono channel. The main one (which he calls it 'the crusher') is two mono channels panned hard left and right.

About Chris Lord-Alge

Chris Lord-Alge’s talent is exemplified by his AllMusic credit list containing an astonishing 1100 entries, with huge names such as Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner, Avril Lavigne, Cher, Muse, Celine Dion, Michael Bublé, Aerosmith, Madonna, Green Day, Meat Loaf, U2, Snow Patrol, Sheryl Crow, Savage Garden, Bon Jovi, Fleetwood Mac, Black Eyed Peas, The Rolling Stones, Smashing Pumpkins, James Brown, Eric Clapton, Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters, My Chemical Romance and many more. He has won six Grammy...

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16 min

Part 1

Track sheet, console, grouping, labelling, sends & returns, hardware reverbs & delays
18 min

Part 2

Mix vs. desk output, track management, parts, summing, hand-offs, recalls, VCAs, mix buss
14 min

Part 3

Analog vs digital signal flow, ITB template, hybrid benefits, EQ & compressor inserts
14 min

Part 4

Treating drums & acoustic guitars, sample blending, combining reverb types
09 min

Part 5

Bass & acoustic guitar, claps, B3 organ, live & looped drums, static balance foundations
08 min

Part 6

Piano, organ, electric guitars, mandolin, interplay between parts, parallel vocal chain
21 min

Part 7

Lead vocal, harmonies, BVs, printed & newly added effects, parallel EQ & compression
14 min

Part 8

First automation pass, building excitement, console vs. Pro Tools workflow
12 min

Part 9

Second automation pass, fine tuning vocals, low-level monitoring, final listen
Trailer