Trailer
20 min

Part 1

Arrangement, instrumentation, kit setup & processing, summing chain, gain staging, monitoring
10 min

Part 2

Plate reverb, gain-matching, enhancing high end without EQ, amplifier & tape emulation
09 min

Part 3

Mixing vs. mastering, drum buss, phase, thickening snare, compression, distortion, breaks
19 min

Part 4

Drum tracks, 'underheads' recording technique, bass tones, vocal tracking, snare sample
12 min

Part 5

Adding 'air' to horns, bass compression, lead vocal chain, de-essing, tape saturation, EQ
16 min

Part 6

Bit crushing, transient design, excitement, limiting, microphone discussion
11 min

Part 7

Further microphone commentary, multi-band compression, mix limiting, first print, listen
09 min

Part 8

Taming low end, room acoustics, second print, fully ITB mix, comparison, analog vs. digital

Mixing

Low Rising

The Swell Season

Peter Katis

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Song : Low Rising

Duration:11 min / 1h48 Subtitles: English, Spanish

Description

Join us at Tarquin studios in Conneticut, home of the revered indie music producer and engineer Peter Katis! In this series, we focus on the song 'Low Rising' by The Swell Season. With the original mix session open, Katis recounts the process behind the production, engineering, and mixing of the record. Alongside referral to recording techniques, instrument preparation, and more on tracking and production, his main focus is on how it was mixed and how he can remix. Peter shares his ITB processing from 2009, applied before analog summing and his master chain. Referencing the original mix, he challenges himself to achieving a superior result, then prints two versions – one with his elaborate summing chain and one purely digital. He compares the new mixes to one another and the original, and discusses a variety of topics including analog vs. digital sonics, loudness, acoustics, and much more!

Show more

Trailer
20 min

Part 1

Arrangement, instrumentation, kit setup & processing, summing chain, gain staging, monitoring
10 min

Part 2

Plate reverb, gain-matching, enhancing high end without EQ, amplifier & tape emulation
09 min

Part 3

Mixing vs. mastering, drum buss, phase, thickening snare, compression, distortion, breaks
19 min

Part 4

Drum tracks, 'underheads' recording technique, bass tones, vocal tracking, snare sample
12 min

Part 5

Adding 'air' to horns, bass compression, lead vocal chain, de-essing, tape saturation, EQ
16 min

Part 6

Bit crushing, transient design, excitement, limiting, microphone discussion
11 min

Part 7

Further microphone commentary, multi-band compression, mix limiting, first print, listen
09 min

Part 8

Taming low end, room acoustics, second print, fully ITB mix, comparison, analog vs. digital

Comments

(11)

Lauren Passarelli May 2, 2021 at 10:45 PM

I Loved this!
Bhavnish Sareen February 17, 2021 at 7:12 AM

Few Videos are not working Not getting Downloaded,Kindly fix the issue
Tamas Lippai July 27, 2020 at 4:20 PM

It's so deliberating to see that even a Grammy-Award winning producer has the same approach and check "system" that I have as a "nobody". :) Room acoustics makes a huge difference. But until I have no availability to a well-treated room, there is my Honda Odyssey which is apparently an Audi TT with Bose system. Honestly brutal reference after somewhat pleasing Genelec system. By the way, these videos are so useful to check if you can hear in your environment what e.g. Peter can hear there. Instant room setup comparison. It's a very very nice studio! I wish I was born to US, sometimes. :)
Cristian 1 Spoiala November 26, 2018 at 1:46 PM

#great & &
Preston Martinez April 24, 2018 at 10:00 PM

Does anyone know if running the mix through the Studer (regardless of tape printing) adds any kind of pleasing coloration?
Edo Portugal July 3, 2018 at 5:06 AM

PRESTON: Any circuitry will add some degree of coloration - the most transparent only being noticed with hi-end monitoring (and trained ears). I'm not sure which Studer you're mentioning, but it's very likely to do so. Question is where to focus your hearing's attention to perceive the nuances. Some aren't subtle at all... Happy mixing!

Bo Bilstrup June 1, 2023 at 2:19 AM

Running it through the UAD Studer add some harmonics. It'll depend on tape formula and how hard you hit it how much. It's great for making the highs more pleasing often. You can demo the studier and test yourself..
Bradley Banker April 15, 2018 at 4:04 AM

I really liked the comparison at the end... almost wish a little more time was spent "trying to match." I agree with Pat's comments above entirely on the summed mix with the outboard sounding significantly better... but to Peter's point, the other wasn't "mixed" to those ITB comps. Interesting
Pat Mavromatis April 4, 2018 at 1:03 AM

Peter, thanks for this. Very interesting overall--that snare really did bug you did it not?--and very interesting shoot out at the end. To my ears, even though the ITB mix was louder (and louder is--after this, almost--always, better) it was way less impactful and moving than the hardware mix. Bass was fuller, every instrument sounded crisper and more "3D", the stereo image was cleaner and there was no smearing. ITB mixes are great, IF you don't have an equivalent hardware mix to AB to.
Fernando Pérez de la Red March 30, 2018 at 3:28 AM

Great!
Samuel Character March 26, 2018 at 10:57 PM

My fav tutorial!

About Peter Katis

Peter Katis is well known for his engineering, mixing, and producing alternative and indie rock acts, such as The National, Interpol, Frightened Rabbit, Jónsi Birgisson (of Sigur Rós), Local Natives, Augustines, The Head and the Heart, Trey Anastasio, The Swell Season, Mercury Rev, The Twilight Sad, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Shearwater, Mates Of State, Tokyo Police Club, The Kissaway Trail and many more. Katis’ credits page at Allmusic.com listed more than 360 entries over a 20-year long career,...

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