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All of the mixes on this page were mixed In The Box in Pro Tools HD.

There are also a few back ground details on each song.

To hear a song, click the title of the song.

Artist: Kenny Loggins

Song Title: Alive N’ Kickin’

This entire project took 2 years to complete.

It was one of the best experiences professionally I’ve ever had.

Kenny is like the Matrix, he knows where every piece of music is at all times.

The basic tracks were done in Nashville and then I overdubbed all of Kenny’s guitars and vocals in either my studio or in Santa Barbara Sound Design. From the moment I started tracking, I started mixing. I updated the mixes almost nightly. Kenny always wanted to hear a fresh mix when he was out on the road. Kenny dueted with the always awesome Clint Black. That’s Clint doing BGV’s on the hook of the song. Great player and singer. He also wrote the song with Kenny.

The song starts with Tom Hemby (guitarist) telling the end of a funny joke! “Yawl I am so drunk”. You would crack up if you heard the beginning of the joke. Here is a little bit of trivia for you on the 3rd verse of the song that’s me sing the low part on “Howl at the Moon”! 

The interesting thing about this mix was there are actually 5 guitarist on this song.

And I wanted them all to live in their own space. Listen carefully, it should feel as if there are all on stage playing in front of you.

For Kenny’s guitar I used a Marshall MXL 600 into a Neve 1073 and Tube Tech CL1B.

For the vocal, co-producer Tommy Sims recommended we use the Audio Technica 4033.

Great microphone and we used it for the entire project on Kenny’s vocals.

In the final mix the lead vocal has a little reverb from Reverb One, an Elvis “slap” delay on and harmonizer form Sound Blender. I did my usual thing of 5 cents down on the left 4 cents up on the right. It gives the vocal a little depth in the mix.

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Artist: Kenny Loggins

Song Title: Brothers

This song was another one of those tunes that really lives with me.

Very spatial.  I really tried to have it sonically set apart from the rest of the album.

It took me quite a while to find the right sound effects to make it feel ethereal.

For the final mix I tried something different for the lead vocal. I used an absurd amount of pre-delay so the vocal would be completely dry and then the reverb would jump out even harder into the mix.

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Artist: Mervyn Warren

Song Title: Endure

Mervyn Warren is a former member of the group Take 6. He originally wrote this song for a Chris Willis record in 1990, but never recorded the song. 

For the vocals I set Mervyn up at his studio with the vocal chain in place and let him record his own vocals.

For recording, the mic was an AKG The Tube, into a Focusrite Red 7 mic pre to a dbx 160xt.

When Mervyn records on his own, I set him up with his Otari RADAR so he can wheel the remote in his iso and record vocals anytime he wants.

When he is done I go to his house and record all of the elements, kick snare hat...

The guitars were done at the guitarist studio. On the rhythm guitar I used Elastic Audio in PT 7.4 to really tighten everything up. Worked like a charm.

For the vocals I wanted them to live in the own space. So the lower bgv’s  are panned far left and far right. -100 and +100. then the next vocals are panned -90 and +90. I used the third set of bgv’s -80 and +80. In doing that, nothing sits in the same space and yet it allows every vocal to be heard.

For the lead vocal I had to EQ the midrange out of his small room. I used the Waves V-Series. Great sounding EQ, especially in this kind of a situation where the vocal needed to have a warm and fuzzy feeling.

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Artist: Katisse

Song Title: Higher Power

This song was a long but interesting process. Almost the entire song was tracked in my home studio. Except for the vocals from Corei Taylor everything  was track in my garage.

The initial drums played by Chris Wabich were in my ISO which is 6’x10’. At the same time I tracked the keys with Dennis Hamm, Bass with Jimmy Haslip and of course Katisse on rap and flute/sax. The female vocals are Kate Higgins. Amazing vocalist.

When I record Kate 9 times out of 10 I use the Sony C800G into a Neve 1073 to the Tube Tech CL1B. As general rule Kate has a flawless voice, usually all I need to do is add a little high pass filter on her vocal.

Corei Taylor tracked all his vocals in his bedroom in Nashville using a Marshall MXL 2001 into a Digidesign MBox. All of the vocals are quadrupled. Every part. Sometimes there are up to 5 parts on a vocal line. In the mix I wanted the vocals to be punchy but airy. I followed the same concept of letting the vocals have their own space. Lower vocals far left and right, -100 and +100 and each subsequent part was at -90 and + 90. Then -80 and +80.

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Here are more mixes to reference

Artist: Ken Stacey

Song Title: I Will Still Be Me

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Artist: Upper Structure featuring Kate Higgins

Song Title: Making The Saint

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Artist: Whitney Houston

Song Title: O Come, O Come Emmanuel

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Artist: Whitney Houston

Song Title: O Holy Night

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Artist: Jeff Lewis

Song Title: Putty

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