Some SFN guys do some mixing in Phil's neighborhood.

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Eric Cagle

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Jan 20, 2011
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Atlanta, GA
It is not often I get a chance to hang out and mix with other members of this forum. This past weekend was one of those rare exceptions so I thought I would share a couple of photos to put some names and faces together. Kemper Watson, Mike Smith and I combined some of our rigs and met up with Phil Graham and did a festival in his neighborhood. It was great to hear the different mixing styles and approaches. I got to witness first hand Phil abusing some of the DBX 1066 compressors with 15+db of compression while not sounding compressed. Soft ratio (less than 2.5:1), low threshold and super slow attack with a medium release. Yes, I had to look to see how those LED's were lighting up like christmas trees but not sounding squished. Solid "better than radio" mixes as always from Kemper and the "cannons for drums" from rocker Mike Smith. All crystal clear mixes and some very different ways of getting there. I always like to say,"It doesn't have to be .5db of how I would do it, it just has to be great." This show was the perfect example of this.

The first shot is Phil and Kemper. The green shirt guys are Mike Smith, Phil Graham, Kemper Watson, and Eric Cagle.
 

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Re: Some SFN guys do some mixing in Phil's neighborhood.

Eric Cagle said:
It is not often I get a chance to hang out and mix with other members of this forum. This past weekend was one of those rare exceptions so I thought I would share a couple of photos to put some names and faces together. Kemper Watson, Mike Smith and I combined some of our rigs and met up with Phil Graham and did a festival in his neighborhood.
Click to expand...

My wife and I were involved in putting on the neighborhood festival as volunteers (2013 Kirkwood Spring Fling Festival (11th Annual)). Since I'm the guy in the neighborhood with production experience, it was an interesting day of applying that knowledge to aid other volunteers (mostly involving electricity). Other than firing and metering the gensets for Mike, Kemper, and Eric, loading in, loading out, and some mixing mid day, I ended up spending the rest of the day configuring stuff or fighting fires other places on site.

It was great to hear the different mixing styles and approaches. I got to witness first hand Phil abusing some of the DBX 1066 compressors with 15+db of compression while not sounding compressed. Soft ratio (less than 2.5:1), low threshold and super slow attack with a medium release.
Click to expand...

I do like a lot of compression on vocals, it is the sound of vox on records. The fun thing about the 1066 is that everything is in dB/msec, so you absolutely have to dial it in by ear. I would qualify both my attack and release as still reasonably fast on vocals, and I used over-easy mode. I tend to use ratios between 2 - 6:1 on most sources. If you shorten the attack on vocals to knock down the "bite" on consonants a bit, you can always add back some 12kHz for clarity on the channel strip.

As a comparison in a setting with more conventional settings, my Presonus StudioLive 16.4 vox compression settings are:

  • 2.5:1
  • "Soft"
  • 2.5ms attack (1ms for those who shout/spit)
  • 75ms release (sometimes a bit shorter or longer)
  • 12-18dB GR depending on the singer
 
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Re: Some SFN guys do some mixing in Phil's neighborhood.

Eric Cagle said:
It is not often I get a chance to hang out and mix with other members of this forum. This past weekend was one of those rare exceptions so I thought I would share a couple of photos to put some names and faces together. Kemper Watson, Mike Smith and I combined some of our rigs and met up with Phil Graham and did a festival in his neighborhood. It was great to hear the different mixing styles and approaches. I got to witness first hand Phil abusing some of the DBX 1066 compressors with 15+db of compression while not sounding compressed. Soft ratio (less than 2.5:1), low threshold and super slow attack with a medium release. Yes, I had to look to see how those LED's were lighting up like christmas trees but not sounding squished. Solid "better than radio" mixes as always from Kemper and the "cannons for drums" from rocker Mike Smith. All crystal clear mixes and some very different ways of getting there. I always like to say,"It doesn't have to be .5db of how I would do it, it just has to be great." This show was the perfect example of this.

The first shot is Phil and Kemper. The green shirt guys are Mike Smith, Phil Graham, Kemper Watson, and Eric Cagle.
Click to expand...

Looks like good times, indeed. And with a bit more mixing talent on hand than your typical neighborhood festival. ; )
I used to live nearby, in Lake Claire.
 
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