Knobs

The Tricks We Reach For

Knobs

Show Notes

For the last episode of the season, Simon and Terry try to catch each other off guard with the tricks and questions they actually use.

In Episode 20 of KNOBS, the Season 1 finale, the two of them swap favourite moves and put each other on the spot, no script, no warning.

Terry opens with reverse reverb, the ghostly lead-in that introduces a note before it arrives and adds density to a sparse song without recording a single new instrument. Then the questions start flying. How do you save a take with questionable intonation without reaching for a tuner? Elvis or Beatles, and why? What are the first three things you do to get working in a room you have never mixed in? Would you trade all your outboard for one immaculate SSL K console? And what do you do when a client sends you a vocal that is hollow, brittle and sibilant? It ends where every serious producer eventually lands: the case for doing the tedious work.

Whether you are after new tricks or just a good hang with two engineers, it is a fun, loose way to close out Season 1.

Topics covered:

• Reverse reverb and the ghostly lead-in • Adding density without another instrument • Fixing intonation without tuning • Elvis vs the Beatles • Setting up in a brand new room • Trading outboard for an SSL K • Saving a hollow, brittle, sibilant vocal • Doing the tedious work, and standards

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