Remote Mixing

Q: Analog or digital and why?

A: A combination of both. ProTools makes automation and editing so much easier, but there is also nothing quite like the magic of a great analog piece of equipment.

Q: What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A: We are usually asked to hear examples of our work. That's a tough one to do, because every artist and recording is unique, so what one track sounds like is often not a good representation of what your recording will sound like.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about what you do?

A: Many people think they can record on a laptop in a bedroom, and then send it to a mix engineer to be "fixed." The key to a great sounding mix is great sounding recordings.

Q: What type of music do you usually work on?

A: Anything! Rock, Rap, Pop, Country, Blues, Jazz, and everything in between!

Q: Tell us about your studio setup.

A: Our private mix suite is comprised of a ProTools HDX system with Avid HD/IO converters, and lots of analog outboard gear, including a Chandler RS124, vintage 1176's, Neve 1073's, a Manley Vari Mu, API 2500, DBX 160, etc... The centerpiece is an SSL Matrix 2. For preamps, we have 9 channels of vintage Neves, 2 Channels of Vintage API 312's, and two Chandler REDD.47's. For playback, our rooms are incredibly well treated and tuned. We use Focal Twin6 Be's (paired with a Focal Sub6 for low end reference) for our mains, NS-10M's for our Alt1's, and Avantone Active Mix Cubes for our Alt 2's. All monitoring goes through a Dangerous Music Monitor ST. The entire studio is hand-wired with with Mogami cabling, and Neutrik gold-pinned connectors. We find that using 110 ohm Mogami cabling with line-level analog signals gives a much more open top-end. All drives, converters, power supplies, and power amps are housed in a Sound Construction IsoBox, to insure accurate ventilation, and a quiet mixing environment. Our session drive is a LaCie mirrored RAID set, so there is always a backup of the session files. All files are then backed up two more times to separate drives every day. All computers and drives are also on a battery backup in case of a power outage.

Q: What other musicians or music production professionals inspire you?

A: I learned a lot during my time working at Avatar Studios, so Roy Hendrickson and David Kahne pretty heavily influenced me technically. Working with Paul Kantner up until his passing also made a giant impact on me both personally and creatively.

Q: Describe the most common type of work you do for your clients.

A: I'm usually working on remote mixes, or tracking bands.

Q: What was your career path? How long have you been doing this?

A: OwlCove was born in 2010 in the extra bedroom of Lewis and Rachel's college apartment in Boston. It grew to become very well known by the musicians and engineers at Berklee College of Music, and played a key role in many angsty college albums. In 2013, OwlCove moved to NYC, while Lewis worked at Avatar Studios, and Rachel Worked at Round Hill Publishing. While in NYC, OwlCove continued to grow, picking up larger and larger clients, including Broadway leads, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. Although OwlCove grew a lot in NYC, there was a stronger pull from clients in California, so in 2015, OwlCove made the move to the San Francisco Bay area. Once in the San Francisco Bay Area, OwlCove quickly partnered with the legendary Fantasy Studios in Berkeley. Production after production started to roll out, and OwlCove quickly started to secure it's name among the elite.

Q: What's your typical work process?

A: For mixing, we start by organizing the session. Organization is key in any mixing environment. We also try to listen to the tracks as little as possible during the organization phase to avoid ear fatigue. Once the session is fully organized, we focus in on the emotion of the song, and work towards bringing out as much of it as possible.

Q: What are you working on at the moment?

A: At the moment, I am working on a personal album for one of the original creators of ProTools.

Q: Tell us about a project you worked on you are especially proud of and why. What was your role?

A: One of our favorite projects to work on was Ryan MacNeil's song "Woolen Mill." which is listed above as the country example. They were a great group of people, and it was the last full session OwlCove ran out of Fantasy Studios before they closed. It definitely holds a special place in our hearts.

Q: Is there anyone on SoundBetter you know and would recommend to your clients?

A: Robert L. Smith is an incredible Producer, Mixer, and Engineer. I would recommend him to anyone, any time. https://soundbetter.com/profiles/641-robert-l-smith

Q: What's your 'promise' to your clients?

A: A fun and professional atmosphere, and a great sounding recording.

Q: What do you like most about your job?

A: We love everything about our job! We love working together, we love the studios we work out of, we love working with our clients, and we love the feeling you get when a record turns out great.

Q: What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A: Don't go record in somebody's bedroom. Pay a little more, and save yourself some money in the long run by not having to re-record it later. There is nothing quite like well-recorded tracks.

Q: If you were on a desert island and could take just 5 pieces of gear, what would they be?

A: Our one of a kind U24 (vintage AKG C24 electronics, coupled with vintage Neumann U67 Capsules, built by James Gangwer for Fantasy Studios) a 2" analog tape machine stocked with endless 2" tapes, our 5 channel vintage Neve preamp, our RCA BK5, and an SM7.

Q: How would you describe your style?

A: We like to think that we don't work for ourselves, or other people; we work for music. Because of this we will always do what it best for the particular song. Our eclectic tastes in music make it easy for us to switch gears and create in any style.

Q: Which artist would you like to work with and why?

A: Sara Bareilles, are you listening?

Q: What's your strongest skill?

A: Although all of us here at OwlCove are highly educated and trained, we pride ourselves most in being passionate about our work. We find that passion provides the best results.

Q: What do you bring to a song?

A: When we work on a song, we don't just try to get the "best" sounds, we try to get sounds that bring the song to life. We do our best to make sure that our work is the last thing people think about when listening to the song. They should be so caught up in the emotions and story that they don't think about the recording or mixing technique.

Q: Can you share one music production tip?

A: All that matters when creating a track is where you are right now. It doesn't matter if you spent two weeks and $10,000 getting that drum sound, if it doesn't work, change it.

Q: What questions do you ask prospective clients?

A: What do you want your song to sound like? What artists do you enjoy listening to? I use this to get a better idea of where their minds were at when writing and recording their songs.