After much success mixing Alanis Morissette’s two previous mega-hit records, mixer Chris Fogel is back at the helm again for Alanis’ new record “Under Rug Swept”. Not one to always follow convention, Chris uses a variety of tools and methods that have resulted in mixing stints with Robbie Robertson, U2, Aerosmith and Seal, as well as a slew of film underscores like the mega-successful “Charlie’s Angels”. A longtime lover of the Euphonix CS-3000 console, we caught up with Chris at Glendale’s Front Page Recorders Studio M(which features a CS-3000) just as he was finishing the mixes.
Did you record the tracks for “Under Rug Swept”?
Actually, I came in at the very end. The record was already mixed and mastered but Alanis had three additional songs that she wanted me to have a shot at. After she took them home she asked me to redo the whole album.
What format were the tracks recorded on?
Everything was initially recorded in Protools, then some things were transferred to 3348 and there were some overdubs done on that format. Anything that was on the 3348 I transferred to Euphonix R-1. If I had any open tracks I transferred the Protools tracks over as well. Whatever was left ran through a Euphonix 727 format converter from my Protools rig, which was 40 out at the time but is 48 out now. Everything in the mix stage in LA had Euphonix converters on the output. There was anywhere from 40 to over 80 tracks, depending upon the song.
You did some mixes in NY, didn’t you?
I mixed the three singles at Battery Studios in NY. I recalled them back in LA and did some tweaks on them. As a result, I think those three are the best on the record now.
What monitors do you use?
I use the NHT A-20’s now for everything I do. I double-check on the ‘bigs” or some large ATC’s that I just tried. In Alanis’ case, I would start mixing at really low level on the big monitors to make sure that the bottom was good, then I would switch down to the NHT’s and do all of my leveling, then do final vocal leveling on my little Fostex 6301’s at really low level. I used to mix really loud, but I mix quieter than most now. I think I get better mixes as a result.
How do you start your mix?
If I’m not familiar with the song I usually just throw up all the faders and get a rough blend with the vocal in to get an idea of what the song is all about. Then I’ll stop and I’ll listen to some CD’s of some things not related to what I’m doing for about an hour to sort of clear my head. I do this without fail on every song.
Then I’ll get back to the mix and drop the vocal back to a barely audible level as a guide to where I’m at in the track. Then I’ll start with the drums and bass and build from there. From there I’ll add any melodies and back-up vocals and then put the lead vocal up to a usable position. It’s generally a 6 to 8 hour process.
Are you doing the drums or bass first?
9 times out of 10 it’s the drums first. Then I’ll tailor the kick around what the bass is doing.
What are you using for outboard gear?
I use the typical reverbs like the (Lexicon) 480 and the Eventide DSP4000. After seven years I’m still a huge fan of the (Yamaha) SPX-990.
I use a dbx subharmonic synthesizer on the kick and bass and the bottoms of loops. What I like to do is put it on the big monitors loud and as soon as I start feeling a change in the air, that’s when I stop pushing the level. I don’t like it when it gets into that “octave dividing” sound because it’s not natural. But what I do like is that “forced air” feeling. In some cases I think I went over the top, but I’d rather have too much than too little bottom.
Are your effects the same from song to song? Do you always start with the same setup?
No, not really. One thing I do in just about everything is a Haas effect of 7 to 10 ms on guitars and wide instruments so that will always be the same. Vocally-speaking, Alanis always gets a small wood room or a plate on the 480. It changes from song to song. Sometimes she’s bone dry.
The only thing that really stays the same from song to song is my mix setting on the GML EQ across the stereo buss just because I like to have some consistency that way. I use an SSL compressor for a drums and bass submix and return it to the board, then everything goes to the GML compressor across the stereo buss to both a 1/2 inch tape machine and (Alesis) Masterlink.
At what point during the mix do you insert it?
Sometimes I leave it in from the beginning only because I’ve forgotten that I had it in (laughs). But most of the time I take it out when I start and put it in when I think the mix is in a good place. It’s weird because I’ll always think that it’s in a good place until I pop the EQ in and then it’s always in a much better place. But I try to wait until I’m about 3/4 of the way finished before I pop it in, usually when I’m doing my last bits of level changes on the lead vocal.
Do you have an effects setup that you always start from?
Yeah, I’m always going to use both sides of the 480 without fail so that’s always on sends 1 and 2. I always have at least 4 single path delays like SDE-3000’s or 2290’s. I’d say that I’m more delay heavy than reverb heavy.
Are you setting the delays up for time?
I’m going for a couple of things. I’m going for timed delays and also for widening delays, which are very short Haas effect kind of things.
What do you mix to?
Mostly 1/2” Emtec 900 at +5 and a Masterlink through an Apogee PS100SE. A few of the songs had a more detailed mid-range with the digital, but there was a consistently better bottom and lower mids on the 1/2”, so that’s what we ended up using.
What was the hardest thing about doing this record?
It was me understanding that I actually had carte blanche to do what I wanted to do. Alanis had gone through the process once before and brought me in because I was a trusted ear. It took me until the 4rth or 5th song to realize that she just wanted me to do what I do, and in all cases she was happy with that. At first I tried to maintain some of the integrity of the previous mixes, but at the end of the day it was better when I just used my own approach.
Then there’s the real difficulty in getting her voice to sit in the track so that it’s got the energy that she likes but yet not ripping your head off because she’s so sibilant. That’s kind of her thing. If there’s a deesser on it, she’s going to notice, even if it’s subtle and the meters are taped, so you can’t de-ess.
So what do you do?
Her sibilance is real high, up at about 11k, so I just use a real tight notch filter. It varies per song a little bit - on one song it was down about 9.3 and another it was up at 14. Notching that out helps, but still the vocals are pretty zingy.
Are you using the board EQ for that or something outboard?
I don’t think I’ve used an outboard EQ on a mix, with the exception of the GML on the stereo buss, in 2 or 3 years. Actually on some of the Seal stuff that I just did I used an Avalon across his voice, but with Alanis from day one on the first record it’s always been the on-board Euphonix EQ.
I like the on-board compressors too, although I used a little bit of a Distressor on her voice sometimes. Occasionally I’ll do the snare or side-sticks or that kind of thing through a (dbx) 160X.
Were you squashing the drums very hard?
On the SSL compressor I was doing anywhere between 4 and 8 dB of compression with a real slow attack and fast release, the typical kind of “Brit Squash”, and it worked really well in all cases.
How long did it take to mix the record?
We started in New York and mixed 3 songs over 9 days there. It normally wouldn’t take that long but these songs needed a lot of arrangement help so I was arranging while I mixed. Then we came back here and remixed everything for about another month.
I much prefer to mix things that I didn’t record. I just like coming in with fresh ears and having a first take approach on it.
When you do that, do you find that you have to make a lot of arrangement changes?
No, not too often. In some cases I might have to make small drum and guitar decisions but I never do it vocally unless it really needs it. Alanis’ stuff needed it more than usual because there was a lot of “kitchen sinking” going on. She inherently knew that we’d have to throw some things away eventually.
Did you do any Protools fixes?
On yeah, I did a lot on this record from arrangement work to effects. I don’t use Protools as a mixing tool at all; I use it as a multi-track and occasionally as an effects box.
So you use plug-ins a lot then?
Sometimes. I like the filterbank stuff a lot. I really like the more effecty plug-ins from Waves. I like putting it as wide as it will go, then sending some pads through it. You know, stuff that when you put it in mono it completely goes away.
We’re in the “stereo plus” age, so I reference to that Coldplay record a lot. I really like what they’re doing as far as not having much regard for mono. I like that the guitars are really wide and feel like they’re not part of the speakers, so I went after that effect with this record too.
So you don’t check in mono then?
Yeah, I do. I check in mono sometimes just to get a laugh. If something is going away, then good – that’s the way I want it.
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