Darrell Thorp - Anatomy of a Mix Flyer
Tonight, CRAS AES and Solid State Logic were excited to host,
three time Grammy winning audio engineer, and graduate of CRAS, Darrell Thorp as he presented his "Anatomy of a Mix". The entire CRAS student body and numerous staff were in attendance as Darrel began to explain his workflow of his mix of a song written and performed by Coco Morier. He began by emphasizing the importance of organization, and he broke down how he arranges his tracks in a protools session; vocal subgroups by verse, chorus, etc, then the actual vocal tracks, drums, bass, guitars, keyboards, various percussion, strings, and extra instrumentation. He then went on to explain various effects, EQ, compressors, sample libraries and other plug-ins
he used on each track and why. The whole demonstration was set up as an open Q & A, so students could walk up at anytime and ask questions. Darrell was very forthcoming about tricks and techniques that he has learned over the years, as well as some neat ProTools hacks and secrets that really only come from experience. For example, AES president Michael Fong noticed that he used a trim plug-in on nearly all of his tracks and asked him why. Darrell went on to explain that setting your mix levels with the trim knob and leaving the faders at 0, gave you more flexibility with automation.
Also, there is no polarity flip button on the I/O module in protools and there is one on the trim plug-in. He also demonstrated that when you attenuate the level of the fader you experience some dithering, where as with the trim control the sonic integrity of the signal was maintained.
While answering an array of questions from both staff and students, Darrell also discussed his methods of EQ (don't be afraid to use those knobs in front of you and turn them up), compression, preferred outboard gear and software plug-ins, bouncing techniques, and how he organizes various mixes for both his clients and the mastering engineer. At the very end of the demonstration we got to compare his final mix of the song to the sound of just the audio stems played through the SSL console, showing off
the sound of its stereo buss compressors. What an honor to gain insight and tips from an engineer of his caliber and reputation. We look forward to more from Darrell at the Gear Expo tomorrow.
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