September 2, 2025 • 28 mins
Should you record vocals with compression or save it for mixing? It’s one of the most debated questions in music production, and in this episode of Inside The Mix, we break it down with practical advice for producers at every level.
Guest Tim Benson shares why he often tracked vocals with hardware compressors in the studio, not just for sound quality, but because hearing compressed vocals in headphones helped singers perform with more confidence and precision. We discuss how compression during tracking can shape performances, highlighting the psychological and creative benefits that go far beyond managing peaks.
But what if you don’t want to commit compression to your recording? Thanks to modern workflows, you can now monitor with plugin compression while recording a clean signal, giving vocalists the polished sound they crave without sacrificing flexibility at mixdown.
We also compare compression across instruments, exploring why it’s often essential for bass but risky for acoustic guitars. Plus, discover why microphone technique, like managing distance and consistency, may solve more vocal problems than compression ever could.
Whether you’re asking “Should I record with compression on the way in?” or wondering which instruments benefit most, this episode gives you the clarity to make smarter tracking decisions.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Marc Matthews (00:00):
Should you record with compression on the way in
or leave it for mixing?
This single choice could makeor break your vocal sound,
possibly, or just an instrumentin general.
So is compression duringrecording a secret weapon or a
trap you can't undo?
Let's find out.
INDIGO (00:19):
Hey, inside the Mix podcast fans, this is Indigo and
you can find me at IndigoSynthwave on most social
platforms you are listening toInside the Mix podcast.
Here's your host, Mark Matthews.
Marc Matthews (00:33):
Welcome to Inside the Mix, your go-to podcast for
music creation and production.
Whether you're crafting yourfirst track or refining your
mixing skills, join me each weekfor expert interviews.
First track or refining yourmixing skills?
Join me each week for expertinterviews, practical tutorials
and insights to help you levelup your music and smash it in
the music industry.
Let's dive in.
Hey folks, welcome to Insidethe Mix, or welcome back if
(00:56):
you're a returning listener.
Today's episode is inspired bya question from one of our
listeners, and the question isthis it's from an anonymous
source, sent by a message Do yourecord with compression going
in?
So if you've eversecond-guessed whether to track
your vocals with compression orany other instrument really, or
worried you're doing more harmthan good, you're in the right
(01:17):
place, and joining me is my goodfriend Tim Benson, aka Aisle9,
hot off the release of his albumParadise Cove.
What is it?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (01:28):
19th of August, a couple of weeks ago, a
couple of weeks ago, I think itwas yeah, 1st of August, yeah,
Friday the 1st yeah, yeah, therewe go.
Marc Matthews (01:35):
So I'll pop a link in the episode description,
audience, go and check that out.
I think, with Spotify now aswell, you can actually add it
directly in the episode, whichis quite an interesting feature
of Spotify podcasts.
And you may have noticedaudience listening a bit of a
tangent here that I've actuallyuploaded video to Spotify.
(01:55):
I'm trialing that to see how itgoes.
I won't lie, it is an extrastep in the production phase,
but I'm wondering if it is ofbenefit.
So if you listen to thispodcast on spotify, you can
actually watch it on spotify nowas well.
So I'm trialing out to see seewhat the engagement's like with
that.
So, uh, yeah, welcome back, tim.
(02:15):
How are you?
How are things?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (02:17):
yeah, not too bad thanks.
Yeah, you know, um enjoyinglife in the sunny southwest west
.
It's been very nice and hot andhard to be in a studio when
it's beautiful outside, so I'vebeen taking the dogs on
excessively long walks.
Yeah, it's been good and busypromoing the album.
It was good to get that doneand it was really exciting.
(02:42):
I really enjoyed the release itwas good.
Marc Matthews (02:46):
It's a fantastic piece.
The opening track I love.
I love the opening instrumentalon that it's yeah good, I think
, think the lighthouse yeah, yousaid yeah, yeah, yeah, that's.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (02:57):
That's the sort of track further down that
you really like.
Yeah, yeah, mmm had a big synthon it yeah, that was it, yeah,
yeah that was it again.
Marc Matthews (03:05):
I'll put a link to that in the show notes for
the audience.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (03:07):
Go check that one out the opener was one
of those tracks that went reallywell, that everyone seems to
like.
So yeah, it's funny, isn't itone of those kind of things when
you're putting an albumtogether?
I spent ages thinking like it'sgot to sort of have a good
opener, because there's nothingworse than an album that the
first track means you just golike oh, I won't listen to the
rest of this, so yeah I wastrying to make something epic
(03:29):
for the beginning yeah, yeah,yeah it's.
Marc Matthews (03:32):
I haven't released a lot of singles.
I haven't.
I think it was about a coupleyears ago almost, I released the
ep.
You forget that when yourelease a body of music that,
like that opening track, couldreally make or break, I mean,
you get the diligent listenerthat might listen beyond it, you
know, if it doesn't quite hitthe mark.
But what with today's consumermarket?
(03:55):
I think there is a tendencythat if it doesn't hit straight
away on to the next one, youknow which is, yeah, one of
those things.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (04:03):
My creaky studio chair.
There must buy a new chair.
It's like it's terrible.
Marc Matthews (04:08):
I think, last time it was seagulls.
I think it was seagulls.
Yeah, no well.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (04:11):
I've shut the window today, so you're not
getting seagulls, but you know,yeah, I've rescued two outside
the studio.
In the past month I've rescuedtwo seagulls, the babies, the
big sort of babies that get lost.
Yeah, one had a broken wing.
Marc Matthews (04:26):
I'd put it in a box and take it to the vet.
Another one had a broken foot,so again, I'd put it in a box
and take it to the vet.
I just cannot walk past andjust see the seagull there and,
yeah, it's mad.
There's a lot of people aroundhere and I'm just thinking you
know how has nobody else seenthis man?
I'm not going to get my soapbox.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (04:47):
But the biggest problem around here if
you go near a baby seagull isall the other seagulls like come
and attack you.
My wife had to hide in the shedwhile a whole load bombed her
for like trying to do attack.
She was trying to save thispoor seagull and all the rest of
them went full attack mode sothere we go luckily I didn't
(05:09):
experience that which I hadn'tthought of.
Marc Matthews (05:12):
There is a lot.
There are a lot of seagullsaround here, so thankfully I
wasn't.
They didn't descend on me.
I had one attack me once.
I was in somewhere down inCornwall and I had an ice cream
and a seagull came out ofnowhere, smacked me in the face
and just took.
They had this massive beak markin my eye on my ice cream.
I was warned, but there we go.
(05:34):
Anyway, we'll move on to thetopic of compression rather than
seagulls.
Moving on to the topic ofcompression, rather than
seagulls, yeah, but before, butbefore we do that, folks, if
you've got a question aboutmusic production, music industry
and music related to be honest,we'd love to hear it.
Click the link in the episodedescription to send a quick
voice note, or you can justclick send me a message, and
it's basically just like sendinga text, share your website or
(05:56):
socials.
Alternatively, you can just doit anonymously, if you want, and
get your question featured onthe podcast and we'll endeavour
to answer it.
It so we're talking aboutcompression.
We're talking about compressiongoing in when we're recording.
I mean, in my notes I've gotvocals because I've admittedly,
I've not done it a massiveamount, to be honest, when it
comes to recording and usingcompression whilst doing it,
(06:18):
whilst recording, I think we'vehad this conversation before
about using time-based approach,like reverb, just to sweeten a
vocal when a vocalist isrecording for, for example, um,
but recording vocals withcompression going in.
So let's use the idea thatwe're recording vocals.
Is it something that you'd Do?
Is it something that you'vedone extensively in the past?
(06:39):
Because I know you.
Obviously you come from thatextensive studio background.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (06:41):
Yeah, yes, I have to say um, when I had my
recording studio set up, my sortof main thing for recording
vocals was actually a focusright sort of channel that I
used a lot, which basically hadyou know sort of mic pre and
then it had a built-incompression EQ and everything
(07:05):
going in and I mean I would usethat, I would use it.
It had a sort of opticalcompressor on it.
It was quite gentle.
It wasn't a brutal sort ofcompression.
I mean it could be.
I mean you could really crankit, but it was quite sort of
sort of just smooth things outnicely.
And I think I did used to trackwith compression on the way in.
(07:30):
I mean, obviously, years andyears ago going back, people
used to track with compressiongoing in on tape or whatever, to
get a more steady levelactually onto the tape in the
first place, to get better levelwhen they record it onto tape,
because they could get like sortof they could actually get a
steady level so that they didn'tget noise from the tape.
INDIGO (07:52):
They got a really good level onto the tape that isn't
really a problem that we havethese days.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (07:57):
We don't want to sort of you know, worry
too much about level.
We can up and down level.
As long as you've got areasonable level going into
anything digital, you don't needto worry so um were you
printing to?
Marc Matthews (08:12):
were you printing the compression in the studio
when you were using the phone?
I?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (08:14):
was yes, so I would go straight through
that and print that compressiononto the.
You know I was, I was recordinginto my DAW and record that as
I went.
It sort of is a risky thing todo in a way, I suppose, because
if you get it wrong you can't goback and you can't take it off.
(08:35):
But I think it does affect whatI found.
Was it affected how the singerfelt when they're singing into
the mic and they've got a bit ofcompression?
They kind of work with thatcompression a little bit and it
can help a lot of singers.
It evens things out.
It gives them a fuller soundwhen they're tracking.
(08:56):
You give them a little bit ofsweetening reverb and EQ and,
yeah, you just get a really goodsound in their headphones and I
think for a lot of talent thatwas great.
Having a really really nicesound in their headphones made
them sing better, made them hearthe detail of what they were
doing in the track better andperform better.
(09:17):
But I didn't do anything wildwith it.
I didn't do you know, sort ofsomething that I knew was going
to be detrimental like.
Well, pretty much knew wasn'tgoing to be detrimental later on
, but it is an argument now thatwe've got I think I was saying
to you before we um rolled, umthat like, basically, if you're
(09:38):
using various sort of things,like you know, versal Audio have
got interfaces and or you couldjust be using plugins in your
DAW now that you don't actuallyneed to track with compression
but you can still listen tocompression when you track.
So you can listen through aplugin and work with compression
(09:59):
as you're recording, but you'renot actually tracking that into
the signal.
So that is an option now youdon't have to burn it on,
whereas for me that reallywasn't much of an option.
I was like tracking through theactual a channel which had
compression on it, and I mean alot of channels have, like you
know, you go through an Avalonpreamp or something.
(10:20):
It will have a preamp, it'llhave a compressor on it and EQ,
you know, and a lot of classicvocal channels.
Really good vocal channels instudios would be built that way
and I mean UA, universal Audio,makes some as well that work
that way.
That there's one that's got um,forgotten what it is 176 or
something.
It's got the compressor of the1176 in it but it's got a tube
(10:44):
sort of preamp on it.
So there are quite a lot ofthese ones that are all in one,
as it were, vocal channels, andI guess the idea is you do track
with a little bit ofcompression on but it's not that
you have to.
Marc Matthews (10:59):
I think that's it .
Yeah, well, this is it.
That's the sort of recordingrealm that we live within now.
Is that you can?
You can do all this whilstrecording, as I think we had
this conversation on a coupleepisodes ago about I can't
remember what the episode wasregards to.
We were talking about doing itat the time and then removing it
I think it was reverb, to befair on vocal and then just
having it playing and then beingable to remove it further down
(11:21):
the line because it's notprinted on that particular track
.
I'm wondering have you ever?
Have you ever?
Because you were talking thereabout printing it and, to be
fair, I can't think of a timethat I've ever used one.
Maybe I need to look into itmore and use it in a creative
sort of way, but an expander.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (11:40):
An expander .
An expander, you printed it.
Yeah, I did have one.
I did have an expander in oneof these units I had.
Hmm, no, because that would beupward sort of compression
wouldn't it?
Marc Matthews (11:52):
Yeah, that's increasing the dynamic range,
yeah.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (11:59):
No, I never used one of them.
No, neither have I justthinking about it, then it could
be interesting in somecircumstances.
Marc Matthews (12:07):
Yeah, I think the advice would generally be like
don't print it yeah, generallydon't, and then rely on the
expander to undo it, but Isuppose because you'd have to uh
again, never done it.
But in theory right.
If you've printed thecompression to the signal, to
the audio, you then need tomirror the dynamic range before
(12:31):
using the expander, and thatmust be quite hard to do.
Like to dial that in and get itexactly how it was before.
There we go, audience, Give ita go and see if you can undo
compression that's printed.
That's what that's a nice taskfor someone to do of an evening
and do some compression usingthe expander, see if you can
match it verbatim yeah, so itdoesn't sound compressed anymore
(12:52):
.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (12:52):
I mean, I think for a lot of people like,
the sensible thing is, if you'renot sure, is to not use
compression when oh yeah yeah,but when you get used to stuff,
it's like people used to saythat with you know, when I was
tracking a drum kit it'd be likeyou know, do you record with eq
or maybe a little bit ofcompression on the way in?
(13:14):
And the answer is, um, I mean,I wouldn't record drums
generally with compression on.
That wasn't something I oftendid, but occasionally, but
generally not.
But I would like start to EQ mydrums a little bit.
I just got used to what Iwanted in there and what I
didn't want in there and I gotso used to knowing how the sound
(13:37):
was going to be when I mixed it.
I was used to my mics and myroom and everything else that
that I would make some of thosedecisions as I tracked it.
It didn't mean I didn't usemore in the mix, but it was just
like you know.
I was like I'm going to want abit of weight at 80 hertz in my
kick drum, so I'll put someweight in.
I mean, what's the worst?
I could always reduce a littlebit of it if I put too much in
(14:02):
later on, but at the end of theday, a lot of the time it meant
that the drums were just alreadysounding, you know, pretty nice
on playback without me havingto do further processing on them
.
So you know, I would make thatdecision and I think you can do
the same with vocals.
But vocals is something wherecompression changes the way.
It's weird.
(14:22):
I mean, it's like when you Imean when you perform live now,
for instance uh, this issomething worth bearing in mind.
A lot of singers when they'reperforming live, if you've got a
sound man and he's got a nicedigital desk these days, quite
likely you will be singingthrough compression.
You you'll be performing withcompression and gating and and
(14:43):
you know eq and reverb andeverything on your thing.
Um, so you're used toperforming live with it and
you're used to that sound.
Um, when you go in the studio,you kind of got to get a sound
that the musicians used to andlikes so that you get the best
performance out of them and Ifind that a little bit of
(15:06):
compression can sometimes reallymake you perform differently
and it can be really good for alot of people because it brings
up those quiet things thatyou're not the details and
things a little bit more and itjust brings down some of the
sort of um you know, when you,when you go a bit too hard on
something, it just tames it alittle bit.
(15:26):
So but we're only talking alittle touch of it yeah, that's
what I was going to say.
Marc Matthews (15:31):
Next is like how much?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (15:33):
and in my head I'm thinking like very
light, yeah, sort of compressionreally I like the use of using
an optical 3 to 60 B maybe atmost.
Marc Matthews (15:41):
Yeah, yeah, Using an optical compressor as well.
I love optical compressors,always has been, but that's the
way I see using it.
And I think also as well,you've got to think about the
vocalist, Because I thinkthere's an element of like you
can do.
I was going to say manualcompression then and just have
the vocalist in terms of theirdistance from the microphone and
(16:02):
controlling that and the waythe vocalist is performing.
So if you've got a vocalistwho's just wildly, the dynamic
range is wild rather than think,oh, I'm just going to slap a
compressor on it.
You might want to work on wherethey are standing with regards
to the microphone.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (16:19):
Because I've had that.
Sorry, go ahead.
No, I think that makes a hugedifference.
I totally agree with you.
Yeah.
Marc Matthews (16:27):
I've had projects submitted and even before I've
listened to the project.
I can see the vocal track and Ican see.
Just looking at the waveform Ican see this is not a controlled
performance.
It's pretty wild.
And then I go in with clip gamebefore I even think.
Some evenness.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (16:47):
I've been doing that this week and the
vocal was a really lovely vocalbut like wildly different
between different parts of it.
So I had to go straight in withclip automation before I think
of putting any compression on it, to get everything sitting in a
relatively even thing.
And you're right, if you getyour mic technique good, then
(17:09):
you can lean in for your nicesoft, you know proximity effect
and you can come away whenyou're really going for it hard,
because that that's a nightmarewhen, um, something I used to
get a lot with rock vocalistswho'd sort of sing out their
heart right into a sort of youknow capacitor mic or something
and you'd just be like you know,just come off the mic as you
(17:33):
really go for it and and but alot of people hadn't in the
studio maybe sort of tried thosethings and you can just work on
them quite quickly and a lot ofpeople respond to it quite well
, start to sort of find out youknow where the sweet spot is to
sing where, depending on wherethey are in their range and what
note they're going for and howclose to the mic they are.
(17:55):
But yeah, that's a massivething, that mic technique.
Marc Matthews (17:58):
It makes huge difference on how good a vocal
sounds yeah, there is a nicefeeling when you have a project
submitted and then you see it'snot just vocals as well, I guess
it's any instrument.
You can just see a nice evenperformance and you know it's
not just vocals as well, I guessit's any instrument.
You can just see a nice evenperformance.
You know it's going to be.
It's going to be a relativelypleasure.
Pleasurable yeah, that's a word, isn't it?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (18:19):
pleasurable mix yeah, mixing scenario.
I think pleasurable, that's theword I was looking for.
Marc Matthews (18:25):
Yeah, mix yeah, yeah, it's.
Uh, it's been a long day.
It's probably that walnut breadI had before coming back to
haunt me, so I don't know ifthere's necessarily much more we
need to dive into.
To be honest with you, I wasrecording compression going in.
I think the current lay of theland is such that we don't need
to print it for one.
No, I think what you mentionedjust then actually about the
(18:48):
live performance, I think whatyou mentioned just then actually
about the live performance, Iappreciate not everybody's got
the opportunity to go and mix alive performance, but I think
that's a really good way oflearning how to use compression,
for example, and EQ and justmix in general.
I think I had this conversationwith Mike Exeter on the podcast
and he said the same thing.
(19:09):
It's a really good way to goand learn, because I remember
doing a few front of house gigsand having to do live sound
mixing and if you can do it it'sworth doing.
But where I was going with thatis a slight tangent.
You don't need to print it.
I think we agreed on sort oflight compression and vocal
performance as well.
Monitor the vocalist'sperformance.
I think those agreed on sort oflight compression and vocal
(19:30):
performance, as well Monitor thevocalist's performance.
I think those are the three keythings in general, but I don't
think I've missed anything.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (19:37):
I mean it's interesting as well, like maybe
you sort of would discussvocals, but you could look at it
with bass and acoustic guitaras well and things, and again it
can be sort of bass.
I had a tendency of recordingbass and guitars with
compression, but a lot of thetime that might be like you know
, guitar like the I mean lots ofguitarists will have a
(20:00):
compressor in their rig, like asa sort of before they go into
the amp.
Lots of bassists will havecompressors on their rigs going
into the amp.
Lots of bassists will havecompressors on their rigs going
into the amp, you know.
So those things quite often getrecorded with bits of
compression on them and it canbe part of how people play and
interact with.
The thing is, like you know,when you play with the guitar
(20:21):
and it's got lots of compressionon it, it has a lot more
sustain, it feels different.
So if you're used to recordingand playing like that, you
probably wouldn't necessarilywant to take that off.
If you're used to recording andplaying like that, you probably
wouldn't necessarily want totake that off when you're
recording, um, but you mightwant to go like you know that
cavernous ton of reverb you'reputting on this maybe, if that
(20:42):
isn't very sort of signature tothe sound, and we could put it
on afterwards, we might recordwithout the time-based effects,
um, and then you sort of putthat on afterwards.
You know, rather than recordingit on afterwards, we might
record without the time-basedeffects, um, and then you sort
of put that on afterwards, butyou know, rather than recording
it on the amp or whatever.
But like, yeah, I think when itcomes to dynamics, definitely
some of these things become partof the sound you're making.
(21:02):
It's the same with vocals, butI I'm wary of it.
On acoustic guitars recording.
I did use to track with alittle bit of compression, but
you have to be so careful withacoustics that you don't
over-compress the thing, andthen you've got this munched
acoustic guitar that you can'tdo anything with.
Really, yeah, it can be quitebad.
Marc Matthews (21:23):
I've always got a mind to let acoustic guitars
breathe, yeah.
INDIGO (21:27):
I think yeah, I haven't recorded an acoustic.
Marc Matthews (21:30):
I haven't recorded an acoustic in years.
I used to love experimentingwith mic position.
INDIGO (21:34):
Yeah, makes huge difference, like using a couple
of mics.
Marc Matthews (21:37):
Yeah, yeah, the neck, the body of the guitar,
all these different positions.
You can get some and then justtry different configurations of
the microphones.
I did that audience listeningyou're not watching this I did
an x with my hands from an xyposition of a microphone.
I don't even know that's what Idid there.
I did that thinking everyonecould see me.
(21:57):
But yeah, I'd love to get backinto doing that again, but I
really don't do much recordingthese days.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (22:00):
It's all post-production, but maybe,
maybe at some point the onething I never really managed to
make work as well as like itappears on the movies or
whatever is like that thatwonderful thing where everyone,
all the backing vocalists arejust the band, are all around
one mic and it just soundsamazing.
It's like nine times out of ten.
That's to be avoided.
They all sound awful like whenyou all will be three of them
(22:24):
will sound great and one personwill be out of tune and there's
nothing you can do to save thatlater on.
So, yeah, beware of the gangvocal.
Um.
But no, it can be good fun.
But if you want a proper gangvocal sound, not like a sweet,
you know harmony sound, but likeit works when you've got
backing vocalists, aprofessional backing vocalist,
(22:45):
they're.
They're amazing at balancingthemselves and singing in tune
and harmonizing.
But, like most of us meremortals, take a bit more, a bit
more post-production to get usto sound that sweet.
Marc Matthews (22:58):
So you know, I've only, I've only ever done back
um, sorry, gang vocals once Ithink you did it on the album
and I think I mentioned this ona previous episode, and it was
like some spoken word and it wasa very hungover.
So my voice was even lower thanit usually is and it was like
some spoken word and it was veryhungover, so my voice was even
lower than it usually is andit's like this really sort of
ominous, ethereal spoken.
I can't even remember what wesaid.
(23:18):
It's on a track somewhere thatwas quite interesting, but
luckily we didn't have to be intune.
It was just some spoken word.
Thankfully, because if we hadto be in tune it would have been
fucked, basically Because Ican't sing for shit, no, which?
is a shame, but there we go.
There we go, folks.
I think we've wrapped upcompression, then.
Always fun to talk about thesetopics.
(23:39):
So if you do have a questionthat you would like to hear us
hash out and attempt to answeron the podcast again, please
click the link in the episodedescription.
Send us a voice note.
Alternatively, just send amessage.
Click the send a message.
It's just like sending a text.
You can give us some details inthere and get your question
featured on the podcast.
Tim, it's been a pleasure.
Have you got any news, anythingon the horizon?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (24:00):
I know you just released the album, but
anything else, yeah, I'm takinga slight break, but I'm
beginning to think what my nextsingle is going to be like.
So I'll be working on that,probably in the next week or two
.
And then, yeah, I need to getsomething out, sort of by the
beginning of next month,hopefully, and I will be working
on.
Yeah, I was talking to youabout maybe mixing in a bit more
(24:24):
90s, because apparently I'mkind of quite a 90s boy, so
there might be a bit more 90sinfluence and some stuff coming
up, but we'll see.
Marc Matthews (24:31):
Yeah, it's popular at the moment it
certainly is.
I've got one I'm mixing,hopefully this weekend, actually
mixing my next track,narcissist.
I haven't got a release date.
I have aimed for the second orthird week of September,
hopefully to get that released.
Then another one quickly afterthat as well, which I've started
(24:53):
.
But I'm also going to startwriting a Halloween-themed,
horror-themed tune.
I don't know how that's goingto end up, but I've already got
a title for it.
I'm going to call it Nosferatu,because I do like the film
Nosferatu.
And yeah, in my head what I wasthinking.
I thought this the other day.
I thought you know what, I'lljust start the track with Willem
(25:17):
Dafoe saying Nosferatu, andthen it comes in.
I'm thinking in my head itsounds great, but to others it
might sound incredibly cheesy.
But anyway, that's my sort ofthought process at the moment.
And then possibly a christmassong, right?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (25:31):
well, I'm writing a bit of yeah, I'm
writing a theme for a horrormovie at the moment.
Actually, yeah possibly gonnabe.
Well, uh, it's looking likewe're gonna do the whole film,
so I may end up writing all themusic for the entire film, which
would be fun.
Yeah, oh, amazing is it, uh?
Marc Matthews (25:47):
are you able to disclose the sort of type of
horror film?
Um, yeah, I mean vampire?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (25:54):
yeah, I think it's going to be more sort
of us along the sort of like aslasher movie kind of vibe yeah
yeah, yeah, nice.
Marc Matthews (26:03):
As a horror fan, I'm always um intrigued.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (26:06):
Yeah, I'm completely the, the person who's
writing the music, who's not ahorror fan, but like there we go
it's weird but I I I say that Iactually really love the way
music works in horror films umyeah, I love the music aspect,
um, and I love a lot of the kindof the visual sort of, you know
(26:26):
, some great sort of of cinemaphotography in horror films, so
I like that.
I'm just a bit squeamish whenyou know people start having
their heads chopped off.
Yeah.
Marc Matthews (26:40):
I look forward to listening to that.
If you need any feedback right,send it across Myself and Carl
at Neon Highway.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (26:46):
I know Carl's a big horror fan as well,
I was aware that you two mightbe very good people to talk to
about this?
Yeah, indeed.
Marc Matthews (26:53):
There we go, folks.
So yes, do send us a questionand until next time, stay
inspired, keep creating anddon't be afraid to experiment
inside the mix.
Should you record with compression on the way in
or leave it for mixing?
This single choice could makeor break your vocal sound,
possibly, or just an instrumentin general.
So is compression duringrecording a secret weapon or a
trap you can't undo?
Let's find out.
INDIGO (00:19):
Hey, inside the Mix podcast fans, this is Indigo and
you can find me at IndigoSynthwave on most social
platforms you are listening toInside the Mix podcast.
Here's your host, Mark Matthews.
Marc Matthews (00:33):
Welcome to Inside the Mix, your go-to podcast for
music creation and production.
Whether you're crafting yourfirst track or refining your
mixing skills, join me each weekfor expert interviews.
First track or refining yourmixing skills?
Join me each week for expertinterviews, practical tutorials
and insights to help you levelup your music and smash it in
the music industry.
Let's dive in.
Hey folks, welcome to Insidethe Mix, or welcome back if
(00:56):
you're a returning listener.
Today's episode is inspired bya question from one of our
listeners, and the question isthis it's from an anonymous
source, sent by a message Do yourecord with compression going
in?
So if you've eversecond-guessed whether to track
your vocals with compression orany other instrument really, or
worried you're doing more harmthan good, you're in the right
(01:17):
place, and joining me is my goodfriend Tim Benson, aka Aisle9,
hot off the release of his albumParadise Cove.
What is it?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (01:28):
19th of August, a couple of weeks ago, a
couple of weeks ago, I think itwas yeah, 1st of August, yeah,
Friday the 1st yeah, yeah, therewe go.
Marc Matthews (01:35):
So I'll pop a link in the episode description,
audience, go and check that out.
I think, with Spotify now aswell, you can actually add it
directly in the episode, whichis quite an interesting feature
of Spotify podcasts.
And you may have noticedaudience listening a bit of a
tangent here that I've actuallyuploaded video to Spotify.
(01:55):
I'm trialing that to see how itgoes.
I won't lie, it is an extrastep in the production phase,
but I'm wondering if it is ofbenefit.
So if you listen to thispodcast on spotify, you can
actually watch it on spotify nowas well.
So I'm trialing out to see seewhat the engagement's like with
that.
So, uh, yeah, welcome back, tim.
(02:15):
How are you?
How are things?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (02:17):
yeah, not too bad thanks.
Yeah, you know, um enjoyinglife in the sunny southwest west
.
It's been very nice and hot andhard to be in a studio when
it's beautiful outside, so I'vebeen taking the dogs on
excessively long walks.
Yeah, it's been good and busypromoing the album.
It was good to get that doneand it was really exciting.
(02:42):
I really enjoyed the release itwas good.
Marc Matthews (02:46):
It's a fantastic piece.
The opening track I love.
I love the opening instrumentalon that it's yeah good, I think
, think the lighthouse yeah, yousaid yeah, yeah, yeah, that's.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (02:57):
That's the sort of track further down that
you really like.
Yeah, yeah, mmm had a big synthon it yeah, that was it, yeah,
yeah that was it again.
Marc Matthews (03:05):
I'll put a link to that in the show notes for
the audience.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (03:07):
Go check that one out the opener was one
of those tracks that went reallywell, that everyone seems to
like.
So yeah, it's funny, isn't itone of those kind of things when
you're putting an albumtogether?
I spent ages thinking like it'sgot to sort of have a good
opener, because there's nothingworse than an album that the
first track means you just golike oh, I won't listen to the
rest of this, so yeah I wastrying to make something epic
(03:29):
for the beginning yeah, yeah,yeah it's.
Marc Matthews (03:32):
I haven't released a lot of singles.
I haven't.
I think it was about a coupleyears ago almost, I released the
ep.
You forget that when yourelease a body of music that,
like that opening track, couldreally make or break, I mean,
you get the diligent listenerthat might listen beyond it, you
know, if it doesn't quite hitthe mark.
But what with today's consumermarket?
(03:55):
I think there is a tendencythat if it doesn't hit straight
away on to the next one, youknow which is, yeah, one of
those things.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (04:03):
My creaky studio chair.
There must buy a new chair.
It's like it's terrible.
Marc Matthews (04:08):
I think, last time it was seagulls.
I think it was seagulls.
Yeah, no well.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (04:11):
I've shut the window today, so you're not
getting seagulls, but you know,yeah, I've rescued two outside
the studio.
In the past month I've rescuedtwo seagulls, the babies, the
big sort of babies that get lost.
Yeah, one had a broken wing.
Marc Matthews (04:26):
I'd put it in a box and take it to the vet.
Another one had a broken foot,so again, I'd put it in a box
and take it to the vet.
I just cannot walk past andjust see the seagull there and,
yeah, it's mad.
There's a lot of people aroundhere and I'm just thinking you
know how has nobody else seenthis man?
I'm not going to get my soapbox.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (04:47):
But the biggest problem around here if
you go near a baby seagull isall the other seagulls like come
and attack you.
My wife had to hide in the shedwhile a whole load bombed her
for like trying to do attack.
She was trying to save thispoor seagull and all the rest of
them went full attack mode sothere we go luckily I didn't
(05:09):
experience that which I hadn'tthought of.
Marc Matthews (05:12):
There is a lot.
There are a lot of seagullsaround here, so thankfully I
wasn't.
They didn't descend on me.
I had one attack me once.
I was in somewhere down inCornwall and I had an ice cream
and a seagull came out ofnowhere, smacked me in the face
and just took.
They had this massive beak markin my eye on my ice cream.
I was warned, but there we go.
(05:34):
Anyway, we'll move on to thetopic of compression rather than
seagulls.
Moving on to the topic ofcompression, rather than
seagulls, yeah, but before, butbefore we do that, folks, if
you've got a question aboutmusic production, music industry
and music related to be honest,we'd love to hear it.
Click the link in the episodedescription to send a quick
voice note, or you can justclick send me a message, and
it's basically just like sendinga text, share your website or
(05:56):
socials.
Alternatively, you can just doit anonymously, if you want, and
get your question featured onthe podcast and we'll endeavour
to answer it.
It so we're talking aboutcompression.
We're talking about compressiongoing in when we're recording.
I mean, in my notes I've gotvocals because I've admittedly,
I've not done it a massiveamount, to be honest, when it
comes to recording and usingcompression whilst doing it,
(06:18):
whilst recording, I think we'vehad this conversation before
about using time-based approach,like reverb, just to sweeten a
vocal when a vocalist isrecording for, for example, um,
but recording vocals withcompression going in.
So let's use the idea thatwe're recording vocals.
Is it something that you'd Do?
Is it something that you'vedone extensively in the past?
(06:39):
Because I know you.
Obviously you come from thatextensive studio background.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (06:41):
Yeah, yes, I have to say um, when I had my
recording studio set up, my sortof main thing for recording
vocals was actually a focusright sort of channel that I
used a lot, which basically hadyou know sort of mic pre and
then it had a built-incompression EQ and everything
(07:05):
going in and I mean I would usethat, I would use it.
It had a sort of opticalcompressor on it.
It was quite gentle.
It wasn't a brutal sort ofcompression.
I mean it could be.
I mean you could really crankit, but it was quite sort of
sort of just smooth things outnicely.
And I think I did used to trackwith compression on the way in.
(07:30):
I mean, obviously, years andyears ago going back, people
used to track with compressiongoing in on tape or whatever, to
get a more steady levelactually onto the tape in the
first place, to get better levelwhen they record it onto tape,
because they could get like sortof they could actually get a
steady level so that they didn'tget noise from the tape.
INDIGO (07:52):
They got a really good level onto the tape that isn't
really a problem that we havethese days.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (07:57):
We don't want to sort of you know, worry
too much about level.
We can up and down level.
As long as you've got areasonable level going into
anything digital, you don't needto worry so um were you
printing to?
Marc Matthews (08:12):
were you printing the compression in the studio
when you were using the phone?
I?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (08:14):
was yes, so I would go straight through
that and print that compressiononto the.
You know I was, I was recordinginto my DAW and record that as
I went.
It sort of is a risky thing todo in a way, I suppose, because
if you get it wrong you can't goback and you can't take it off.
(08:35):
But I think it does affect whatI found.
Was it affected how the singerfelt when they're singing into
the mic and they've got a bit ofcompression?
They kind of work with thatcompression a little bit and it
can help a lot of singers.
It evens things out.
It gives them a fuller soundwhen they're tracking.
(08:56):
You give them a little bit ofsweetening reverb and EQ and,
yeah, you just get a really goodsound in their headphones and I
think for a lot of talent thatwas great.
Having a really really nicesound in their headphones made
them sing better, made them hearthe detail of what they were
doing in the track better andperform better.
(09:17):
But I didn't do anything wildwith it.
I didn't do you know, sort ofsomething that I knew was going
to be detrimental like.
Well, pretty much knew wasn'tgoing to be detrimental later on
, but it is an argument now thatwe've got I think I was saying
to you before we um rolled, umthat like, basically, if you're
(09:38):
using various sort of things,like you know, versal Audio have
got interfaces and or you couldjust be using plugins in your
DAW now that you don't actuallyneed to track with compression
but you can still listen tocompression when you track.
So you can listen through aplugin and work with compression
(09:59):
as you're recording, but you'renot actually tracking that into
the signal.
So that is an option now youdon't have to burn it on,
whereas for me that reallywasn't much of an option.
I was like tracking through theactual a channel which had
compression on it, and I mean alot of channels have, like you
know, you go through an Avalonpreamp or something.
(10:20):
It will have a preamp, it'llhave a compressor on it and EQ,
you know, and a lot of classicvocal channels.
Really good vocal channels instudios would be built that way
and I mean UA, universal Audio,makes some as well that work
that way.
That there's one that's got um,forgotten what it is 176 or
something.
It's got the compressor of the1176 in it but it's got a tube
(10:44):
sort of preamp on it.
So there are quite a lot ofthese ones that are all in one,
as it were, vocal channels, andI guess the idea is you do track
with a little bit ofcompression on but it's not that
you have to.
Marc Matthews (10:59):
I think that's it .
Yeah, well, this is it.
That's the sort of recordingrealm that we live within now.
Is that you can?
You can do all this whilstrecording, as I think we had
this conversation on a coupleepisodes ago about I can't
remember what the episode wasregards to.
We were talking about doing itat the time and then removing it
I think it was reverb, to befair on vocal and then just
having it playing and then beingable to remove it further down
(11:21):
the line because it's notprinted on that particular track
.
I'm wondering have you ever?
Have you ever?
Because you were talking thereabout printing it and, to be
fair, I can't think of a timethat I've ever used one.
Maybe I need to look into itmore and use it in a creative
sort of way, but an expander.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (11:40):
An expander .
An expander, you printed it.
Yeah, I did have one.
I did have an expander in oneof these units I had.
Hmm, no, because that would beupward sort of compression
wouldn't it?
Marc Matthews (11:52):
Yeah, that's increasing the dynamic range,
yeah.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (11:59):
No, I never used one of them.
No, neither have I justthinking about it, then it could
be interesting in somecircumstances.
Marc Matthews (12:07):
Yeah, I think the advice would generally be like
don't print it yeah, generallydon't, and then rely on the
expander to undo it, but Isuppose because you'd have to uh
again, never done it.
But in theory right.
If you've printed thecompression to the signal, to
the audio, you then need tomirror the dynamic range before
(12:31):
using the expander, and thatmust be quite hard to do.
Like to dial that in and get itexactly how it was before.
There we go, audience, Give ita go and see if you can undo
compression that's printed.
That's what that's a nice taskfor someone to do of an evening
and do some compression usingthe expander, see if you can
match it verbatim yeah, so itdoesn't sound compressed anymore
(12:52):
.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (12:52):
I mean, I think for a lot of people like,
the sensible thing is, if you'renot sure, is to not use
compression when oh yeah yeah,but when you get used to stuff,
it's like people used to saythat with you know, when I was
tracking a drum kit it'd be likeyou know, do you record with eq
or maybe a little bit ofcompression on the way in?
(13:14):
And the answer is, um, I mean,I wouldn't record drums
generally with compression on.
That wasn't something I oftendid, but occasionally, but
generally not.
But I would like start to EQ mydrums a little bit.
I just got used to what Iwanted in there and what I
didn't want in there and I gotso used to knowing how the sound
(13:37):
was going to be when I mixed it.
I was used to my mics and myroom and everything else that
that I would make some of thosedecisions as I tracked it.
It didn't mean I didn't usemore in the mix, but it was just
like you know.
I was like I'm going to want abit of weight at 80 hertz in my
kick drum, so I'll put someweight in.
I mean, what's the worst?
I could always reduce a littlebit of it if I put too much in
(14:02):
later on, but at the end of theday, a lot of the time it meant
that the drums were just alreadysounding, you know, pretty nice
on playback without me havingto do further processing on them
.
So you know, I would make thatdecision and I think you can do
the same with vocals.
But vocals is something wherecompression changes the way.
It's weird.
(14:22):
I mean, it's like when you Imean when you perform live now,
for instance uh, this issomething worth bearing in mind.
A lot of singers when they'reperforming live, if you've got a
sound man and he's got a nicedigital desk these days, quite
likely you will be singingthrough compression.
You you'll be performing withcompression and gating and and
(14:43):
you know eq and reverb andeverything on your thing.
Um, so you're used toperforming live with it and
you're used to that sound.
Um, when you go in the studio,you kind of got to get a sound
that the musicians used to andlikes so that you get the best
performance out of them and Ifind that a little bit of
(15:06):
compression can sometimes reallymake you perform differently
and it can be really good for alot of people because it brings
up those quiet things thatyou're not the details and
things a little bit more and itjust brings down some of the
sort of um you know, when you,when you go a bit too hard on
something, it just tames it alittle bit.
(15:26):
So but we're only talking alittle touch of it yeah, that's
what I was going to say.
Marc Matthews (15:31):
Next is like how much?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (15:33):
and in my head I'm thinking like very
light, yeah, sort of compressionreally I like the use of using
an optical 3 to 60 B maybe atmost.
Marc Matthews (15:41):
Yeah, yeah, Using an optical compressor as well.
I love optical compressors,always has been, but that's the
way I see using it.
And I think also as well,you've got to think about the
vocalist, Because I thinkthere's an element of like you
can do.
I was going to say manualcompression then and just have
the vocalist in terms of theirdistance from the microphone and
(16:02):
controlling that and the waythe vocalist is performing.
So if you've got a vocalistwho's just wildly, the dynamic
range is wild rather than think,oh, I'm just going to slap a
compressor on it.
You might want to work on wherethey are standing with regards
to the microphone.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (16:19):
Because I've had that.
Sorry, go ahead.
No, I think that makes a hugedifference.
I totally agree with you.
Yeah.
Marc Matthews (16:27):
I've had projects submitted and even before I've
listened to the project.
I can see the vocal track and Ican see.
Just looking at the waveform Ican see this is not a controlled
performance.
It's pretty wild.
And then I go in with clip gamebefore I even think.
Some evenness.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (16:47):
I've been doing that this week and the
vocal was a really lovely vocalbut like wildly different
between different parts of it.
So I had to go straight in withclip automation before I think
of putting any compression on it, to get everything sitting in a
relatively even thing.
And you're right, if you getyour mic technique good, then
(17:09):
you can lean in for your nicesoft, you know proximity effect
and you can come away whenyou're really going for it hard,
because that that's a nightmarewhen, um, something I used to
get a lot with rock vocalistswho'd sort of sing out their
heart right into a sort of youknow capacitor mic or something
and you'd just be like you know,just come off the mic as you
(17:33):
really go for it and and but alot of people hadn't in the
studio maybe sort of tried thosethings and you can just work on
them quite quickly and a lot ofpeople respond to it quite well
, start to sort of find out youknow where the sweet spot is to
sing where, depending on wherethey are in their range and what
note they're going for and howclose to the mic they are.
(17:55):
But yeah, that's a massivething, that mic technique.
Marc Matthews (17:58):
It makes huge difference on how good a vocal
sounds yeah, there is a nicefeeling when you have a project
submitted and then you see it'snot just vocals as well, I guess
it's any instrument.
You can just see a nice evenperformance and you know it's
not just vocals as well, I guessit's any instrument.
You can just see a nice evenperformance.
You know it's going to be.
It's going to be a relativelypleasure.
Pleasurable yeah, that's a word, isn't it?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (18:19):
pleasurable mix yeah, mixing scenario.
I think pleasurable, that's theword I was looking for.
Marc Matthews (18:25):
Yeah, mix yeah, yeah, it's.
Uh, it's been a long day.
It's probably that walnut breadI had before coming back to
haunt me, so I don't know ifthere's necessarily much more we
need to dive into.
To be honest with you, I wasrecording compression going in.
I think the current lay of theland is such that we don't need
to print it for one.
No, I think what you mentionedjust then actually about the
(18:48):
live performance, I think whatyou mentioned just then actually
about the live performance, Iappreciate not everybody's got
the opportunity to go and mix alive performance, but I think
that's a really good way oflearning how to use compression,
for example, and EQ and justmix in general.
I think I had this conversationwith Mike Exeter on the podcast
and he said the same thing.
(19:09):
It's a really good way to goand learn, because I remember
doing a few front of house gigsand having to do live sound
mixing and if you can do it it'sworth doing.
But where I was going with thatis a slight tangent.
You don't need to print it.
I think we agreed on sort oflight compression and vocal
performance as well.
Monitor the vocalist'sperformance.
I think those agreed on sort oflight compression and vocal
(19:30):
performance, as well Monitor thevocalist's performance.
I think those are the three keythings in general, but I don't
think I've missed anything.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (19:37):
I mean it's interesting as well, like maybe
you sort of would discussvocals, but you could look at it
with bass and acoustic guitaras well and things, and again it
can be sort of bass.
I had a tendency of recordingbass and guitars with
compression, but a lot of thetime that might be like you know
, guitar like the I mean lots ofguitarists will have a
(20:00):
compressor in their rig, like asa sort of before they go into
the amp.
Lots of bassists will havecompressors on their rigs going
into the amp.
Lots of bassists will havecompressors on their rigs going
into the amp, you know.
So those things quite often getrecorded with bits of
compression on them and it canbe part of how people play and
interact with.
The thing is, like you know,when you play with the guitar
(20:21):
and it's got lots of compressionon it, it has a lot more
sustain, it feels different.
So if you're used to recordingand playing like that, you
probably wouldn't necessarilywant to take that off.
If you're used to recording andplaying like that, you probably
wouldn't necessarily want totake that off when you're
recording, um, but you mightwant to go like you know that
cavernous ton of reverb you'reputting on this maybe, if that
(20:42):
isn't very sort of signature tothe sound, and we could put it
on afterwards, we might recordwithout the time-based effects,
um, and then you sort of putthat on afterwards.
You know, rather than recordingit on afterwards, we might
record without the time-basedeffects, um, and then you sort
of put that on afterwards, butyou know, rather than recording
it on the amp or whatever.
But like, yeah, I think when itcomes to dynamics, definitely
some of these things become partof the sound you're making.
(21:02):
It's the same with vocals, butI I'm wary of it.
On acoustic guitars recording.
I did use to track with alittle bit of compression, but
you have to be so careful withacoustics that you don't
over-compress the thing, andthen you've got this munched
acoustic guitar that you can'tdo anything with.
Really, yeah, it can be quitebad.
Marc Matthews (21:23):
I've always got a mind to let acoustic guitars
breathe, yeah.
INDIGO (21:27):
I think yeah, I haven't recorded an acoustic.
Marc Matthews (21:30):
I haven't recorded an acoustic in years.
I used to love experimentingwith mic position.
INDIGO (21:34):
Yeah, makes huge difference, like using a couple
of mics.
Marc Matthews (21:37):
Yeah, yeah, the neck, the body of the guitar,
all these different positions.
You can get some and then justtry different configurations of
the microphones.
I did that audience listeningyou're not watching this I did
an x with my hands from an xyposition of a microphone.
I don't even know that's what Idid there.
I did that thinking everyonecould see me.
(21:57):
But yeah, I'd love to get backinto doing that again, but I
really don't do much recordingthese days.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (22:00):
It's all post-production, but maybe,
maybe at some point the onething I never really managed to
make work as well as like itappears on the movies or
whatever is like that thatwonderful thing where everyone,
all the backing vocalists arejust the band, are all around
one mic and it just soundsamazing.
It's like nine times out of ten.
That's to be avoided.
They all sound awful like whenyou all will be three of them
(22:24):
will sound great and one personwill be out of tune and there's
nothing you can do to save thatlater on.
So, yeah, beware of the gangvocal.
Um.
But no, it can be good fun.
But if you want a proper gangvocal sound, not like a sweet,
you know harmony sound, but likeit works when you've got
backing vocalists, aprofessional backing vocalist,
(22:45):
they're.
They're amazing at balancingthemselves and singing in tune
and harmonizing.
But, like most of us meremortals, take a bit more, a bit
more post-production to get usto sound that sweet.
Marc Matthews (22:58):
So you know, I've only, I've only ever done back
um, sorry, gang vocals once Ithink you did it on the album
and I think I mentioned this ona previous episode, and it was
like some spoken word and it wasa very hungover.
So my voice was even lower thanit usually is and it was like
some spoken word and it was veryhungover, so my voice was even
lower than it usually is andit's like this really sort of
ominous, ethereal spoken.
I can't even remember what wesaid.
(23:18):
It's on a track somewhere thatwas quite interesting, but
luckily we didn't have to be intune.
It was just some spoken word.
Thankfully, because if we hadto be in tune it would have been
fucked, basically Because Ican't sing for shit, no, which?
is a shame, but there we go.
There we go, folks.
I think we've wrapped upcompression, then.
Always fun to talk about thesetopics.
(23:39):
So if you do have a questionthat you would like to hear us
hash out and attempt to answeron the podcast again, please
click the link in the episodedescription.
Send us a voice note.
Alternatively, just send amessage.
Click the send a message.
It's just like sending a text.
You can give us some details inthere and get your question
featured on the podcast.
Tim, it's been a pleasure.
Have you got any news, anythingon the horizon?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (24:00):
I know you just released the album, but
anything else, yeah, I'm takinga slight break, but I'm
beginning to think what my nextsingle is going to be like.
So I'll be working on that,probably in the next week or two
.
And then, yeah, I need to getsomething out, sort of by the
beginning of next month,hopefully, and I will be working
on.
Yeah, I was talking to youabout maybe mixing in a bit more
(24:24):
90s, because apparently I'mkind of quite a 90s boy, so
there might be a bit more 90sinfluence and some stuff coming
up, but we'll see.
Marc Matthews (24:31):
Yeah, it's popular at the moment it
certainly is.
I've got one I'm mixing,hopefully this weekend, actually
mixing my next track,narcissist.
I haven't got a release date.
I have aimed for the second orthird week of September,
hopefully to get that released.
Then another one quickly afterthat as well, which I've started
(24:53):
.
But I'm also going to startwriting a Halloween-themed,
horror-themed tune.
I don't know how that's goingto end up, but I've already got
a title for it.
I'm going to call it Nosferatu,because I do like the film
Nosferatu.
And yeah, in my head what I wasthinking.
I thought this the other day.
I thought you know what, I'lljust start the track with Willem
(25:17):
Dafoe saying Nosferatu, andthen it comes in.
I'm thinking in my head itsounds great, but to others it
might sound incredibly cheesy.
But anyway, that's my sort ofthought process at the moment.
And then possibly a christmassong, right?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (25:31):
well, I'm writing a bit of yeah, I'm
writing a theme for a horrormovie at the moment.
Actually, yeah possibly gonnabe.
Well, uh, it's looking likewe're gonna do the whole film,
so I may end up writing all themusic for the entire film, which
would be fun.
Yeah, oh, amazing is it, uh?
Marc Matthews (25:47):
are you able to disclose the sort of type of
horror film?
Um, yeah, I mean vampire?
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (25:54):
yeah, I think it's going to be more sort
of us along the sort of like aslasher movie kind of vibe yeah
yeah, yeah, nice.
Marc Matthews (26:03):
As a horror fan, I'm always um intrigued.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (26:06):
Yeah, I'm completely the, the person who's
writing the music, who's not ahorror fan, but like there we go
it's weird but I I I say that Iactually really love the way
music works in horror films umyeah, I love the music aspect,
um, and I love a lot of the kindof the visual sort of, you know
(26:26):
, some great sort of of cinemaphotography in horror films, so
I like that.
I'm just a bit squeamish whenyou know people start having
their heads chopped off.
Yeah.
Marc Matthews (26:40):
I look forward to listening to that.
If you need any feedback right,send it across Myself and Carl
at Neon Highway.
Tim Benson (Aisle9) (26:46):
I know Carl's a big horror fan as well,
I was aware that you two mightbe very good people to talk to
about this?
Yeah, indeed.
Marc Matthews (26:53):
There we go, folks.
So yes, do send us a questionand until next time, stay
inspired, keep creating anddon't be afraid to experiment
inside the mix.
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