Hi Jacquire,

I was wondering when you're both the engineer and mixer for a song what your approach to eq and compression is at the tracking vs mixing stage?

Are you eqing and compressing a decent amount to tape to get the sounds as close to a finished product as possible or is most of the heavy lifting and compression left for mix time? Are you mainly using hardware for tracking and plugins for mixing?

And do you have any go-to signal chains for tracking drums, bass, guitar, and vocals?

Thanks!

I try to EQ and shape sounds to be as close as I think I can get in tracking and then do what is needed in mix to bring it all together. Most of the time it's smaller moves to get things to fit together for a mix but there are always exceptions. I mainly use hardware for recording and plugs for mixing. Plugs are not as good at extreme use as hardware so get it close on the way in and finesse on the way out. I like Neve, API, & Quad8 for recording and always have... classic compressors and EQs...

Great! Thanks for taking the time!

Thanks Jacquire! Any specific goto signals chains or does it change often?

I have some basic things that are the same starting points but if it doesn't sound great then I try to change the source before the gear... Vocals are always something to research what the best pieces are