By James Sanger @ VibeyStudios Singers, or more specifically the original performer or singer/songwriter of the song, ‘hear’ the song differently from everyone else… They 'perceive' their vocal in the song to be, in my estimation, 12db louder than it really is. So, by definition singers are the least qualified to mix their own songs!… because they make the vocal too quiet!.. They turn it down because they are already filling in 12db of it already in their own brain, they can hear the lyrics , cos their brain knows them and is magically filling them in… When I’m developing, producing, or recording a vocal, I have a secret technique, (formerly secret because I’m sharing it with you now, lucky you..!) My secret technique is that I tell the singer to ‘sing the song as if they are just teaching the song to the audience’ I advice them to emphasize the lyrics and the melody… really teach it to the audience when singing! … Or I ask them to pronounce and enunciate the vocal like they are singing the lyrics and melody to their ‘hard of hearing old granny’ who wants to know the melody and lyrics… Then when I’ve recorded the vocal, just how I want it, I get the singer to go and watch funny cat videos on the Internet while I really work on it, EQ-ing, compressing, compressing at different stages, different attack speeds etc, sometimes 6 compressors in total at different stages, adjusting the tuning and timing with Melodyne, etc and then I turn it up!… loud….really really *ucking loud!! I also NEVER tell singers to ‘get into it’ or ‘feel the vibe, man’ etc… that is the single worst advice ever to give a singer! FFS (I colour vocals yellow for a reason you know!!! pm me for details!!) If you want a steaming pile of dog do ask a singer to just feel the vibe’! Ok …here’s the most important point… look, - If you have taken the time to write the lyrics make sure the audience can hear them! … writing lyrics is all part of the spell yo are casting…the meaning is the most important thing.

Working with Brian Eno was fantastic, but I very nearly didn't get the chance because of an awful experience-- I suppose this is the time I'll have to lay it all out there--> I almost seriously F'd it up!!! And in the end I snatched victory from the very jaws of defeat to get that gig… This is what happened… You see, years ago in about 1998 I was already working as a programmer for Bryan Ferry after he heard my single ‘Spikey Message’ on BBC Radio One. He said he liked my weird vibey programming, and he asked his management to track me down and invite me to his studio… It was the same single that received viral interest with my Alien Stunt (but that’s another story for another day!) While I was there, Brain Eno was invited to come and do a session, and that’s how we met. In fact, when Brian Eno came to the studio he had with him a Yamaha DX7 keyboard replete with the sought after Grey Matter ‘E’ expansion card… I must admit I was quite starstruck, Brian Eno was my idol after all, an ambient music guru and all-round cool ethical person… He arrived, and I plugged the DX7 into my midi interface, as I did with every other keyboard… but to our mutual horror the keyboard just went completely absolutely nuts!!!! All the keys seemed to be playing weird crazy notes at completely odd pitches, and the user programmable sound patches (all of his presets) bank 7 and 8 were gone! Brian was… understandably more than a little concerned! Of course, I was totally crestfallen… I had somehow broken his favourite DX7!! I was terrified that from now on I’d be known as the professional idiot who destroyed Brian Eno’s celebrated DX7 and lost all of his sounds!! I was absolutely beside myself. I just wanted to dig a little hole, pull leaves and a bush over myself and tell people to ‘go away I’m hiding!’ Bryan Ferry made me feel even worse by saying in a whispered voice… “Erm James this is really bad…embarrassing… you’ve let the studio down…” …and my hero Brian Eno was well, quite rightly a bit p*ssed off! He kept pressing - hitting, really - the keys of the DX7 saying“Oh My God, all my sounds… 20 years of work gone! I can’t believe it!”

If I had my way a mixing desk would only have three switches! -0 db Hard -3 db Soft -6 db Limp Any other levels are for knob-nibblers! And we’ve all seen them… arms stretched out, a vacant stare, a frown from ear-to-ear, concentrating on… well, nothing really! In an act of pseudo-religious supplication, they prostrate themselves in reverence to their ‘Great Desk God’. Perhaps imploring, in silent prayer, muttering mantras under their breath “Please Great God of the Infinite Levels, make my mix not suck arse!” And that's why I don't have a mixing desk! A lesson I learnt from working with Brian Eno. I’ve mixed many records… and never once used a mixing desk! But… (And this is the big ‘but’!) ...the big wobbly 'butt' of an omni-potent, omni-important, omni-science … a big juicy Bagpuss ‘butt’… I balance my vibey mixes with compression… not levels! Hey! Quelle horreur! пиздец! PizDetz! <— Yes, I hear all of you knob-chucklers, knob-sniffers, and knob-nibblers nibbling at my heels... “but James that’s cheating… that IS ’level'… NO IT’S NOT! ‘Cause when you use compression you subtly change the attack, sustain, decay and release of the sound itself! You change the most important thing of all! —> the sound's unique ‘character’. The sound’s A.D.S.R for all of us synthy nerd types… and herein lies the real magic… Compression is at its core ‘distortion’, and the perceived ‘raaaarrrrr!!!!’ In the audience's ears. And if that doesn’t do it… gate the fucker! Never be afraid to only use a gate to get the first 20ms of a sound… (it’s the only bit people hear anyway FFS!). Learn about the ‘audio recognition centre in the human brain’, the neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks understood this! If you want to use music to manipulate the mind, consciousness etc then make it your job to get a bit of psychology in ya. There are real psychoacoustic scientific reasons why this works…but most bedroom producers and DJ wannabees don’t have the curiosity to research the Dark Arts, or use music mind control, or propaganda and magic. They’re not the agents of positive change in the great fight against the dark side… but I digress.

I’m very grateful that I’ve never had any doubt about what I wanted to do in my life, and I’m also grateful that I started out very much in the same direction that I find myself on today. My true purpose in life has been to develop artists, and to help artists unlock their creative potential. I’ve never wanted to be the kind of person who dances around on the stage, or sings in front of a massive audience (although I have done these things, it’s never been my true calling). When I was 18, I had a small bed sit. I offered my services to people, helping make music using a computer, a sequencer, a sampler, and a little mono synth (my trusty Yamaha CS-10). As I look around my big studio today, with all these rooms attached together - all these synthesizes and recording equipment at my disposal - I can see that, even though the location and equipment has changed, my actual main purpose hasn’t. I'm still working with artist's doing very much the same thing that I did when I was 18 years old. I help artists find themselves because, like I said at the beginning of this post, I’ve been grateful of the gift of never doubting what my purpose in life is. My purpose is to help people find their sonic fingerprint and artistic identity. Really it’s about doing what you love... because if you do what you love, people will love what you do. So, it's my pleasure to welcome you to this community of artists all looking to build a life around a love of creation. I would like to encourage you now to introduce yourselves to me and each other, show pictures your workspace, share stories and give advice. Vibey vibes, James