MIXING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC
À replaced . For some music , the remote recording À
À process just doesn ’ t work – for example , a bluegrass À
À band that I had to record recently . There is still lots À
À of music out there that benefits from musicians get-À
À ting into the same room and having that magic mo-À
À ment where everything just fits and that can ’ t be À
À done without the presence of everyone in the same À Àroom .
À working on this program to stream live sound in high À
À quality and record everything . I thought it was pretty À
À cool but didn ’ t think much of it until the pandemic À
À hit , and then I was like , ‘ Whoa , maybe I should ’ ve been À
À looking more into that technology !” So , I think once you À
À stay one step ahead of the game , whether it ’ s technol-À
À ogy or creativity or in business , you ’ ll still stumble but À À you ’ ll always be able to catch your balance quickly .
PS : What ’ s the biggest lesson ( s ) you ’ ve learned through this experience , whether it ’ s on the business or creative end , that you think will carry over into the post-COVID world when things are eventually “ back to normal ”?
ÀVAN GO : You can always count on things to change . À ÀNothing ever stays the same , and you just have to À Àaccept that life throws you unexpected curveballs À Àsometimes and not let it get you too down .
ÀDUFOUR : I think the biggest thing I learned through À Àall this is the importance of being able to deliver a top-À Ànotch product with whatever you have , wherever you À Àare ! Yeah , it ’ s nice being in a proper studio with great À Àacoustics and very accurate monitoring , but the reality À
À of this pandemic has shown that you have to adjust À
À and be able to work mobile , too , and still get the same À À sonic results .
À My brain started thinking about this a couple years À
À ago . I was en route to Europe for a vacation with my À
À partner but I was still finishing up some mixes for The À
À Trews ’ last album . I brought a small portable mix rig À
À with me and finished mixing the album while on À
À trains to our next destination and in hotel rooms ! It À
À was nominated for Rock Album of the Year at the À
À
2019 Junos and had multiple radio-charting singles À À on it !
ÀFALCH-NIELSEN : I think the sanitization that is À Àhappening now with equipment and common À Àspaces is probably something that will continue À Àbeyond COVID . It ’ s something that wasn ’ t thought À Àabout as much before but is also just good practice À
À with many people using the same microphone and À
À things like that . Not to say we didn ’ t clean the equip-À
À ment before , but it has become a regular practice À À now after each use and I think that is a good thing .
À
ÀMOORE : I think the biggest lesson is to always try À À to be one step ahead of whatever you ’ re on . Before À À this happened , I never would ’ ve thought about actu-À À ally streaming audio and working remotely on a live À À session . I think it was Crew Studios in Vancouver that À told me about an event they had where they were À
ÀWORSLEY : The biggest thing I ’ ve noticed and learned À Àfrom this is the importance of running a lean recording À Àbusiness with as little overhead as possible . If you stretch À Àyourself too thin and you run into a situation like this , À Àthere ’ s a lot of studios that just can ’ t handle the strain À
À financially , and so they can ’ t make it work .
ÀZIMMERMANN : I definitely learned that the music À Àindustry is known to change through tough times À Àand the recording process will have to change with it . À ÀBeing able to work through this tough time has been À Àa real blessing and the ability to go with the flow is À
À something that will carry over once things are “ back À À to normal .”
PS : How do you feel about the foreseeable future for the recording studio business ? What impact do you think it will feel in the short and long terms ?
ÀDUFOUR : I feel this pandemic has really changed À Àthings moving forward . Creative ways of working , the À Àway we interact with each other , protocols at studios , À Àetc . It has definitely changed my outlook on the À Àway I work . I am currently setting up a more perma-À
À nent mix studio at our new house and will continue À
À to always have a great space to work out of at home , À
À even when I start working out of a commercial studio À
À again full-time . Sure , I love working out of a com-À
À mercial space , interacting with other creatives and hav-À
À ing clients by for some listens and a hang , but the
À reality of it is something like this could happen
À again and I want to make sure I ’ m more prepared to À À hunker down for the long haul if need be .
42 PROFESSIONAL SOUND