Finn McKenty, Author at Unstoppable Recording Machine

Andrew Wade’s legendary DREAM GATE for drums!

The PERFECT gate?! It just might be…

Drums are every mixer’s worst enemy and best friend – they’re the foundation of the mix, but can also be incredibly difficult to work with because it’s really like mixing a dozen or more instruments in one, with each piece of the kit and each mic presenting its own challenges.

The key is to have total and absolute control over every single note of your drum tracks to bring out the best of a great performance, or address problem parts of a performance that isn’t so great.

Here’s how our friend Andrew Wade does it in this gamechanging clip from his recent Nail The Mix session where he walks you through his “dream gate:”

Mixing metal drums: Andrew Wade’s legendary “DREAM GATE”!

Learn Andrew Wade’s trademark process for drum editing that will turn almost any drum track into the raw materials for a great drum mix! This method is done in Pro Tools using a combination of Beat Detective, AudioSuite to normalize each hit, and editing the velocities to be consistent, using the multi-track session for “Three 6” by Attila.

Boom! There you go – Andrew’s top secret, ridiculously powerful process for turning almost any set of drum tracks into the raw materials for a great mix. You’re welcome 🙂

If you’re dying for more of Andrew’s knowledge bombs, you’re in luck! You can get instant access to these multi-tracks AND the full, 6+ hour living mixing session right here.

Nail The Mix is our online mixing school that gives you REAL multi-tracks from REAL bands, plus a mixing class from the producer who recorded it. Past guests include Periphery, Gojira, Meshuggah, Machine Head, A Day To Remember and Bring Me The Horizon. Join now for instant access!

KEVIN MCCOMBS: From Aerospace to Audio, Building a DIY Studio, and How to Get Clients

Kevin McCombs runs Midnight Oil Recording out of Jacksonville, Florida. A true DIYer, he built his entire studio from the ground up in a decrepit industrial warehouse, transforming it into a pro facility while working a demanding full-time job in aerospace. He’s the guitarist in the Florida death metal band Criter, and for their latest record, he made the strategic decision to handle all the tracking himself before sending the tracks to Jacob Hansen for a world-class mix.

In This Episode

This one’s for all the grinders out there. Kevin McCombs shares his journey from working 70-hour weeks in aerospace to going full-time with his studio, Midnight Oil Recording. He gets real about the psychological challenge of dealing with an inconsistent schedule and the strategies he uses to land clients, which involve a smart mix of online outreach and old-school relationship building (aka buying dudes beers at shows). Kevin breaks down why the future of production often means taking on smaller, specialized gigs like drum tracking and helping artists record themselves. He also discusses his methodical approach to learning from Nail The Mix to break bad habits and how the URM Summit gave him the confidence and strategy to approach top-tier mixers for his own band. It’s a super practical look at the mindset and hustle required to build a career from nothing.

Products Mentioned

Timestamps

[00:59] Building a studio from scratch in an industrial warehouse
[03:33] Quitting his demanding aerospace job to pursue audio
[06:07] A client outreach strategy that actually works
[08:40] Why you need the “whole package” to land projects
[11:17] The mental challenge of dealing with an inconsistent schedule
[13:37] The importance of having 3-6 months of backup funds
[17:14] Why smaller gigs like drum tracking are the future of production
[19:08] Lending artists gear and helping them track themselves
[21:04] His decision to outsource his own band’s mix to Jacob Hansen
[22:41] How the URM Summit helped him approach A-list mixers
[23:42] The #1 mistake people make when emailing busy professionals
[29:34] From bootcamp hopeful to URM Summit success story
[31:00] Applying Andrew Wade’s 5150 technique for better guitar tones
[32:01] How to avoid “endless tweaking” and commit to sounds
[36:50] His methodical approach to studying Nail The Mix sessions
[41:38] Being at the forefront of improving his local metal scene
[44:10] The importance of keeping your overhead low and avoiding debt
[48:21] Using a live sound console as a strategic business tool

SHOW, don’t tell! [ The Career Builder Show ]

Want to earn the respect of the industry? Here’s how…

A lot of people in this business talk a big game… but we’ve got a little secret to tell you about that: NOBODY CARES!!!

If you want to make a good impression, show the world how badass you are with your drive, work ethic and most importantly, the results you get! Save the talk for later.

SHOW, don’t tell! [ The Career Builder Show ]

A lot of people in this industry talk a big game… but we’ve got a little secret to tell you about that: NOBODY CARES!!! If you want to make a good impression, show the world how badass you are with your drive, work ethic and most importantly, the results you get!

Be the person who’s know for ACTION, not talking… success in this business is EARNED, not given. Don’t tell people how great you are, prove it through your actions!

Massive Radio Rock Leads! w/ Bullet For My Valentine + Carl Bown

So simple, yet so NOT simple!

Carl Bown is known for being an incredibly meticulous engineer who goes to whatever lengths it takes to get it right at the source- spending days and days getting the tone during tracking rather than shrugging and deciding to fix it in the mix.

But his maniacal attention to detail doesn’t stop there… even with tracks as ridiculously clean as these (if you’ve dropped this session in your DAW you know what I’m talking about), there’s always room for improvement – there’s always a way to squeeze that extra 1% out.

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Watch Carl Bown mix the lead guitars for “Over It” by Bullet For My Valentine. He takes a very deliberate, meticulous approach to mixing these lead guitars in Pro Tools, starting with some notch EQ and Waves F6 Dynamic EQ.

Here’s just a small clip of the massive, 10-hour NTM session where Carl dials in the fine details of the lead guitars for “Over It” by Bullet For My Valentine… THIS is what it takes to get the kind of hyper-polished mixes you know Carl’s studio for!

Why you must be RUTHLESS with your time [ The Career Builder Show ]

This happens to almost every young producer– don’t let it happen to YOU!

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by all the things on your to-do list? Are you rushing from one thing to the next, just barely getting them done on time and sometimes even making careless mistakes because you just can’t track it all??

If you said OMG YES IT ME!!!!, don’t worry – you are NOT alone! One of the mistakes almost all producers make is taking on too much, getting overbooked, spreading themselves too thin, and getting in over their heads.

But don’t worry – we’ve got your back Eyal has some some words of wisdom on how to fix the situation (or better yet, keep it from happening in the first place)…

Why you must be RUTHLESS with your time [ The Career Builder Show ]

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by all the things on your to-do list? Are you rushing from one thing to the next, just barely getting them done on time and sometimes even making careless mistakes because you just can’t track it all??

This is definitely a good problem to have, but make no mistake– it WILL be a problem unless you keep it from being one. So keep building your client roster, keep taking on more projects, but remember what we said 🙂