Howard Redekopp (Tegan & Sara, Nathan, The Zolas)

Howard Redekopp played bass in the 90s with Canadian indie band Veal but began making his real mark as a producer, engineer, and mixer. Best known for his production and mix work with Tegan and Sara, Mother Mother, and The New Pornographers, Howard also shaped the sound of artists such as Now, Now, An Horse, The Zolas, and many others. He has been at the helm of Grammy-nominated records (Tegan and Sara, Margaret Cho, La Gusana Ciega) as well as Juno award winners (Nathan).

How do you stay fresh and excited about mixing music and do you miss the days of working predominantly out of big studios as opposed to your own studio space?

I pay special attention to what my clients are currently listening to, what they are excited about, and what is inspiring them. This is mostly to be sure I get “where they are at” musically but very often this will introduce me to music I was unaware of, or hadn’t yet taken the time to listen to and it helps keep me fresh.

Having done that, I always ask myself what I hear in the project I’m working on that is unique and I try to bring that into focus as much as I can because that is where the true spark and the excitement always lives. I am lucky enough to get work on this one-of-a-kind thing and it’s my utmost duty to make it sound as distinct from anything else out there as I possibly can.

No matter how many tricks I pull out of the bag. the most rewarding and exciting thing in this line of work is to discover and celebrate what is unique.

Tell us about your current studio setup.

My mix studio is Pro Tools with Lavry Blue as principal I/O converters and clocking. Over the last few years, I’ve transitioned more and more to "in the box” as the sound of the technology has become better and on par with what I used to only be able to do with analog gear.

Not willing to trade sound for convenience, I am really grateful that I can finally have both in the digital realm. But my mixes are still a hybrid: the stereo mix output from Pro Tools goes Lavry D/A - Soundcraft (1624 console from the ’70s) with Focusrite Red 3 followed by my Crane Song Ibis (inserted on the console master pre-fader), and then the Sonic Farm Creamer* follows the post-fader output of the desk before it re-enters the print track in Pro Tools via Lavry Blue A/D.

A fairly painstaking and exacting test of mixes with and without the console proved that my bias was not just emotional - it really does sound WAY better having the stereo mix come up through the console than it does straight out of the Lavry and into the other gear in the analog chain.

I have hardware inserts set up also to use analog pieces like an old AKG BX 10 spring reverb, Eventide H3500 harmonizer, a Stocktronics plate reverb, and a re-amp circuit to put stompbox pedals or Echoplex on whatever.

The folks at Izotope have been really great to me and they have really made some sonic miracles come true! All the Isotope plug ins and audio repair pieces are great. I also rely heavily on UAD for processing, but not exclusively.

As for room treatments, I custom-made some ceiling absorption/anti-reflection panels that I put above the console, and I have a rug, and … it sounds right. I got lucky.

Monitors are Dynaudio BM6A’s and Yamaha NS10’s with a sub, and I have an old ghetto blaster with a line in and some crappy old mac speakers (the clear balls with silver drivers - horrible!) for some crap lowest common denominator listen options.

*Sonic Farm creamer or cream liner are game-changing pieces of gear. High-end stereo tube channel that can run triode or pentode, with or without transformers (custom select if you want iron or nickel when you order). Worth every penny!

How do you typically approach a mix: what's your process for setting it up? How often are you making big editing decisions in your mixing? And how long does a mix typically take you these days?

These two questions could be answered differently on any given day! I try to not repeat myself process-wise. There is a general set up for me: I have preset busses and aux channels set up in a session template but these are NOT populated with an actual plug-in effect or I know I’ll use the same pieces all the time and that stifles creativity.

These busses and auxes are just ready and available in the session and labeled generically along the lines of Voc ambiance, Voc echo, and so on. It just speeds up the creation of a buss and an aux when I’m ready to throw some spatial or additive effect on a track.

This is one thing that Logic users don’t need to do!

I’ll order the tracks starting with the drums at the top following on down vertically to percussion, bass, guitars, keys, other instruments, lead vocals, then all the BG vocals.

Then the very first thing to do is hit play and balance all the faders until it sounds like a song. If there are obvious things fighting each other for space in the mix, I’ll try to fix those ASAP with panning, compression, EQ, and special treatments.

Then I’m trying to drill down to the essence of the song and make everything serve that in whatever order makes sense. Often the rhythm section needs to be totally awesome first and then use that foundation for everything else, and other times the vocal and principal instrument needs to sound just right first and then have everything else support that.

Other times I might have a creative idea that will make a big statement and influence everything else and I’ll do that really early before I even start “fixing” things in the mix that need help.

I generally “mix into” my red 3, but leave the stereo EQ and the creamer off until I’ve worked as hard as I can to make the mix great, and then at that point, I’ll make some EQ moves on the stereo mix and run it through the creamer — deciding how hard I push the tubes or the transformers on a case by case basis.

I have been using a master fader in Pro Tools for convenience (something I used to avoid because it did not sound good). This helps me trim my D/A output quickly as well as allow for some stereo mix plug-in work when needed - this almost always involves the UAD ATR102.

I am not often making big edit decisions in the mixing because I’m often mixing my own productions and already have that done. But it does still happen.

Tell us a little about how the mixing work comes to you these days and do you have suggestions for young mixers looking to get the word out about what they can do?

I am managed by Next Wave Management in LA. Sometimes work comes my way via management, but often it's artists who have sought me out because they like the sound of my work. My suggestion is to follow the law of attraction rather than promotion, it always brings more rewarding relationships and fosters greater creativity.

But I get it, you can’t do that (attract good work) if no one has heard your work - so get your work heard!

How?

Consistently create recordings and mixes that are unique and exciting to listen to, and align yourself with artists and producers who are more interested in working with you because you want to make something fresh, rather than something most likely to succeed. Don’t play safe and don’t follow any trends. Find out what you have to offer that is distinctive and work hard to make it exceptional.

What advice would you give independent mixers and producers looking to get better at their craft?

Stop using the solo function. Learn to fix things that need fixing and craft things that need crafting 100% within the context of the mix. This will train your ears and develop your skills better than everything else. It will make you faster and more confident and give you more time to be creative with your mix, spending less time in “fix it” mode.