A Final Guiding Hand: A Practice-Based Study into the Evolving Role of Third Party Mixers

• Main Author: Brendan Anthony
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: International Association for the Study of Popular Music 2017-12-01
• Series: IASPM Journal
• Subjects: popular music record production; mixing
• Online Access: https://iaspmjournal.net/index.php/IASPM_Journal/article/download/817/pdf

As a mixing professional, I have noticed that the role of the third-party mixer is evolving. There is often the opportunity for the mixer to have a strong influence on the song’s production. The recent delocalization of the recording studio has made professional production increasingly available to all popular musicians, and the mixer’s tacit knowledge of production is valuable to artist-produced material. This project explores within a practice–based study the influence on production a mixing professional can have on a recording by an artist. The song was produced by the artist and then mixed by myself; the mixes presented here should be considered as the research in action and are intended as an aural representation of my impact on the song’s production. The artist participated in an interview to help illuminate many perceptions of the adapted mixing process and its related artistic outcomes.