"The Five-Pass Mixdown"

By Jack Littleton (as originally taught by Ben Jordan)

This mixdown technique was taught by Ben Jordan (250 gold records and co-holder of patents on stereophonic sound) for Sherwood Oaks Experimental College (record engineering college) in Hollywood in 1982. The class took place at Original Sound on Sunset, a studio that did a lot of overflow work for nearby A&M Records, and it gives a Carpenters-style radio-ready pop mix that can be achieved quickly. The concept was to mix down a tune during five passes (playbacks) of the multitrack master. To keep it authentic I’m using the original terminology from my class notes. Here's how it went:

1) First Pass:
-Do patching of any outboard gear to be used while dividing the song into
several sections in your mind (ie. learn the song):
Lead Vocal Primary
Bkg Vocals Secondary
Instrumental soloists.
Rhythm, etc.

2) Second Pass:
- Get O level on lead vocal only (or slightly less)
- Bring in backing vocals in proportion
- Solo kick drum - tighten with kepex, add eq
- Solo bass - kepex it or eq
- Sub-mix and blend kick and bass, first together, then with vocals (Not too
loud)

3) Third Pass:
- Bring in other instruments to a balance. (again, not too loud)
- Add remaining drums ( fairly low)

4) Fourth Pass:
(While rewinding, do the number system balance (ie. pan the tracks to the
five positions; we have been in MONO to this point)
- Try sweeteners, such as echo and adjust any sub-mixes in the overall mix.

5) Fifth Pass:
- Rehearse dynamics changes, or simply roll the two track and go for a
master.

 
( originally posted on the rec.audio.pro newsgroup)

Addendum: I should also say that I was looking for some information on Ben Jordan (but all his work was pre-internet) when I found my old article on an audio forum, uncredited. The poster had found it in his notes, but couldn't remember where it was from. The group had made some comments about the methodology, just as rec.audio.pro had done years earlier. In fact, the technique sounds "formulaic" until you think of the era and the fact that ONLY professional studios existed at that time. An engineer might well have to mix a project that he had never heard and do it quickly. Studio time was expensive. There were no home studios where amateurs could play around with a mix for days on end. This methodology was designed to produce records that would sound great on the radio.

Original Sound was a very dry room (popular in that period) with a Quad Eight console and the old Altec Big Reds (dual 15s with a coax hf driver). The sound was phenomenal. The other teaching engineer was Doc Siegel. The studio was owned at that time (if my memory is correct and I think it is) by the guy that created the Kepex (can't think of his name), and his company was called Allison Research. I may not have this perfectly accurate, but there was a direct affiliation with Allison and Original Sound. I think it's safe to assume that the amazing kick/bass sounds of The Carpenters were created in this manner and using this gear. Original Sound also had a radio transmitter so that mixes could be listened to in your car, just as did A&M Recording Studio across the street. 

Someone said that it might not seem like a "creative" way to mix. Different era. Unless you were a major artist, you were quite lucky to get a Ben Jordan to mix your tracks. It creates a proper musical balance for a pop/rock record.

Contents copyright 2006-2009 by Jack Littleton. All rights reserved. Original Logos by Kurt Kurasaki (peff.com)