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Alex Venguer: Creating Balanced, Organic Mixes

61 min • 18 september 2024

Alex Venguer is an engineer who is comfortable with recording and mixing as small or large a project as can come and who has had great experience working with the top names in styles as varied as jazz, rock, folk, classical, pop, hip hop, broadway, R&B, electronic, film scores and many others.

Some examples of the artists he's worked with include: Sting, John Legend, Maria Schneider, Marcus Miller, Aretha Frankiln, Wynton Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, Renee Fleming, Juan Luis Guerra, Herbie Hancock, Lady Gaga, Woody Allen, Philip Glass, Christian McBride, Cassandra Wilson, Sufjan Stevens, Regina Spektor, Train, Punch Brothers, My Brightest Diamond, Loudon, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, John Patitucci, Hildur Guonadottir, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Mark Ronson, Carter Burwell and many others.

In 2009 he was awarded a Grammy for recording and mixing Loudon Wainwright III's record "High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Pool Project" ("Best Traditional Folk"), then, in 2010 he won his second Grammy for John Legend & The Roots album "Wake Up" ("Best R&B") and in 2018 he won his first Latin Grammy for Pedro Giraudo’s “Vigor Tanguero” (Best Tango Album) which he produced, recorded and mixed. Two years later, in 2020 he won his second Latin Grammy for Gustavo Casenave’s album “Fuelle y Cuerda” (Best Tango Album) and his third Grammy for his work on the score for the film “Joker” (Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media). He’s also been involved in various other Grammy winning and nominated albums such as “Barbie” with Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt, Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa, Maria Schneider's "Sky Blue", John Legend's "Evolver" and the song "Shine," Punch Brother's "The Phosphorescent Blues" as well as the cast albums for the Broadway productions of "Shrek" and "9 to 5" and Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble “Sing Me Home” which he helped produce and record.

Besides working on records and Broadway cast albums, he’s also been very involved in various movies and tv shows such as “Joker,” “Barbie”, “A Dog’s Purpose,” “Mother,” “The Revenant,” “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” “Fosse/Verdon,” “Little Voice" and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”

IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:

Studying the techniques of other productions
The role of a producer vs engineer in the modern-day
Making organic-sounding mixes
Not overdoing your processing
Hearing small mix details in an untreated toom
How to optimize your home studio on a budget
Focusing on frequency balance, rather than on the instruments
Getting the groove of a song right in a mix
Setting up ambiance to make your audience feel like they’re in a specific environment with the artist
Determining what effects to use
Should you use pre-delay on reverb?
How to approach room micing for size and frequency balance

To learn more about Alex Venguer, visit: https://alexvenguer.com/

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