“It’s different if I’m working with Pharrell because he rarely gets attached to the rough. It does help that I’m used to the way certain engineers - like Evan LaRay with Cardi B, and Mike Larson with Pharrell Williams - organise their sessions. Or if there’s a DVerb, I may replace that with a similar sound from my favourite vocal reverb, Altiverb, but one that’s a little richer and fuller to my ears. If I decide to use a different de-esser than the one in the session, I’ll make sure it sounds similar. “For instance, if I open up a Cardi B session and she has four lead vocals bussed to one aux track, and that aux track is bussed to something else, I’ll just follow the flow of what they’ve done and see if it makes sense to me. I’ll work within how they’ve organised sessions, only occasionally altering elements slightly to fit what I am used to. I don’t adapt the session to my own template, or start the mix from scratch. I also don’t typically spend a lot of time trying to retrofit a session I have received to how I like things. I will often stick to the existing plug-ins, even where I’d tend to use something different, because in this genre, mixing is more about making it work and getting the vibe right than about getting things to sound perfect.
They don’t like things to sound too different from what they had. “With Cardi B, Beyoncé or Ariana Grande, I will work from where they left off. Especially in my world - the hip-hop, R&B and pop world, where I work with artists like Cardi B and Beyoncé - this is really important. Someone who has been listening to a rough for a long time is not going to want something radically different. “If they’ve been listening to it for a long time, I’ll put it on a track in the session, so I can really scrutinise it and lock into what they love about this rough. “Whenever someone sends me a session, the first thing I want to know is: Has the client been listening to the rough?” explained Braithwaite. What’s important? Giving the artist what they want, which can usually be found in the rough mix.
While many top end mixers have a pre-workout routine that can include a lot of prep work like conforming a session to a preferred template, replacing existing plug-ins with preferred options or stripping them out to the bare track, Leslie Braithwaite reckons it’s all non-essential for getting the mix right and working fast.
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