Dave Cowshed

Very often the most prominent memory we have of an important time in our lives is the music we were playing at the time.

Music invokes memories and memories invoke music. Each and every part of a mix should be in service of this interdependence. After good writing and finding the right arrangement, nothing has a greater impact on this than achieving the right balance.

This balance is an evolving thing that ensures the right emotional focus in every moment. It's a journey. To go on it we have to step back and experience all the parts as one, not just as a collection of sounds.

Very often the most prominent memory we have of an important time in our lives is the music we were playing at the time.

Mixing

The best mix is the different mix, the best ref is your imagination.

Not the version that sounds like the last ten records you loved, but the version only this one could be. References are useful until they become a ceiling.

THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY.

MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T

NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S

FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET

CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A CHEAP COPY. THIS ISN'T MANUFACTURING, THERE'S NO MARKET FOR A

Finishing

Artists rarely run out of ideas, only the steam to finish.

It's not a talent problem, it's a distance problem. Sometimes you just need someone standing further back.

Consoles

Neve 5315

Neve 5432

Monitoring

PSI A21-M

IK Multimedia iLoud MTM

Yamaha NS-10M

Auratone 5C Active

Audeze MM-100

Conversion & Correction

Merging Technologies HAPI

SSL Alpha 8

Trinnov D-MON 6

Compression

PYE 4060

Neve 2264

Decca Compressor

TK Audio BC1-S

Mic Pres & Equalisers

Neve 1064

Tube-Tech HLT 2AM

Focusrite ISA110

Character & Space

AnaMod ATS-1

Quantec QRS

DAWs

Pro Tools Studio

Ableton Live

Logic Pro

Plugins

400+ plugins

Tone Projects

Leapwing Audio

TDR

Workstation

Mac Studio (M4 Max)

Synology DiskStation

APC UPS

IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE

MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S

ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE

THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART

SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN SCIENCE IT'S MORE ART THAN

“He doesn’t just make things sound ‘better’, he listens to what the record is trying to be and finds ways to bring that out.”

— Samantha Togni

The best mix is the different mix, the best ref is your imagination.

Loudness isn't the goal. It just needs to sound good.

Artists rarely run out of ideas, only the steam to finish.

Sound wants to be voltages more than it wants to noughts and ones. It has a pulse. Run it through a desk and the stems start talking to each other — crosstalk, saturation, noise. It's the imperfections that matter. The circuits sing with your song, never quite the same way twice.

It takes the time it takes. How we get there doesn't matter — only how the result makes you feel.