London, UK (August 4, 2014)—Michalis “MsM” Michael mixes almost entirely in the box, using Metric Halo plug-ins on projects with J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, Diddy and Tom Prior.
The UK-based mix engineer’s work has frequently necessitated travel, which has motivated him to shift his workflow away from a reliance on hardware processing. Michael’s recent work on Tom Prior’s Bad Advice EP, which was produced in part by former Arctic Monkeys bassist Andy Nicholson and will be released later this summer, exemplifies the new workflow.
“There’s a lot to be said about [Metric Halo’s] ChannelStrip, and that’s why it’s been a go-to for over a decade,” he said. “I expected great things—and I wasn’t disappointed, but I was surprised by how great the gate works. I’ve struggled to find a gate that works well on poorly recorded drums, which I have to deal with from time to time. ChannelStrip’s gate works faster than anything I’ve tried before with no compromise in sound quality.”
Michael’s other Metric Halo plug-in favorites are Character, Precision DeEsser, and TransientControl. “Character is great,” he said. “I just throw it on a dull source and drive it—simple. There are plenty of ‘characters’ to choose from and it works without affecting the gain, which is always a mind game. The Precision DeEsser lets me de-ess precisely—how ironic! It’s my go-to. I’ve tried lots of de-essers; some are simple and fast, but affect the sound too much. Others sound good but take too much time to set up properly. Precision DeEsser strikes the right balance.
“TransientControl helped me out on Tom Prior’s EP. There were a few synth bass lines that were a bit too ‘stabby.’ I needed more sustain without losing the impression that they were supposed to be ‘stabby.’ TransientControl worked perfectly.”
Metric Halo
www.mhlabs.com
