Los Angeles, CA (June 24, 2022)—Mick Guzauski, the multi-Grammy-winning engineer and mixer known for his work with the likes of Daft Punk, Barbara Streisand and Mariah Carey, recently integrated a Solid State Logic UC1 plug-in controller into his hybrid home setup.
While Guzauski still has heaps of vintage outboard gear in storage, these days most of his work is strictly in the DAW. “I am pretty much all in the box now,” he says. “I use the SSL UC1 because I love the knob per function control. The plug-ins are really great and recall ability is so important on a mix right now.”
Guzauski says this is partly because clients are no longer always present during mix sessions. “So once I send the first pass of a mix to the client, I might be working on a couple other projects before I even hear back.”
Most recently, Guzauski has been working on projects from top ten American Idol finalist and America’s Got Talent contestant Olivia Rox, DJ Cassidy’s Pass The Mic television program, and several other projects. He says that most of his mixing takes place in the comfort of his home, where he is able to work at his own pace. “I’m still working, just not hustling as much for gigs these days,” he says.
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His core set up is centered on Pro Tools running on a MacBook Pro M1 Max, which he uses in conjunction with his SSL UC1. “I saw the UC1 and thought this would be great as a ‘knob per function’ for a channel strip,” Guzauski explains. “So I tried it out and it works very well.”
He says that he routinely has the SSL Channel Strip 2 software set up on several channels. “I go to the Channel Strip first to see if I can use this to shape my sound, and it usually works very well. If I ever need to get more surgical, I can always use the SSL X-EQ 2 or another EQ.”
Over the year,s Guzauski has mixed a range of projects — Mariah Carey, Luther Vandross, BoyzIIMen, Toni Braxton — on SSL consoles. “I worked on SSLs a lot in the late ’80s and early ’90s — mostly 4000G and G+ Series consoles — and also worked on the 9000K Series at Hit Factory in New York City and Conway in Los Angeles,” he says. “Working on the UC1 controller reminds me of working on these consoles. It is so familiar and nice to have something that is laid out intelligently with a one knob per function set up.”
