Charles Dye mix tips DVD and Logic Pro?

Question

Has anyone bought Charles Dye's, "Mix it like a Record" DVD? If so, do you think it is stuff that can work in Logic Pro or is it geared to be pushing you to buy Pro Tools and etc.? From the trailer it looks like it teaches some mixing and plugin principles, but I would like to check with my Logic friends to see what they think. How about it guys/gals? Anyone bought it?

Answer 1

Ok, a nice topic which I have some opinions on, so bear with me, and I'll share them...
Firstly, you should read Charles Dye's "Hard Disk Life" articles on his website. I found them really interesting when I first came across them, and it definitely gave me some techniques and things to try out, and things to think about.
MILAR is basically his HDL articles put into practice on a real mix. Much of the info you get in MILAR is already distilled in those HDL articles. It really has two parts - discussions about mixing, the process, the artistic goals and so on. Good valuable stuff to talk about in a general way.
Then the other part is looking at one of his already finished mixes, and breaking it down into drums/bass/guitars/vox/etc and automation. He shows you the dry tracks, then adds in the plugins and demonstrates what he's doing with each plugin on each of the main parts, then goes through his automation techniques and so on.
Personally, when I finally got a chance to see MILAR, although I really enjoyed it (and I respect CD immensely), I was a little bit dissapointed it didn't cover more stuff than his HDL articles already did.
Also, the space limitations on the DVD prevent him from doing the actual mix - the mix is already done, and he just goes through what he did. I'd have been more interested to follow the process while he was doing the mix, his thought processes and decisions, rather than just the results of them - how practical that would be, I don't know.
Having said all that though, CD is a good speaker and teacher, he's passionate and skilled. He is really giving you general advice, and then showing some of the ways in which he approaches mixing, which may not work for everybody, but everyone will take different things and adapt them for their own use.
He definitely has his own mixing style, which may or may not be very different to other people. For example, he tends to mix completely in the box, whereas I am far more happy with some faders underneath my hands, so I can balance things by feel. Different people are comfortable with different processes, whichever is the most natural.
As for the PT/Logic route - if you want to use the sessions and recreate them exactly, then you'll need PT and the plugins (and he uses *a lot* of different expensive plugins). However, doing this misses the point a little - it's not really about copying his plugin settings or using the same plugins - that alone isn't going to make you mix better.
By all means use the material to experiment on, which is really what I think it's meant for, but you won't really learn a lot by blind copying of settings, you need to develop your understanding of what to use, when and why.
It's about seeing the ways he approaches things, and using that to help further you understanding of mixing, and become a better mixer. So in short, yes, the DVD is valuable to non-PT users.
Oh, also check out the four ProjectStudioNetwork podcasts where they interview Charles as well - well worth a listen. He's a cool guy.
I hope that helps...