Spiros Akratos “Της Ζωής Δανεικά” (Recording, Mixing, Mastering) *Greek Music

Here is my first production for 2018. This track came to me on a basic format, so all I had was just an acoustic guitar, a basic drumbeat idea and vocals.

The real challenge for me was to give a vintage twist to the song without making it sound old-fashioned or outdated. So, the recipe was simple: 80s, almost disco feel to the drums, slap back delay on many elements, a heavily saturated bass guitar played with a pick, compressed vocals with (you guessed it!) slap back delay and various filters.

After listening to bands like Last Shadow Puppets, I also decided to add a Tarantino-style guitar and some backing vocals to compliment each chorus. A tambourine was also recorded, to add more groove to the whole song.

This is one of those times that I used multi band compression instead of just lazy EQing. This is a great way to achieve instrument separation without making everything sound small.

Recorded, mixed and mastered: December 2017-January 2018

Katerina Stamatiou “Τα Ιδανικά” (Recording, Mixing, Mastering) *Greek Music

This is a very interesting project, as it comes from an artist with a classical background.

In other words, the original composition was just a score written for some basic instruments, like the bass and the violin. The real challenge for me was to turn that “lifeless” score into a vivid, finished song.

The main work began with the drums, and then came the bass, the guitar and all the other instruments (vocals, violin etc).

I recorded a tambourine to compliment the snare hits and also added a bendir as a MIDI instrument.

Another challenge for this particular mix was to get rid of the rock philosophy! No punchy drums, no subtle saturation on bass, just a clean approach with lots of reverb and gentle sounds. Doing that, without ending up with a dull result was something I had in mind from the very beginning.

Once again a great project! Produced, Mixed and Mastered during late 2017.