15/04/2025
Throwback to the COVID era—I received a call from my 14120 kainge (a close friend from our hometown), . We go way back to primary school, and he’s always had a passion for rap. He decided to drop an indie single and reached out to me for mixing and mastering duties.
The mix process was incredibly smooth. The vocal tracking was top-tier—clean takes, great mic technique, and consistent levels—so I didn’t have to do heavy corrective processing. The beat was a purchased online production, and the stems were already well-balanced. I made only a few surgical and tonal tweaks.
Vocal Chain (in order):
• Gain Staging: Proper leveling before hitting any processing.
• FabFilter Pro-Q 3: Subtractive EQ to clean up low-mids and tame any resonance.
• FabFilter Pro-DS: Transparent de-essing to smooth out sibilance.
• Waves CLA-2A: Used with a light touch to bring the vocal slightly forward in the mix.
• Plugin Alliance Maag EQ4: Added some “Air Band” (around 20-40kHz) to give the vocal that open, airy sheen.
Most of the cohesion and clarity came from strong initial balancing—less is more when things are recorded right.
Mastering Chain:
• Logic Pro Stock EQ: Minor tonal shaping, mainly high-pass and slight midrange tilt.
• Waves PuigTec EQP-1A: Boosted the low end around 60Hz and added some presence in the high shelf.
• iZotope Ozone Imager: Slight stereo widening on the high-mids and highs.
• iZotope Maximizer: Transparent limiting to bring the track up to commercial loudness without crushing dynamics.
A fun twist was mixing vocals for a featured Malay rapper—a first for me, and a refreshing experience both creatively and technically.
Appreciate the trust, Mike. Always a pleasure to collaborate with someone who knows their sound.
Sorry, sadly the song is not available on instagram for the preview. You may check out song on YouTube or Spotify.
