Bryan at Mackncheeze

The Gospel According To Otis: Lesson One

The Gospel According to Otis vocal mix reverb

Long day at the console, for me anyway. Eight hours, with a quick lunch break and a short walk.

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Too much time in my engineer’s chair leads to cramping. No fun, got to get up.

But back at it.

I’m not nailing this vocal mix; it’s not sitting right. Experimenting with different delays, multiple delays, layered delays, different compression, trying to sculpt my verb.

The client, newly enlightened by discovering reverb, proclaims: “This is how it has to sound!”

I mutter, “Why bury a voice in a cave.”

My eyes are closed, head between the near-fields, and suddenly I’m ambushed. A furry missile lands square in the middle of the faders, throwing my notepad and pen onto the floor.

Otis gives me the stare-down.

“Haven’t you forgotten something?”

“Look, I’m right in the middle of this mix. I’ll refill your food chalice soon.”

“Mmmmm,” he purrs, “No, you aren’t looking.”

“At your bowl? I’m busy.”

“No, you’re strangling it. You’re blind.” He swivels, staring at the empty air above the console like something sacred is hanging there.

“I’ll feed you later!”

“You’re turning a blind eye. Why are you doing that? You know better.” Then I get the snub. “Tightrope? Janelle Monae? You’re not seeing. Remember?”

That’s right!!! Control Z. That mix is a benchmark. Tightrope, Janelle, the vocals cutting like a laser down the center. An epiphany of the sensory lens. You can see the vocals, they are so centered.

“Yeah,” I breathe. “I remember.”

Otis leaps down, tail flicking like punctuation. “Good. Now fetch me a treat.” And he’s gone.