You Should Never Have to Say “We’ll Fix It in the Mix.”
Great mixing starts with great tracking. We make sure both are done right.
What Mixing Actually Is
Mixing is the process of taking every recorded element of a track — every instrument, every vocal, every effect — and sculpting them into a single, cohesive piece of music. It’s where balance, depth, space, and emotion all come together.
At Cloud 9 Recording, mixing is treated as a continuation of the tracking process, not a correction of it. When the sounds going into the session are right, the mixing process becomes what it’s supposed to be: the finishing touches on something already built to last.
The Cloud 9 Recording Mixing Philosophy
You never want to hear the words ‘we’ll fix it in the mix.’ It’s all about proper tracking. After you’ve created the sounds that make up the sonic landscape of the track, you use the mixing process to polish and put the finishing touches on your creation.
A mix can only be as good as what’s been recorded. That’s not a limitation — it’s a standard. When artists come into Cloud 9 Recording with well-tracked material and a clear sonic vision, the mixing process becomes focused, efficient, and genuinely creative.
Some things that keep a mix on track:
Staying decisive — it’s easy to spend days on a single snare sound or vocal reverb. Knowing what you want ahead of time keeps the session productive.
Communicating your sonic vision to the engineer at the very start of the project, before tracking begins
Having a reference point for the sound you’re after, whether that’s a record you admire or a description of how you want the finished track to feel
The Room and the Tools
Cloud 9 Recording’s mixing setup is anchored by a custom 32-channel inline analog console with 64 outputs available on mixdown, running in tandem with a 32-in, 40-out Pro Tools HD system. The combination gives us the warmth and tactile control of analog alongside the precision and recall of a modern digital workflow.
Our rooms were acoustically designed and tuned specifically for critical listening — which means what you’re hearing during a mix is accurate. No second-guessing how it’s going to translate.
Notable Mixing Work
Cloud 9 Recording’s mixing credits span genres and formats, including work with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and projects ranging from full band rock records to spoken word and choral recordings. Guest engineers who have mixed at Cloud 9 Recording include Brian Malouf and Michael Barbiero, whose combined credits include Michael Jackson, Queen, Madonna, Pearl Jam, and Guns N’ Roses.