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There is a round, bright lime green building on Sunset Boulevard near The Whiskey. You can’t miss it. It was a holistic healing center until 1995 when Mark Mothersbaugh, co-founder of DEVO, turned the building into a top-notch Hollywood film, game, music, television, and multimedia recording studio: Mutato Muzika. Albert Fox, a talented staff composer, engineer, and sound designer there, has thoroughly enjoyed his 8-year Mutato tenure with one of the most dynamic, interesting bosses in the music world. “It’s a great place to work,” says Fox. “Mark is here every day, and our clients love the building. I’ve learned so much about working with tight deadlines and juggling projects just from observing and working with Mark.” Fox’s past Mutato credits include the film 200 Cigarettes, the Frogger
video game, a Rugrats album, and countless commercials for major clients such
as 7-Up, Fox TV, Nike, and Coke. Recently he’s lending his audio expertise
to a new wave version of the SIMS 2 game; a new HBO show called Big Love; television
commercial campaigns for Ross Stores; and the feature movie First Descent.
ALBERT: I tend to stick with what works and rarely change the approach, let alone the mics, unless there is a call for experimentation. We work in many different styles here at Mutato and have different mics for different applications. RED: Talk a bit about your audio chain and tracking with compression and EQ. Does it change depending on whom or what you're recording? ALBERT: If I am recording alone at Mutato, I use no compression or EQ while tracking into my Tascam 1082 DAW controller. Once the signal has been digitized, I rely on the compression and EQ in Apple Logic. At home, I use a Tascam 1884 and it is the same process. This is how 90% of my stuff is done unless I am tracking something very critical that calls for the SSL in Studio A, or some Neve 1073’s. If I need to track drums or upright bass here at Mutato, I run it through the lovely 1073’s in studio A with some SSL compression. RED: How do you choose which microphone you'll use for a given scenario? What are the three most important criteria you look at when choosing a mic? ALBERT: Again, I use what works and I get very used to the way things sound. My two favorite mics are a large diaphragm condenser and a large-capsule multi-pattern condenser. I always reach for the large diaphragm mic first, despite the frowns from the engineers I work with [laughs.] It’s great for guitar, vocals, and percussion. We also have many other vintage and rare mics, but I still use this mic the most. In my home studio, I almost exclusively use the large capsule condenser. RED: Using a track you’ve recently recorded as an example, describe briefly how you set up a mic to record part in that track. ALBERT: To record an upright bass for the SIMS 2 game, I used a condenser mic pointed about a foot away from the f-holes. I set it in cardioid mode and route the signal through a Neve 1073 and my Tascam 1082 interface. I have been doing a bunch of experimentation at home with mics and different positions on drums, just for future reference. I have a 3,000 square foot loft and the key that I found to a great drum sound is using three mics. It works so well at my place because you can hear the size of the very big room. I use a kick mic and two overheads, and it sounds wonderful. Anyone who has ever stepped foot in my place says that it sounds great. RED: We also like to ask about crazy sounds you've gotten in the studio—maybe you planned those, or they were accidental. When have you tried a weird idea that seemed like it absolutely wouldn't work, technically or creatively, but then it did? ALBERT: I love weird sounds and making them, but it is never with microphones—always with synths and plugins. I’m a synth guy mainly. All the same, I get excited about any types of awkward, unheard of noises, regardless of how those are recorded. RED: What would you say is the toughest thing that engineers consistently have to deal with in the studio? ALBERT: From an engineer's standpoint, nothing really. It all comes down to the player and the performance. The pressure is off the engineer at that point, as long as all the gear is working. I guess the toughest thing is making sure everything is working properly: No bad cables, and clean channel strips and pan pots while tracking. As for mixing, there are all sorts of things. For me a big problem is making room for all the stuff I put into very dense tracks. RED: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us today, Albert. We always end with the question that's toughest to answer: What is your all-time most memorable gig? ALBERT: That would be my gig here at Mutato Muzika. Every day is different, yet the same, and it’s always a challenge with new kinds of projects coming in here constantly!
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