Hello lovely people, I hope you’re doing marvellously well! I’m very excited to let you know that we’ve been able to get our hands on the original mix session screenshots of Sam Smith’s smashing hit ‘Stay With Me‘!
In case you missed it, we recently released a video interview with Sound on Sound writer, Paul Tingen. Paul writes the series Inside the Track: Secrets of Mix Engineers for Sound on Sound, where he gets access to the sessions of a lot of amazing songs and breaks down the mixing secrets of a-list engineers. Paul was gracious enough to share with us the screenshots from one of the mixes for his column, Sam Smith’s “Stay with Me.”
This is an incredible opportunity for all of us to be able to learn what goes into an amazing song written by an massive artist. Furthermore, we get a glimpse inside the mind of Steve Fitzmaurice, who happens to be one of the most talented mixers on the planet. Steve has mixed records and won Grammy Awards for Seal, U2, and Sam Smith. While looking through these screenshots, you’ll notice 2 things. One, is his attention to detail. The automation lines on the vocals are especially meticulous. Second, his mix is not overrun with plugins on every channel. It is a simple, elegant, and very effective mix.
Video Breakdown:
What I’ve Learned From Sam Smith’s Mix Session Screenshots
Please watch the video and have a look at my breakdown of what is going on in this amazing song and mix. After watching the video, sign up to download the screenshots and then please leave comments and ask loads of questions! Let’s get a discussion going about the things that you’ve observed when you looked at the screenshots yourself!
Please leave a bunch of questions and comments for Paul below. I’m looking forward to getting an inside look at more mix breakdowns of A-Class engineers in the future!
Have a marvellous time recording and mixing,
Warren