Only Spike and Cenzo talk about this one weird trick

[tomdot]

Okay, it’s not weird or a trick. However, they both talk about the difference between mixing for the UK and the US, and always in a matter of fact way.

It feels to me as though this has more importance, yet I might be wrong because nobody talks about it.

I’m interested in how British music sounds as opposed to American music. I can tell the guitars are scooped more in the US, and have less presence overall. UK music seems to have a midrange to it.

However, what differences do you notice, and what examples do you think are good of the differences?

The Futureheads Decent Days and Nights and Hounds of Love are good for me. Listen to the album mixes by Gareth Jones, then the radio mixes by Chris Lord-Alge. I prefer CLAs to be honest, but the difference is stark.

[resistorman]

As an American, I have historically preferred British consoles, particularly the EQ. I found the Japanese tone circuits too glassy and the American and German too clinical. In the past there might have been a UK vs US "sound", but that may have come down to the difference between equipment and amps used by the big studios and bands.

There seems to me to be a difference in cultural preference for certain timbres. Traditional Latin music tends to tilt towards the treble side for instance.

[ManFromGlass]

I find this stuff fascinating and I was about to make an unresearched post, but realised I don’t have enough information to even sound intelligent in my comments -
As you were . . . . ..

[tomdot]

I think all comments are welcome, as even a listener must have some perception of this.

It’s funny because, yes, gear is more global now – SSL desks, Neve pres and EQ, 1176s everywhere. Amps are too, but for me, I can sum up the difference as Fender vs Marshall: scooped midrange vs present gnarl.

Still, it seems there are definite differences in how different cultures and genre’s require different treatment. I think I read something with Alan Moulder who said that Russians prefer to hear loads of 6k. Spike talks about vocal presence, guitar volume, and low end thump. Cenzo talks about midrange and distortion.

All three of these are cut from the same cloth, so to speak, as they all worked together. They seem to have a focus that others do not, and they just so happen to be my three favourite mixers.

[Mike Stranks]

A certain well-known manufacturer with a global reach makes much of their 'British EQ'...

[tomdot]

Well, indeed. The point I am making is that there is some definite difference in sound tastes between US and UK mixing, despite how global everything is now. I’m trying to find out more about that, and what exactly it means. It just seems like mixers don’t talk about it other than a select few who trained together at Olympic