#8: The Philosophy of Mixing | With Special Guest Zak Joshua

Stokes Sound

Podcast Summary

In this episode, we bring you Zak Joshua, UK-based electronic music producer, to talk about the philosophy of mixing.

UK-based artist Zak Joshua first broke through on the electronic music scene when his debut solo track ‘Figure It Out’ was uploaded to renowned tastemaker YouTube channel ‘Selected’. It has since gone on to accrue over 5 million views, with a subsequent official release updated with new vocals and a fresh sonic polish in 2019. He has released alternative R&B projects under the name ‘Z. Joshua’, and Lo-Fi instrumentals under the name ‘Takotsubo’.

Today, you’ll hear about Zak’s process, using the source, the importance of creativity, Zak’s approach to mixing, the annoying noise on plugins, his controversial opinion about multiband compressors, and hear Zak’s philosophy of mixing.

Episode Timestamps

• [00:34] About Zak.
• [02:05] Why we mix.
• [03:40] Zak’s process.
• [07:29] The source.
• [11:46] Creativity.
• [14:25] What Zak looks for in a mix.
• [17:41] Zak’s approach to mixing.
• [28:24] Noise on plugins.
• [30:24] Mixing and mastering.
• [39:00] Multiband compressors.
• [42:05] Parallel compression.
• [49:53] Zak’s philosophy of mixing.

Notable Quotes

• “Mixing is finding a way to take an artist’s raw vision and making it sound great.”
• “A lot of the time, the mix boils down to the source.”
• “The production stage is 80% creative and 10-20% technical.”
• “If you have to reach for a multiband compressor, you’ve gone wrong somewhere.”
• “90% of mixing is balancing.”
• “Be quicker and feel the music more.”

Connect with Zak

Website:www.zakjoshuamusic.co.uk.

iTunes:Zak Joshua.

Spotify:Zak Joshua.

Instagram:@zakjoshua.

SoundCloud:Zak Joshua.

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