The Art of Producing Left Field Contemporary Music With Jack Prest
Jack Prest is a multifaceted artist who has carved out a unique niche in the world of left field contemporary music. As an interdisciplinary artist, engineer, and composer, Prest brings a wealth of experience from his background as a DJ, sound designer, and producer at Studios 301. We sat down with Jack to talk all things production, working with left of centre artists, and how he uses Sonnox plugins in his workflow.
The Background
Your education Majored on Photography with a Minor in Sound - was it a conscious decision to rotate towards working in a recording studio as opposed to following photography as your focus?
I actually went to university to study sound but found photo media to be more interesting just in terms of the course that was offered, so I ended up changing majors.
Then there was a bit of a sliding doors moment; I got offered a job assisting in a photo studio at the same time as being offered a gig touring with a national successful band. I took the gig touring with the band, and that set the path really!
Tell us about your own work. Do you see yourself as an artist first, then an engineer? Do you find that there are any unexpected upsides to being both?
That’s a tricky question as to what comes first. In my heart I am definitely an artist first, but in the wider world I have carved out a career as a professional engineer, so I'm probably better known as an engineer.
I feel like being an artist has a huge benefit in being an engineer. I really understand what an artist is experiencing in trying to create something.
I’ve been lucky enough in recent years to get to return to some of my own practice a little more, building on the success I’ve had working on other artist's projects; I feel that's definitely one advantage.
It’s also certainly beneficial to have the technical skills to take my own music and artworks to a really high level of production.
I do a bunch of work composing for dance and experimental theatre, and I remember after one show another composer asking me “who mixed and mastered your work?". He was super surprised when I said I did my own!
On the flip side I feel like being an artist has a huge benefit in being an engineer. I really understand what an artist is experiencing in trying to create something. I also see things a little more holistically and that making something sound good is not always about making it sound right.
Are there any genres or styles that you feel come more naturally to you in terms of production decision making? Are there any that are more challenging but enjoyable at the same time?
I’ve carved out a niche for myself working in left field electronic music, jazz x hip hop crossover and electro-acoustic music. Anything left of centre really in contemporary music.
There is nothing more satisfying than just getting a pop record to really slam, pulling it up against mixes in the top 40, and being like, yep, this is as good as anything out there.
That being said, I have done a bunch of more pop focused releases which generally are more challenging as they are usually more intricate in terms of production (especially vocal production) and just take more time. I really enjoy this challenge though, and there is nothing more satisfying than just getting a pop record to really slam, pulling it up against mixes in the top 40, and being like, yep, this is as good as anything out there.
Some of your most interesting work is arguably with no lyrics - how do you mix considering that the vocals won't be necessarily the focus, if there are even vocals at all?
I really love working on instrumental music. It leaves space for the listener to have their own story and emotional journey with the music.
This is probably what guides me mostly, looking for the overall vibe and emotional impact of the mix. Also riding that fine line where the mix doesn’t feel empty compared to vocal music, but also doesn’t feel like all that headspace has been filled in.
Even though the music is instrumental it should very much feel complete.
"Sampa the Great - F E M A L E”. You have placed the cymbals and bulk of the drums (apart the kick) far back in the mix to let the vocals stand out. One of your influencers, Rick Rubin, has experimented in this manor before to generate spaces that wouldn't be possible without minimising the drums in this way. Was this choice inspired by Rick Rubin at all?
That would all be mainly to do with the choices of producer and my long time collaborator Dave Rodriguez, his beats are always sidechained to all hell off the kick. I love Rick but he's not a specific influence here, although so many of his records are seminal for me, so the vibe is never going to be far away.
Life in the Studio
When you started working at Studios 301, was it overwhelming having access to such a variety of gear, or did you relish the opportunity to experiment?
Definitely a bit of both! I came from working as a DJ and producer and got a job mixing electronic music (back when the in-house team weren’t really interested, crazy to think there was a time when that would happen!) so I was coming from a fully in-the-box work flow.
You get 8 hours of studio time and you have to turn in a finished mix. It's definitely daunting coming from the land of tweaking your own mixes for months!
It was awesome! I was like “woah there is actually a real Fairchild here!". I got my head around the consoles and everything pretty quickly, with the help of the rest of the staff and the giant binder manuals.
The real learning curve was the pressure of the time crunch of working professionally. You get 8 hours of studio time and you have to turn in a finished mix. It's definitely daunting coming from the land of tweaking your own mixes for months!
You've just received a reference mix from a client. What are the top three key aspects of the reference that you would take into consideration when mixing the client's track?
First up is definitely how technically good it is. Not so much judging the style or how good the song is, but how good the production/recording is.
Essentially getting a gauge for how far along the road this song is, and how much do I think the client is looking for me to add. Is it just an extra 20% to an already slick production, or is a complete overhaul on a more demo mix or raw recording?
I want to be able to already hear the mix in my head before I even pull things into Pro-Tools.
Secondly: what is the vibe and genre of the track? This is to get a sense for what the artist is going for and what kind of approach I might need to take both conceptually (what elements are the most important?) and technically (in-the-box, use hardware, summing mixer etc.)
Thirdly: what is missing? What vision can I see for the track? How do I make it the best version of itself? Really, I want to be able to already hear the mix in my head before I even pull things into Pro-Tools.
I’ll have chatted to the client about all of these things in pre-production to get their take, as well as assessing the reference mix.
Getting Technical
With many of the audio software (and hardware) products available today containing visual information (frequency representations on EQs for example), how have you learned to focus on what you are hearing rather than using the visual references to make decisions?
This is definitely hard!
The main thing I do is turn the screen off when I’m listening to a full playback of the mix that I’m working on. I try to do this at least a couple of times during the process. I also find listening to a whole mix start to finish is a good way to see what needs to be worked on and if the mix is working as a whole.
Are there any particularly difficult examples of frequency masking clashes that you've had to deal with in your career, and how did you overcome them?
This is one of the biggest issues in mixing, especially if the production is a little bit raw.
I find that side-chaining a multiband or dynamic EQ on my instrument bus (or maybe just the keyboards) can pull out a bit of mid range just when the vocals play, helping them cut forward without being any louder.
One of the hardest things is an overly full mid range.
Take the big final chorus of a pop track with guitars, synths, piano, percussion, snare, a clicky kick as well as the vocals. It's often really hard to have vocals anything but too loud or too quiet.
I find that side-chaining a multiband or dynamic EQ on my instrument bus (or maybe just the keyboards) can pull out a bit of mid range just when the vocals play, helping them cut forward without being any louder. If it's subtle you don’t even notice it on the instrumental.
Do you have a set process for using EQ on, let's say, a kick drum for example? Do you have certain troublesome frequencies that you would typically look to remove first and then go from there?
Not really, often 75-80 Hz or around 300 Hz can be problematic on a kick.
But there is no set formula. That said, one of my go to things on kick would be a whole heap of 60 Hz with either a Pultec EQP1A or the UAD Helios EQ (I actually kind of prefer the old one too).
"GODTET – Enumerating". The main vocal line is amazing - What was the process of writing the melody all the way through to the mixing stage?
That's actually a sample! So most of the magic comes from that and again the way Dave (Rodriguez) flipped it.
That second GODTET record was the most produced with all the band recordings being done to samples that Dave had flipped. The challenge with the mixes was getting all the band recordings to sit and make things feel more live.
"Brekky Boy – Sherk". You mentioned that you use Drum Gate on this track - in particular, what processing did you apply?
Yeah! I loooove Drum Gate.
Drum Gate has actually become my main tool for drum replacement.
I pretty much use it on every track with live drums. It's the smoothest, easiest gate to use and the EQable decay is an absolute game changer!
But on that particular track I used it for drum replacement. Drum Gate has actually become my main tool for drum replacement. I used the midi capture function to capture a whole performance and then”drag” that midi file onto another track which is triggering Battery (you could use any sampler really).
This then allows me to audition drums and find one that gels with the original. I find this is a great way to get live drums that kind of sound produced.
To my ears, this process feels smoother and more organic that Slate Digital Trigger which always feels kind intense to me, almost like the replaced samples are ahead. It does have to be said that this sounds great for metal, though.
Which Sonnox plugins do you have in your arsenal? Are any used for go to purposes?
Apart from Drum Gate my other go to Sonnox is the Inflator!
Inflator always feels good, I feel like it's the curve slider that does it, you can always adjust it to get a vibe that suits the tone of the mix or master.
It's probably the only maximiser that I actually like! Most of the time, maximisers sound kind of overblown or weirdly hyped. Inflator always feels good, I feel like it's the curve slider that does it, you can always adjust it to get a vibe that suits the tone of the mix or master.
I also love the limiter, it’s an absolute classic!
With streaming being such a key part of music releases today, does this alter your big picture thought process whilst mastering?
Not really, I don't worry about the -14LUFS thing. I tend to just master things to a level that's suitable for the style or genre. Personally, I have level automation turned off on any of my streaming services so I feel like accounting for that is important in mastering.
I do think about the fact that tracks will need to sit next to other tracks of a similar genre more than maybe a decade ago. So I will always reference other commercially available tracks in the genre to make sure it will sound right if it comes up on a playlist.
I do account for intersample peaks, but again usually only if I’m working on something like Jazz or classical that needs to be ultra clean. Often I reckon those extra bits of distortion are actually a part of the sound of more hyped pop and rap.
I use a plugin called Streamliner by Adptr Audio, which is great for listening to what masters will sound like on different streaming services.
Aside from technical stuff, I do think about the fact that tracks will need to sit next to other tracks of a similar genre more than maybe a decade ago. So I will always reference other commercially available tracks in the genre to make sure it will sound right if it comes up on a playlist.
Is there any work that you would like to mention that you are working on right now?
I’ve just printed the masters for the new GODTET record, a recording of the concert we did with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House last year! I actually got to perform with guys on stage running live effects. I got to dub out the Symphony with a tape delay and a moog filter, it was pretty wild!
As our conversation draws to a close, it's clear to see that Prest is using all of his abilities and talents to carve out a niche in the industry, focusing on intriguing left field productions. With a combination of artistic creativity and detailed engineering thought processes, the work Prest is producing speaks for itself.
To find out more about Jack and his extensive list of credits and ongoing work, you can check out his website here: https://jackprest.com/
For his latest social media updates, you can follow Jack Prest on Instagram here.