Recording & mixing rock with Adrian Bushby

Grammy-winning engineer Adrian Bushby (Muse, Foo Fighters, Placebo) stepped into RAK Studios prepared for an electrifying session. Nik Georgiev set up the Orion 32+ | Gen 3 and the three‑piece outfit Gnarlah were already rehearsing. Their track ‘’Follow Me’’ was recorded exclusively through the third generation of the audio interface, connected to an API Legacy console and Edge Solo, Duo, and Verge modeling microphones.

The first step was miking up the drum kit and the amps. One of the techniques includes the Edge Duo placed sideways, facing the snare, combined with a figure-8 polar pattern which created an interesting effect. A challenge for Adrian was to choose the right microphone emulation models and analog-modeled effects for every individual instrument and the vocals. Loading up a signal chain with vintage compressor emulation like the FET-A76 and knowing that it will sound just like the original is a benefit for any engineer.

The mixing session took place in Adrian’s home studio, equipped with an SSL console. Doing all his work in Pro Tools, the engineer used the microphone emulations as Native effects and all analog gear recreations with the AFX2DAW plugin directly into the DAW.

Catch up with Adrian Bushby at adrianbushby.com and @adrian_bushby_

Hear more music from Gnarlah at https://spoti.fi/3jcM6ZD and follow them on Instagram at @gnarlahofficial

Nik Georgiev – @georgievsound