S. Husky Höskulds is a very gifted engineer, mixer and sound designer. Born in Iceland, he studied audio engineering at the University of California in Los Angeles, and worked as an assistant engineer at several top L.A. studios. For a number of years, he assisted the producer/engineer team of Mitchell Froom [Tape Op #10] and Tchad Blake [#16] at L.A.'s Sound Factory. Since striking out on his own, Höskulds has worked with artists such as Sheryl Crow, Los Lobos, The Wallflowers, Peeping Tom, Gipsy Kings, Fantomas, Nora Jones, Tom Waits, and Joe Henry. With Joe Henry as producer, Höskulds has recorded and mixed three projects — one with Solomon Burke, one with Bettye Lavette and third, the I Believe To My Soul album, featuring Billy Preston, Allen Toussaint, Ann Peebles, Irma Thomas, and Mavis Staples. Of special note, he recorded and mixed this year's critically acclaimed The River in Reverse by Elvis Costello and Allen Toussaint. I recently met with Höskulds at his studio in Los Angeles, The Mute Matrix. He has an identical studio in Reykjavik, Iceland, called The Mute Matrix East, and in both locations all the mixing is done "in the box". He remarks, "If you had told me two years ago that I would be mixing mainstream albums in my own studio, all in the computer, I would never have believed it. But because of the way technology has progressed, I am now able to do just that."
What is the philosophy of your studio?
I decided that if I wanted to put together a mix room, I would wait until I found the program and plug-ins I needed to allow me to do that all in the computer. I knew I didn't want a 2-track tape machine or some analog outboard gear that you can't fix by re- booting. I think I've pulled together the best of the best to work in this way.
What are the main components of your studio?
The mix platform is a program on the PC called Sequoia, made by the German company Magix. Monitoring is via RME soundcards on all my machines, linked to an RME D/A converter and an SPL surround monitor controller. This in turn feeds the McIntosh MC 2105 power amp and the ProAc Studio 100 monitors. The same RME D/A is also used for the monitoring of the Pioneer CD/DVD/SACD players, so it's pretty high end all the way. In addition to that, I have Pro Tools M- Powered, Logic Pro, Digital Performer and Melodyne on all the Macs, so I can handle most tasks, be it sound design, editing, audio for film or even mastering.
What is so good about Sequoia — why did you choose it?
To me, it's the best program out there for mixing and mastering. It sounds the best, has the most comprehensive feature-set for mixing and it's exceptionally reliable. I have not once worried about the sound of the program itself, and that's a big deal. I have not had to second guess anything, be it the summing, the delay compensation or the recall — it's all rock solid. This is imperative, because when you are mixing an album, you have plenty to think about in the creative department. Being able to check the more mundane technical stuff off the list is a huge advantage.
What other projects are you working on?
Now that I have a studio of my own where I can spend time on post-production, editing and sound design, I have made some sample libraries. One of those is the 8 Bit Kit for FXpansion's BFD program. This is a collection of drum samples done as if I were tracking. Big on bottom, big on distortion, big on compression — more of everything, basically. The BFD program is genius, and I'm happy to be doing stuff for them. I've also teamed with Native Instruments a couple of times, so there is more going on in that world for me now that I have this creative space of my own.
In what media formats do projects come to you at your studio?
All the stuff I get is on a hard drive or DVD. Simply either Pro Tools, Logic sessions or just the raw audio files. Sequoia can import every file format there is, even the Mac-only SDII, so I'm covered.
Do you miss hardware outboard gear? What kinds of plug-ins are you using?
Not one bit. I can't think of one piece of gear I wish I had here at my studio, except maybe an ice cream maker. Just as before, with the hardware, I use plug-ins that pretty much cover the whole spectrum. They all play a role of equal importance, whether they are free VST downloads or plug-ins that cost several hundred dollars. It's been interesting to have to "learn" the sound of all the plug-ins, much like I did with the hardware as I was starting to mix records on consoles. The beauty of plug-ins, however, in the most basic form, is that you've got unlimited copies, not just one as in the hardware world. I've been through more or less all of them, and the ones that make the cut are from Universal Audio, URS, Elemental Audio, Sonalksis, Audio Ease's Altiverb, PSP, Wave Arts, Smartelectronix, Audio Damage, Anarchy Effects, Native Instruments, Applied Acoustics Systems — clearly lots of them. Of course, I would not use all of them at the same time or any one specific plug-in all the time any more than a drummer would use one particular snare all the time. They all have their own sound and that flexibility is a key factor. On one song I might use the UA Multiband Compressor on the mix buss, and on the next I might use the Wave Arts Multiband. Same with EQ — the URS FullTec is great on the mix sometimes, but in other cases I might grab something more surgical like one of the Elemental Audio EQs or a Sonalksis plug-in, or even the PSP Vintage Warmer. Now that computers are as fast and affordable as they are, plug-in manufacturers can make very detailed models of the hardware out there, and the systems can handle most everything you throw at them.
Monitoring? Room acoustics? Amp- lifiers? Speakers? How do you know that the mixes you do here will work everywhere?
Well first of all, I did a lot of listening at the Sound Factory. I've done a lot of mixing in those rooms, and still do about 90% of my recording there. As far as I'm concerned, it's one of the best studios in L.A. I've always carried my own speakers, cables and power amp with me. So it's easy for me to determine if things are not right in a room, because I know the monitoring system. I know the starting point, and I have a reference. I treated the room here in L.A. a bit as I was building, and it has turned out great. I moved the desk around a little once I got it in there to find the good spot, but other than that I was pretty lucky. For the mirror image studio in Iceland, however, it was a bit more tricky. That room is more bare, more rectangular, and as a result not as easy to deal with. I had to do a bit of experimenting there, but it's good now. It just took more work. I've got a couch in there, some books, CDs, treatments on the walls, ceilings, etc., so it's come together nicely. The second phase of the studio setup here was to bring some mixes to Gavin Lurssen at the Mastering Lab in Hollywood. He's mastered most of the stuff I've done in the last couple of years, and he has been a great help. Once he'd signed off on the mixes, so to speak, and he felt the stuff I was doing at my studio versus a commercial facility was as good if not better, I was happy.
What is your final mixdown medium and how does it compare with the past, such as 1/2" analog? Getting the warmth? Better results?
Well, I would always go to great lengths to align my 24- track and 2-track machines to sound as transparent as possible. I never mix or track in such a way that I need the tape machine to add more of anything. I've got plenty of all frequencies and don't need "outside help" to make it sound right. As far as that infamous analog warmth — I've never needed it. Go out and buy that Elvis Costello/Allen Toussaint record and I guarantee you there is more warmth and low end on that record than all of his other records combined — and that has nothing to do with the console or lack of console, tape machine or lack of tape machine, 24-track or 16-track. It has to do with the engineer and his aesthetic. I mix in Sequoia because it's 100 times more flexible than mixing on a console and it allows me access to 100 times more tools while mixing. If I could put plug-ins on that API at the Sound Factory, and have two Pultecs and two Neve compressors on every channel, and be able to audition the SSL compressor/EQ combo with the push of a button, and audition three different mix buss compressors without turning my head AND have total recall — I'd be all over it. But I can't. So, I built my own studio.
What is your vision for a record company of the future?
Completely out of touch with music as an art form and it's artists — just like today. For my own company, I'll be selling albums that I record and mix, from my company's site, eightbitaudio, and I'll be a millionaire!
What is the background on the Costello/Toussaint album?
Well, Joe and I had worked with Allen on the IBTMS album, and since Joe and Elvis are friends as well, I'm guessing it was a somewhat natural progression that led to Joe taking the production duty on that one.
Where did you track the Costello/ Toussaint album? Where did you mix? We recorded most of it at Sunset Sound here in L.A., and then moved to Piety Street in New Orleans for a couple more tracks and a handful of overdubs. In fact, we did the first major session there post- Katrina. It was a very moving experience, to say the least. Walking into the local sandwich shops and seeing the menu on a chalk board on the wall — each day getting one or two more things added as chefs, busboys and other staff people were returning. We then mixed at my place — The Mute Matrix — here in Los Angeles.
How did you get the Tom Waits gig? Where and what did you do?
I sent some letters, made some phone calls and basically told everyone I knew that I was trying to get a hold of him. At the same time he heard Joe Henry's album Scar, so one thing led to another, and before I knew it I was in Northern California mixing his next album. He did two albums back to back, or at the same time actually, and he wanted to have two different mixers on them to further underline the different moods of each album.
What was the Gipsy Kings project like?
We did that in a villa in the south of France using a remote truck from Paris. It was a life-changing experience, to be honest. We were in the middle of nowhere for three weeks, and we had great wines, great food and a lot of Pastis. Oh, and the music was amazing too! We recorded everyone in the same room — an old stone room with high-beamed ceilings, all the guitar players in a semicircle, with the acoustic bass player facing them and the singer behind them. It was all done live and you can hear it. You can hear the room, the countryside, the cicadas — it's very real.
What does the next year hold in store for you?
More time in Iceland at The Mute Matrix East, my family with me. More time with my parents and sisters. More days not working past dinner. And more plug-ins, of course.
