Posts by Andy Stewart

Ever wondered why the real estate between your speakers gets so crowded so quickly? It’s not just because there are too many instruments jockeying for position. It’s because everyone is standing shoulder to shoulder at the front of the mix. Ever thought to let a few people stand back a bit? Whether you’re recording or…

A fantastic new channel strip arrived here at The Mill a couple of weeks ago – which I’ve been giving a damned good flogging ever since…  The Canadian made MA-PEQ is an all-discrete, transformer-less single channel mic preamp and passive program equaliser housed in a single rack unit. Combining a high quality, powerful sounding preamp…

When you buy a litre of milk at the supermarket, do you only ever pay one price regardless of whether you choose low-fat, non-fat, full fat or soy? Of course you don’t. So why the hell does music sell for the exact same amount regardless of what it is or who made it? Beats me.…

Imagine if the car industry were the music industry. Vehicles could be downloaded for free, copied, test driven and replaced at the click of a button. Fewer and fewer people would own cars yet more and more would be driving brand new ones. Doesn’t make much sense does it? Welcome to the music industry in…

This is the story of two of my prized possessions: a Neumann U47 FET and valve U67. But no, this is not just another story of how good old Neumann microphones sound. It’s a meaningless rave about how they’ve accompanied me throughout at least half my recording career. I guess it was about 17 years…

To say ‘it’s all happening’ down here at The Mill would be an understatement of momentous proportions. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends lately, as well as trying to get the thing to light in the middle. Between the several album projects I have on the go – not to mention the mastering…