Hakim
Comosuena
[ June 1999 ]
A most interesting album that went platinum in Spain. Hakim sings in classical arab and spanish, with an andalusian touch from Malou...
For those with an eye for the finer details, we salute you...
Malou, whom I met during the Mothersays album, called me towards the end of the recording of Hakim’s project as he was looking for a studio in Paris where we could mix. The album was recorded mainly by Jose Luis Garrido, whose work I find amazing. Most of the greatest spanish musicians and artists someday went to his studio: Musitron.
Once in Paris, there was a few things left to record, strings, flutes, backing vocals and a few percussions. At this time I was starting using new monitors from Mackie, the HR-824. It is always difficult to learn how to work with a new reference, so I was happy to have a few days of recording prior to the actual mixing stage. At first, I used the Mackie’s along with the usual Yamaha NS-10. As the songs went by, I truly felt confident with the HR-824, up to the point of doing the last mix (Benkhaf Ml Aeen) without using the NS-10 at all. You know what ? This mix turns out to be my favourite one on this album. I have kept using the HR-824 ever since and waved goodbye to the Yamaha’s.
The console used was Musika’s SSL 4048 E (with a G computer) and the tape machine was the always troublesome, yet nice sounding X-850 (32 tracks, 1" digital) from Mitsubishi.
[photo: mixing session at Musika - Mackie or not Mackie ?]
