Studio Science: Sylvia Massy
The producer and engineer breaks down how to mix across analog and digital
As an engineer, mixer and record producer, Sylvia Massy has left her mark on three decades of music. Moving to Los Angeles in the late ’80s, Massy began her career at Larrabee Sound, where she recorded the debut EP and LP of metal icons Tool. While there she also befriended Rick Rubin, with whom she collaborated on a string of albums after moving to Sound City’s Studio B. It was at Sound City that Massy became known for creating a signature sound, with special equipment and a vintage Neve 8038 console. At the turn of the century, Massy built her own studio, RadioStar, in the northern Californian town of Weed before moving further up the coast to Ashland, Oregon, where she continues to work and apply the atypical techniques that have earned her global recognition.
In this Studio Science, filmed at EastWest Studio in Hollywood as part of the Red Bull Music Academy Festival Los Angeles 2017, Massy discusses her transition from analog to digital and demonstrates her hybrid mixing approach with a track from Norwegian band Turbonegro.
