I've been in the game for 5 years and I've learned more from Eric just randomly mumbling whatever comes to his mind in a hour long video than all the online "tutorials" I've watched when I was starting out. He understands that the good sound is not what anyone tells you it is, good sound is whatever you want it to be. He is such a good, creative engineer and an awesome teacher!
This type of content is soooo good. You should talk to Eric about a ton of things. His perspectives are some of the most interesting I’ve ever heard. And other than most audio TH-camrs he has the credits and catalog and experience to back it up.
I have known Eric (before he changed his name). We collaborated on some records, and I have to say he has the best ears in the business. I have a tremendous amount of respect for his boldness and commitment to the ART of recording. By the way, Nice job with the interview.
The difference between the Unfairchild and everything else seems to rest on the INSANE amounts of listening EV was doing at every stage of development, trying to replicate the experienced behavior and not just measurements. He was simply willing to suffer in pursuit of miniscule gains! That said, I have the Unfairchild plugin and I can say I have NEVER heard a compressor plugin that adds such perfect coloration and warmth when NO signal reduction is happening. That THD modeling is serious voodoo magic.
Wow! My 'short attention span' has suddenly been cured. Though I am not very familiar with hardware workflows, I hope this format will get enough traction to keep it going. Loved the conversation. Thanks!
Amazing interview. I loved every second of it. Great perspective on every subject. Eric brings a passion and love for audio that is infectious and relatable. Could Have listened for hours more.
Thank you very much for this informative and interesting interview! I would really love to see more of this like with the people from Sonible or Elysia (e.g. for the Alpha Compressor)! Keep on the great stuff! ❤
19:00 Eric’s explanation of his recording and mixing process, capturing the Mic Preamps raw, then also capturing the mic preamps through an Analog Channel Strip consisting of EQ and compression, dialing desired settings there so everything is mostly already mixed, but then always having those raw preamp recordings, just in case…. That’s the cream dream right there 🤩
So cool, having an interview between you and mister Valentine is a treat 🤘 So interesting 🙏 His videos about his studio construction are really my favorites on this subject Keep pushing 🤘🤘🤘
Something challenging with emulating analog gear is nonlinearities. For example a nonlinear device produces a different result if one sine wave is sent through it instead of two sine waves. As an illustration, if tanh() was linear then the expression tanh(sin(x)+sin(2x)) - tanh(sin(x)) - tanh(sin(2x)) would result in zero, but it doesn't!
That was a wonderful meeting of the minds from across the atlantic. I'm very grateful that there are people like Eric around. Someone who has this level of obsessive attention to detail, when translating the analog world into the digital realm. Coding plugins is way over my head. Being able to discern what the Fairchild's ideocracies were, translate those into the Un-Fairchild, then recreate that in the plugin.....it's just fascinating to hear about that process. I got the plugin and this all helps me understand it more. Well done! 😉👍
Love Eric. He made some of my favorite sounding records, especially the pop punk ones (good charlotte, the all American rejects, taking back Sunday) and his balance between punchy drums rocking bass and slamming guitars is always unbelievable to me. His mixes are incredible still to this day and they’re always in my reference tracks. Love the guy and his work and he always comes off as a great passionate human being.
"Gives You Hell" sounds great! I still remember thinking to myself it sounds really nice even way before ever having to do anything with making music. Great Interview. Thanks for the more long form content btw ;D
6:00 This is actually a huge thing, i also feel time pressure or being paid by the hour is such a block for creativity. It can get really wrong when you get to billing, and i do not want to compromise on quality. Having an understand of an overall price beforehand is so much better because it frees your mind.
An in-depth video from 2 music enthusiasts is appreciated! And you can clearly see that passion in the Unfairchild plugin, as you say Wytse, apparently no one has put so much detail into a plugin before. It's true, in today's world there is a lot of everything, but people doing things with passion, affection and real dedication are only a few and therefore they stand out. Maybe a good reference on how and with whom to make your tape plugin? 😏
It should come as no surprise that TH-cam monetization doesnt make sense because for a very long time they have been paying for everything and providing everything for free which also doesn’t make sense. So now they need to find a balance and i’m sure it’s not easy
Making Records with Eric Valentine is one of the best shows on the planet for learning audio mixing and recording - Videos are super affordable too, many of them less expensive than a Coca Cola 👍
As well as compression, Eric is a mine of information on mixing, and tracking guitars.There's whole series that could be made. I really liked his videos on Surf Guitar, and recording guitar tones for QOTSA - Songs for the Deaf. He's also been really interesting for giving some insight into the interesting personal dynamics of recording whole albums. I love my Unfairchild plugin, it's a modern classic already. The section on experimention and whole album production reminds me of something I saw recently with an engineer about recording an album where he really went full bore experimenting and fine tuning the drums. Which the band as a whole were kinda bummed about. But the end result, in time, was a keystone album. I'm trying to remember who the engineer and album was... ah, it was Michael Beinhorn speaking more from the tracking focused side, about Soundgarden's Superunknown album, in interview with Warren Huart on the Produce like a Pro channel.
It’s laughable to me every time I hear people talk about old gear or electronics being “designed to last”. No, they were so poorly designed that they were “designed to be repaired”. It doesn’t matter if it was recording gear or a radio or a vacuum cleaner, it was ALL going to break, usually soon, and there was an entire industry of businesses there to repair them, from component manufacturers to mom and pop repair shops all across the land. You know what’s built to last? Pretty much everything you buy today will last longer than your life time needing little to no service, and you’ll throw it away while it still works to get a newer model.
I have significantly slowed my purchasing of plugins because I've got a lot of everything. The Unfairchild plugin is one of the few I had to get during black Friday...
Fantastic interview, really insightful stuff about his philosophy on experimentation, and how that can inspire better results, better products, really cool 😎
Just listening to the part about attack and release times. I’ve always felt that great hardware compressors react the way he is describing. When you drive hard into the compressor, the knee tightens and you get almost two compression behaviours. La2a and vari mu type compressors behave this way and few emulations do them Justice.
Unashamedly have a bit of a man crush on Eric, I really dig his experience. If I was building a studio like his, I would’ve done 500mm thick fabric walls filled with insulation. I think lining a studio with Sheetrock or plywood is a terrible mistake. Depends if need to soundproof a bit too. Would’ve loved to hear a bit more about Eric’s EQ decisions on certain instruments because he really does have a unique sound. His records age so well, they sound timeless in my opinion. Put on a Smashmouth record or Third Eye Blind it seriously sounds classic and like it was recorded yesterday. I really hope If there’s ever a news G n’ R record that they have the sense to go to Eric. I would love to hear Eric do a Periphery record. Something left field. Or a Korn record! Respect
Excellent interview skills, Wytse. Great convo -- great avenue for you. "It really is my favorite thing to do in the universe." -- Eric Here's to truly-universal music -- 2025. Go, aliens! Drop the beat on us.
Like being champion in Nitro drag racing ...if you are only racing and winning ...you aren't advancing in technical performance ..soon you stop dominating and become far back ..and have to struggle to return.
Thats the point ( Unfairchild Plugin Chapter ) where Plugins have a chance to sound analog... That what i say all the way in discussions... Analog react in so many ways, which" only sampling" can not display... Thats why i choose The PCM Lexicon reverbs over a convolution reverb cause the Lexicon reverbs "add" something which convolution reverbs don't... But... in case of Lexicon, Unfairschild, Pultecs, Clariphonic... and many many other Hardware Emulations... The hardware pushes more details out than the plugin... Even with the Unfairchild, where i wrote you, that the hardware has more depth a.s.o... But there comes the 11K or 200 Bucks discrepancy on the scene... In a comparison between the Clariphonic and Pultecs against the Plugins... I choosed the hardware... Cause in the Plugins, there is something missing. Btw. I bought the plugin after your Unfairchild Plugin video... Cause i am only looking for plugins in point of problem solver or for coloration... In point of room acoustics... Well i built my console, the room acoustics from scratch and the monitor speakers. The room is Tech3276 compliant and has a Reflection Free Zone.... The speakers are flat 20 to 20 ones, with overall 3500 Class AB Watts, with a perfect Step Response, a very good Phase and Group Delay behavior and a low overall THD... But this has another weight, as when a pro say this... Even when i say, that i am a speaker builder for over 40 years now...
I'm sure it is more work but Iove the long format interviews as much as plugin reviews. Wonderful content!
I've been in the game for 5 years and I've learned more from Eric just randomly mumbling whatever comes to his mind in a hour long video than all the online "tutorials" I've watched when I was starting out.
He understands that the good sound is not what anyone tells you it is, good sound is whatever you want it to be. He is such a good, creative engineer and an awesome teacher!
This type of content is soooo good. You should talk to Eric about a ton of things. His perspectives are some of the most interesting I’ve ever heard. And other than most audio TH-camrs he has the credits and catalog and experience to back it up.
+1
I have known Eric (before he changed his name). We collaborated on some records, and I have to say he has the best ears in the business. I have a tremendous amount of respect for his boldness and commitment to the ART of recording. By the way, Nice job with the interview.
The difference between the Unfairchild and everything else seems to rest on the INSANE amounts of listening EV was doing at every stage of development, trying to replicate the experienced behavior and not just measurements. He was simply willing to suffer in pursuit of miniscule gains! That said, I have the Unfairchild plugin and I can say I have NEVER heard a compressor plugin that adds such perfect coloration and warmth when NO signal reduction is happening. That THD modeling is serious voodoo magic.
Wow what an awesome interview ♥️
Loved every minute of this!
Please interview more seasoned industry professionals, this was very cool indeed!
Great interview Wytse, Eric is an amazing man, I watched all his content on "making records" thanks for this video!👍
Really enjoy the conversation, great guest
Eric’s the man! So glad you got a chance to do this interview! Thanks for sharing
Wow! My 'short attention span' has suddenly been cured. Though I am not very familiar with hardware workflows, I hope this format will get enough traction to keep it going. Loved the conversation. Thanks!
Wow, this is one of my favorite Christmas presents, thank you both!
It's like an extreme creative cooking method, without any limits, that can be pushed beyond recognition, and it's brilliant!
Really awesome interview! Eric is so great...love his new website!
FANTASTIC interview! Love it! Happy Christmas Wytse, we’ll be in touch again early Jan x
That was an incredible interview! Thanks a lot to both of you!
Epic Interview! Eric is so knowledgeable.
Great interview. Really enjoyed it. Great content and would not mind seeing more interviews.
Amazing interview. I loved every second of it. Great perspective on every subject. Eric brings a passion and love for audio that is infectious and relatable. Could
Have listened for hours more.
Thank you very much for this informative and interesting interview! I would really love to see more of this like with the people from Sonible or Elysia (e.g. for the Alpha Compressor)!
Keep on the great stuff! ❤
Yeah great one, digg the long format.... keep em coming
Great interview. Eric is such a sound dude. 😎
Really cool interview! Merry christmas!
Absolutely great this long format interview. More please.
Great Interview...thanks for a lovely Xmas present 😊
Eric is so knowledgeable and laid back. Great insights in there. Thanks for organizing the interview, Wydse
Two of my favorite people for gettng deep into the details, thanks for the great video!
19:00 Eric’s explanation of his recording and mixing process, capturing the Mic Preamps raw, then also capturing the mic preamps through an Analog Channel Strip consisting of EQ and compression, dialing desired settings there so everything is mostly already mixed, but then always having those raw preamp recordings, just in case…. That’s the cream dream right there 🤩
Best ROI plugin I have ever bought going back to the first plugins. I think I bought it within 5 mins of running the trial. Thank you, Eric!
Wonderful interview. Thank you and Eric ✌🏻✌🏻
Great talk 🤘
what a fun and inspiring interview! happy holidays!
Eric's the best! So awesome that you had him on! His UnFairchild plugin is one of the best plugins ever!
Two of My favorite persons in the world!! I'm SO happy for this interviene!!!
So cool, having an interview between you and mister Valentine is a treat 🤘
So interesting 🙏
His videos about his studio construction are really my favorites on this subject
Keep pushing 🤘🤘🤘
Wow what an inspiring episode. Makes me want to create some experimental sounds on my next project. Happy Holidays
I love it. The long format i works very well 🤗
Love Eric and thanks for doing this interview. I’m one of the few V1 Unfairchild owners/users it’s here at Temple of the Trees studio in Seattle.
Something challenging with emulating analog gear is nonlinearities. For example a nonlinear device produces a different result if one sine wave is sent through it instead of two sine waves. As an illustration, if tanh() was linear then the expression tanh(sin(x)+sin(2x)) - tanh(sin(x)) - tanh(sin(2x)) would result in zero, but it doesn't!
That was a wonderful meeting of the minds from across the atlantic.
I'm very grateful that there are people like Eric around. Someone who has this level of obsessive attention to detail, when translating the analog world into the digital realm. Coding plugins is way over my head. Being able to discern what the Fairchild's ideocracies were, translate those into the Un-Fairchild, then recreate that in the plugin.....it's just fascinating to hear about that process. I got the plugin and this all helps me understand it more.
Well done! 😉👍
Truly an exceptional episode. Love your content, but this is over-the top good. Thank you.
Love Eric. He made some of my favorite sounding records, especially the pop punk ones (good charlotte, the all American rejects, taking back Sunday) and his balance between punchy drums rocking bass and slamming guitars is always unbelievable to me. His mixes are incredible still to this day and they’re always in my reference tracks. Love the guy and his work and he always comes off as a great passionate human being.
Great interview, quite enjoyed it.
Things to learn from everyone for sure, but Eric is the best hands down.
A really great exchange. Thanks guys.
"Gives You Hell" sounds great! I still remember thinking to myself it sounds really nice even way before ever having to do anything with making music. Great Interview. Thanks for the more long form content btw ;D
Big + for video's like this! pssst.... release it as a podcast!
Thoroughly enjoyed!
6:00 This is actually a huge thing, i also feel time pressure or being paid by the hour is such a block for creativity. It can get really wrong when you get to billing, and i do not want to compromise on quality. Having an understand of an overall price beforehand is so much better because it frees your mind.
An in-depth video from 2 music enthusiasts is appreciated!
And you can clearly see that passion in the Unfairchild plugin, as you say Wytse, apparently no one has put so much detail into a plugin before.
It's true, in today's world there is a lot of everything, but people doing things with passion, affection and real dedication are only a few and therefore they stand out.
Maybe a good reference on how and with whom to make your tape plugin? 😏
This episode is my favourite Xmas present so far!. :)
I've been using the UnFairchild quite a bit and it´s really nice
It should come as no surprise that TH-cam monetization doesnt make sense because for a very long time they have been paying for everything and providing everything for free which also doesn’t make sense. So now they need to find a balance and i’m sure it’s not easy
great conversation. Congrats!
🔥 Great Interview
This is an awesome interview. Eric is an engineering god. Greetings from Sweden :)
Great the unfairchild sounds great even with out much compression, its just THAT CLASSIC sound IMO
Love this!
everyone should watch that series about eric valentine treating his control room - soooo much to learn for everyone!!! :-)
Totally badass interview 🥰
this is great!
I already like this video and its only1 min in. :) love the unfairchild
Love the Unfairchild plug. Its the only one I use now and Ive used them all. Most analog sounding by far.
Making Records with Eric Valentine is one of the best shows on the planet for learning audio mixing and recording - Videos are super affordable too, many of them less expensive than a Coca Cola 👍
Really cool video. Thanks guys! 😎
As well as compression, Eric is a mine of information on mixing, and tracking guitars.There's whole series that could be made. I really liked his videos on Surf Guitar, and recording guitar tones for QOTSA - Songs for the Deaf. He's also been really interesting for giving some insight into the interesting personal dynamics of recording whole albums. I love my Unfairchild plugin, it's a modern classic already. The section on experimention and whole album production reminds me of something I saw recently with an engineer about recording an album where he really went full bore experimenting and fine tuning the drums. Which the band as a whole were kinda bummed about. But the end result, in time, was a keystone album. I'm trying to remember who the engineer and album was... ah, it was Michael Beinhorn speaking more from the tracking focused side, about Soundgarden's Superunknown album, in interview with Warren Huart on the Produce like a Pro channel.
Great interview! Thanks a lot! Really appreciated ;-)
It’s laughable to me every time I hear people talk about old gear or electronics being “designed to last”. No, they were so poorly designed that they were “designed to be repaired”. It doesn’t matter if it was recording gear or a radio or a vacuum cleaner, it was ALL going to break, usually soon, and there was an entire industry of businesses there to repair them, from component manufacturers to mom and pop repair shops all across the land. You know what’s built to last? Pretty much everything you buy today will last longer than your life time needing little to no service, and you’ll throw it away while it still works to get a newer model.
Nice interview.
I have significantly slowed my purchasing of plugins because I've got a lot of everything. The Unfairchild plugin is one of the few I had to get during black Friday...
I have the 670 mkii hardware version, and it’s my favourite thing in the world!:) The plugin is really great as well.
Fantastic interview, really insightful stuff about his philosophy on experimentation, and how that can inspire better results, better products, really cool 😎
All I can say is"WOW" !
Just listening to the part about attack and release times. I’ve always felt that great hardware compressors react the way he is describing. When you drive hard into the compressor, the knee tightens and you get almost two compression behaviours. La2a and vari mu type compressors behave this way and few emulations do them Justice.
Thanks for this!
Unashamedly have a bit of a man crush on Eric, I really dig his experience. If I was building a studio like his, I would’ve done 500mm thick fabric walls filled with insulation. I think lining a studio with Sheetrock or plywood is a terrible mistake. Depends if need to soundproof a bit too. Would’ve loved to hear a bit more about Eric’s EQ decisions on certain instruments because he really does have a unique sound. His records age so well, they sound timeless in my opinion. Put on a Smashmouth record or Third Eye Blind it seriously sounds classic and like it was recorded yesterday. I really hope If there’s ever a news G n’ R record that they have the sense to go to Eric. I would love to hear Eric do a Periphery record. Something left field. Or a Korn record! Respect
Damn what a wise and cool person. Both actually🙏
Damn, best most awesome one so far!! And that's sayin somethin
sometimes mix in longer format, great idea ❤
Great conversation! Was a pleasure to watch.
More interviews!
Excellent interview skills, Wytse. Great convo -- great avenue for you.
"It really is my favorite thing to do in the universe." -- Eric
Here's to truly-universal music -- 2025. Go, aliens! Drop the beat on us.
AP Mastering compressor is ALL you need.
Does he talk about it? Must have missed it.
Like being champion in Nitro drag racing ...if you are only racing and winning ...you aren't
advancing in technical performance ..soon you stop dominating and become far back ..and have to struggle to return.
I could learn something today, as I respect both WS and EV very much.
It's RARE on TH-cam.
Those crows got something to say.
very insightful...thanks
Check je gezicht 😊
Ironic that Eric would be so motivated by love.
acustica audio midnight, sampling of the machine instead of algorithm + other 3 Fairchild clones selectable. You're welcome.
I think the midnight is actually modelling an Unfairchild right?
One of the models is an unfairchild yes, they’re pretty accurate but idk that unfairchild just hits different fr
@@friedrichvanzandt among selectable others, yes, you get the machine fair and square and no aliasing or cpu load problems.
I think erics online career will really blow up as soon as he understands the concept of a youtube thumbnail 😂
White Sea = My most reliable Snake Oil Guardian
Very nice:)
55:04 Easter egg
Bromance:)
Thats the point ( Unfairchild Plugin Chapter ) where Plugins have a chance to sound analog...
That what i say all the way in discussions... Analog react in so many ways, which" only sampling" can not display...
Thats why i choose The PCM Lexicon reverbs over a convolution reverb cause the Lexicon reverbs "add" something which convolution reverbs don't...
But... in case of Lexicon, Unfairschild, Pultecs, Clariphonic... and many many other Hardware Emulations...
The hardware pushes more details out than the plugin...
Even with the Unfairchild, where i wrote you, that the hardware has more depth a.s.o...
But there comes the 11K or 200 Bucks discrepancy on the scene...
In a comparison between the Clariphonic and Pultecs against the Plugins... I choosed the hardware...
Cause in the Plugins, there is something missing.
Btw. I bought the plugin after your Unfairchild Plugin video... Cause i am only looking for plugins in point of problem solver or for coloration...
In point of room acoustics...
Well i built my console, the room acoustics from scratch and the monitor speakers. The room is Tech3276 compliant and has a Reflection Free Zone.... The speakers are flat 20 to 20 ones, with overall 3500 Class AB Watts, with a perfect Step Response, a very good Phase and Group Delay behavior and a low overall THD...
But this has another weight, as when a pro say this...
Even when i say, that i am a speaker builder for over 40 years now...
Strauss=70k speakers!!
One might say, you were quite... UnFair
It's sooo Unfair
❤