As an artist, producer and songwriter, Cuban-American Mike Smith is currently most active in his role as executive producer (along with wife Erika Smith) and main judge on US TV show One Shot, on which hip-hop hopefuls battle for a chance to win substantial money and a record deal. His reputation, however, rests on upwards of a billion music streams and sales of more than 5m records, as well as numerous No.1 albums and Top 10 singles

When Smith recently overhauled his studio in Charlotte, North Carolina – a commercial facility but primarily used for his own projects – he chose a Neve 8424 console to suit suit his current hybrid workflow and sound, which revolves around classic Neve 1073 mic preamp colouring.

‘I never used the preamps on my old desk and, as time went on, I realised I was barely using the console at all because I was working more and more in-the-box, with a few outboard pieces for tracking and mixing,’ he explains. ‘The 8424 has given me the ability to come back to the analogue world in a huge way by really streamlining the process between in-the-box and outside the box.

‘The 8424 was installed at the end of last year and it has opened up a whole new world of creativity for me,’ he says. ‘It is a world class console in a small footprint and with a workflow that is perfect for someone like me – a singer songwriter and producer who predominantly tracks themselves or a few other artists.

The studio also houses Smith’s collection of classic guitars, a grand piano, numerous keyboards, drum kits and microphones, as well as high-end outboard equipment including two Neve 1073 preamps and a eight 2254R and 2264ALB compressor/limiters. Alongside his 8424 purchase, Smith has also recently acquired a Neve 1073OPX remote controlled preamp rack, which he is using in conjunction with the desk.

‘The two 1073 preamps included on the console, along with the 8-channel 1073OPX expansion and seamless integration to the console are ideally suited to how I work,’ he says. ‘I now have 48 channels that are easily integrated with my DAW, and instant recall of my settings. However, the biggest surprise is the master section of the console, which is incredible. The inclusion of two 500 series slots, the shelving EQs, width controls, and beautiful sounding Marinair transformers makes this console a one stop shop for all of my recording needs.’

For someone who loves the sound of Neve, Smith says he couldn’t be happier with his new desk: ‘I was initially turned on to Neve when I was working on a project with RZA, who has always been a huge fan of that sound. It then became a permanent part of my own sound on projects I undertook with Gilby Clarke of Guns N’ Roses, the music I did for my TV show and songs I worked on with Juicy J, Royce Twista and DJ Whoo Kid. With this console, the beautiful Marinair transformers provide the vintage colouring that I always want. The desk also makes the worlds of ITB and OTB work together seamlessly, which is great for someone like me who has a hybrid workflow.’

Since installing the console, Smith says he is doing a lot more outside the box because the 8424 makes it so simple: ‘I typically track through the board sitting in front of the desk, or remotely with the 1073OPX audio interface if I’m downstairs in my house recording my grand piano or travelling. After I track, my mixing workflow uses basic ITB surgical EQs before routing all of the tracks out to the board so that I can use my outboard compressors on the track level. I love having the ability to send the tracks to either the group busses or the mix bus directly so I can do a lot of parallel compression.

‘Finally, I pull everything together into the mix buss, utilizing the on board width control, the 500 series compressors I added to the slots in the board, and shelving EQs before sending it out to my mix bus EQs and compressors/limiters/analogue tape machine and back into my DAW. For me, this is a dream set-up because I have instant recall and I can pre-patch my entire outboard setup into the board thanks to the simplicity of routing and all the insertion points on the back for each track.’

Since installing the Neve 8424 and 1073OPX, Smith has been working on a variety of projects including six new albums that were originally slated for release in 2020 but were held up by the Covid-19 pandemic. They will now be released this year.

More: www.ams-neve.com