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We recently had the chance to pick the brain of Phil Tan, one of the biggest mixing engineers in the business!

Phil is highly sought after in the Hip-Hop, R&B, and Pop music worlds. His work has appeared on over 150 million albums & singles sold to date. His credits include: Jermaine Dupri, Janet Jackson, Fergie, Rihanna, Jagged Edge, Outkast, Pharell, Ludacris, Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dog, and many, many more... With numerous Grammys and platinum albums, he is also currently serving another term as trustee for the Recording Academy.

Phil recently completed his new mix room designed around the Digidesign ICON D-Control and HD systems. He has been kind enough to take a moment to answer some of our Pro Tools questions!

How long have you been using Pro Tools and how did it first come about in your recording and mixes?

I actually started using Sound Tools back in the early ‘90’s – I bought a system for Jermaine Dupri’s first studio (Krosswire, built in the lower level of his home at the time, in Fairburn, GA). We mostly used it for sequencing and editing albums, samplers, mixtapes etc. Jermaine preferred using tape, so it took a while for us to switch to digital, first with the DASH format (around ‘99), then RADAR (2000), and eventually Pro Tools (‘01). I was mainly mixing on analog consoles until the HD systems were introduced.

What kind of Pro Tools system are you running these days?

We’re running version 7.3.1 at the moment. In my room at Soapbox Studios (Atlanta, GA), where I mainly work these days, we have two HD4 systems. I mix on one system, and my assistant Josh Houghkirk uses the other to prepare sessions, print mixes, edit, do backups etc.

Are you using it in conjunction with any other platforms or stations and have you had any obstacles to overcome to make it happen?

I can’t really imagine working any other way now! Occasionally I will use it with other platforms (like Logic) but usually it’s when I need a specific sound, instrument or processor/plug-in that I don’t have in Pro Tools (like BitCrusher). I can’t really think of any obstacles … things seem to work quite well together. I try to keep things simple anyway.

Any particular features within the environment that you personally find you can't live without for your mixing?

I’m not sure it’s exactly ‘within’ the environment, but being able to recall mixes is at the top of my list. I’m almost always working on multiple projects at the same time, and many of my clients don’t attend the sessions. They send me the session files, I get to work, then send out mix refs when I think it’s time for their input. While I’m waiting for their feedback I’ll often start (or finish up) another mix. As a result, I’ve been able to become more efficient (I think).

When the D-Control originally came out, Pro Tools 6.7 was the latest version. Now that 7.3 is shipping and 7.4 is on the way before end of year, there are loads of new user based features that allow you to customize the console to your workflow more than ever before. Have you seen this and what do you think about it?

Every single time I’ve been introduced to an update and its features, I’ve said, “Gotta have it.” I don’t know how the Digidesign engineers/programmers do it … do they sleep? I don’t know much about 7.4 just yet though …

Have you used the Digidelivery service at all, and if so, how do you like it?

I’ve mainly used DigiDelivery to upload/download mixes to mastering engineers. It’s worked flawlessly each time. I wish I could say that about some other things in life …

Where would you like to see the Pro Tools experience going in the future? Any concerns?

I’m pretty happy right now. I’ll continue to use Pro Tools as long as the company continues to put out high quality products, listen to and take good care of their users.

Are there any plugs that you’ll be taking with you to a deserted island?

I can’t do without the DigiRack plug-ins! Some people may find that odd, but it probably stems from back in the day when I was working on smaller MIX systems and processing muscle was at a premium - all the DigiRack stuff is very DSP-efficient. When I need a little room for that percussion part, D-Verb works great. When I need to roll off some of the rumble in that synth part, the simple 1-band EQ works great.

Other favorites:

Waves SSL Bundle – I worked almost exclusively on SSL’s the first 10 years of my career, so I suppose I’m used to their sound. Waves has done a terrific job of capturing it.

Metric Halo ChannelStrip – This was the most DSP-efficient channel strip plug-in I had to work with back in the Mix system days, and I continue to use it on every mix. Creature of habit, I suppose …

Analog emulation plug-ins – DUY DaD Valve, DUY DaD Tape, Crane Song Phoenix, PSP VintageWarmer 2 etc. Gives you that analog harmonic distortion when needed, which is almost always …

We’d like to thank Phil for taking some time out to answer our questions and for more information on Phil’s work over the years, please check out:

Phil Tan on Allmusic