Chris Lord-Alge goes Barefoot in LA

"I need monitors that are non-complimentary," says renowned producer and mix engineer chris Lord-Alge when explaining why he chose Barefoot Sound MicroMain27 monitors for his alternate monitor location in his Mix LA! studio. "I need monitors that don’t make it sound better, that make it sound accurate, with no hype."

Lord-Alge first gained attention while working at Unique Recording Studios, New York City, in the 1980s, where mixed an astonishing series of hits, including Prince’s "Batman" soundtrack, Tina Turner’s "Foreign Affair," and more.

"My introduction to Barefoot monitors started back when I was mixing Green Days’ ’21st Century"’ album," he continues. "It was produced by Butch Vig, a Barefoot fan. He brought the monitors here and we set them up in my live room, pretty much exactly where I have my Barefoots now. That became the band’s critical monitoring space. They had recorded the tracks in Oakland with their big MM12 Barefoot monitors and I got used to hearing the mixes here on my Barefoots."

"When I did my first seminar at Mixing with the Masters over in France," he recalls. "They had MicroMain 27 monitors on the console and they became the go-to big speaker for me and I stuck with them pretty much the whole seminar and mixed many a song on them."

Additional artists who have picked Lord-Alge for their mixes include My Chemical Romance, The Doobie Brothers, Eric Clapton, Melissa Etheridge, Duran Duran, Phil Collins, Sade, U2, Celine Dion, Rise Against, Cheap Trick, Seal, and Aerosmith, among hundreds more.

"In my studio, I have a variety of monitors," he explains, "but I have created an alternate monitor location that engages the listener to focus 100% on dead center, perfect situation listening. Feet up on the couch, ears open, off you go. By putting them in that scenario, the monitors are non-complimentary and make you focus in on the details. The Barefoot monitors give me a place to judge my mixes and a place for my clients to actually enjoy the mixes."

Chris Lord-Alge is known inside the music industry for crafting and molding mixes that play well on virtually any playback system, including small speakers and FM radio.

"After listening to many, many speakers over the years I found that the Barefoot MM27’s have a certain clarity and honesty I need from a monitor. I have a space where I can completely focus on listening and the detail I get is mind blowing. The imaging takes you to an amazing place I have them laser-focused for listening on my couch and everyone who listens to them loves the experience."

Read more on Chris Lord-Alge’s mixing techniques and choice of Barefoot monitors here.

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