Having been making records for the best part of two decades, Chris Rakestraw has become one of rock’s most sought after studio talents. With the likes of Megadeth, Danzig and Parkway Drive gracing his CV, he has served as a mixer, engineer and producer on a raft of iconic records. Here, he opens up about his formative years and the gear that has become indispensable to him throughout his career.
“I guess I first got into studio work after I left Chapel Hill, NC and moved to San Diego in maybe ’99,” he tells Headliner. “I wanted to take some community college classes and start getting educated. I took an ‘Intro to Music Studio’, and ‘Algebra I’ class. I always loved math when I was younger, and always regretted not doing better in school, so I was trying to remedy that. The ‘Intro to Studio’ class was pretty remedial. It was basically a G2 or G3 Mac, an Alesis keyboard, and we just learned MIDI programming and sequencing. We didn't even get into anything related to actually recording audio there. What I did get from this class was that I enjoyed the creative aspect and sought further education in that field.”
As Rakestraw’s skillset has grown and evolved down the years, so too has his audio toolkit. So what are some of the items that he’s come to depend on most?
“For tracking, I'd say the Radial JD7 for recording guitars,” he says. “I also use a Radial Twin Servo 500 series preamp to record the DI out of the JD7 for a super full range balanced DI signal from the guitar. I've gone through a bunch of preamps over the years, and the Twin Servo seems to work the best.
“For vocals, I have a Mojave MA-1000 that gives me a ton of confidence because it sounds so frigging good when you need a big condenser mic,” he continues. “The other piece of gear that is absolutely essential, and I'm sure lots of snobs will be a bit unimpressed with this, but I have a DBX160x that was modded by Revive Audio – that is my go to vocal compressor. I've always loved the 160xs on vocals, and when I found there was a way to ‘Hi-Fi’ up the 160x, I sent it off immediately. Using that compressor is another kind of safety net, meaning, it's hard to screw up whatever you put through it.
“For mixing, absolutely my Auratones with the unbalanced Bryston 3B. I'd say 80 to 90% of my mixing happens on these guys.”
Another staple of Rakestraw’s audio arsenal is his collection of Waves Audio plugins. As he explains, he’s been using them from day one and has never looked back.
“What can you say about an industry standard? They really are an industry standard,” he says. “They are in every mix session I've probably ever done. I'd say their SSL and MixHubSSL plugins are [particularly] important because I know them really well. That's something that's a bit overlooked. Plugins can be great, but until you dig in and learn them like you would some outboard gear, or console, then you aren't getting your money's worth. My advice to newer people using Waves plugins, would be to pick a couple and use the crap out of those until you know them inside and out. Try not to get overwhelmed by a million plugins.
“The first studio I ever worked in had Waves, back in like 2000,” he concludes. “I remember 20 years ago hearing the MetaFlanger, or Enigma, and thinking ‘that's awesome’! Those were always the holy grail plugins, so to be a part of their team now, I'm very proud!”
