Rich Keller (Snoop Dogg, Alicia Keys, Jay Z, Lil Wayne)
With 6 Grammy Award nominations, 35 Platinum albums, and over 75 million albums sold, Rich Keller has continued to be a first call mixer and producer for hip hop and R&B legends like Snoop Dogg, DMX, Jay Z, Alicia Keys, Swizz Beatz, Lil Wayne, Mariah Carey, Method Man, Rick Ross, and many others. Keller attended North Texas State University and the City College of New York where he studied jazz bass with the legendary Ron Carter.
Having mixed and produced so many songs over the past few years, how do you stay fresh and excited about making music every day?
After a lifetime of making or working on music in some way almost every day, it has become a facet of my life that I’m as intimate with as speaking English.
Tell us about your current studio setup.
I work in my basement home studio and had the treatments custom made with design help from a friend who specializes in tuning rooms. I’m a Pro Tools guy with enough Logic knowledge to do the basics. I have a vintage 1176, Neves from the '70s, a Distressor, Lil FrEQ, Fatso, and various other toys. I just picked up the new Neve 8803 and API Select Stereo EQs and I’m loving them.
How do you typically approach a mix: what's your process for setting it up? How often are you making big editing decisions in your mixing?
Check the rough mix, make sure the session matches the rough, get a sense of what's not working well in the rough and what is, plan my attack to address the issues I hear.
With regards to big decisions, I’m feeling my way through more than deciding intellectually which way I’ll turn. Some trial and error is always happening, and like the optometrist, I’m always asking ‘is it better now?’, then responding instantly and taking that path.
How does the mixing work come to you these days?
Work comes through relationships I’ve built over the years and thus built a discography that gives new clients the confidence to try me as well.
What's one piece of advice you can pass on to aspiring mixers and producers looking to get better at their craft?
Go for what you're feeling. There's a passion I feel every time I open a session to have it make me feel a certain way, and once I get to that point, I know that same feeling will translate. So far, that's enough to keep the phone ringing!